Author Topic: Chevrolet Metro (99) 3-Cylinder 45mpg  (Read 8714 times)

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DanG

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Chevrolet Metro (99) 3-Cylinder 45mpg
« on: September 10, 2010, 11:57:43 AM »
First thing - this has the control arm support rust. Buyer must have welding skills to brace the tower, I thought I was going to do it, but have just been given a 97 Honda and the metro has to go. Steering is tight, I use the car 3 or 5 times a week for local errands, but it is inevitable one day when parking (when they usually go, low speed driveway-parking lot turns) that the metal will let go.

I've had this a year and put 10,000 miles on it. During that time its almost paid for itself from fuel savings by not driving my 1/2 ton pick-up truck. I'll show the math if you want.

I did a 3000 mile road trip last winter and saw 47.9mpg on non-ethanol fuel on the PA turnpike - and got snowed in from the 1st East Coast storm 2-foot snow last winter.  I did two 1100 mile legs non-stop, the second one in snow so either I trusted it or am slightly touched, you decide.

1700~ pounds.  99k miles..  10-gallon fuel tank.  35-42mpg w/ ethanol gas. Hyper-milers get over 50mpg (especially Canadians with their higher fuel costs) and regularly run these cars for 200,000 miles or better.

Previous owner let it run down, I've got almost $900 total in it - new Michelin tires, brake work, new hoses, fluids and lube flushed. All receipts go with car. Clutch is good, car has plenty of pep, starts easy. Needs muffler. Shifter linkage bushings are gone, shifts okay but rattles. Has the idle-surge RPM drift, probably fixable with good cleaning and adjustment. Glass is good. No major dents. Has some surface rust. Rockers and flooring are intact. Two replacement motor mounts and rear brake flex lines included I never got around to install.

I bought it for $200 and would like better than $450 back since its got the best tires I could find on it, price is wholly negotiable above that. The car is worth $350-450 just as a parts car AFTER the rust fails.  Blue book starts at $1000 but since this has rust it's off the books.

I am located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Don't be driving in 1,000 miles to buy this, there are better Geo - Chevrolet Metros and Suzuki Swifts out there, there are still cream-puff cars that were one owner and garage kept 'only driven on Sunday' 48mpg cars to be had. This isn't for resale, I could sell it to a starry-eyed immigrant and do that - this is a good winter project toy-car if you have the space... And I'd like to watch the progress!

EDIT: Anyone can look but must be a forum member to get a signed title  :o



« Last Edit: September 10, 2010, 12:13:15 PM by DanG »

DanG

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Rover

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Re: Chevrolet Metro (99) 3-Cylinder 45mpg
« Reply #2 on: September 10, 2010, 04:19:42 PM »
Cat come with it ? :)
Rover
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TomW

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Re: Chevrolet Metro (99) 3-Cylinder 45mpg
« Reply #3 on: September 10, 2010, 06:21:13 PM »
Cat come with it ? :)


Of course. He is the co pilot.

 ;D ;D ;D

Tom

Bruce S

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Re: Chevrolet Metro (99) 3-Cylinder 45mpg
« Reply #4 on: September 10, 2010, 06:29:23 PM »
Cat come with it ? :)


Of course. He is the co pilot.

 ;D ;D ;D

Tom
First thing i want to know is when you picked up our Amy's cat?
Oh well you got 'em you feed 'em.
He likes being scratched  right under the chin.
Nice looking car too
Bruce S
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JW

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Re: Chevrolet Metro (99) 3-Cylinder 45mpg
« Reply #5 on: September 10, 2010, 07:50:56 PM »
The car actually looks really good. I had an old 69 Mach 1 (ford), its shock/strut towers had crack's develope near the motor mount, export braces help alot. I would have to pull the engine to re-weld the shock towers.




JW

DanG

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Re: Chevrolet Metro (99) 3-Cylinder 45mpg
« Reply #6 on: September 10, 2010, 10:24:47 PM »
Got a few nibbles on the car - it really needs to get gone; I let the tabs expire but $35 makes it legal again.

Another picture of the car - with my Tom-Cat as honest-to-God co-pilot of the Metro, doing 55mph when I'd just finishing thrashing the gears and doing Star Wars lane-changes getting out of the USPS facility at MSP Airport, he's fearless but probably wishing we were in one of the dozen jets he'd watched landing and taking off...



Unfortunately the white booted cat was "Reuben the Garage Cat" who has been missing now for 10 months.  Last seen southbound on a Sunday evening never to return. Heated bed, water and two meals a day he'd never missed a meal before that.

The snow cat is a 'once' feral queen that wintered in my shed - the first time she let me touch her was at the peak of a total Lunar Eclipse.  After I drove a pair of foxes off hunting her at 4AM, 12°F & 12" of snow naked except my briefs that she-cat said 'he's the one' and has been my bodyguard ever since.

JW

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Re: Chevrolet Metro (99) 3-Cylinder 45mpg
« Reply #7 on: September 11, 2010, 05:28:46 PM »
This is fun : )  LOL

 DanG, you must feed that cat pretty good, LOL.

Here's anther picture of my cat, she's(Floooun-Tail) one of three, that were stray neighborhood cats that we adopted about 3 years now.


JW

bob g

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Re: Chevrolet Metro (99) 3-Cylinder 45mpg
« Reply #8 on: September 11, 2010, 09:47:51 PM »
always stayed clear of cats, was always allergic to them as a kid,

a stray showed up pregnant as a 5 gallon pail, and had her litter in my tool shed
and this fellow was found almost dead, half his body stiff as a board on the cold concrete...

not knowing what to do, i tried to heat him in front of the bathroom heater, no luck
tried to warm him in a towel, no luck

finally warmed him in a very warm stream of water in the kitchen sink,, got him pliable again
and put him back with his momma

found him the next day stuck to the pavement again!

repeated the process, and figured ah heck... read up on feeding kittens, got the kitty formula
and a tiny little bottle, and bottle fed him...

teaching him how to poop was a very interesting process, who knew that they don't know how?

anyway he is no my bestest friend, and never misses an opportunity to fight with me, and he plays rough.

his recorded name?  "juilus squeezer"

(because of how he would latch on and squeeze me during bottle feeding)

bob g
« Last Edit: September 11, 2010, 10:01:59 PM by kurt »
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kurt

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Re: Chevrolet Metro (99) 3-Cylinder 45mpg
« Reply #9 on: September 11, 2010, 10:14:04 PM »
this is the wifes cat i signed to get him at the anamal shelter and he is under my name at the vet but the only time he likes me is when he is really scared and in a strange environment like the vets office rest of the time he would prefer if i did not pester him and shows his displeasure when i do he is a total mommas kitty therefore i call him the wifes cat.


DanG

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Re: Chevrolet Metro (99) 3-Cylinder 45mpg
« Reply #10 on: September 12, 2010, 08:20:39 PM »
I have the four-inch-thick two volume Chevrolet Factory Service Manual too - $32 value for just an additional $32.

This is a really neat car - perfect for running errands to pick up bits and pieces for projects!

These are not Mr Fusion units - they are 1250 & 1650A Rockwell 1395 DC Drives SCR modules I've stashed away for a rainy day.

Both my cats accompanied me on the trip to fetch the SCRs; we all cooked in the late July w/o A/C in 100°-plus temps but I kept dousing the cats ears and heads with water latching them into the 'cool' cat zone with the windows open... until I got the car underground in a Missouri limestone cavern and took a group nap until sunset...


dbcollen

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Re: Chevrolet Metro (99) 3-Cylinder 45mpg
« Reply #11 on: September 12, 2010, 11:16:49 PM »
The Offer still stands, $700 delivered to California, and I will even throw in a polydactyl (double pawed, 8 toes on each paw) russian grey neutered tomcat named Perkins for free.   :)

Dustin