Talk about high gas prices.

Yes that says $9.599 no, I don't think it's right. It was suposed to be a 4, but I couldn't help my self. Picture time.

Custom exhaust...

90K miles, Needed a New project

It has been a while.
My metro went through a set of tires, a water pump, new carpet, and new mirrors. Can't complain.


So I picked up a new toy. It needs some work, but is really in great shape for being 34 years old.

Wiper control replacement

I broke the wiper control while driving through the desert last week. Bummer...
luckily I had a spare from my parts car. My son wanted to help me, and once I pulled the steering wheel, he took over.


















He removed the screws and the trim from around the steering column.




Then he removed the screws that secured the switch to the column...


























While I was doing a little repair to the wiring,

Jake decided to do a little filming as well...

He was doing everything else so why not. We just did everything backwards to put the new one in.

Heater question photos

This is the back of the heater knob. The tab needs to be lifted to release the knob from the control arm.

This is where you will find the Heater speed resistors.

Tire Update

It has been a while. I have put a few thousand miles on my new tires, and I like them very much. It turns out I was off a little on the sizing, and they are a good 1" shorter than the originals. This gave me a little more of a gear reduction, and throws off my speed by 7%. This makes my little engine rev a little higher and puts it right in the power band. My top speed dropped a bit, but I can get up and go a lot quicker. By last measurement, my fuel economy has dropped by 1 mpg to 43. For the increase in performance, I think I can handle it.

What I've got that others don't...

Ported and Polished intake, head and exhaust manifold.
When I rebuilt the engine, I couldn't see not spending a little extra time on this great little engine. I ported the exhaust manifold rather than making a long tube header because it has to pass California smog, and I have not been able to find a C.A.R.B. legal after market header. I also replaced the exhaust with 2" tubing and resonance chambers to relieve back pressure and let it open up. This dropped a little bit of the low end power, but with the other work, it really screams at the upper R.P.M.s.
I run about 70 mph when there is no traffic, and with the stock tires, I average 44.8 mpg on Chevron Supreme 91 octane. I actually tracked my mileage over 4000 miles. Best economy was 53 mpg, worst was 38. I did not factor in the one time I got bad gas and only got 15 mpg. in an 8 gallon tank, that didn't last long anyway.
I also replaced the rear springs with a set from a 4 door hatchback. This gave me a little more weight capacity, and a firmer ride when the back is empty.
I have been debating an attempt at water injection, or finding a legal way to add a turbo.
My goal is to get 100hp from the little 3 cylinder.