Steve Collison

The 95 Geo Metro is gone. I still have its engine, but a homeless bum we let stay in our basement stole the transmission. (don’t even ask, I’m done with that subject!)

I need to go see if I can get my transmission back, or if it has been melted down into its elements, I’ll have to go buy another – I found one for $150. I also need to rebuild the 3 cylinder engine or just find a replacement for that too. Then I need to alter the engine mounts on the 96. Then I need to get another wiring harness. Then I need to fix the rust. Then I need to lose weight.

Okay, there’s just so much I need to do. The only thing holding me back is money. I’ll probably get the motorbike done in the next couple months, as I hope to have a little money to play with – and I really want to ride.

I have considered getting rid of all the Metro parts I have and saving up for a working model… but I’m not sure about that at this point.

Well, the Saturn has been a good car to us – despite its 20mpg, it hasn’t cost much to maintain, and I think I finally have all of the problems figured out – not fixed, but at least figured out.

But even 30mpg isn’t going to be enough, when we’re used to 64mpg from the Renault Laguna we had in England. So, we went out and bought ourselves a 1996 Geo Metro with an EPA 40mpg. It’s a 1.3 litre four cylinder – and it’s non-interference, so if the timing belt snaps it isn’t going to cause catastrophic damage. It is, of course, a stick shift.

So far I’ve really enjoyed driving it, but it does have a few problems that need to be sorted out:

1. The brake pads need replacing. I’ve already made an attempt to change them, but I couldn’t even get the wheels off!
2. There’s rust that needs repairing and painting.
3. The radio and auxilary power socket appear to be dead – maybe a fuse?
4. The check engine light is on, I need to get the code(s) read.

I’ll document my work on this car. Now for some pictures… (these were taken directly from the listing, I haven’t taken my own yet!)

Oh isn’t she a beaut!