by "shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
Published 02/11/2017 at 22:20
by "shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
Published 02/11/2017 at 22:20
Tags: RallyMetro
STARS: 5
It’s unseasonably warm in Chicagoland this weekend. Since I’m a swinging single dude I’m headed out to the clubs a middle-aged married guy with little kids, I grabbed a bottle of Chicago’s finest root beer and headed out to the garage after the girls went to bed to work on the RallyMetro a bit.
Since I took possession back in the fall, I’ve done the following:
- Scored a cheap barely used set of snow tires for $50, and called in a favor to get them mounted for free.
- Took off the front bumper to find a mounting point for a generic Harbor-Freight tow bar.
- Committed gross acts of metal fabricating butchery to build the tow bar mount using an angle grinder, a sawzall, a vice, and a hammer.
- Changed the battery cable ends, because the stock ends were a bit loose and wiggly, and that would not go well on a Rallycross course.
- Tonight I drilled and tapped several bolt holes to connect the tow bar mount to the only two bits of substantial metal on the front end of a Metro (with more to come).
Now I’m watching hockey in bed wife my wife, and the Blackhawks are leading. I smell like light machine oil (my favorite cologne). That’s a pretty damn good evening as far as I’m concerned.
"crowmolly" (crowmolly)
02/11/2017 at 23:35, STARS: 0
Gonna rip out the A/C stuff (if my eyes are correct)?
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
02/11/2017 at 23:39, STARS: 0
No, it still works! I’ll use it to cool my butt off in between runs :)
"crowmolly" (crowmolly)
02/11/2017 at 23:42, STARS: 1
PS that engine bay looks amazingly not corroded to hell. Looking good!
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
02/11/2017 at 23:56, STARS: 0
The bottom of the core support is pretty rusty actually. The “frame” stubs that the front lower control arms mount to are also rusty. Apparently that spot is a big weakness for Metros, and once those go there’s no saving them. I would not be entirely surprised if I manage to hammer on this thing hard enough for something to collapse. I am not going to be nice to it :)
That said, XJDano took pretty good care of this thing mechanically, so it’s been pretty easy to work on.
"fryguy" (jbird94)
02/12/2017 at 08:14, STARS: 1
Give me a call the next time you bang on the RallyMetro. My Saturday nights aren’t booked until........ I can always keep working on the Metro’s body.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
02/12/2017 at 09:16, STARS: 1
Will do. Although if you bust out the spray paint with you know who’s car in there, she will kill us both without a second thought. :)
"XJDano" (xjdano)
02/12/2017 at 09:20, STARS: 0
It appears the sealed beam swap will come in handy not having to remove the composite fixtures and replacing them when you want headlights.
I was working a job at a downtown Hilton hotel, and the Project Manager from my company was trying to tell me where to go in or what building it was and described it as: “You know, the one with the rooftop 360° bar that overlooks the Cardinals Busch stadium.”
No, I don’t know that place. I dont go to those kinds of places...
I always thought of putting an angle iron under that core support, to spread the weight when jacking.
"fryguy" (jbird94)
02/12/2017 at 10:02, STARS: 1
No more painting. Will be working on aerodynamics and waxing. When do you have the wind tunnel booked?
"fryguy" (jbird94)
02/12/2017 at 10:09, STARS: 0
Which date(s) do I schedule?
2017 Byron IL event dates are as Follows;
4/22, Sat
6/10, Sat
7/23, Sun
8/13, Sun
9/16, Sat
10/15, Sun
11/12, Sun
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
02/12/2017 at 12:28, STARS: 0
Hahaha! I bet for the price of a night of drinking there, you could buy a whole project car.
Once I took the bumper off, the light housings looked weird sticking out from there, so I took them off. So, yeah, luckily I still have headlights :)
The angle iron under the core support is a great idea, especially since it’s getting rusty. I think I’ll do that.
How did you make the wipers park vertically? I’d like to put them back to normal so I can have both wiper arms on there.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
02/12/2017 at 12:30, STARS: 0
Oh, the wind tunnel date is next Tuesday.
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
02/12/2017 at 12:31, STARS: 0
They must’ve just posted that. I’ve probably checked 20 times. I’ll let you know once I figure it out, but I’d like to do as many as possible.
"XJDano" (xjdano)
02/12/2017 at 12:51, STARS: 1
You can put both on, but they’ll both start at vertical except horizontal.
The wiper motor under the cowl has a bracket. It goes in a circle, which one rotation equals a complete down-up motion or up-down regularly.
The bracket that attaches from wiper motor to the wiper arms is a fixed position. So let’s say at rest it is vertical in up position. I flipped it around so at rest it is vertical in down position. This starting the cycle 1/2 way through in the up position.
It was tuff for me to do with my small hands getting them into the cowl and over to the wiper motor.
In the diagram the motor is on passenger side, and the blue lines are the wiper blades. Think of a locomotive piston going in a circle
"XJDano" (xjdano)
02/12/2017 at 12:53, STARS: 1
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
02/12/2017 at 13:27, STARS: 0
Gotcha. I may or may not tackle that, but at least I’ve got an idea what to do. Thanks!