This How-To shows complete instructions (with many helpful pictures) for replacing the front disc brakes and caliper pads of a 1989-1994 Geo Metro. You don’t need very many tools for this, but the one tool that you will probably have to borrow is the slide hammer. On these years of Geo Metro, removing the disc rotor requires you to remove the wheel hub, basically. Thankfully, you can probably borrow the slide hammer tool from your local auto parts store for free! (The deposit amount is probably about 100$) Read more »
Category Archives: 1989 Geo Metro
Soon to be back in business
Posted by Tobias
on June 16, 2009
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Alright, I finally got some work lined up, and some big money coming in, so I will be back on board for working on this project in a couple weeks. I will also get a camera, so I can show you the stuff I have done so far.
Fuel economy over the winter suffered, it was about 35 mpg, even dropping at one point to somewhere near 32 mpg. I thought it was perhaps the light-car-on-snow dilemma, but now I am noticing the clutch slips quite a bit so I guess that is probably it. Right now I am doing 42-44 mpg range, but when I change out the transmission in a couple weeks I think I could get 50+ mpg.
As soon as I have the transmission swapped, I will begin working on the interior and on some newly forming rust spots outside. Hopefully I will have the whole thing sealed up pretty well in preparation for winter, but I hope to get even more than that done this summer/early fall.
For fun, here is a list of modifications I plan on making, in a mostly linear fashion:
Swap transmission: Old one grinds into third, plus parts are hard to get, being so old, so I am putting in a ’94
Fuel meter: Some sort of fuel economy measurer, I want to be able to export the data to my computer easily.
Exterior rust protection: There are only a few spots of rust, surprisingly, so I want to clean up those and prevent new ones.
Interior rust protection: The inside has quite a few spots of surface rust, I want to take care of those.
Interior decorating: Right now all the carpet has been stripped out, and the seats are ugly (and slightly smelly)
Rear wheel well covers: Some people say it looks like a space ship, but the fuel economy is much better (roughly +5 mpg on mine).
Front wheel covers: Much harder to make, but can add significant fuel economy, as well as weird looks.
Front grill cover: I have sketched out some ideas for a better air intake mechanism for cooling, it will make the front end a lot smoother.
Underpan: This will be made in multiple pieces for easier under car access, I hope to install the basic ones this summer.
I also am getting another Geo engine, which I will rebuild slowly, adding some modifications which I have designed to improve performance.
See you in a couple weeks!
Not much to report.
Posted by Tobias
on April 17, 2009
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Well, not much to report here: School is out in a few weeks, then things should heat back up. The clutch started slipping, along with third gear grinding really bad, so that is my first mission when I am done with school this semester.
Over the summer I would like to make an aerodynamic fairing for my car, a lot like this guys:
I mean, seriously, how awesome is that?!?! Check out his official page, he gets 95 mpg at 65 mph!
Update on the Geo
Posted by Tobias
on December 24, 2008
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Pictures: Painted the engine block. Forgot to get a picture of it clean. This matches my red, silver, and black theme.  I got the head and the pistons back from the shop. Don’t know what that green stuff is…  The interior. Despite the general appearance, there is not much terribly wrong with it. Missing buttons, seat covers, floor mats: Done!  Here she is! There is very minimal rust, and besides paint color fading it looks great!  This is what I pulled the Geo with, with a car dolly from U-Haul. I also found out that the water pump broke. |
This morning I got the engine head back, with freshly installed intake and exhaust valves, and the pistons installed on the arms. Total bill was $184, it would probably be about $100 if you only needed the valves done and the head resurfaced, but I wanted a couple other things done.
Here is what the machine shop did: Resurface head, install 3 intake and 3 exhaust valves (they also bought the valve stem seals but I bought the valves), hone and cross-hatch cylinder walls, remove old pistons from arms and install new ones. I think that’s it. What do you think? Was $184 a reasonable amount? I think they did good work, and had great customer service. Anyway, after I got the head and pistons back, I cleaned up the head, taped it, and painted it red. You can see a picture of it painted, but I forgot to get one of it bare. As I probably stated before, all three exhaust valves were burnt out, and one was missing a small chunk. I forgot to ask for them back to get a picture, but the one was pretty bad. Probably why it wouldn’t run except at high rpm’s. Painting the head didn’t take very long, probably about 5 minutes, but cleaning it with paint prep cleaner and taping it took over half an hour. Keep that in mind if you decide to do anything like this: Prep time takes the most time. Later that afternoon, I went to move the Geo from it’s holding spot out at my parents farm to the friend with the garage who is so graciously lending me some space. I rented a car dolly from U-Haul for less than $50, and headed out. It’s an hour from my house to the parents, and an extra 30 minutes to the friends. On the way to the parents, the truck didn’t have much power but I thought it had enough to move the car. Turned out I was right! I moved the car into the garage, and Wednesday I will head back over with lots of parts to get started: Clean engine compartment, paint engine compartment, clear out interior, clean ventilation system, mouse-proof ventilation system, seat covers, floor mats, extra bits, install engine, double check everything, break in rebuilt engine, done! (I think) Done with news about the car, but here’s a side story of the nights events: After I moved the car and was headed home for the night, the battery light started flickering. I thought it was maybe a loose nut, so I pulled into a gas station and billowing clouds of smoke pured out from under the hood! Oh no, I forgot my flashlight! Thankfully, it was “only” steam, but (after purchasing a $3 flashlight) I couldn’t find where the water was leaking, and I thought it might be a blown gasket. After a while, I got up the gumption to pour more antifreeze in and, on removing the cap, heard a loud gushing noise: The water pump was leaking gobs of fluid out near the fan spindle! So I guess I have to get a new water pump… I decided to try and make it at least to the U-Haul to return the car dolly, and headed out from the gas station. Well, I got pretty close, but the spindle on the water pump was the part broken, which means the serpentine belt didn’t have much tension, which means the battery didn’t charge, which means when the engine died at a red light it wouldn’t restart. Thankfully, the truck died right at a gas station, and as soon as I got out to think a tow truck pulled into the station to get gas! I meandered over and got him to tow the truck, return the trailer, and drop me and truck off at my house. The cost: $65. That might have been high for a tow, but he kind of fudged on the towing/DOT rules by towing me with a trailer in tow, so I didn’t mind a whole lot. Cost of everything today: |
Painted lots of parts.
Posted by Tobias
on December 23, 2008
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Pictures: Here is the detail work on the engine. Yes, it’s that small.  Painted the crankshaft and water pump pulley. The big one looks rough because the metal has texture.  The rear main seal. No one will probably be able to see it, I don’t know why I painted it.  The water pump. Things are coming together now.  The exhaust manifold and cover placed on top to visualize. This is the angle you will see it from once installed. |
I did some more paint work on the engine today, the water pump, the throttle body and injector assembly, the rear seal, the exhaust manifold and cover, the pulleys, some others, and the detail work on the engine block.
I especially liked the detail work on the engine block, it really looks nice I think. The engine serial number was indented, so I basically filled the letters with a small brush and wiped off the excess with my finger. It turned out real nice, as you can see from the picture. The pulleys each had some rust, so I ground it off with the Dremel tool wire brush, and painted them satin black. I didn’t paint the part that the belt touches, didn’t think it was a good idea. I might put a red line on the pulleys for show, and I will paint in the timing mark notch on the crankshaft pulley. The rear main seal I painted, although it will have a flywheel and transmission bell housing, so I don’t know why I did… I painted the exhaust manifold black, and the cover red. I think it will look real sharp, so long as I follow a theme. A minimalist theme, to be sure. I took the pistons to the machinist, since I couldn’t get the piston pins out myself. Back when I dropped everything off (head, block, valves) I realized I forgot valve stem seals, no parts store could have them before Christmas, but he will have them Tuesday! He said he should have it done Tuesday morning, and then I will be rocking away. Praise the Lord: A family from church is letting me use their garage to install the engine and do some extra work. I should be moving the car in their Tuesday, and installing the engine Wednesday (hopefully). I will do the mechanical work to install the engine and clean it up, and I want to paint under the hood. I have to do some interior work, it is an old farm car and smells of mice. I will probably not do much with the interior besides removing most everything and washing it out. I went to move the car today and a sudden blizzard stopped me. Turned out to not last long, but by then it was too late to go. |
Started installing some parts.
Posted by Tobias
on December 21, 2008
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Pictures: Here is the front main seal and oil pump installed.  The crankshaft installed with new bearings and thrust washers. This was pretty easy.  Exhaust manifold and cover with the Rusty Stuff Primer, they were pretty bad, like normal exhaust I suppose.  I cleaned the throttle body, and will probably paint it soon. It was very messy, and I hope I don’t have to replace the injector.  This is the primitive throttle position sensor. It can detect three positions. |
I painted the exhaust manifold with some Rusty Stuff Primer today, and started installing things: Crankshaft, oil pump and front oil seal. Then I cleaned the throttle body real well.
Make sure you torque everything down to specs. I went ahead and replaced the crankshaft bearings and the thrust washers. They were all worn out enough to replace, but thankfully I didn’t need to go to the oversized. It was pretty easy to install the crankshaft. When I went to install the oil pump, it came with a kit and had the seal preinstalled. Since I didn’t have the official patented “Seal Installer” piece of poly tube, here is what I did: Placed the thing in a bit crooked, so one piece of the seal lip is just barely hanging on. Then, using the handle end of a spoon (something not pointy, and without sharp edges) I went around the edge of the lip, while gently pushing down on the assembly. This works great, but you have to have patience and don’t press too hard. When you install the seal, if you mess up to need to remove it (I forgot the gasket!), make sure the spring is back on the seal. Mine fell off onto the crankshaft, and I almost didn’t notice it. The throttle body had so much oil on it, I wonder if the injectors need replacing. I hope not, since the screws holding the injector in are impossible to remove. If I have to replace the injector, I will upgrade to something newer. Notice the “throttle position sensor”? It is a primitive type which sense only three positions of the pedal: Foot off, foot on, and pedal to the metal. You can adjust where the last one picks up, but it is really rather primitive, and I wonder if I can change it out with something better… Okay, until next time, stay classy, World! |
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