new to the A series thing.
Turbo Mini Forums

Hey guys and girls,

My names Russ and i have found a new project for myself which is an 1980 metro which has been converted in to a two door convertable pick up! It was given to me as a kid and i put it in a barn and forgot about it. During a storm a few months back the roof came in so we had to move stuff out and it was then that i found my old car!!

here are a few pics, it needs a load of work doing to it to put it right but should be fun.





I know this isn't a mini but i found this forum looking for a metro turbo engine.

Going to lower it to the floor and wack a turbo lump in uprade the breaks and not sure after that.

Thanks for looking.8-)

www.kingskin.com check it out.......

Very unusual ! Should make a fun project. Welcome to the forum.

WWW.TURBO-MINI.COM

Well that looks interesting, good luck with it

Hello and welcome.

I have a turboed Metro van and a few others run/race metros so your not on your own

a warm welcome

I Like it!

Cheers guys.

I can't wait to get it up to my place and start to strip it ready for the rebuild.

Ill start a build thread once it arrives and keep you all up to date.

www.kingskin.com check it out.......

Excellent!

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing half of.

welcome aboard

welcome, and keep the pics flowing .

welcome, loads of advice and a wealth of experience on here

i hope its not as rotten as a crab!

a warm welcome, will look well when its done

A few hints :)

the front brakes will be solids as standard for this year, just whack a set of later vented ones on and a decent set of pads (not greenstuff) mintex standards are good.

suspension wise, for the front, poly bush the front ARB and bottom arms, whip the displacers out and remove about 1/2" from the struts, that will give scope for dropping the suspension about 2" while keeping the same hydro pressure, add a pair of shocks to the front, remove the front subframe mountings and dobb across them with a bit of weld then burn out all the rubber and get a good weld across them making them solid.

on the rear, split the displacers so they are not connected across the car (if you plan on using it to put any weight in use a pair of front displacers in the back as they are harder) tack across the front rubberised subframe mounts then remove and burn off and weld up. on top of the subframe there are two rubber pads, replace these with a metal spacer and spreader plate hold the subby up by bolting it through the spacer to the floor. its also worth turreting the rear and adding shocks.

I found really dumping metro's can end up with the drive shafts popping out of the inner CV joint so watch out for that.

If you have the front wings off check the joint at the top of the box section, this can crack and give way, although welding the front subframe mounts up will help stop this.

the engine can whip round a bit on the big marshmallowey engine mounts, a steady from the head to the bulkhead works wonders, allegro ones are ideal to chop up and mod for this.

I think that covers my top metro mods lol.

To add to Joe's list. Not all metros have the stiffening bits where the shockers pop through the inner wings, don't fit them unless it has these or you will soon find your inner wings the wrong shape.

On the rear a MG Turbo anti roll bar helps a lot.

There's a whole load of modified metro suspension for sale by Monster Hedgehog in the for sale section.

Edited by apbellamy on 18th Jan, 2010.

www.kingskin.com check it out.......

good shout,

I'd not seen a metty without the stiffening bits so didnt know about it.

also I think seperating the rear displacers and an anti roll bar is probably too much, I'd suggest one or the other.

Thanks again guys this is great information I'll add this to my to do list.

Cheers

www.kingskin.com check it out.......

Welcome to TM!

Looks like a nice little project.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fusion-Fabri..._homepage_panel

www.fusionfabs.co.uk



1/4mile in 13.2sec @ 111 terminal on 15psi

Welcome to TM. Have fun

welcome to tm!!!

Yes i moved to the darkside

Instagram @jdm_brett

Yep, the van doesn't have the stiffening plates. I keep looking out for them on cars I brake, but so far no luck...

The van is individulised and has a rear ARB and is fine. handles very well and the ride isn't much different.

Quick tip for individulising the rear. you can get female - female brake unions that screw onto the hydro cans and then accept a new shrader valve. cost about £10 to do the van.