What it takes to make a Geo Metro commuter car go the distance and then some.
Have a question ask me please, I'm still building this page and know there is much more to put on it. Email is watercatwn6535nd@yahoo.com
This is very important to me. I thank you all so much and in advance. From advice to spending your hard earned money it's all very appreciated.
I want to make sure everyone knows how much I appreciate you supporting my Urban Micro Farm. These few cars that get restored and recycled every year are what make the GEO RANCH sustainable. Very few farms in America can say that they are sustainable so it means a lot to me. A farm of any size in our country any more has to really expand there ideas on how to exist with big AGRICULTURE CORPORATIONS. I'm very proud to say this Urban Micro Farm is doing just that because of all the great support and interest from all of you. Thank you
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HERE IS THE LIST OF WHAT GETS SERVICED ON EACH GEO UNLESS NOTED IN A VIDEO OR EMAIL
If you'd like to watch my videos of Geo's being restored you'll find many at my new you tube page and tons of them at yahoo video pages as well. http://www.youtube.com/user/watercatwn6535nd?feature=mhee
VALVE JOB,
Exhaust valves replaced with new stainless valves. Intake valves and seats machined to new specs. Valve stem seals replaced. Valve installed height is returned to stock specs. All valves are lapped in with course lapping compound after machine grinding. Head surface is check for level and machined if needed. Cam is measured to be with-in factory specs and lifters are rebuilt. New seals and gaskets are installed.
ENGINE BLOCK,
Pistons are removed and cleaned. Engine is lightly honed. New standard rings are installed. Rod bearings are removed and replaced. Deck of block is checked and machined as required. New gaskets and seals that were removed are replaced with factory new. On manual transmission vehicles the engine block will be removed at this time to allow the installation of the new clutch disc, pressure plate, rear main seal and throw out bearing. Geo's even with new rings consume some amounts of oil so this is nothing to be concerned with just keep them full and change it on time. Compression on a Geo is 150lbs on the low side and 200lbs plus new. The engine runs higher compression ratios than your average car so don't be fooled with a used car has 150 lbs and and your use to your old Chevy truck that has 125lbs. The better the compression the better your mileage. Think at least 175lbs and things are just fine. Never buy a Geo with out seeing the compression if its not there it will get terrible mileage and 9 out of 10 Geo's for sale are simply not getting good mileage any more because the engine has 150k NO maintenance miles on it. I have never seen a Geo with 150,000 that had good rings in the motor. A simple compression test is all you need to have done or do yourself to know. 175lbs is what your looking for and all cylinders to be between 20% of each other.
FYI,
Do not add oil to the cylinders. This is a trick to make the compression go higher than it really is. Run the car tell its warmed up and while doing this look at the tail pipe for signs of smoke. When its at operating temperature run the test. Never go by a compression check that is ready to do when you get there. Reinstall the plugs warm it up and then check it your self. Just a smidgen of oil squirted in the cylinders will make it look brand new when its junk.
Manifolds EGR system,
The intake manifold EGR track is reamed out of all carbon. The exhaust manifold is reamed of carbon and either buffed or surfaced for flatness. The EGR valve is vacuum tested and cleaned back to factory specs. EGR helps with emissions and betters the fuel economy and power under acceleration.
WHEEL BEARINGS,
Bearings will be removed and inspected and repacked or replaced if any signs of wear are showing. There are two large bearings on each wheel. Geo's rarely have bearing issues if you replace them every 60k to 90k miles. After that there all bad every time just watch my videos of the tear downs to see what I mean.
AXLE BOOTS
Any ripped or torn boots get replaced. Geo's only have failed CV's when the boots are torn and not replaced before road sand and dirt gets in with the grease. The Geo just doesn't have the power needed to actually break an axle joint.
TRANSMISSION,
Test driven to make sure all gears and synchronizers are working correctly. Then the fluid is drained and refilled with Extreme pressure lube to make sure it lasts. FYI (automatics have a shake at a idle in gear, kinda like the slight shake the Geo motor has in park or neutral just magnified a bit in gear at a stop with your foot on the brake. Its normal for a Geo in a 3 cylinder. On the 4 cylinder's it should be very smooth) I tell passengers its not a earth quake its a Geo, its not that bad but its not like any other car since it has a 3 cylinder engine its from the motor balancing issue that comes with 3 cylinder engines. On automatics I also run a pressure test to make sure the transmission puts out the correct pressure at the shift points. This tells me the transmission's pump is good as well as it is shifting at the correct rpm and engine load. Then the transmission and torque converter are flushed and pumped full of synthetic fluid. In the future I do not recommend anything but checking the fluid level in the stick but the automatics have a drain plug on the pan on most models and take very little fluid to drain and refill. I recommend this plug (or oil pan) be removed every 5th oil change and topped up with your favorite synthetic oil. i also recommend that your first drain and refill be done at your mechanics repair shop instead of a lube and oil shop so that you can have them install a drain plug if your don't already have one. This should save you at $50.00 to $70.00 dollars at all the rest of your transmission services. I'm guessing he should get a $100.00 or $125.00 out of you for this first service and plug install. If you do this drain and refill with a plug you will never need to pull the pan or service the filter. If the filter is ever plugged you need a new transmission so why mess with it. It will look clean and new tell the transmission fails so no point with servicing it. New cars don't even have the filters in the pan any more. There much like engine oil light's that comes on to tell you the engine needs to be replaced and you need a tow truck. If you ever need a transmission I recommend 30k mile engine recyclers and not a standard wrecking yard recyclers. Local wrecking yards don't have low mileage transmissions and they usually get more than a recycler that imports 30 k engines and transmissions. But Don't have it rebuilt its to costly and used units last for so long in my opinion. A rebuild can run $1000.00 to $1500.00 and I have bought used automatics with 30k miles on them many times for $75.00 to $350.00. that worked like new. Expect to pay or take about 5 hours to swap it out plus oil. Only In a Geo can you get a transmission installed for the cost of a clutch on most other cars.
TIRES,
All tires will have 80% or better tread and be on stock rims with hub caps unless noted. They will be filled with balancing beads so that you never have to get a tire rebalanced during its entire life cycle. Balancing beads centrifugally balance the wheel and tire perfectly at every speed. Its much more smooth than conventional tire weights. Plus the beads can be moved in the future to your new tires and save you the cost of balancing in the future.
EXTERIOR,
All glass and body trim will be installed correctly and in working order such as lights & bumpers. The Geo will be pressure washed underneath as well as the body and under hood. I try and touch up all or any rock chips so that it looks as sharp as possible. New wiper blades are installed and washer fluid is filled with washer fluid. I recommend you find a afternoon to bond with your Geo and wax it up really nice or head to the car wash and have a good drive through wax job put on it. Its not the shiny part of wax I look for its the protection you get from the road salts it gives you. The shiny paint is just a great bonus. If your really lazy and like to wash your own car but hate to wax a old timer showed me that when your done washing your car just add floor wax per the instructions and use your car wash brush to apply it. This works very well on steel painted buildings as well to make them look new. I'm not sure he was a genius its the same thing the car wash machine does but at home it sure saves time.
INTERIOR,
I vacuum and wipe the interior down. Clean the glass inside and out. Makes sure it has a good spare tire with jack and lug wrench. Check and make sure the seats and belts operate etc. Lube door locks and latches. Lube and adjust window regulators. I recommend carpet cleaning at the car wash with the foam soap. Or if you have a carpet cleaner at home that's even better. I recommend it even if it looks sharp but I leave that part up to you.
BRAKES,
Rotors and drums are removed and there surface machined flat. Pads and shoes are replaced with new. Hardware anti-seize coated. Calipers and wheel cylinders are serviced cleaned and lubed including attachment pins. Brake lines are inspected and serviced if signs of cracking. Brake fluid is flushed and air is bleed from the entire system. FYI, fluid flushing should be done every 24 months to stop rusting from condensation building up in side calipers and wheel cylinders. This is what causes the O-rings to leak.
Tune up, oil change
All new tune up parts are installed. Distributor cap, ignition rotor, ignition wires, spark plugs, oil change (synthetic 5/30) and P.C.V. valve. You are checking the oil?
Fuel injection,
Fuel system is cleaned and flushed with MOTOR VAC fuel injection machine chemical. Fuel pressure and volume block off test is run to make sure the fuel pump is with in specs. Fuel pressure is approximately 15 psi and and when the return line is blocked off fuel pressure needs to spike up by 3 times operating pressure. When the fuel pressure regulator vacuum is turned on and off a 5 psi fuel pressure change should be obvious. You never know when a fuel pump will quit being an electric component but it's rare on a Geo and if specs are with in limits its a good chance yours is years away from a failure.
Cooling System,
The water pump is replaced with a new timing belt and water pump drive belt. The radiator and heater core are flushed and the hoses are checked for signs of wear and replaced as needed. The system is refilled with long life Preston antifreeze and the factory radiator stop leak. The radiator cap is tested. Flush your radiator every 60,000 miles or 36 months. Always add stop leak to the system when refilling it. While it is being flushed your technician will have washed the stop leak out and during this service he will be able to now pressure test the radiator and complete system and see if you have any pin holes or corrosion leaks. After the leaks are serviced then re add stop leak. I use the organic Bars Leak (silver bottle)as it is the factory style and works very well. Do not use stop leaks that are metal or glue based. you want it to rinse out during a flush. Bars is so good you can walk up to a radiator with a car running and cram a ice pick in the radiator and it will leak for just a moment. Then if you had to you could drive across the country. DON'T! BUT YOU COULD, I HAVE DONE IT ON PURPOSE TO TEST THE PRODUCT. Wynn's also sell's a product that will do the same.
Exhaust system,
Replaced as needed to bring back to the factory specifications from the catalytic convertor back. A new convertor will run you $300.00 if you wish to have one installed. You don't get better mileage from removing the converter or the resonator. The only thing that does is make the car nosier inside while your driving. The converter is easy to check and rarely fails if ever at all. Simply remove your oxygen sensor and test drive the car. Besides the loud exhaust noise from the sensor not being installed the car should have more power if the converter is failed. If running with no sensor gives it more power driving the system is plugged/melted. If it is melted you need to fix the issue THAT CAUSED THE MELTING as soon as you install the new converter. If it does not help removing the sensor simply re install it and continue with your diagnostics. Most converter failures are not actually plugging this is worst case scenario. Most converters simply have the precious metal stop working from years of use and or oil carbon coating in the converter just as the EGR system plugs up. A good way to clean out a old carbon dirty converter is simply rebuild your old engine and the new cleaner hotter burning engine will bring the cat back up to temp and burn the carbon from it. Bringing it back to life most of the time if not all the time. Lets face it its full of platinum for the most part and platinum is very hard if not impossible to destroy. Hence the reason they use it and the reason converters cost so much. ALSO LARGER PIPE OR BIGGER MUFFLERS WILL NOT GIVE YOUR GEO MORE POWER AND IN FACT WILL LOWER THE BACK PRESSURE AND KILL YOUR PERFORMANCE FOR GETTING ON THE FREEWAY WITH A SEMI TRUCK COMING UP BEHIND YOU. IF IT DID HELP THE FACTORY WOULD HAVE PUT IT ON. I HAVE 2" ON MY PERSONAL CAR AND I CAN SAY IT DID NOTHING AT ALL FOR ME WHAT SO EVER BUT COSTS ME ABOUT $350. STOCK IS 1.25" or 1.5" AND FOR A 1.3 liter OR 1.0 LITER ENGINE THAT'S HUGE ALREADY.
THINGS I DON'T DO FOR GOOD Reason's
I don't do any stereo work at all. If its there and it works you get it. If it is a stripped down metro and didn't come with one it still wont. I don't replace broken radio antenna's. Just go to CAR TOY"S and you can get a brand new blue tooth CD mp3 iphone etc etc for very little money any more and most of the time the installation is for free. Also if you are DIY person the Sony stores at the Seattle outlet malls have super great deals. I have one from there. If its not a issue for you or you like nice stereo equipment this saves you money by me not installing some cheap stereo you would change out any how.
Rear hatch shocks you can install these in a few minutes. If you really need them. In fact only install one as two are to strong for a Geo hatch. I put make a special hatch holder that I put in every car so that if you don't want to replace them your good to go.. They usually work for a minute or so but if you wait long enough it will hit you on the head if you let it. IF its a not a issue for you it saves you money when your buying the car .
Air Conditioning systems all get there belt removed if they work or not. I don't check them at all. With everyone trying to get gas mileage I see no reason for a/c system's on a Geo. Of course you can always install a belt, recharge/repair the system and be nice and cold. Another money saver on mileage and if you don't use a/c your not paying me to go through it. Costs the same to service it today as it does in a year. so you may as well do it when you want to afford it.
Door window regulators and front windshields I leave for you to replace or rock chip.The regulators usually if they have a issue are just a bit sloppy rolling up and down. Most people won't be bothered by them. Rock chips are usually fixed under your car insurance so I let you take advantage of that rather than install them and add that to the cost.
Any of these things I normally don't do can be done if I am working with some one on custom build (deposit required). But remember I only do this stuff while I'm servicing the car. After that your regular mechanic is the guy to go to. I simply don't run a repair shop and this being a hobby I don't want it to be a service shop.
Remember most all of these cars are owned by some one that I am working with. They supply the car I do the work. You get a super car at super price. There is no warranty! If you need one buy a car at a used car lot they are running about $1500.00 for a warranty. I do my best to make sure you get great commuter car. If and when you need service take it to a GEO guy in your area. I recommend the dealer but there are good techs out there at independent shops. I don't recommend mechanics so please don't ask. If I decide to service Geo's in the future I'll send out a email. It will only be for major services if I do. So you still need a Geo tech for other stuff.
Pricing,
It's not all about the price of gas or the mpg. The car is long lasting when serviced correctly and the cost of service is substantially less than most other cars. If a repair is $1000.00 dollars cheaper in your Geo just imagine how many miles you can drive your Geo on $1000.00 of fuel. Or if you are driving a vehicle that gets 20 mpg your saving at least $20 dollars at every 10 gallon fill up. This money savings easily pays for any high quality maintenance that it takes to keep the best oils and fresh tune ups on your car. I see no reason it doesn't justify a paint job every 10 years to make sure there is no rust and it looks sharp. There is no reason you cant drive this car for 20 plus years.
Once you drive a Geo your pocket book will never let you commute in any thing else. It's tough to roll into gas station's and know if you were driving your Geo that the bill would be half or a third or close to enough to take your spouse to dinner. But then you might like funding the BP oil clean up as well as being the cause and paying the highest state fuel taxes in the nation?
As a rule of thumb, decent average cars ( small dings minor scratches) run about $4500.00 and super clean cars when they can be found run $5000.00 to $5500.00 and up. Geo's are getting so expensive since fuel prices started going up again expect the longer you wait the more they will cost. I'm betting your restored Geo is worth $6500.00 to $7500.00 plus when gas gets over 5 dollars a gallon. I base this on the fact that finding one will be very difficult at that point. Just a year ago there would be 10 a day every where for sale now its just a couple and they want real money for them. Imagine what junky Geo's will be for sale if gas is $5 or $6 for a gallon of gas who would sell there car to you!?
Paint
I'm playing with the idea of having every car painted unless its just perfect. Geo's with good paint are so rare I don't even see them any more perfect. I can see soon that the cost of a Geo will be high enough and the drive train being restored will simply justify the want to have the rest of the car look new again. I like to think that a good way to look at a Geo that I do is that your buying a car that has about 30,000 miles on it no matter what the odometer says. Maybe even 10,000 but very low with so many parts changed and serviced.
I'm still asking questions and seeing what responses are. I think if I were buying one I would be happy to pay $1500 or so more to make the outside match the under side. FYI to get a paint shop to do a paint job that cheap you have to give them some volume and let them do it on there slow days when they want to work it in. If not a paint job from calling around really goes for $3500 plus. So you can see where a $1500 paint job would make your investment worth that much more and your neighbors may think you just bout a new shiny car. I do so few cars that to get a super price like this I would need to do all of them. Let me know what you think.
So far everyone has said I don't care about paint or dings, I just want a good drive train and gas mileage.
So that's what were going to go after unless you contact me about a custom build.
Thanks for supporting my micro farm here at the GEO ranch