I just acquired a 57 Metropolitan.
What would be a fairly easy engine/trans swap?
I saw an article 2 mo's ago in R&C , where they put a, 02 Ranger Engine and 5 speed in a Metro.
Would this be a difficult swap?
I would think the wiring harness/computer would be difficult.
I have above average skill, and a friend with much more skills than myself.
Is there an easier swap. Maybe a V6/auto combo. Make/C.I/Yr?
I don't have to pass any emissions test. If it was going to be my car, I would go for a SBC and 700r4, but it will be for my wife, so a 4/6 cyl with a 3/4 speed auto will be okay.
Bob,
With your skills I would suggest the 2.8 V-6 from a mid 80's S-10..it is a very compact unit comes with the auto tranny attached and its major problem was being asked to pull around some very heavy cars by GM..I believe there are some performance parts for it and the finished result could be a nice runner as it were.. :thumbup:
Proceed with care. The bay is big enough to accept any small RWD 4-banger but the rear end is guaranteed to blow with any power increase. Heck, I have heard of them blowing from the stock 35hp Metro engine. And no, as far as I know there are no good modern rears that will drop right in. You are faced with narrowing one, Vega maybe?
Also, while you are at upgrading look at replacing the front suspension with something stouter. The stock spindles on those cars are notorious for snapping off on a good pot-hole. Also, the 4 anemic lug bolts snap off regularly. You are looking at having to narrow and adapt something more modern and robust - Vega again?
There is a very good reason there are so many of those cute little rides still around after 50 years - they are so poorly built, they rarely ran so weren't wrecked!!
I drove one of those little beasts back in the sixties. It was a ""chase car" for the dealer I was working for. It had a tow bar permanently attached to the front. The original motor had died and was replaced with a Triumph TR. It started hard in cold weather, usually had to have two batteries (jump)connected in series to start it. We wasted the rear end, rolling it down a big hill on a cold winter morning. The driver (ME) popped the clutch and the rear went "BANG!, crunch crunch, Bang!". I couldn't believe the size of the rear end gears. Looked like something from a yard/garden tractor.
It was a fun car to drive tho and it got lots of looks. I still remember that little shifter lever sticking out of the dash/steering column.
I just picked up the car yesterday and I will be dumping the Austin motor and transmission, also the wiring harnesses.
I'm thinking the 86-88 Ford 2.9 with an A4LD would be a good combo.
Does any one know the actual physical size of Ford 2.9 V6?
Does the 2.9 require a computer?
The Buick 3.8 (older, carb'd version)(or 4.2 version)
is also a small, compact and lightweight engine that puts out a surprising amount of smooth power with minimal
mods - just a mild cam, Performer intake and
small 4bbl (or Holley throttle body efi) hooked to a
4spd auto 2004R makes a real nice running package.
If you're a little more ambitious in the wiring dept,
you could use a later version 3.8 that came with efi.
The Buick 3.8 (older, carb'd version)(or 4.2 version)
is also a small, compact and lightweight engine that puts out a surprising amount of smooth power with minimal
mods - just a mild cam, Performer intake and
small 4bbl (or Holley throttle body efi) hooked to a
4spd auto 2004R makes a real nice running package.
If you're a little more ambitious in the wiring dept,
you could use a later version 3.8 that came with efi.
The Buick is a 90 deg V6 and is as wide as a V8. A better choice would be the 2.8/3.1/3.4 liter 60 deg V6. These can bolt to an S10 or F-body 700R4 with the narrow bellhousing. I'd go with an aftermarket computer (Megasquirt). There used to be an aftermarket carb intake available for the 2.8.
I just acquired a 57 Metropolitan.
What would be a fairly easy engine/trans swap?
I saw an article 2 mo's ago in R&C , where they put a, 02 Ranger Engine and 5 speed in a Metro.
Would this be a difficult swap?
I would think the wiring harness/computer would be difficult.
I have above average skill, and a friend with much more skills than myself.
Is there an easier swap. Maybe a V6/auto combo. Make/C.I/Yr?
I don't have to pass any emissions test. If it was going to be my car, I would go for a SBC and 700r4, but it will be for my wife, so a 4/6 cyl with a 3/4 speed auto will be okay.
Used to be a guy in Grants Pass, Oregon had one of these on 4x4 Jeep frame and running gear with a small block Chevy for power. Seems like a reasonable swap to me.
I helped my son put in a 1.6 pinto and 4 speed ...easy fit but the gear shift was too far back so we cut the housing top and rail and moved it foreward... a ford engineer i knew put in a Ford v6 and narrowed 8 inch and mustang II front. I have seen some on a t bucket style chassis... It is very easy to suicide the doors ... they are symetrical... cut the spot welds.. just switch sides and move the lock pillar and hinge pillars... the factory prototype had a regular door on one side and a suicide on the other. the door would fit either side. S 10's sticks have the shifter in a good location for the swap ....stock metro brakes suck !!!!
If you are carefull and have a good sharp thin chisel you can cut off the top. earlu corvette or thunderbird style. find some sports car convertible or T top latches
When I had my 59 Nash in 1969 there was not an Anglia , Volvo , VW or Vauxhall that was safe from the tire burning power of the Metro. I always dreamed of swapping in a 4 spd. from a Healy Sprite...
Clint
kewl that you can fit a hemi in one, it's just impractical. that's why i want to copy the ranger idea, three times the hp in a STOCK package any ford dealer can diagnose.
Hi guys,
I have installed a Mazda rotary out of the the 3rd gen RX-7 into my Rambler American wagon. I would highly recommend this engine. You can pick up a nicely rebuilt rotary for around 1600-2000 without Fi or Turbo. There are intakes for the Holley 4 bbl as well as the Weber IDA. The Weber does look more impressive on the engine in my opinion. I am running fuel injection and a turbo but if you stay with the carb set up you can cut alot of costs and do not need a new ECU. Your car is short so the trans is up in the air..I ran a 5 speed manual out of the early 80's RX-7. We had to modify the trans tunnel. I am sure you'd need a shortened rear end at least 8".
I can tell you that the rotary is very light..two guys can easily pick it up and move around. They are only around 80 cu.in. They are essentially a small beer keg in size. They use a single crossmember mount or 2 mounts that come off the rear corners which are easy to fabricate into your frame. They rev to 8000+ RPM and if you build them right they will last for along time. Power is smooth. Not as much torque as a v-8 but tons of power mid band. Plus I bet you wouldnt have to cut your car up much if any in the engine bay.
The rotary in my Rambler fits so nicely..more power than a 4 banger and way more unique and fun!
If you are carefull and have a good sharp thin chisel you can cut off the top. earlu corvette or thunderbird style. find some sports car convertible or T top latches
AND- strangely enough, the factory ragtop versions had NO additional bracing - the car had actually been designed to be ragtop from the get-go, and the hardtop version required no body changes below the beltline. So, if you can cut off the top sans damaging things. it can then be a lift-off. My thot was a Toyota engine/trans from an early (70's?) Corolla 1200 or 1500 RWD - if there are any left around as they rusted SOOO bad!
Mets were actually Austins - an A-40, with the 4-speed box reduced to 3 sp by removal of the Austin low gear - and rebodied with a Pininfarina-designed look to match the bigger Nashes of the day (also Pininfarina designed) The makers plate on the firewall says they were built by Austin for Nash-Kelvinator - guess they are just a big refrigerator on wheels!
Biggest problem - all the mechanicals suck big time, and the wiring is Lucas - the Prince of Darkness! Add to that the VERY narrow track width required by the enclosed front wheels and you have a tippy beast with a large turning circle.
My wife thot they were "cute" and we wound up with 2 of 'em - a very early '54 (first year) and a '59 (last year of actual production - altho the unsold ones were then called a '60, a '61 etc) The '59 production year (59-on in terms of titles) was the only one to have a trunk that opens from the outside! We have since sold both.
I expect few current owners are trying to swap engines, but if one or two are, I suggest consideration of the Volkswagen VR6 engine. This is a very narrow angle V6 that is not much longer than a four cylinder engine, and not nearly as wide as most V6 engines. The narrow width is important in the Nash Metropolitan's narrow engine bay.
The VW V6 comes in two cylinder angles. The older version had a narrower angle than the newest. A Google search will reveal a vast amount of technical information.
Some things to consider: Any Metro engine swap entails beefing up other power train parts. All narrow angle VW v6 engines have a cast iron block, and finding a suitable transmission will be a problem.
I drove my Metro from Washington State to Illinois and recall it as a very pleasurable drive. It was winter and we removed the engine fan, which made for a much quieter interior sound at high speed.
An early 70s Datsun four is essentially an improved Austin A-40 (or maybe a later version). It has been used often to upgrade the Met because of similar size and looks. Datsun B-210 engine is most often mentioned, some 510s also (car designations, not the engine model designation).
DUH! Didn't look at the date of the older posts. Searched for "Rambler" and noticed the most recent post date, didn't look at the rest. I hate it when an old thread gets drug up and I don't look back for the dates past the last message or two!! Gotta remember to look...
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