Reviving the Metro

I was in town today on business and stopped by at a motor shop and picked up a new engine for the metro.  It was only $290 for the engine!  I still can't believe how cheap that is.  Of course, the whole buying an engine thing just underscores the serious case of scope creep we are experiencing....

We started out pulling the head to see if it was warped.  It was and the middle piston was completely full of water so I took the head down and had it machined.  

Since the head was off, and that required pulling the timing belt, we figured we might as well get a new timing belt, and since that was off we figured we might as well do the water pump (actually, I think I verified that it was leaking - it may have been what caused the overheating in the first place)

Then, I figured with the head off, I might as well hone the cylinders and install new rings.

Then the guys at the auto shop convinced me that if the engine was overheated to the point where it quit running (it was) then it would probably be a good idea to have the entire block rebuilt and they pointed out to me that I could buy the engine at City Motor in Dallas for super cheap....so I figured they were right and did that.

Of course, now with the engine out, I can see that the clutch is wearing and so we might as well replace that, so I need to buy a new clutch.  Also, since the oil pump has to be pulled to install it on the shortblock, we might as well go ahead and get a new one of those too right?

Oh yeah, and with the engine pulled, now would definitely be the best time to replace the CV shafts/boots that are totally ripped, worn and popping.

What else?

One more cool thing - we removed the engine with no hoist - Jessica and I just lowered it down to the floor by hand and slid it out from under the car.  That's alot different than back when I was dealing with AMC V8s from Jeeps - those things could kill you if they leaned over on you.  Getting the engine back in should be even easier because we can go in from the top (something we couldn't do on the way out because I hadn't taken off a few brackets yet and with them, it was too tight a fit.

It was a fun night because Jessica came out to the shop and painted the pool fence (hanging from the rafters in the shop) while I worked on the car.  It is nice to have some company (and occasionally a spare hand) while working.