In the beginning...

Everything has to start somewhere, right? This project started the second I forked over $1,100 to an older gentlemen named Steve for a 1994 white Geo Metro hatchback with an automatic transmission. A 16 year old vehicle with 109,000+ miles on it. Seems like a good decision, right?



I can't continue without mentioning what was advertised as "Metro pin-stripping" on the Craigslist (home of anything and everything... including "encounters" in the Stacks). I did not have these FLAMES (?) in mind when I read the word "pin-stripping" for the first time.

Here's what my friend Andy had to say about the "pinstripes": "Hey, looks nice on the outside at least. Maybe a repaint on that bitching stripe."

No comment. (He's right)

Quickly, I realized the SIZE of this car (or lack there of). Mind you, my previous car was a 2007 VW Jetta, so going from a mid-sized car to this is a little bit of a change. (Although my first car was a 1981 Honda Accord hatchback.) So... I pulled up into the parking spot only to realize that I had pulled in too far (a habit I got used to with the larger Jetta). (Pause)

No good project is without it's issues. I know this from experience. So I wasn't that surprised the second I pulled the car up into my girlfriend's parking lot and something broke on the car.

(Resume: Back to the first few minutes driving and parking the car.) So... at this stage I realized that if I left the car parked all the way into the spot that someone would likely whip into the spot, thinking the space was open, and smash into the back of my newly purchased vehicle. With this understanding in mind I put the car into reverse and--oh wait... no I didn't.

The shifter wouldn't budge. Awesome.

Luckily I had my friend Jeremy (who test drove the car with me and who will be heavily involved in this project) follow me to the apartment complex just in case anything happened. (Something was happening of course.) So... Jeremy and I proceeded to diagnose the issue. After about 15 minutes of pointing, poking and prodding... we discovered that the air compressor attached to the safety switch on the gear box (you know... so it doesn't 'slip' into gear when you have it parked somewhere) wasn't engaging and releasing the shifter when the brake was pushed. With Jeremy's help and understanding, a simple hack corrects the issue for now but at this point it looks like a new gear box is in my future. I don't have a problem with that.

So... at this point I think it's time to reveal my early wishlist (in no particular order):

-New steering wheel: the default steering wheel is TERRIBLE; same feeling you get when holding a very skinny persons hand... annoying! I feel like I could break the steering wheel in two if I'm not careful.

-New braking system: the vacuum assist breaks just aren't going to cut it. Jeremy and I will be on the hunt for a power braking system on another Geo. Junk yards... here we come!

-New paint: 'I see a white car and I want it painted black'. That's right... the plan is to paint everything black; inside and out. Also considering adding some logos for our radio station... we'll see.

-Eliminate road noise: Jeremy tells me a rhino liner undercoating will help with the noise. Again... we'll see.

-New headlights: I'm not a fan of the look and functionality of the current lights. Weak sauce, young padawan.

-New mirrors: the side mirrors are ATROCIOUS! I can barely see anything behind me... the side mirrors are way too thin.

So... there you have it. The next step is to buy insurance and then to get plates for the thing. Going to cost me a small fortune, but hopefully the gas mileage will make up for it and then some. I hear rumors of the fuel gauge tricking people into thinking that there is less fuel in the tank than there really is. I guess the next step is to run the car dry, fill it up and then run it dry again to see how many miles I can get on one tank. Another thing I'll report on, I'm sure.

Finally... I can't go on without saying this: I know little to nothing about how cars work. I'd consider myself pretty good at quickly familarizing myself with how things work, so with Jeremy's assistance (and my 'money'), I feel really good about this project. I know from the beginning that there will be ups and downs, but we'll take it in stride and hopefully keep this car running for as long as we can; maybe even make some money off of it in the long run.

Photos and stories to come. Stay tuned!

Be seeing you.