Metro VVC. Anyone owned one?
Metro VVC. Anyone owned one?
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Discussion

The_Burg

Original Poster:

4,853 posts

244 months

Sunday 5th January 2014
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Got a sadly written off MGF Trophy on the drive. Now the Metro VVC appeals. Anyone on here owned one? Low 5's to 60 and 140mph top end looking on Z cars. Engine etc is spot on, recent cambelt, water pump and VVC rebuld.
Quite a bit lighter than an MGF so much fun to be had?

HorneyMX5

5,756 posts

180 months

Sunday 5th January 2014
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Awesome sleeper. Do it!

Don1

16,817 posts

238 months

Sunday 5th January 2014
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Just don't crash it. Scary stuff.... Sounds like a basis of a good kit car though?

SlowStig

947 posts

201 months

Sunday 5th January 2014
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Yep, what do you want to know?

Mine:


My journal, bit out of date but gives you a rough idea:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

jds32

359 posts

177 months

Sunday 5th January 2014
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I had a metro GTI that had the none vvc 1.8 in it this was over ten years ago now. At the time vvc conversions were very rare but now with the amount of info and cars that have been converted its a lot easier and if you have a donor car I think you can pretty much get the conversion done in a weekend if you have all the parts . I was going to suggest getting a multi point injection metro as it will be an easier conversion. But good solid metros are getting thin on the ground and buy the least rusty car you can find.

I would love to have another myself as they are huge amounts of fun for not much money and cost peanuts to fix.

The_Burg

Original Poster:

4,853 posts

244 months

Sunday 5th January 2014
quotequote all
As my lovely wife wrote off my MGF Trophy we have all the required parts i suspect. Always looked good fun. One way for it to live on.

SlowStig

947 posts

201 months

Sunday 5th January 2014
quotequote all
Depending on your own levels of mechanical abilities, it can be done in a few hours.

You have two routes to go down, either PG1 or r65 gearboxes. PG1 has a heavier flywheel and is more varied in regards to ratios, LSD etc, but the r65 has a lighter flywheel so revs a lot better and the ratios are more suited imo to a metro.

R65 is a simple plug and play, the PG1 is more complex and requires gear linkages, speedo cables and other bits sorted for the conversion.

Get a solid shell,
buy some individualization nuts&valves for the suspention
Fit the REAR MGF cans to the front of the metro
Fit the MGF vented brakes onto the metro
Engine and ecu fits no problem
Loom converted by AdrianSi

You need to get the best possible shell first, a late(P/R) plate car will be MPi which has the correct engine hoses and fuel pump/pipes to enable a straight swap.

Get on: www.metropower.org.uk

Dogwatch

6,383 posts

252 months

Sunday 5th January 2014
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Don1 said:
Just don't crash it.
yes

Matt 211988

223 posts

154 months

Sunday 5th January 2014
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my brother has done one recently
Ive not been in it yet, from what ive seen its fast for a metro but i wouldnt say much/any faster than a modern hot hatch

the engine broke after about 2months of finishing it too (cylinder sleeve had moved i believe?)

he also has a 306gti6, which i keep telling him is just as fast and handles way better, but hes not having it :P

The_Burg

Original Poster:

4,853 posts

244 months

Sunday 5th January 2014
quotequote all
Matt 211988 said:
my brother has done one recently
Ive not been in it yet, from what ive seen its fast for a metro but i wouldnt say much/any faster than a modern hot hatch

the engine broke after about 2months of finishing it too (cylinder sleeve had moved i believe?)

he also has a 306gti6, which i keep telling him is just as fast and handles way better, but hes not having it :P
Half the weight of a modern 'hot' hatch, i call spoof on that. Mid 5s with a 140vvc. 306 with less power and much more weight... Around 9 secs to 60 i seem to remember compared to 6.9 for a MGF 160.

Just discussing an Allegro conversion with my chap who does my car repairs and builds some mad specials. Cack green Allegro with the 160bhp engine should be proper fast. And hilarious too.

twin40s

154 posts

285 months

Wednesday 22nd January 2014
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This was mine.








It was hilariously good fun.
(not exactly refined thoughwobble)

Paul

The_Burg

Original Poster:

4,853 posts

244 months

Wednesday 22nd January 2014
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Needs to be flat brown with the check cloth seats for the bonus!

Skyedriver

23,419 posts

312 months

Thursday 23rd January 2014
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S'funny
Back when they (Metros) were current (1980's) I had a few, in fact my house used to be known as "The Metro Centre" (North East joke).
I'd moved on from minis and had a series of 1.0 litre, 1.3, 1.3HLE, MG and Turbo and thought they were a massive step forward.
Then around 1999/2000 I had a metro as a courtesy car and by eck, how awful it was. Felt unsafe at any speed, bounced, dived, wobbled, weaved.
So are these VVC conversions any better handling wise?

Kitchski

6,551 posts

261 months

Thursday 23rd January 2014
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The_Burg said:
Half the weight of a modern 'hot' hatch, i call spoof on that. Mid 5s with a 140vvc. 306 with less power and much more weight... Around 9 secs to 60 i seem to remember compared to 6.9 for a MGF 160.

Just discussing an Allegro conversion with my chap who does my car repairs and builds some mad specials. Cack green Allegro with the 160bhp engine should be proper fast. And hilarious too.
Not relevant to the thread, but that's totally wrong. 306 weighs about 200-300kg more, yes, but has 165-170bhp out of the box. 0-60 dash (not that it tells you everything) is low 7's for the GTi-6, and high 6's/low 7's for the Rallye. Every VVC K-series I've dyno'd has struggled to even hit book power.

That said, Metros are a hoot and with a VVC under the bonnet they'll go some! I think I'd just go standard 1.8 though - VVC sounds like a diesel at tickover and it's more to go wrong. Squeeze 120-130 out of it and you'll be laughing.