Rover metro resto build

[Beedub]

so...... ive been after a classic hot hatch to add to the fleet for YEARS, prices are rising in a bonkers way across the board, ive been looking at golf GTI,s 205 gtis, ralayes, uno turbos, you name it, ive looked at it and havent found the one for me! Then this little gem popped up. i still have a highly modified concours condition supercharged z4m which ive owned from new i adore that car but its very serious, i need something a little more fun. This era of car is so special to me, the 80s/90s hot hatch scene was to me motoring nirvana.

so without further ADO..... Heres my lotus elise drive gear swapped METRO GTI , all in a near MINT 35k mile shell with some drool worthy hardware.

35k mile shell near mint gti shell
Full stripped ,caged and welded in rear turrets to accept a full coilover.
MGTF subframe and front coilovers.
Rear custom turrets with GAZ coilovers
Lotus ELISE 160 VVC - The kseries sounds F'in WONDERFUL.
PG1 gearbox
Type B torsen LSD
K- tuned mems 3 ECU
Full poly bushed
Light weight flywheel and kevlar clutch
MGF brakes
Janspeed manifold , DECAT 2.5inch straight through exhaust.
power 175bhp, weight is 780kg. its BONKERS fast.

Edited by Beedub on Monday 6th February 08:16

[Beedub]

heres a YT short of her running

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/mcrPgR4HHfA

[bumskins]

I'm glad someone on here bought this, I was on the verge so I get to do so vicariously through you Best of luck with it and thanks for posting!

[Beedub]

so plans for this are to keep it looking exactly how she is just enhance and perfect it. So this week will be paint correction, ceramic coating / ppf for the original paintwork.

flock the dash
strip and powder coat underside
throttle bodies
refinish wheels.
refine interior and make civilised
service, cambelt
new cooling system routing
repaint rear spoiler
dye black pastics
paint roll cage
refresh coilovers

[Google [bot]]

Congrats, that must be so much fun.

[Beedub]

bumskins said:

I'm glad someone on here bought this, I was on the verge so I get to do so vicariously through you Best of luck with it and thanks for posting!

thanks buddy, ill keep this thoroughly updated over the coming years. i dont sell cars so this will be kept for many years , loved , cherished and enjoyed.

[NDNDNDND]

I passed my test in my Mum's 5 door, flat red, 1.4 GTa, and that's the car I remember going on my first drive on my own in after passing.

I have fond memories of these and I'd love to go back and have another go in that car.

Yours looks like great fun, and it sounds like it's gone to someone who's going to look after it properly!

[romeodelta]

YES.

I had a 1.1 Metro as a first car and I always wanted to do this to it, but I was a poor student at the time

I got a 214Si afterwards, which is basically the GTi engine and eventually got the 160 VVC in a TF.

Fond memories of the K series

[V8covin]

Doesn't the upside down Lotus cam cover bother you ?
I'd be looking at getting a new one 3D printed if it doesn't cost too much

[BricktopST205]

I love the premise of these VVC Metro's.

Considering the price 205 GTi's, Clio Williams and even Nova's! go for these days. These are a bit of a bargain. What is the handling like compared to their contemporaries?

[G0ldfysh]

I remember driving a 1.1c metro girlfriend's car I had at the time an AX GT.
The metro was great for flat cornering with total confidence not as adjustable on limit twitchy feeling I had with the AX which was much quicker but got out the car surprised on how it could be throw onto roundabouts without a care on losing grip.

This will be interesting with more go.

[missing the VR6]

Awesome car! Looking forward to the updates.

[Limpet]

Love this!

A mate of mine had a standard mpi 1.4 GTI back in the day, and that felt pretty lively with just 103 bhp in about 800kg of quite basic car.

This must be insane!

[tvrfan007]

Haven't seen a vvc metro for years, thought most of them rotted out. Excellent stuff.

[trails]

Cool as fook

[595Heaven]

Love that!

I had a Flame Red Metro GTi as a company car when I worked at Cowley. Picked it up one afternoon and it was stolen that night! Got dumped outside a school in Headington the next morning and two kids in school uniform got out and melted into the crowd in the playground…

Only damage was a punch hole in the door, steering column shroud and a stolen handbook (apparently the proof that you’d stolen it).

Was a brilliant car once I got it back. Even when some other scrotes nicked the wheels whilst I was at my parents one weekend.

Those were the joyriding days…

[Limpet]

595Heaven said:

Love that!

I had a Flame Red Metro GTi as a company car when I worked at Cowley. Picked it up one afternoon and it was stolen that night! Got dumped outside a school in Headington the next morning and two kids in school uniform got out and melted into the crowd in the playground…

Only damage was a punch hole in the door, steering column shroud and a stolen handbook (apparently the proof that you’d stolen it).

Was a brilliant car once I got it back. Even when some other scrotes nicked the wheels whilst I was at my parents one weekend.

Those were the joyriding days…

It seemed like about half of all Metros, Maestros and Montegos in Oxford in the early 90s had screwdriver holes in the door skin next to the door lock. My uncle bought a Montego GTI (remember them?) new in 1990 and that got stolen off his drive less than four hours after he got it home.

A lot of stolen cars in Oxford were used for the evening entertainment on Blackbird Leys, Barton or Rose Hill before being burnt out. It was pretty unusual to get one back.

[300bhp/ton]

Very nice. Always fancied one of these, even looked Rover 100 prices up recently and couldn't believe how much they are!

This looks really nice, bet it is a very cool sleeper too.

[Beedub]

Right guys

got a few weeks lined up for this so going straight in on it. After really crawling around it, it's condition is nothing short of remarkable , I got to spoke to the guy that built this and it was purchased from a gent who used it as a show car . You can tell it's had very little exposure to the elements. So pleased with it. The main body is in excellent condition with real scope to get it near perfect with a good correction, the underside is fantastic and i really look forward to the strip down and underside restoration of this. Next winter ill remove the engine and powder coat all the brackets , the airbox sounds utterly fantastic, i do love a revved out K series!

Today decontaminated the paint
Used some washing machine feet to create quick release tabs for the battery release bar which was knocked up from a piece of alloy.
Cleaned engine bay
Cleaned interior flooring
APC wiped down shuts .
Preparing for 3 stages of paint correction and paint protection.
Removal of easy to restore engine bay pieces to send to the powder coaters

Only iffy part of paint is the rear spoiler which sadly has laquer peel ( I'm happy it's not the body of the car ) I'm slightly worried about removing the spoiler as it's all one piece and I'll likely not be able to source a new one. So for now , I'll wrap it satin black and gently try to remove another time.

for anyone interested in a VLOG series on this one follow my YT channel as im recording everything im doing.

thanks guys, currently sourcing

• Original Metro mats ( mine are perished )
• parts for a rear disc conversion this NEEDS more braking .

[url]

Edited by Beedub on Monday 6th February 18:02

[Beedub]

V8covin said:

Doesn't the upside down Lotus cam cover bother you ?
I'd be looking at getting a new one 3D printed if it doesn't cost too much

not in the slightest, its kinda cool imo! lol!

Edited by Beedub on Monday 6th February 17:43