Proctas Rover Metro GTA 16v

[procta]

i bought the car back in 2008, as a project car. plus i liked the idea of building a vvc power one. the 306 gti 6 rallye gave me the idea of having a car that is poverty specd, practical, and sleeper.
the only metros that fitted that idea, was a carbed or an spi metro rio, the carb metro would require converting over to injection. so it wasnt worth the doing as you could pick up a R100 spi ( same car but newer) so that carbed metro idea went out of the window. the R100s were weaker cars than the mk3 metro. as rover decided to buy cheeper metal and skimp on rust proofing on later R100s. so the only idea was to get hold of an older metro. after keeping me eye on ebay for metro spis, a rover metro gta 16v spi popped up.
these were the poor specd gtis with out dampers, rear arb no side skirts.
instead of alloys they had wide steelies. ( used the same profile as the alloys)
there wasnt many of these about as they were dropped in 1993. the gta 8v stayed on and si took the spec over but with the 8v engine.
anyway after reading the sellers write up about the car, i smashed the cars spec with the gti 6 ralleye. which came bang on for what the spec i wanted. with it been an early one the shell was stronger. the car having wide steelies which was ideal for the sleeper spec. the boot spoiler for that added bit of sporty. rest of the interior was old school austin metro gta. which added the idea of a poverty spec. no electric windows or central locking as those are a bastard on rovers.
also the car was an injection model too, so that saved time and money plus it was in good condition for its age.
so after having a chat with the seller, me and my dad went down and picked the car up. for £180
heres how it was

[Matt]

Needs lots of pictures

[procta]

then my dad took the interior out to check if all the floor was ok, as we knew that the back end needed welding. floors turned out to be ok. but we had found that water was coming in from the dash area. so the dash was removed and i upgraded the car loom for a R100 spi, as the current metro one had no alarm wiring system in. plus the loom had been chopped to fit a later R100 colum and stalks.


took about 6 hrs get it in place, took about 3 days for odds and sods to be put into place and every thing tested. then the dash was back in

so the car was practicall back to working condition
then me and my dad looked at this

so we sorced a second hand one that was solid and with the seat belt mount in place.
cutting and a lot of welding later



we had a solid car again!!
while the tank was out i swopped the fuel pump to an mpi one.
gave the full inside of the car a good painting of red hammerite and undersealed under the car. hammerited the tank. then put it back into place and put the car back together.



interior was fitted in for the 1st time in well over a year!!

also i changed the front and rear bumpers over too with color coded ones too.

[procta]

i managed to get hold of propper spotlamp brackets and loom. as that was an oem extra. plus metro full beams are crap too.

R6 spotlamp loom later installed for 4 working lamps and oem dash switch

a rear fog lamp switch was sorced to make it that more oem.

then the big one hock:
after reading loads of shite and been told aload of shite. on what i needed to do on vvcing the car. that was convert the car over to mpi, which i needed a mpi engine loom, ecu and inlet. so that costed me about 100 quid!
then a donor mgf car was sorced and a vvc engine was bought.
me and my dad built this up, after i got my vvc loom converted over to run on on the metro loom. by that time me and my dad found that we didnt even need to f*ck about with mping the old 1.4 unit!! two f*cking hoses were only used!!!! that was it. hence been told a load of shite!! i was even told i had to cut and move engine mounts, gearbox mounts as it wouldnt line up :roll:

laugh was it all went into place like it was oem as the picture shows with out any of the shite that was said.
f*cking plug in play more like :roll:

[procta]

after a week we had the car looking like this.


with new discs and pads on the front, new wheel bearings, and clutch.
all wasnt to be tho,
as i was upgrading the rad from a gti one to a derv one look at the sizes derv one is bigger.



while i was bleeding the system the engine died on tick over!!!! :x
had it checked over, died because of bad timing, also it had been well f*cked about with when we came to remove the head bolts. the vvc pick up had been damaged, the headbolts may have been reused and one was well chewed. so the engine was a right off.
so my mate sorced me another one which was a 160 instead of the 143.
then the car was stripped back down again and this engine fitted,
then i got the car insured and moted.
after 3 years of hard work

the cars spec as of now,
Rover Metro Gta 16v
160 bhp VVC engine
PG1 non vvc gearbox,
mgf front breaks
front and rear arb poly bushed
rear mgf cans on the front.
gta rear cans on then back
wide steelies with 175 60 R13 firestones on with the gta trims back on.
gti exhaust system with decat.
R100 rear lights
R200 side repeaters
R100 spi car loom
Mgf stearing wheel.
pug 306 centre console
red gta seat belts,
no ice
interior GTA
plans for the future,
to have new rear archs put on the car, better bumpers put on ( all ready sorced)
i have priced a stain less steel exhaust system with a 160 janspeed manifold, £650.
also get after market gauges installed, maybe a snap on steering wheel.
its best i can do with the thread as theres really too much to list.

[procta]

done a few odd jobs today, i cannot seem to find out what the vibrations are, checked the rear subframe mount and all is ok for the min, but i will keep eye on things. i had a fault with the fuel gauge, me and my dad were rocking the car like hell to see if it was just stuck. i filled it up again £20 quid (15 liters) and i already had shoved some more fuel in too. but with the gauge only reading a quater full all the time. its very worrying. we checked the all mitey electrics going to it. a little bit of a clean up on the ends, then we had a full fuel gauge!!
so the little car is coming on leaps and bounds!! iam shocking a few people too with it lol.

[Dan!]

You own a Metro?! hock: :? Where the hell have you been hiding this little beauty man?! Looks awesome, bet its fun/scary, too! :clap: :dance:

[Matt]

Always wanted to own a proper sleeper as fan said bet its fun/scary to drive. All the power and the weight of a bag of sugar lol

[procta]

i hide it in the boot of the 306, excellent back up car if the 306 breaks down.
if you change up at 4k rpm ( toms306 change ups) the drives like the hdi power wise but with an extra bit of poke. wind it up ( rev it to 5 to 6k rpm) it takes right off!! i dont dare do that up the box as the car will take off practically! plus i havent even put the car into the rev limiter either!
its funny tho when people try and tail gate you, micra drivers tend to do that. but they get blown away very very quickly!

[procta]

a few days ago this little red bull as my mate calls it, turned 20 years old.
i even had a door to door charity worker, look at it and say is that a metro? i said yeah. he said f*ck me i havent seen one in years! he said christ its in bloody good nick too!
never told him its wound up as he sounded a bit of a chav too. as with it been the only one knocking about its also nice to keep a low profile too.

[procta]

sorced a uj from a R200 stearing colum today for a tenner, this will go on the gear linkage as the orginal is well sloppy sadly.

it will be fitted next year sometime.

[procta]

not really a major update. only to post up that i have bought a couple of bits.
one been two vent coin holders, that go in place of dash vent. these were fitted to the mk2s. reason for these is that i can pop me key in there and a few coins.
came all the way from malta!

next up the polybushes for the gearlinkage, these will go in place when the uj is fitted.

also i need to get a new wheel bearing too, as i think the oil ring has bit the dust and vibrating like hell on the drive shaft.
also some time next week i mite be able to sort the interior out better too.

[procta]

gearlinkage sorted out, just like a 306 gearlinkage! only thing is my exhaust is playing hell with the body now. vibrating like hell thru the car, so thats another job to look as i have to remove and have a play about with it.

[procta]

well i thought id give this one a few updates too, i got the coin holders installed a few weeks ago.
heres a snap


also did about of relining with the carpet too,


then my dad came out and said shall we look at the exhaust system.
as that was catching etc. with in a few mins on the ramps, we had it bang on again as it was like a 1.4. we topped up the front suspention can as it was little low on one side.
so we are getting there.

[Foxy-jim]

Looks awesome mate. Would love a go in this one day!

[procta]

had a flick thru ebay and came a cross these, so i thought why not treat the car to some fancy caps


on my spare tyre

now with the car been individulized the front end is a ******* to pump up if needed. so while i was buying the fancy rover caps. i came cross some wheel valve extentions. now the ends of the hydrolastic units have the same ends as tyres and have tyre valves in too. so with the front ones been a pain in the arse to get at.
as you can see


so with these




lifes a little easier now, also iam thinking on getting a removerable boss wheel and gauges installed.

[procta]

i thought i mite update this for the last time i think.
iam starting to bling the engine bay up. i recently bought new rocker cover bolts which are stainless steal. they have an alen key head instead of a bolt.
iam gonna get replacement ones for the timing belt and vvc covers.

[Scott]

Looks tidy! Are you planning on painting the covers?

[procta]

Looks tidy! Are you planning on painting the covers?

iam thinking on buying this
http://www.eliseparts.com/products/show ... cam-cover/
and getting a rover oil cap for it. just to make it more nicer under there,

[Scott]

Yeah definitely would be a good plan!

What power is this running now?

[THE_Liam]

You know what would look ace in that engine bay? A nice, big supercharger

[procta]

You know what would look ace in that engine bay? A nice, big supercharger

been done before but i think it was bit of a f*ck on, some are switching to the turbo k series instead of the vvcs

Yeah definitely would be a good plan!

What power is this running now?

at the min i think the car is running about 145bhp as the exhaust is a standard oem one. which is restricting the power. iam going to get a janspeed one made up for it. like a metro gti rally car one ( R6), ( not the 6R4)

[strictly_perv]

I though this had the 160 vvc lump in?

[procta]

been a while since this updated, started to bling the engine bay a bit.
got a lotus spark plug cover made up by a friend

half way thru buying some replacment mgf rear subframe mounts, as i think ones dieing.
also the starter motor decided to start and die, so that was replaced with a new reconned one. fires up like a 1.1c.

[Jonny81191]

metrometrometrometrometrometrometrometro

glad you're enjoying it buddy!

[td_dan]

its shit lol

na procta i love this car mate proper sleeper and a lot of time and dedication gone into even after the f*ck up with the engine, congrats

[procta]

its shit lol

na procta i love this car mate proper sleeper and a lot of time and dedication gone into even after the f*ck up with the engine, congrats

cheers dan, iam now on the tweeking side of things now with the car.
still thinking on adding a second rad to the front of the car just to help the heating side of things out.

[procta]

may have a few jobs on with the car sometime this week, sorced two replacement stearing arms, rear subframe mounts. also may look at changing the drive shafts over too. discovered that my rad pipes been dogy. maybe just the gasket failing.

[ozonehostile]

love it mate, im building a 2 litre mini at the moment so always nice to see a fellow small rover, massive engine enthusiast. keep it up haha

[procta]

love it mate, im building a 2 litre mini at the moment so always nice to see a fellow small rover, massive engine enthusiast. keep it up haha

are you putting in a vtec or redtop engine in the mini?
i have had a bit of a time with the car, now iam improving and setting up things.
also the 1.4 16v runing gear that was in this car went into a mini. not sure if the lad ever got the build finshed.