I bought my Metro via eBay from a local town for next-to-nothing with 23,000 miles in October 2015. When bought it was the filthiest car I have ever sat in, and I had to clean the windows to see out. It contained a collection of about eight cigarette lighters from overseas and domestic ones with slogans etc. No doubt the source of the big fag burn in the drivers seat. It ran very badly - super-rich and fumy. One of the rear lights was broken as was a headlight lens. The suspension looked slammed. The battery just failed terminally after a few days leaving me stranded at work. The tyres were the original fitment and had more in common with stone than rubber which made cornering in the wet exciting. A day after getting the car I lost it on a roundabout and nearly spun out. The exhaust blew and the front bumper was loose.

Good points? - There was little rust and the engine was good due to only light mileage. Since then - apart from cleaning it I've -

Changed the oil and filter twice, changed the coolant, changed the brake fluid, serviced the brakes front and rear. Replaced the tyres, cleaned and sprayed the hub caps. Removed and repaired both bumpers. Replaced the broken headlight and rear cluster. Replaced the whole exhaust system. Repaired the carburettor with a new diaphragm to cure the rich running and replaced the plugs and air filter. Replaced the battery. Sealed a leak in the heater. Repaired the crushed jacking point and undersealed and painted the sills. Cleaned up and internally and externally painted the rear arches with hammerite - more to do but the damage has been halted. Replaced the wiper blades. Lubricated the clutch cable. Replaced the gearbox oil. Pumped up the suspension and greased the suspension nipples. Greased and re-secured a loose outboard CV gaiter. Cleaned and Hammerited the front and rear subframes and mounting areas. Adjusted the handbrake. Oh, and cleaned it. The interior is currently out as I try to cure various leaks but the floor isn't rusty. The paint finish is generally "egg shell" like and does not lend itself to polishsing.

I now have a handy runabout that seems able to carry anything including worktops, wardrobes and other buly DIY stuff. It pulls well and accelerates well - capable of 85mph. The handling is good and it's easy to park and manouvre. Apart from being difficult to get into and out of, and occasionally being laughed at by schoolboys at traffic lights I'm well pleased with it. Oh, and it uses seemingly very little petrol.

STUFF to do.... Rust in rear inner arches in boot area and near rear lower seatbelt anchorages - not to MOT failure yet though. Dent in tailgate. Rear outer arches ratty. That's it.

Done since last post -

Cleaned and Hammerited the internal back wings.
Repaired coolant leak.
Re-installed the interior after curing leaks.
Repaired door seal leak.
Hammerited front valance lip.
Cleaned and Hammerited sump.

can you post a picture of this wonderful car

DotMatrix wrote: ↑Thu Jun 01, 2017 9:26 am can you post a picture of this wonderful car

I don't want to seem ignornat, but I don't know how to post pictures.

you upload your picture to a host, like imageshack, photobucket or something else and then you retrieve a direct link to your picture on that host for embedding in the forum and put that link in [ img ] link [ / img ] tags when you post.

DotMatrix wrote: ↑Thu Jun 01, 2017 9:00 pm you upload your picture to a host, like imageshack, photobucket or something else and then you retrieve a direct link to your picture on that host for embedding in the forum and put that link in [ img ] link [ / img ] tags when you post.

Got it - here's "the box" fresh from a trip to Wales!

Here's the interior - complete with fag burn in driver's seat -

Here's the powerful, yet quiet carb K series -

Here's my dizzy cap held on with wire as there was a stripped thread when I got it -

Today at 28.8k miles, oil and filter change to restore it back to 10w40 oil from 5w30. The oil that came out was very dirty for only about 3k miles so it's probably cleaned the engine as hoped. Noticed slight drip from the gearbox drain plug probably from when I recently changed the oil - tightened it a bit but may have to revisit this with a new washer / PTFE tape.

The car looks tidy in the pictures.

Frequent oil changes is always good but i dont like the pfte tape idea.

DotMatrix wrote: ↑Sun Jun 04, 2017 8:13 pm The car looks tidy in the pictures.

Frequent oil changes is always good but i dont like the pfte tape idea.

Looks like I won't have to bother as tightening the drain plug has stopped the leak. There are now no more fluids to replace for a while. It's curious that the oil spec for this engine is 10W40 but I'm sure it was quieter when there was 5W30 in it.