I wont boar you guys with a long silly story, so here's the short version... My Mom has always had a "thing" for these little cars, and now that she's on the threshold of retirement, she's seriously thinking about getting one. A couple weeks ago, she and my Dad went out and looked at one for sale locally. It was un-restored, all original, but basically well cared for. While my Mom was simply "school girl giddy" to be riding around in the "car of her dreams", my Dad was absolutely horrified at the WW2 era technology that made up the suspension and brakes. A good long talk with my dad has delivered us to the conclusion that these items will have to be brought up to AT LEAST 1970's technology level before we can turn her loose in it. Personally, I'v never even seen under one, so I dont know what I'm getting into.... Solid front axle? IFS? Something else??? o No: Does anybody have the low-down on converting to discs and bringing the handling up to half way modern specs? Any help is greatly appreciated :TU:
oh boy! I think its actually of British origin if my memory serves me correctly. Mind you, this is a car that has cardboard sunvisors and the glove box door was an option. IMHO, youll be lucky to be able to find replacement brake/ suspension parts much less "upgraded" parts. My cousin had one a while back. Theyre nice cars for a Sunday drive on secondary roads. I wouldnt want to be doing 55 on the Long Island Expressway.
forget the stock stuff, go Metro-Rail!! Blown nailhead on a chromoly tube chassis and a parachute! Just kidding since it is your mom's ride. You might have to fab a frame for it though using some form of existing front end geometry, best guess off of a retrofit for a Chevy II "box Nova." If she's just attached to the shape and not the powertrain, why not update it with a modern 4-banger and stick out of like a Ford Ranger. Just some ideas
And limit your right angle turns to about 5 mph. Those cars have to have the most narrow track ever built. Maybe some kind of sway bar (and outriggers) would help. Seriously though, they are pretty cool looking. We have one locally in yellow and white that shows up at car cruise-ins and gets a lot of attention.
seriously. you may want to look at an MG(?) Sprite it may have simmilar dimentions. a wrecked mazda miata may also be an ok donor for suspension upgrades. -nate
I will have to look. I keep a Metropolitan in the trunk of a couple of our Buicks in lieu of carrying a spare tire.
Hotrodding a Nash Metropolitan - now there's a question I never would have thought to ask! :laugh: Just did a google search on "Nash Metropolitan performance", and got a rather interesting bunch of results...not informative, just interesting. :spank: You're looking at late 50's British engineering, which has its advantages and disadvantages. The plus side is that if you take a good look, you may well see that its suspension and brakes are actually well-designed, just worn, and with a good rebuild it may well be a good driver. Also, many of the suspension parts will likely be common to other old britcars, so you may be able to swap/cross reference for "better", or even modern parts like shocks, brakes, etc. I don't know for sure, but that'd be my bet. Same with the engine, it's an Austin engine, and there are TONS of go-fast parts for them out there. On the minus side, I suspect that if you find you need to seriously upgrade, then you'll be looking at an entire suspension swap where you have to fabricate all the mounts, etc. I didn't see ANYTHING online that looked like readily-available upgrade parts for them.
James- Not looking to hot rod one, just make it capable and safe in modern traffic. I got a PM from another board member who has owned several. I'v learned they have double A-arm with coil over shock layout up front and standard live rear axle on leaf springs out back. All pretty standard stuff, just "minaturized" p At this point, my plan is to find a disc brake front spindle that's close, and fab it to fit the stock a-arms. Along with polly bushings, new springs [slightly stiffer], and some good shocks, like KYB or Monroe Gas-Matics. I'm hopefull I can find a steering box with a more favorable ratio [stock is like 28:1 :eek2: ] and power that will go in without too much trouble, or convert it to a rack. I'll also do a little searching for a sway bar I can fab into the front-end. Out back, I plan to install a 8.5 rear from a cadillac with disc brakes. Narrow it down along with new springs, good shocks, and maybe a sway bar will handle the back side just fine. While the little Austin is a fine motor, it's 1/2 century old technology simply wont cut it anymore. Personally, I want a 231 buick v6 with a T-350, tho I'v got a hook-up on a toyota R-22 4 cylinder with a borg-warner 4 speed automatic that would sure work well in it! Naturally, I'm planing to convert to power steering and brakes. Been looking thru an issue of "street-rodder" magazine, so I know all the stuff is available, and a lot of it at reasonable prices. For the interior, gonna cut out the center single guage, and fab in a more modern guage cluster, with all aftermarket guages. Nothing fancy, just more modern. A nice stereo will go where a glove-box should have. A junk-yard will supply modern comfey buckets, and I'll stitch up the rest. On the outside, a 2 tone turquois and white paint job along with sand-blasting and powder coating the trim and bumpers black should give a smooth and classy look. Hopefully I can fit slightly wider rubber in place of the stock Model-T/motorcycle sized tires... Maybe raised white letter with some full moon hub caps..... Cool! Mom says A/C would be nice...... Hmmm, maybe if I can locate an old under-dash unit I can do something... Maybe. Dad's a pretty fair shade tree mechanic in his own right, Mom's pretty excited, and I'm willing to fab and direct. Even my little brother says he will help out. Just have to wait and see if we can make it happen.
Nash Rod Darryl - Reality check - do you really want to tear into a total redo of a little unibody brit bomb? Your concept sounds like many hundreds of hours of work. Your Mom won't want to wait three years! Wouldn't she be just as happy with a mostly stock Nash, maybe with brake upgrades? And keep the single round gage pod, that makes the car! I have a similar pipe dream - a Morris Minor with an SC3800 mill, rear wheel drive, etc. Sort of a crossbred Mini Cooper/Riviera bastard. I have to admit that it's beyond my fabrication skills and tools at this time. I know that the best can never be good enough when it comes to doing stuff for Mom, but make sure you're listening to what she really wants!
Uuf-dah! That's a lot of work! Are you sure that's what MOM wants? If so, that sounds cool. :TU: On the other hand, she might want to do like I'm doing - driving a '62 Ranchero, the only 'upgrade' is a dual-line master cylinder to the all-drum power-nothing brakes. It's nowhere near the fastest, or best-handling, or shortest-stopping car on the road, but it's in great mechanical shape, dependable, and fun to drive. I'm going to keep driving it, and maybe do some small mods, but it is what it is, and that's the appeal (to me, anyway).
Darryl - Sounds like a cool project. :bglasses: You might look into a Mustang II front suspension, incl. the rack & pinion steering. Tons of options powertrain wise, should you go this route. Just check some of the streetrod mags for weld in kits. At least this would give you more modern parts (and readily available) to work with. A narrowed 10 bolt or 9" rear would be fairly easy to install, along with a street rod style 4-link & watts bar to keep it centered. Keep us updated!! :TU:
Darryl, I have a buddy that is BIG into Mets, he is VP of the Wisconsin Met Set club. If you want his name and phone # I can get it for you, He is a technical advisor for the National club. He can give you any info you want for these vehicles. He owns 6 of them! Plus he has 2 '37 Nash Lafaytte Opra Coupes. let me know. Thanks, John
Darryl, That one looks like the one with the SBC I told you about from the mid 60s in Y'town. I thiink I saw the 1 on Evilbay in Canfield at the Hot Rod Super Nats a few years ago. JR
