VVC into Rover Metro - who's done it?
Discussion
I'm finally getting to the point where I have a little little bit of disposable income, and so a car itch to scratch. 
I've always loved the Rover 100's, I guess mostly because my mum had one through most of my childhood. Saw it yesterday at my garage HGF, but the new owner was adamant on getting it fixed which is nice 
Told the garage to pass on that if she's wanting rid of it, I'll have it.
Supposedly putting the 1.8VVC lumps into them is pretty much a 'bolt in' swap, is anybody able to confirm this? Better still, if anybody has driven one to give some feedback on what the end result is like, I'd really appreciate it
I've always loved the Rover 100's, I guess mostly because my mum had one through most of my childhood. Saw it yesterday at my garage
HGF, but the new owner was adamant on getting it fixed which is nice Told the garage to pass on that if she's wanting rid of it, I'll have it. Supposedly putting the 1.8VVC lumps into them is pretty much a 'bolt in' swap, is anybody able to confirm this? Better still, if anybody has driven one to give some feedback on what the end result is like, I'd really appreciate it
vit4 said:
I'm finally getting to the point where I have a little little bit of disposable income, and so a car itch to scratch.
I've always loved the Rover 100's, I guess mostly because my mum had one through most of my childhood. Saw it yesterday at my garage HGF, but the new owner was adamant on getting it fixed which is nice Told the garage to pass on that if she's wanting rid of it, I'll have it.
Supposedly putting the 1.8VVC lumps into them is pretty much a 'bolt in' swap, is anybody able to confirm this? Better still, if anybody has driven one to give some feedback on what the end result is like, I'd really appreciate it
my memory of engine swaps into the metro/r100 and general knowledge is getting a little vague now as it was a couple years back i used to tinker.I've always loved the Rover 100's, I guess mostly because my mum had one through most of my childhood. Saw it yesterday at my garage
HGF, but the new owner was adamant on getting it fixed which is nice Told the garage to pass on that if she's wanting rid of it, I'll have it. Supposedly putting the 1.8VVC lumps into them is pretty much a 'bolt in' swap, is anybody able to confirm this? Better still, if anybody has driven one to give some feedback on what the end result is like, I'd really appreciate it
base car
bare in mind when you'll be insuring it - a metro GTi with a vvc will cost more to insure as a modified car than a (originally) base model, base spec 1.1 metro/r100 with a vvc fitted
that said, there are advantages and disadvantages between r100/gti
if you buy a vgc metro gti you'll already have a lions share of the best bits. you'll end up buying all these seperately if you were to get a r100 -
the rover spec (19mm?) rear anti roll bar, - this only appeared on the metro gti and possibly the r100 gta.
uprated rear hydrogas cans - you'll be individualising i.e. cutting the lines fore and aft of all the units, but the seperate nitorgen chambers in the cans control rebound, and the gti ones (or mgf, they're supposed to be the same) are setup for stiffer damping
metro gti bodykit - only if you buy a base metro, but they're hard to come by
interior - gti interiors - better boulstered seats, came in lightning, silverstone and some others, some were half leather.
lux pack - you'll be lucky to find a good gti with the lux pack, most are now with enthusiasts, fitted to gti's, probably with an engine conversion already done. the lux pack had things like elec windows, elec mirrors/sunroof? maybe, i can't really remember. poss. better interior fittings
front damper mounts, dampers and fittings - the gti was the only rover metro/r100 to have shell strengthening brackets in the inner wings to reinforce them for use with dampers, although the holes to bolt the rods are there on all of them, sometimes covered by sealer. if you don't do something about shell strengthening you'll crack it by fitting dampers. you can make or have made something to do the same job (search keywords on google like 'metropower dylan0451 front shock damper mounts' or something like that) bare in mind the gti plates are thin, and many rust out as rainwater gets in there. you can buy them from xpart/mg rover and they're only about £15 as i remember but they're on back order - you'll never get them again. the dampers themselves are probably fubar, don't worry, you can buy mgf ones which are nigh on identical. unless you can find on ebay, you'll need to find some high tensile bolts and spacers for the bottom mounting, or take from an mgf. it looks like a pikey setup but it works unless the dampers are stupid hard
bottom ball joints - this depends on what car you buy. as you start to get into geometry settings, you'll want more aggressive camber/castor on the front. this isn't adjustable, but you can swap out your bottom ball joints (double wishbone up front) and change them for mgf ones. if you have a base model, gti's offer more camber, but i think the mgf's are better - added a lot more grip and better feel on turn in and generally (search google something like 'metropower davevvc bottom ball joints' i think the guy is ex rover, and had access to lots of specs. might be dave_vvc, dave vvc etc.)
steering arms - not track rods or track rod ends! these are different between cars specc'd with 185/55 r13 and 155/60(?) r13 wheels/tyres and control the ackerman(sp?) on turning. if you build up a base model you'll ditch the steelies and go with gti/gta alloys or aftermarket. match them up or it won't help the handling
brakes - the gti, again is the only rover metro/r100 with front vented discs and calipers to match, you'll need these as a minimum for bigger power. they're the same discs and calipers as mgf so you can buy these cheaper than if you go looking for metro gti parts. i had some grooved brembo discs which were about £60/80 a pair as i remember. austin metro 4 pot calipers seem attractive, however the disc diameter is smaller, and as i remember, they're an ass to bleed, can get sticky and pistonds are more difficult to find, though i might be making that bit up
pads - mgf pads fit, so you can find good uprated stuff. if you search google 'metropower dylan0451 maestro front brake pads' you'll come across diagrams with areas highlighted you need to chop off if you want to fit mg maestro pads. i think there were some rough calcs as to how much additional surface area these pads supplied (about 25%?) for extra heat dissapation. don't go anywhere near standard pads, i killed a brand new, bedded in set of pattern ones in less than 10 miles of average/spirited driving. they got so hot they faded and never came back.
wheels - if you go with gti braking, well, when you do, the only standard metro/r100 13" rims that'll fit are gti ones. i continued to use my gta wire wheel style alloys and sanded the back of the caliper body casting to get the clearance (we're talking 1mm or so) however some wheel spacers would have done the same thing, though be careful fitting big ones and lowering as may cause rubbing. 14" and 15" rims have been fitted - search metropower but with lots of work, require low profiles and, apparently ruin the ride a little, they're more for show - stick with 13"'s - you can still get yoko's A048 in 175/50 and r888's in 185/60 - the latter need some shaving of the rear radius arms to fit, again, not much.
engines - i was a spaz and bought a carb metro as a base for running an injection engine. this required changing: fuel tank, fuel lines, body loom, engine loom (adriansi on metropower does, or did vvc conversion 'plug and play' looms for something like £60 odd into a r100 body loom). trying to splice the r100 loom into the stalks of a metro is also an ass. so i changed the steering column and stalks for r100 stuff (as you'll need to do if you buy a gti) also note, the r100 column spline is honda sizing rather than imperial austin/rover, so you'll need the wheel, or, if going momo/mountney etc. make sure you spec the right boss. merlin spec a rover 200 non airbag which works
injection metros run an earlier version of rover's mems software, (mems 1.1 i think) sensor positions cabling, throttle bodies etc. are older and more work to make fit. best, or easier to replace body loom with r100, to connect your engine loom for your vvc pre converted. if you buy a r100 (mems 1.9), bar the engine loom, everything is plug and play for either your mems 2j (143hp vvc) or mems 3 (160hp vvc) engine, but check metropower for what is involved as i've only dabbled in mems 1.9 stuff really.
if you stay with the r65 type gearbox (standard fit) then go for an uprated r65u box from the r100 which have a strengthened crownwheel. the pg1 from T series engines like the tomcat turbo etc. fits with a fair bit of fabrication work and changing of other supporting parts, though ultimately it will take more abuse. if you go with the r65 the biggest flywheel it'll accept is a 1600, so you'll need to find one of these to swap onto your vvc. i hear they're ok unless you like the drag strip, upgraded organic clutches are about for a bit of cash
ecu's - for mems1.9 at least, i think 2j and 3 are the same, you need matching alarm control box (5as) to ecu otherwise the car won't run. talon do a conversion to get around this. would be helpful if you get immobiliser fob/s with the 5as as again, it'll be costly to get replacements
there'll be loads of other stuff i've forgotten, however trawling metropower and being a member there let me get enough knowledge to do all this stuff.
oh, if you get an r65 from another car e.g. rover 200 you'll have to cut the shifter plate/counterweight, again, do a search as i think i noted the distance to cut somewhere in there
good luck!
the front subframes are pretty good in that they house all the transmission, suspension components, pretty much everything, and they're fairly belt and braces although they're anchored to the body in four places. the two aft mountings are right at the base of the firewall which, in the event of a proper stack could do you some damage :-s hint: don't stack it 
OP - 4 bolts with compliance bushings - mgf (or mgtf maybe) use alloy blocks instead of rubbers which reduce movement. on the rear of the rear subframe it is secured to the body via strops that pull the hydro cans against the body, spaced out with rubber blocks. the rubber can be substituted for box section etc. and the subframe can be bolted straight to the boot floor - this is what they do in the drayton manor cup etc. NVH obviously increases though
OP - 4 bolts with compliance bushings - mgf (or mgtf maybe) use alloy blocks instead of rubbers which reduce movement. on the rear of the rear subframe it is secured to the body via strops that pull the hydro cans against the body, spaced out with rubber blocks. the rubber can be substituted for box section etc. and the subframe can be bolted straight to the boot floor - this is what they do in the drayton manor cup etc. NVH obviously increases though
Hi im looking for help ive put a 1.8 turbo engine out of an mg ztt in a metro 100 looking to find out if i can use the loom of the mg and change the crank sensor wires to fit the metro crank sensor its all i can see stopping me from starting it apart from fuel pump and using a 1.1 box and starter not powerfull enough
Bdr22 said:
Hi im looking for help ive put a 1.8 turbo engine out of an mg ztt in a metro 100 looking to find out if i can use the loom of the mg and change the crank sensor wires to fit the metro crank sensor its all i can see stopping me from starting it apart from fuel pump and using a 1.1 box and starter not powerfull enough
You're probably better finding one of the more specialist forums. No idea if metropower's still going, you could try posting on Rovertech.net or mg-rover.orgGassing Station | Rover | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff