geo metro any good?

This girl at work has a 90 metro for sale 300$

She said its really slow accellaration on take off.
The only problem is that i will need to put a new battery in it because its been sitting for a year.

The hood latch release is broken though.
Any ideas how to open the hood ?

Any thing else i should think about doing before starting the engine? It has not ran in 1 year.

Drop a little 5w30 down in the cylinders and let it sit for a day, then crank the engine by hand with a socket at the pulley to break the rings loose. To open the hood, reach under the car, and pull the cable by hand.

1 year isn't really much. Probably it wouldn't hurt anything to simply try to start the engine, but that being said, I have a (non-Geo) car that has sat for 1/1.5 years a couple of times, due to never-ending projects, and I took some precautions. Like Geozukigti suggested, I put some oil inside the cylinder (I used Marvel Mystery Oil, rather than motor oil). I put some the day before, and then some more the day I started the engine. If you don't mind the mess (I do), crank the engine without the plugs, to eliminate the excess of oil. Otherwise, you may have to remove and clean up or replace the plugs later.

Here are a few other precautions you might want to take:

-Remove the coil wire, and crank the engine for about 10 seconds. Wait a little, and then do it again. That will get the oil circulating and lube the motor, at a somewhat low speed, so there's less chance to hurt anything. Repeat that 3-4 times, and then reconnect the coil wire, and try to start the engine.

-If there is gas in the tank, it may be old. Replace with new gas, and then burn this old gas in your lawn mower, or mix it a little at a time with good new fuel.

-Let the engine warm up, and then change the oil.

Hope this helps...

-Pedro

I poured some oil in and cranked it a while
then started it up..
took a little while though but it seemes ok

I gotta check the tires next, the back ones may have dry rotted a bit

Is there some trick to getting the key out of the ingintion? Had a hell of a time trying to get it out. Not sure if there is some kind of security thing ?

try jiggling the steering wheel. There's a cable that goes from the ignition to the steering column lock. It's probably a bit frozen. Just needs some movement and it should clear up soon. you can move it by turning the key from off to on over and over again. Sounds like you got a sweet deal. Put some armor-all on the tires. Should help treat the rubber. If not, 12" tires are dirt cheap. All 4 shouldn't cost more than $125-$150 installed.

Well i got the tires and key thing figured out.

When i first started it up it seemed like there was a lot of smoke, but i figured it would go away after a while.

I went to take it for a ride and its still blowing smoke. The smoke is white and it dosent really smell at all.

I have a feeling that this is not from the oil i poured in the cyl. before.

any ideas?

White smoke? Oh dear, it's most certainly a head gasket.

Gopher:
Give that girl $200 for the car and buy the d*mn thing. Add some extra money to it and you would have a nice economic ride after you fix it all. I believe it is worth.

MC
:cool:

If there is water vapor in the exhaust, there should also be water in the oil right?

How would i be able to tell if the head gasket is blown or the head is cracked?

What is the MOST in parts it would cost to repair the head gasket. Most of the body is kind of rusty, and have a feeling that bolts will break when try to remove them.

The front brake rotors are coverd with about 95% light rust, I hope if i drive all the way home (25 miles) it wont be a problem, but mabey i should get them turned first?

The metro sounds like a fun car, i kind of want to get it just to work on it.

It would make sense that there would be water in the oil, but Ive seen cases where there wasn't. Open up the radiator cap and take a look at the coolant. If it looks oily, there's your answer. The only way to be 100% sure what the problem is would be to remove the head itself. Not sure what the total cost would be, you could pick up a head at a junkyard pretty cheaply I would imagine, then you'd have to replace the head gasket. Shouldn't be too much if you could do the work yourself.