1954 Nash Metropolitan Convertible

I know this isn't a rat rod but it is my current build and should be a fun car to drive. I'm building it for my wife so I have to keep some of it tamer than I would like. As you will see in the pictures when we got it the floor was gone and it still had the original Austin Healey engine and three speed transmission.

I have strengthened the frame in numerous ways. The Nash is unibody so it need a lot of help. I've installed a Fatman cross member with Mustang II front suspension. It now has tubular a-frames with disk brakes up front. I installed a Ford nine inch reared that has been narrowed up with 3.0 gears. The engine is a 4.3 liter V6 out of a 1989 Chevy Astro van with a T5 transmission.

This is what it looked like several years ago when we bought it.











Keith

Here are some of the pictures of the new front suspension. The Fatman cross member and manual rack and pinion steering.











Keith

Cool little car,Ive always liked these and the convertible makes it even better.

I sat a Chevy 350 in it just for $&#@ and grins but decided that it might be a little more than my wife needs. The car is only 1800 pounds so it's not going to take much to make it move. The original engines only had about 50 horse power new from the factory.



When it came down to it here is the engine it's getting. The engine originally had throttle body injection. I made up the aluminum plate that is on top of the intake to convert it to a Holly two barrel carburetor. I also am using a new hei distributor and getting rid of all the computer control crap. The engine also received a new bigger roller cam that my wife doesn't know about yet.



Here are some pictures of the car up on the rotisserie. Norman had just bought it in the return pile at Summit Racing so it came in handy for this project.



You can see the Ford nine inch rear end and the front cross member in this picture. The rear end we picked up at a swap meet was already narrowed up along with the axles. I installed all new bearings and seals on the axles and picked up a slightly used set of 3.0 gears from Pick-N-Pull for it. I also found a set of Bronco brake backing plates and drums at a swap meet.





Keith

Love the 'Metros' [cl[cl

That's gonna be a sweet little car! Tame? That's a relative term.......I'm guessing it'll still be a 'holy terror' with the 4.3 [cl

[P[P

Looks good....always liked those cars....Is the 4.3 in yet?...not much sideways room in those...I might have been looking at a 60 degree 3.1 or something like that.

Very Cool

I did not know they came stock with Healey engines.

Here is a picture of the finished firewall. I ended up moving the engine back six inches.



After we sat the engine in place the doors wouldn't open so I had to go back and add some more reinforcement to the frame. I installed a 1/4" plate 6" wide down both frame sides which helped a lot. It also helped when I installed all the floor sheet metal and welded it in. I learned a few things about T5 transmission during this build. I originally picked up a T5 from a 1984 Camaro and had it sitting in place when I realized the shifter would be into the seat. A friend told me that a T5 from a S10 has the shifter much further forward. I found one and it is about six inches further forward and it worked out much better.



The battery box was originally behind the passenger seat and hung under the car. In order to get dual exhaust under the car I had to remove the battery box. I ended up with a small storage area that you can see in the next picture. I'm not sure yet what I'm going to use it for. The original battery cover will enclose it so I might turn it into a lockable gun box.



After I had finished the strengthening of the frame I convinced my wife that I need to install a roll bar to help strengthening it even more and for our safety while driving it. The front roll bar struts wouldn't fit between the original bench seat and the doors so I decided to bend them so they go under the seat. The seat will now be mounted to the top of the roll bar. I tied the rear struts into the rear shock towers. I shaped a piece of 1/4" plate and welded it over the shock towers to tie the area together. The roll bar add the much needed strength to the frame and I wont' have to worry about the doors not being able to open or close now.





Keith

My wife still doesn't like the idea of the roll bar so I agreed to make the top hoop removable. I turned down two stainless steel shafts so they fit inside the roll bar. The bottom of them will be welded in place. The top portion is tapered so that the top hoop can slid over it and be pinned in place. I figure she will get used to it and realize it doesn't look bad and I will be able to weld it up solid later.



Unfortunately after I got the roll bar installed I still had a problem with the doors and the firewall moving too much. When both doors were open I could move one of the doors up and down and watch the firewall move forward and back. After checking I found some rust and rot on the passenger side where the firewall and lower frame meet. I ended up cutting out some 1/4" plate and tying it into the lower frame and running it up the inside of the firewall. After I welded it all the there is no more movement of the firewall or the doors.

Here are a couple pictures of what the Nash currently looks like. The roll bar hasn't been lowered yet. I think it will be five or six inches shorter. I still have a lot of work to do but hope I can get it on the road this spring.





Keith

Stoker Mcgurk, I do have the engine installed and it is a tight fit. I had to modify the headers I have so that the exhaust dumps out in the fender wells. There is plenty of room for everything to work out. I just realized that I don't have any pictures with the engine installed. I'll have to take some and get them posted. I went with the 4.3 for a couple of reasons. It will make it much easier to install a sbc later if I decide to. The engine was is a good running fairly low mileage engine out of a friends Astro van. The engine was free so it made a perfect candidate.

Keith

Pretty cool how much cool stuff you put under that little convertible!
The 4.3 should be more than enough motivation for that!

Me like

Cool little car!
I have always wanted one of those.Saw one at Run To Sun show here in Myrtle Beach a couple years ago with a BBC engine.Man was driving it everywhere.
I agree that the 4.3 should be plenty of power for that car.
Nice project,it is going to be awesome when done.[dr

Here are a picture of the engine installed. It's a tight fit but there's a lot more room around it then in most new cars.



In this picture you can see the bottom of the steering column coming out of the firewall. The steering column and steering wheel are from a Riley. It has a wire spoke steering wheel that fit the size of the car perfectly. You can also see the Chevy pickup master cylinder mounted under the drivers side header.



I cut the top of the roll bar off today and installed the stainless inserts. I will be drilling and welding them to the lower portion of the roll bar later. I will drill the upper hoop and pin it to the stainless inserts also. I just have to figure out how tall to make the roll bar to make it look right.



Keith

Looks pretty neat!!! It should have some pretty good giddy up with that 4.3!! Those are great motors!

Always liked these cars! Too bad I would never fit in one..........

Hey, if Shaq can fit in a new Buick, we can fit you in this!

Nice installation, looks like it came in there!

n

cool build[

what wheel/tire combo?

the V-6 looks right at home in there.

Later

Really nice work!

Thinks for the kind words. The car is my wife's and she wants it to look pretty stock. We will be running steel wheels and the original hub caps. I found a pair of steel wheels that are 14"X7" for the rears and the fronts are 13"X5". It took a little while to find them because I needed 5X4.5" pattern. They look like the will work out great. The wheels are the same size as the originals so I should still have a good turning radius. The rears are wider than the originals but I have plenty of space in the wheel wells and not have to worry about rubbing. For the most part it should look stock.

Keith

Just read through your build.
The little unibodies take some different thinking to get everything stiffened up enough.
Your wife aught to really enjoy it.