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My boyfriends first car, I love it. <3
We're going to share it though.
It's a boy, but he doesn't have a name yet.
Sorry, I love cars. D:
We're going to share it though.
It's a boy, but he doesn't have a name yet.
Sorry, I love cars. D:
Category Photography / All
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 792 x 1008px
File Size 1.26 MB
I had one, handled like a dream. There are things to know:
Keep an eye upon the condition of your exhaust headers (the cast-iron pipes on the back of the top of your engine that take the exhaust down to the exhaust pipes, catalytic converter and eventually the muffler). All Geo Storms have a bad tendency to have that part rust through. If the car starts sounding like a lawn mower, that's why.
Inspect the underside of the body for rust, and if you find any, clean it up and have a paint shop reseal it. Underbody rust protection is also an issue. Unless you live near an ocean or your state salts its roads, you're probably in good shape.
Also be aware that the Storm is very lightly built and has poor crash ratings. Stay out of accidents to begin with :)
Keep an eye on your radiator, especially the plastic sides. They too were lightly made, and were prone to leaking. If you ever need to replace it, make sure you get an all-metal radiator.
If you do build up the engine, aside from replacing the cast iron exhaust header mentioned above at first opportunity, be sure to have a tuning shop reinforce the spots where the front struts (kinda-sorta shock absorbers) bolt onto the front fenders. Engines that are more powerful put more stress on those spots on front-wheel-drive cars like the Storm, the the Storm was just not built to take more than 100-120 horsepower without help. If you have a manual transmission, you'll also want a better clutch, as the one in the Storm wears out quickly and will wear out even faster with more power going through it. Personally, I wouldn't build up the engine, as it would just make it wear out sooner and ruin the gas mileage. Consider it to be an insanely good handling machine, not a drag racer. Autocross, anyone?
Every car has its list of "gotcha"s, and the Storm is no worse than the average car. Keep on top of these maintenance items and enjoy the heck out of it :) They are certainly one of the most beautiful small cars ever made.
Keep an eye upon the condition of your exhaust headers (the cast-iron pipes on the back of the top of your engine that take the exhaust down to the exhaust pipes, catalytic converter and eventually the muffler). All Geo Storms have a bad tendency to have that part rust through. If the car starts sounding like a lawn mower, that's why.
Inspect the underside of the body for rust, and if you find any, clean it up and have a paint shop reseal it. Underbody rust protection is also an issue. Unless you live near an ocean or your state salts its roads, you're probably in good shape.
Also be aware that the Storm is very lightly built and has poor crash ratings. Stay out of accidents to begin with :)
Keep an eye on your radiator, especially the plastic sides. They too were lightly made, and were prone to leaking. If you ever need to replace it, make sure you get an all-metal radiator.
If you do build up the engine, aside from replacing the cast iron exhaust header mentioned above at first opportunity, be sure to have a tuning shop reinforce the spots where the front struts (kinda-sorta shock absorbers) bolt onto the front fenders. Engines that are more powerful put more stress on those spots on front-wheel-drive cars like the Storm, the the Storm was just not built to take more than 100-120 horsepower without help. If you have a manual transmission, you'll also want a better clutch, as the one in the Storm wears out quickly and will wear out even faster with more power going through it. Personally, I wouldn't build up the engine, as it would just make it wear out sooner and ruin the gas mileage. Consider it to be an insanely good handling machine, not a drag racer. Autocross, anyone?
Every car has its list of "gotcha"s, and the Storm is no worse than the average car. Keep on top of these maintenance items and enjoy the heck out of it :) They are certainly one of the most beautiful small cars ever made.
Ah. Just read in another post it has 75,000 miles.
You absolutely will want to replace the timing belt on it when you can. That's a toothed rubber-and-kevlar belt that links the crankshaft (bottom of the engine, which is what the pistons connect to, and whose turning is what moves the car) to the camshaft (top of the engine, makes the valves go up and down at the right time). If it breaks, the valves in at least one of your cylinders will be down at the wrong moment (when the piston comes up ) and will punch a hole in the top of that piston. Bye-bye engine.
The usual maintenance interval for timing belts is 80,000 miles, but if that's the original belt it's 17 years old, and is weak from age. On the other hand, if you have the maintenance records and see it was changed, you're in good shape :)
Just a heads-up.
You absolutely will want to replace the timing belt on it when you can. That's a toothed rubber-and-kevlar belt that links the crankshaft (bottom of the engine, which is what the pistons connect to, and whose turning is what moves the car) to the camshaft (top of the engine, makes the valves go up and down at the right time). If it breaks, the valves in at least one of your cylinders will be down at the wrong moment (when the piston comes up ) and will punch a hole in the top of that piston. Bye-bye engine.
The usual maintenance interval for timing belts is 80,000 miles, but if that's the original belt it's 17 years old, and is weak from age. On the other hand, if you have the maintenance records and see it was changed, you're in good shape :)
Just a heads-up.
Looks good. Nice to see people not afraid to post pics of their cars up here, it's always interesting. Might wanna blank out your license plate though, for the sake of security.
At first glance this reminds me of a Nissan NX Coupe (I think it was sold as NX-R or NX1600 in the US) which would have excited me as it shares the same chassis as my car - and turbo engines for them are plentiful and easy to bolt in...
Who owns/makes Geo? Is it another GM subsidiary? I've never heard of them before! I've always thought of American cars as being about 10 years behind the rest of the world in terms of styling and technology, but this actually looks pretty good :D
At first glance this reminds me of a Nissan NX Coupe (I think it was sold as NX-R or NX1600 in the US) which would have excited me as it shares the same chassis as my car - and turbo engines for them are plentiful and easy to bolt in...
Who owns/makes Geo? Is it another GM subsidiary? I've never heard of them before! I've always thought of American cars as being about 10 years behind the rest of the world in terms of styling and technology, but this actually looks pretty good :D
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