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Normal Rover Metros have a unique suspention. Instead of springs and shock absorbers, the whole lot is replaced with hydrolastic units. The units are linked either side, front and back. Standard ride height is usually quite high, and alot of them have 'sunk' too low, which will affect the ride quality. A GTa comes with an additional front anti roll bar, which, combined with wider 185 tyres, much improves the handling over standard. GTi's come with front and rear anti roll bars aswell as additional front shock absorbers. These do a good job of cutting out squat and dive on harsh driving.
A good start with a non gti is to get the anti roll bars off one from a scrap yard etc. Make sure you get all the bits and the bushes are of decent condition. If you want shock absorbers you'll need a strengthening plate welding onto the inner arch. This done, or if you have a gti, you'll want to improve whats already there. Powerflex do good bushes for the anti roll bars, which give a much more positive feel and sharper turning. Make sure the ride height is of a normal level, I recommend 3 fingers between tyre and arch. If it is too low any garage will pump it back up for you at roughly �10-�20. If its too high, you can locate the valve under the car at the back (think tyre valve) and let a little fluid out. Theres not much fluid in there and its fairly high pressure, so you might want to turn away. Make sure both sides are the same level and dont drop it too low, it may be tempting, but it wont sit level, ride awful, roll lots on corners (due to low pressure/stiffness) and you'll end up damaging the lot.
From there you'll want to lower it obiviously, and this is done properly by deflating the suspention and cutting down the suspention turrets inside the hydro unit. Then the car is pumped back up to a higher pressure. This will both lower and stiffen the suspention. You can play about with a lower back, lower front, VERY low, not much lower but stiffer etc. Best thing is you can always change, no new parts are needed, just the use of a hydrolastic pump and a hacksaw/grinder. If you want it superlow for cruising and shows you can just drop all the pressure out and have it scraping, and when you want to drive you can pump it back up for max handling. Next I recommend a decent set of gas shock absorbers. The rover ones are pretty cheap and will not doubt be useless at this time in its life. Avo adjustable are the way to go, available from most places. If you want to you can individualise the units, giving total control over the heights and stiffnesses.
For ultimate road track handling, coil overs are the way to go. Super low, super stiff and very secure handling.
All of this can be done at RoverDose Motorsport. As mentioned before, they're
very good and can get the most from your car. You can explain how you want the car lowered etc and they'll know exactly what to do.
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