Metric Motors

Metric did a Subaru engine conversion on my 87 VW Vanagon Syncro. They were very helpful in the selection process. The workmanship and team knowledge at Metric is very impressive. The team was professional and honest throughout the project. I feel fortunate to have this experience near by. I can highly recommend Metric Motors for Automotive repair and Vanagon conversions.

Service to the max! I am a PITA customer. I’m old and expect old fashioned service and not only that competence… Whoa tall order these days!
So, here’s the long of it, no short stories with me today.
A week before we were headed out of town my engine blew. Yes, it was panic time to the point of looking at used cars. Our local mechanic wanted more than we could afford and could not get it done in time for us to leave.
A guy we knew told us he’d heard nothing but good about this place called Metric Motors.
So, what the heck, we gave them a call.
If you don’t use these guys, the Zombies will be spreading the news about what a dumb A** you are!
We brought the cars into them on Wednesday, they hauled you know what, and had it ready for us on FRIDAY!!! Rebuilt the engine and put in a new radiator. We were able to pack the car and leave on Monday. I offered to kiss their toes, but they declined.
Car runs great! We did have some high temp issues but when we got back they fixed it. It was not overheating so we were able to continue our trip.
I can’t say enough good about them.

I took my 96 Four Runner in for a JDM engine swap and couldn’t be happier. If you let them install it they put new seals and gaskets in (where applicable) before the engine goes in. The engine runs great, they have a great warranty, their honest, and I think they are a great value. No hassles here. They even reset the clock on my dash which indicates attention to details. Shop no further, old fashions service here.

We had out syncro engine replaced with a subaru engine here, as well as some other minor fixes. Everything was done right the first time. We are very happy with all of the results and would definitely recommend taking your VW here.

I had a Mitsubishi Mirage Turbo that was an amazing car in the snow, oddly, but had a nasty habit of blowing through head gaskets. I wound up taking it in one day to a mechanic shop that is probably long out of business now and he very nicely screwed with it enough to throw the main bearing, which seized the motor. So, since everyone in their life has to evidently have a lemon that they wind up sinking far more money into than the car is worth (this is mine, if you hadn’t guessed) and don’t realize until much later, I went to Metric to get a reasonably priced used motor. After installation, I had the same rocket I initially bought and in fact, it was probably faster. Perfect, right… except it blew a hole in one of hte pistons and there went all the compression. I took it back and it turned out the wastegate on the Turbo was incorrectly adjusted, but they stood behind their work and the engine and replaced it with another one quickly and at no charge. Definitely would be looking their way if I ever had such a need again… foreign motors are their specialty, especially finding them and it was well worth the time saving to not do it myself.

I couldn’t be happier that I found Metric Motors. The original engine on our 1984 Vanagon Camper went out after 119K miles and we wanted to upgrade it to a Subaru engine. Originally I spoke to another mechanic in a small town in Utah who had done a conversion before and was going to have him update our van but he was stalling due to the complexity of the build. I first read the review here of Chris:

so I called him. He answered and instantly spoke knowledgably with me for 20 minutes about every single detail of the conversion (tubing reroutes, wiring harness, ecu rewrites, etc), a bunch of things I hadn’t thought of and I know that my other mechanic would not have known how to do. He described it all to me off the top of his head.
Chris is a great guy and is very experienced with all types of engine and car repair. And his shop is all in one, these guys are serious about what they do, albeit insanely friendly and cool. They are fully setup to test your engine or rebuild it, they have everything. They also do all sorts of crazy motor projects, like building 2-​cylinder engines and winning land speed records with them on the salt flats and all sorts of other passion projects. And he really, really looked out for my van (which is my pride and joy). He absolutely gets the love of these cars and shares it, something that is getting to be rare. He always got on the phone and explained things to me. Since the build, he has even returned our call when we were stranded on a Saturday morning (we didn’t know it when we called him but it was due to a rusty fuel tank clogging the fuel pump, not Chris’ work). I don’t recommend asking him to do this as he is busy :) but still he called us back which shows the caliber of guy he is. These guys took such good care of us that I even brought the shop In-​N-​Out burgers one afternoon to thank them for letting me bug them so much about the build and for them doing such a great job.
Chris originally sent me an estimate that he had done on another conversion before mine, I know he spent more time on mine but he never adjusted the hours he billed from that original estimate. My upgraded van runs like an absolute dream; 75mph, smooth, constant temperature, never falters. Everywhere I take it mechanics and car enthusiasts are marveling at what an incredible job they did with the upgrade. Definitely the parts used but more so the quality of the craftsmanship and welding. Just the other day when being compared side by side to another conversion by a good mechanic that «this guy’s is nice, but yours… is just f’ing amazing man». All that is to say is that everyone I’ve put it in front of has been really impressed.
BOTTOM LINE:
Chris is the man and Mitch, Seth and all the guys at the shop are total professionals and more than that really good at what they do, especially in quality of work and diagnosing all sorts of VW «syndrome’s». I wouldn’t take my car to anyone else as they are honest and have the experience and the heart to respect these old cars. Thanks for building my dream van, Chris. This review was the least I could do.