Neon R/T Resurrection

[DC Turismo]

On August 6, 2009, I purchased a 1999 Dodge Neon R/T that I have had my eye on since high school back in 2002-2003. A buddy of mine owned it and I told him from that point on that whenever he wanted to sell it, I wanted dibs.

As it turns out, he blew the motor up in it last year, 155,2xx miles later, and it sat in his yard over the course of this past winter. I was able to acquire it, and now I have a new project on my hands.

Description:
White w/blue stripes
2 door coupe
Power windows, Sunroof
155,2xx miles on body

Interior condition: 8/10 (One mark on driver's seat, one mark on rear seat)

Exterior condition: 7/10 (Dent on driver's upper quarterpanel/roofline, Dent on driver's quarterpanel by taillight, some knicks in paint = surface rust spots, some rock chips on front end). Passenger taillight is cracked and I need to install the good one I picked up from the junkyard.

Project Log Entry #1 - August 16, 2009
Last night, I putzed around a little bit with my buddy Silent Jim as we removed the headlight/parking light housings to be polished. We also removed the center grille bar in order to get the headlight assemblies out easier.

Today was the first day since buying the car that I've really had a chance to dive in head first in terms of wrenching on the car. I washed it off the night I brought it home but that was it. Today, I removed the entire interior (except for door panels and dash). I found the most difficult part of removing all the seats, console, carpet, and interior plastic trim to be the back seat. I snapped two extensions when trying to loosed the T-55 starbit bolts that hold the bracket for the seatbelts/upper portion of back seat in place.

Thus far, I vacuumed the entire carpet. With it being out of the car, it is a lot easier to ensure I get in every nook and cranny. I also wiped down all interior plastic trim. Tomorrow, I plan on giving the seats a nice shampooing and taking a set of Neon floormats I found at the junkyard to a car wash and pressure washing them in hopes that the clean up.

In addition to preparing the interior for a major cleaning, I also had the intent on pulling the interior out so I could look over the floors and innner quarters. Everything looks great!

One other note, the previous owner had tint put on the car and ended up getting pulled over back when the car still ran. He scraped it off all the windows except for a 1 ft. x 1 ft. section on the rear window. He left all the glue on the windows as well. I spent a good hour or so tonight going with a razorblade very carefully scraping that excess glue and tint off of the glass. I still have to rub a few more layers of windex on the glass, but they look 10x better already.


Tomorrrow, I plan on shampooing the seats as I mentioned along with the door panels. I will also be wiping down the entire interior to remove any dirt/debris that found its way under the carpeting and seats over the years. I do also plan on removing the headliner so I can strip the dirty cloth off and redo it to a dark grey color that will match the interior better in my opinion compared to light gray. By the end of tomorrow I hope to have most of the interior back together!

[DC Turismo]

I forgot to add in my first post, with the motor currently being blown in the car, I sourced out a R/T drivetrain from a local salvage yard that is coming out of an identical twin to my car. The car was driven into the salvage yard prior to parts being disassembled from it. It has 116,xxx miles, and due to this, I will be doing some major overhauling on the motor this upcoming week once I get it home.

My plans for it are:
Paint 2.0 DOHC embossed valve cover Viper Blue with aluminum letters
Paint block factory Black
Paint Intake Mani. dark silver/gray
Clean aluminum parts (head, transmission, alternator, etc) and clearcoat

Change timing belt
Change headgasket
Change valve stem seals
Change rear main seal
Change intake mani. gasket
Change valve cover gasket
Change headbolts
Change water pump
Change clutch *** While motor is being torn apart anyways, check and change clutch as preventitive maintenance.
Change plugs & wires
Change fluids

Performance-wise, I have ordered a JRB 2.5" catback exhuast that I will be using to replace the factory exhaust. The car has a huge fart can attached to it now, so I figured rather than mess with locating leaks/holes, replacing a fart can, etc. I may as well just attach a performance exhaust that fits to the factory hangers while the motor is out anyways. I have also obtained a throttle body from an automatic 95-99 Neon which is 52mm rather than the 49mm diameter that 5 speeds came equipped with. I do plan on locating a 3.0 V6 minivan intake hose to use as a makeshift CAI that goes in front of the motor rather than behind it like most aftermarket CAI's do.

After the motor is running and the interior is put back together, I hope to fix the few small cosmetic dings and chips here and there to make the car look a little bit better. My sunroof tracks are broken I believe, so I will need to replace the entire assembly at some point, preferably before winter, to prevent any leaking of water. Lastly, I am sporting the factory 14" rims through winter which I need to clean up, while at the same time prepping a set of 6.5" crab rims to have ready for spring! I'm doing them up gunmetal with a polished lip. That should look fantastic!


I am considering going with a Mopar Performance PCM if I find one, as well as a short throw shifter, underdrive pulley, booger shifter cable bushings, and new brake shoes all around.

[Dodge Aries K]

Get yourself a good solid bobble strut instead of the stock crap Chrysler puts on these things. Also, get some new engine mounts and get the inserts for them. Trust me on that... I've owned a few Neons over the past few years and that makes them very happy. On the other hand, I'll take some interior vibrations over slop in the drivetrain any day of the week.

[DC Turismo]

Thanks Karl, I'll look into those. ModernPerformance.com I assume?

[WickedShelby88]

That sounds awesome Billy! Congrats on the purchase. Looking forward to pics!

[Force Fed Mopar]

2.4 swap or ban :D

[cordes]

I know there were pics in the other thread, but come on man. ;)

[turbovanman²]

Dude, ban for no pics, :(

:needpics1:

[DC Turismo]

LOL Pics should be up tomorrow, sorry guys :( I keep forgetting my camera in the garage haha....



UPDATED - AUGUST 17
Last night after my post I was cruising the net looking for Neon parts when I stumbled across a sale on 2.5" JRB catback exhaust systems for $150 :thumb::eyebrows: Since it uses the factory hangers, comes with a muffler, and should give me a nice sound as well as performance, I went ahead and purchased one. I can't wait to get it on considering the car currently has a rusty looking 2.25" exhaust with a dinged up $20 fart can from eBay attached on it, barf!

Today, I went ahead and disassembled, vaccuumed, and shampooed the seats that I removed from the car yesterday. They didn't really need done, but I'm a perfectionist when it comes to doing everything myself on my cars to ensure they're clean and looking the best they can. Some small spots that were before unnoticed did come out after applying the cleaner, and I'm very happy with the results. They smell great and the cleaning process went fairly easy besides taking a few hours. First I wet the fabric with a rag, then sprayed the soap suds from the upholstery cleaner can on so that they could soak in for a minute or two. I scrubbed the fabric with the brush that came with the cleaner while, every few scrubs, I would rinse the brush off in a bucket of clean water. I then vacuumed over the area I just scrubbed. With the humidity being as bad as it was today, these puppies dried in no time!

I also decided to remove the headliner tonight around 11:00 and peeled off the old fabric and wire brushed the glue to get a clean surface to glue new fabric on tomorrow. The R/T's came with a light gray headliner, oh sh!t handle, and sunvisors. But since the rest of the interior is a darker gray, I am giong to go that route and change it up to finish off the dark interior look. I plan on having the headliner glued on in the morning by 11 AM which would give me a good headstart in getting the interior all back together in the car tomorrow. The only drawback is that the sliding cover for the sunroof is also light gray, but I have no clue how to remove that thing from the car???????? Any suggestions? I see two options 1) get a battery in the car, send the sunroof back, pull the cover forward, and see if it will lift out the top - OR - 2) remove all the bolts for the sunroof from inside the car and maybe it will drop out that way?


Lastly, my neighbor just had a dent wizard guy come up and take out a few dings on his car and the guy diid a great job. Since my interior is completely out of the car for cleaning, I am thinking that I will call the dent wizard guy tomorrow and set up an appointment to see if he can pop out the fist dent on the upper qiuarter, the shopping buggy dent on the quarter by the taillight, and three small door dings on the same quarter (all driver's side). I figure if he charges somewhere around $50 per panel, I maybe will only have a $100 wrapped up in getting those fixed, which would be awesome.



Motor for the car is going to get picked up tomorrow too at some point. I'll get pics of it as well as the rest of my progress uploaded tomorrow! Sorry in advance lol.... Let the suspense build.

[turbovanman²]

Are you planning on turbocharging it? :eyebrows:

[contraption22]

Be very careful with your muffler choice. It's very easy to get a neon to sound ricey with the wrong muffler.

The stock DOHC exhaust is actually a really good piece and hard to improve upon unless you are doing some fairly radical engine mods.

[DC Turismo]

This is the exhaust I purchased:

http://www.modernperformance.com/inch-catback-exhaust-9599-neon-p-1946.html

[contraption22]

I'm not sure what that exhaust sounds like. Are you keeping the cat?

[turbovanman²]

It could be a welded Flo Pro or Walker Ultra Flo is it? It should sound decent.

[Sgt Craig]

I would have chose the Dynomax.It isnt much louder than stock.i forgot to add in my Pm while you have the trans out it wouldnt be a bad idea to install the safing tabs so the diff pin doesnt see day light.Quite a common occurance on them.

[Force Fed Mopar]

From what I've read, the TB on the 2.0 quickly becomes a restriction, and also a larger TB apparently makes the exhaust sound better due to less restriction. I've read several times that the small stock TB gives it the ricey blat in the exhaust note.

[contraption22]

From what I've read, the TB on the 2.0 quickly becomes a restriction, and also a larger TB apparently makes the exhaust sound better due to less restriction. I've read several times that the small stock TB gives it the ricey blat in the exhaust note.

Just upgrading to the TB from an automatic 1st gen Neon makes a nice difference. I've never heard of it changing the exhaust note tho. It didn't on mine.

[Sgt Craig]

Just upgrading to the TB from an automatic 1st gen Neon makes a nice difference. I've never heard of it changing the exhaust note tho. It didn't on mine.


Never did on any of mine of course its hard to tell when your running 12.5-1 through a open header :thumb:

[DC Turismo]

Not turbocharging it Simon.......... yet ;) Maybe down the road after all of our other projects are done around here. SRT-4 R/T would be awesome to say the least hahaha


Anyways, let me first aplogize for no pics. I have taken a number of them, but the last two days the camera, once turned out, keeps saying format error and will not let me do anything with it (view, take, upload) pics. So while I work on that P.I.A. tomorrow, let me update you guys on what I've done the last two days. I didn't get on yesterday because I had a Fantasy Football Draft at a buddy's house. Anyways, here we go:

I haven't made as much progress as I'd have liked at this point due to me being tedious about little things that I keep finding. First and foremost, though, I went to the salvage yard to pay for the motor I got for this that came out of an identical twin to my car (only difference was that it was a 98 with cruise control). While I was there, I walked back to the car and snagged a mint passenger sunvisor as well as the clips that hold the driver's side power window bezel to the door panel (mine were missing on my car). Once I got home, although it was hella hot, I decided it was time to experiment on removing that sliding sunroof shade cover. To make a long story short, I ended up removing the ENTIRE sunroof/track/mechanism only to realize once it was out of the car that all I had to do was remove six starbit screws from the track assembly so the sunroof glass would pop out. This allowed me to access four springy pins that held that sunshade cover in place. After compressing them, poof, off it came with no problems at all!

Following this, I removed the old headliner from the shade cover and also scraped off the old glue with a razor blade. Once I completed this I ran out to our local JoAnn Fabrics store and purchased black headliner material. I wanted dark grey, but they only had light grey so I went with the darkest color there. I bought two huge pieces of it (one for the headliner board, one for the sunshade cover) for around $35 and one can of 3M Super Heavy Duty Adhesive from Advance Auto for $20. Before I sprayed the headliner, I first wanted to redye the little plastic pieces that hold the headliner up (like the sunshade cover handle, the sunvisor clips, the oh sh!t handle for the passenger side, the sunroof hole molding strip, and the headliner buttons). I opted to paint them black too compared to the light grey. I figured by keeping it light gray there'd be too much of a contrast. Now, the only light gray in the car besides the carpet will be the sunvisors because I am not about to redo those myself lol....

When all was said and done, the only additional thing I did besides putting another coat of paint on those small interior items was swapped out the busted passenger taillight and replaced it with a very nice one from a junkyard find. By then it was time to put everything away to attend my football draft.

Today was a different story though, as I got a TON of stuff done.

[DC Turismo]

I woke up early and drove my ever trusty Ram 150 up to the salvage yard to pick up my motor. Talk about clean! Just wait til I post pics of it. I'm almost tempted to just throw the thing in as is and drive it, but I'd rather be safe than sorry and redo all the gaskets, seals, clutch, timing belt, water pump, etc. while its out of the car. Anyhow, looking the motor over, a Mobil 1 filter is on it, leading me to believe (crossing fingers) that the previous owner of the car took good care of the motor with nice oil choices, etc. The motor's home, and I'll get to it here in the next week or so in terms of doing all that preventitive maintence stuff as well as painting it.

Once it was home, I wanted to get working on the car, especially since they were calling for storms all day and I had a big hole in the roof of my car with only a tarp blocking the elements from getting inside. Pat helped me spray both the headliner board and the sunroof shade and apply the headliner material to both. They came out great. I let them dry all afternoon before I made any cuts in the headliner as well as before I did any tucking/glueing to the backside.

Once the sunroof shade was finished, Pat snapped the handle in for me and we reattached it to the sunroof assembly. I noticed some surface rust along the edge of the roofline down inside where the sunroof tracks rest (from water build up I imagine considering the car sat for a long while). I scraped at the bubbly spots and brushed some white rustoleum over it in hopes that at least it may slow that surface rust down from coming back. We'll see. I also touched up a little bit of surface rust by both front drain plugs in the sunroof track itself. We bolted the entire sunroof assembly back inside the car before screwing the sunroof glass into place. What a difference the black headliner material made, I'll say that much. It look awesome on that sunroof door!

I was going to put the headliner in at this point but I realized I still had to tuck the fabric to the backside. Because of this, I also think I want to hold off and change the sunroof motor while the headliner is out so that I don't mess it up by pulling it down to do so later. Tomorrow I plan on hitting up the junkyards and finding some motors to try out since mine clicks anytime you hold the button in either going forward or going back. It clicks terribly loud and vibrates the hold roof. I assume a gear is bad or something inside of it. If I can't find another motor I just plan on not using the sunroof period, which will probably be better anyhow since they're known to break anyways.


Since I was stuck in this regard, I decided that since the sunroof is now in and the car is once again sealed, I could probably get the interior pieced back together as much as possible. I washed out and vacuumed the entire interior shell of the car, removing all of the dirt/dust buildup from the last ten years and ridding the car of any trash that slipped under the seats/carpet over the years. It looks so much better than it did, I'm very happy with the results.

THe next step was to put the carpet back in so I could bolt in the freshly shampooed front seats and cleaned up center console. Here, my pickiness got in the way and I noticed a few stains here and there on the carpet. I folded it up, shoved it in a big rubber maid container, and along with a pair of dirty --- floormats I got at the junykard a couple weeks ago, headed to the local car wash where I pressure washed/purple powered/turtle wax upholstery cleaned soap sudded both the carpet and floormats. The carpet cleaned up great, no stains/dirt spots remain at all. The floormats didnt clean up so well (seeing that they sat in an unsealed Neon for the last two years exposed to all elements and rusty rotars laying on top of them, I couldn't expect much anyways). I'll use the floormats for winter. Currently the carpet is drying out so that come tomorrow morning, I can lay it back inside the car, bolt in the front seats and center console so that the interior can start coming back together.

I'm going to leave the back seat and both interior quarter panel plastics out of the car until the dent wizard guy can stop up and fix the one dent the car has first.


After reinstalling the carpet and front portion of the interior, I plan on getting the headliner situated up in there with all of the newly painted plastic pieces attached as well to hold it in place. IF I can get this all done tomorrow, I'll be very satisfied and will most likely start removing pieces of the engine/disconnecting wiring so that this motor can be pulled perhaps as early as this weekend. Only time will tell.


On a side note/future reference, I've located a brand new Mopar Modular Clutch/Throwout Bearing as well as a Mopar Performance ECM that should be arriving late next week.

Tomorrow, while looking for a sunroof motor, I also need a passenger door panel plastic handle or cubby, whatever its called, a passenger side b-pillar trim piece, and the covers at the bottom of both front seatbelts that conceal the bolt that holds them to the floor. I had grabbed a TB off of an Automatic Neon at the junkyard a couple weeks ago but it does not look like a 52mm one by any means. I have to look for another one of those and I can't forget about a airox hose from a V6 mid 90s Chrysler Minivan or 3.3 Dynasty from what I understand for the purpose of connected it to the TB and running a piece of pipe down from it, caticorner to the battery tray, attaching a filter to it in order to get the best cold air intake style setup possible. I hope to find all of those and install them too if all goes to plan.



Again, I'll get pics up ASAP. The one pic I do have is of our Ram with my motor in the back that I took with my cell phone. I'll upload it as soon as it reaches my email.


Thanks for reading :D :D

[DC Turismo]

I lied, turns out that Pat took a few more pics than I knew about with my cell phone while we were at the yard checking the car over for anything else I may need. So here they are, enjoy!


The sad part is that the car got totalled out simply due to the driver's side quarter panel damage that you can see in the one pic. I looked this thing over for a good two weeks back in June when they first brought it in and it was complete. They drove it to the place and back to its spot in the yard for crying out loud. Real shame that its totalled, but oh well, good for me since I got the motor :amen:


Not seen in the pic is that the trunk, bumper cover, and pass. taillight are gone off this car too. I really was hoping the hood was still there to get a spare, but wasn't lucky enough for that.

[contraption22]

What a shame. I really want another DOHC coupe someday.

[TurbododgePirate]

There is a set of heater coolant tubes on the front of the motor. You can see them in the fourth photo from the left. They are cheap ($35) and if you don't replace them, you could end up with a slow leak, plus it is a PITA to replace in the car. Better to do it now.

[Mopar318]

Is that the pic-n-pull outside of Blairsville by the Pitts raceway?

[85shelbycharger]

Is that the pic-n-pull outside of Blairsville by the Pitts raceway?

Nope, not even close lol.

[DC Turismo]

Sorry I wasn't able to give an update yesterday guys, here we go:

Yesterday, I went ahead and tucked the headliner in the morning. After that, I headed to a junkyard to see if I couldn't find a sunroof motor to test out but had no luck. The heck with changing it at this point. It works fine, and all I have to do is let up pushing the button when I go to open or close it to avoid the clicking noise. IMHO it'll be fine, if I use it at all (I don't plan on it). While venturing around though, I found a Neon that had a rear view mirror equipped with dual map lights that I snagged and installed as soon as I got home. I had to tap into the wires that the vanity mirrors in the sunvisors use as well as a ground. VERY easy install, and it works perfect :)

I had to go away for the rest of the afternoon. But when I finally came home, I had Pat help me get the headliner clipped up into the roof and install the sunvisors, oh sh!t handle, dome light, sunroof hole gasket thing, and sunroof controls to hold it in place. Turned out fantastic if I don't say so myself :) In the meantime, Brandon came up and brought with him a Billy Mays Dent Wizard tool (suction cups on a bracket, hot glue gun) and was able to take both of the large dents (the fist sized dent and shopping buggy dent) nearly all the way out! He's coming back tomorrow to take out two additional door dings that we found when looking from an angle at the side of the car. We called it a night not long after that.


Today, I woke up with the intent of getting the interior completely reinstalled. I came pretty close lol.... For starters, I wanted to throw some rustoleum down in the quarter panels to prevent any rust in the future and I had to let that dry. In addition, there was a tiny bit of surface rust right where the trunk release cable sits on the left side of the driver's seat that I put some rustoleum on as well. While this paint was drying, I scraped the remaining tint glue off of the back window and windexed/cleaned it. I'm so glad I listened to my uncle and chose to scrape it off rather than swapping in another window, phew!

Once the tint was off and window cleaned, I laid my freshly pressure washed carpet (which looks brand new now after the Purple Power shower it got at the car wash) in place and sat the front two bucket seats on top of it just to get them out of the way. I'll finish installing them permanently tomorrow once I paint the seat track bolts. I also replaced the clips on the driver's door panel power window switch since it was just hanging there. Lastly, for the day, I installed the interior quarter panel plastics to get them two big PIA's out of my way in the garage too. They were pretty difficult to line up when trying to not hurt the headliner. But, they're in and good to go.

The other major project I had today was cleaning/polishing the rims. I must say, they turned out a LOT better than I had thought. As most of you know from looking at my Turismo, I don't mind putting in some Elbow Grease hours, and yet again, that patience showed off today on the final outcome of the rims. Other than the front two having some curbrash, they made a world of difference for the car's appearance just from being cleaned up.


I would have installed the center console but I ordered Booger shifter bushings and want to install them first. The final pieces needing installed are the kickpanels and rear seat. The back of the rear seat still needs shampooed though, so that will be #1 on my agenda tomorrow besides getting the engine bay ready to pull the DOA motor that is currently in it.

I did some examining of the motor I picked up from the salvage yard earlier int he week and it turns out that the thing has the metal headgasket on it already. Even better, as I mentioned the head was pretty clean looking. Upon looking at it further I noticed it has a reman'd stamp on it. Looks like the whole head was replaced not too long ago (I'm figuring the timing belt broke previously and that head was either sent out or a new one was put on if the valves got bent). Therefore, I'm not pulling the head off as I orginally had planned. I will be changing the timing belt and water pump though just to be safe.

The clutch and Mopar Performance computer that I had a deal made out for have fallen through. The MP comptuer turned out to be for a SOHC, and for the clutch the guy said he couldn't accept a paypal payment because he didn't have protection? So you know what, I'm anxious to drive this thing so the motor, besides the timing belt and water pump, is going to get cleaned up, a few things painted, and dumped into the engine bay. If the clutch is old, oh well I'll deal with it later. We're getting close to road time, woot!!! :D

[DC Turismo]

BTW, turns out the memory card area had some dirt gunk attached to it so I got that cleaned today and I will get whatever pics I took so far posted tomorrow! :)

[contraption22]

While you're at it, Billy, throw in some "PT" lifters and rockers.

By that I mean Lifters and rockers from an 01-up 2.4. And some mild upgrade valvesprings wouldnt be a bad idea either, even with stock cams.

[DC Turismo]

Mike

I've read up about the PT lifters and rockers upgrade, but from what my Chrysler Master Tech. thinks from looking the motor over, the valves are probably newer to begin with as well as most parts that make up the head and told me to go with it. Down the road I will do that if something drastic would go wrong with the motor, but for now it'll do as is.

[TurbododgePirate]

Check the rear taillights, the neons have a tendency to leak water into the cabin from the rear taillight seals, this weather should be perfect for seeing if there is a leak.

Also the Booger bushings are the same as the bushings for a 523, just in case you have some of them laying around.

A couple other suggestions: The 5 speed neons have a tendency to tear the front motor mounts, DEYEME racing made a nice flex filled front motor mount that I raced with for about 4 years. With a filled FMM and a solid rear bobble strut I never had any issues with either the tranny or the other motor mount.

The front wheel bearings are different on the RT and the ACR, so thats something to take into consideration also.

You should be able to find a decent set of yellow konis for cheap now. They make a WORLD of difference. Ask Pat, I know he rode in my coupe back in the day to that junkyard in brownsville.

[Skibbe]

A couple other suggestions: The 5 speed neons have a tendency to tear the front motor mounts, DEYEME racing made a nice flex filled front motor mount that I raced with for about 4 years. With a filled FMM and a solid rear bobble strut I never had any issues with either the tranny or the other motor mount.

The front wheel bearings are different on the RT and the ACR, so thats something to take into consideration also.



Man I miss my neon... If the REX inserts for the mounts are still around, they're good too.

I don't think it's the bearing that's different, the hub itself is thicker. At least from what I remember of installing the ACR hubs on my R/T.

[TurbododgePirate]

Man I miss my neon... If the REX inserts for the mounts are still around, they're good too.

I don't think it's the bearing that's different, the hub itself is thicker. At least from what I remember of installing the ACR hubs on my R/T.

Yup, that's correct.

[Mopar318]

Nope, not even close lol.

Well, had to guess. It looks similar to that. But dont they all look the same.:evil:

[DC Turismo]

Today was my deadline to have my interior finalized and I met that goal! I installed the Booger bushings onto the shifter within five minutes of them arriving in the mail. This allowed for me to get the console in very easily because I just picked the seats out and moved them out of my way since they were not bolted in yet. After the console, I got the tail ends of the seat tracks as well as the seat track bolts wire wheeled and repainted black. Once the front buckets were bolted in using some antiseize on each bolt, I decided to get the tinted windshield banner razor bladed off of the front window before supper. Thankfully it came off in two big pieces and the glue was not nearly as difficult to remove as the rear window was. Looks a lot better up front now.

Once I ate my supper I headed back out to the driveway and finally shampooed the back to the rear seat. This was the last task I had hindering my progress of finalizing the interior part-wise. It was a pretty clean seat cover to begin with so it didn't take long to do. To make it better, when I went to install it, I got it on my first try, completely unintentional! LOL I antiseized the two bolts to hold the seatbelt buckles in, and popped the bottom of the rear seat into place about 20 minutes ago! Interior looks mint. I'm so happy I went through this week of work to tear it all out and clean/redo/touch it up. It feels just as new as my PT Cruiser inside :)

Now that the entire interior is together, I added my final touch a.k.a. Squash Air Freshener by using the two sided tape it comes with and attaching it to the underside of the ash tray, completely out of site and out of the way. By far the BEST air fresheners I have ever had in my life.


Earlier, Pat and I unloaded the motor and tomorrow I plan on two main projects. 1 is pressure washing the engine bay/disconnecting anything I can in preparatino of swapping the new motor in this week. #2 is popping the tranny off to check the clutch and see if I should just order a new one or if this one will do for a while.



Pics were going to be posted along with this information, but my crappy luck, the camera died on me and will not turn on, even after six sets of new batteries were tried to get it on. I'm going to look up an FAQ on the thing and see if I can't still get them on tonight. I guess it's time I should get a new camera? :blah:

I

[Sgt Craig]

Today was my deadline to have my interior finalized and I met that goal! I installed the Booger bushings onto the shifter within five minutes of them arriving in the mail. This allowed for me to get the console in very easily because I just picked the seats out and moved them out of my way since they were not bolted in yet. After the console, I got the tail ends of the seat tracks as well as the seat track bolts wire wheeled and repainted black. Once the front buckets were bolted in using some antiseize on each bolt, I decided to get the tinted windshield banner razor bladed off of the front window before supper. Thankfully it came off in two big pieces and the glue was not nearly as difficult to remove as the rear window was. Looks a lot better up front now.

Once I ate my supper I headed back out to the driveway and finally shampooed the back to the rear seat. This was the last task I had hindering my progress of finalizing the interior part-wise. It was a pretty clean seat cover to begin with so it didn't take long to do. To make it better, when I went to install it, I got it on my first try, completely unintentional! LOL I antiseized the two bolts to hold the seatbelt buckles in, and popped the bottom of the rear seat into place about 20 minutes ago! Interior looks mint. I'm so happy I went through this week of work to tear it all out and clean/redo/touch it up. It feels just as new as my PT Cruiser inside :)

Now that the entire interior is together, I added my final touch a.k.a. Squash Air Freshener by using the two sided tape it comes with and attaching it to the underside of the ash tray, completely out of site and out of the way. By far the BEST air fresheners I have ever had in my life.


Earlier, Pat and I unloaded the motor and tomorrow I plan on two main projects. 1 is pressure washing the engine bay/disconnecting anything I can in preparatino of swapping the new motor in this week. #2 is popping the tranny off to check the clutch and see if I should just order a new one or if this one will do for a while.



Pics were going to be posted along with this information, but my crappy luck, the camera died on me and will not turn on, even after six sets of new batteries were tried to get it on. I'm going to look up an FAQ on the thing and see if I can't still get them on tonight. I guess it's time I should get a new camera? :blah:

I

A PT Cruiser Non Turbo Clutch is a good cheap upgrade.Do not forget about those safing tabs for the trans.

[DC Turismo]

Will do Craig! Thanks :)

[DC Turismo]

Woot! Slammed my camera off of my computer desk and now it works! HAHA

Today I pressure washed the engine bay and pulled off all wiring/radiator/ac condensor in the engine bay so that the motor is that much closer to getting pulled. I got all of the pics I've taken uploaded too. I thought that I had taken more, but apparently not since the cam. was giving me trouble. Either way, these are ordered from beginning to most recent. Enjoy :thumb:

[DC Turismo]

The rest:

[DC Turismo]

As you can see on the rim pics, the one has a chip out of it. I have two replacements lined up to fix install in place of that rim as well as one other one that has some curb rash.

[Sgt Craig]

As you can see on the rim pics, the one has a chip out of it. I have two replacements lined up to fix install in place of that rim as well as one other one that has some curb rash.


Ill look at the 4 I have today and see if any of them are clean.I just use them for winter tires on the van.Do you need any snow tires for the neon? I have 2 185/70/14 Winterforce with 7 32nds tread left.They are too small for the van.

[DC Turismo]

Craig

That's OK, after I get these two this week the set I have will be perfect. Thanks though.

And the tires on my car are winter tires and were bought just before the kid parked the car so I'm good on those too. :)

[Aries_Turbo]

how blown up is the old motor? im looking for a complete dohc 2.0L

Brian

[Sgt Craig]

Craig

That's OK, after I get these two this week the set I have will be perfect. Thanks though.

And the tires on my car are winter tires and were bought just before the kid parked the car so I'm good on those too. :)

Thats good you found two more,the ones I have are starting to peel.

[DC Turismo]

Yesterday got the tranny pulled off of the motor so I can clean it up. Parts are on the way too!

Mopar Performance modular clutch
Mopar Performance throwout bearing
AF/X Solid Bobble Strut
AF/X Solid Front Motor Mount
Prothane Inserts for side mount and tranny mount
COMPLX EGR Blockoff Plates
Woot! :D

I ran to another jyard today and found a better looking white fender that I'm going to install this week at some point. Also grabbed a correct throttle cable. The one in this car, believe it or not, is four times longer than the stock one?! WTF!!! :yuck:

[Aries_Turbo]

billy, you didnt answer my question! :)

[cordes]

Thanks for the pics Billy. That makes me want one.

[DC Turismo]

billy, you didnt answer my question! :)

Sorry Bucar.... it's got scorched cylinder walls and who knows what else. To be honest, I'm just throwing it in my Daytona with some other junk when it goes to the scrapper next week. This one doesn't look that worth getting IMHO. I can keep an eye out for you if you'd like though.

[DC Turismo]

No problem Cordes the Tortoise lol.... Like I mentioned earlier, I've always wanted one. Now that I finally own one, my collection of cars is nearly completed :evil: Just a COUPLE more to go now hahaha

Again though, sorry I didn't take more pics. I will once it's all done though I promise :amen:

[DC Turismo]

Fairly slow last two days. Setting up my classroom and helping Rob get his truck polished up have taken time away from the progress on the Neon. I got my clutch, prothane mount inserts, solid front mount, and solid bobble strut all in today. I'm ready to clear the transmission after wire wheeling it all. I'm having the valve cover and intake mani. bead blasted this weekend so I can paint them come next week. I'm just waiting on the throwout bearing and to paint both the block, coolant line, and motor mounts in order to put the motor back together. I will probably wire wheel the ac compressor too just to clean it up. I figure this should be done by mid-September seeing that I am much busier than a couple weeks ago. I'll keep eveyrone posted!

One thing I am considering is going with an underdrive pulley? Any recommendations/ones for sale?

[Sgt Craig]

Yesterday got the tranny pulled off of the motor so I can clean it up. Parts are on the way too!

Mopar Performance modular clutch
Mopar Performance throwout bearing
AF/X Solid Bobble Strut
AF/X Solid Front Motor Mount
Prothane Inserts for side mount and tranny mount
COMPLX EGR Blockoff Plates
Woot! :D

I ran to another jyard today and found a better looking white fender that I'm going to install this week at some point. Also grabbed a correct throttle cable. The one in this car, believe it or not, is four times longer than the stock one?! WTF!!! :yuck:

The mopar clutch is the PT clutch.For some odd reason the cruise equipped cars had that rediculously long throttle cable.The throttle response is better with the shortie.

[DC Turismo]

Yeah, I grabbed a shorty one from the JY so I'm good with that. Also Mr. Marra convinced me to get the MPX UDP so it's on the way now too. AAAAHHH A nice d.d. that will have some pick-up to it, woot! Throwout bearing arrived today. Plan is to have it in the car by the end of next week. We'll see how my work schedule at school allows for that sort of time in the evening though. Stay tuned :)

[TurbododgePirate]

Just a FYI, You may wish to take back the mopar performance TOB you bought. They have a high tendency to squeel. The consensus over on neons.org was to go get a cheap one from autozone.

[DC Turismo]

Plan is to have my motor in by the end of this week. I'm out of town today, but when I get back in tomorrow I gotta put some final touches on cleaning the block and tranny so I can paint them and then begin pieceing them back together with some of these new parts. Picking up all gaskets and what not that I need come Monday. Woot!

[DC Turismo]

Found this cool clip on youtube:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQYJkfYxp7M

[Sgt Craig]

Found this cool clip on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQYJkfYxp7M

Nice find!I have never seen.Of course I was floating around the Med when they announced the R/T's in 97-98.I first saw one in Car and Driver in the New for 98 issue.It was a Red Coupe with the Chrome R/T wheels.

[DC Turismo]

Nice!


Today, got a lot accomplished. Brought my motor back to my house rather than at my garage so I could work on it without the hassle of having to drive to the location, then come all the way back if I forgot something.

Regardless, cleared the tranny, painted any accessory/mounts/brackets satin black. Inserted the red Polyurethane motor mount inserts into the tranny mount (thanks for the help Mr. Marra! lol... ) Painted my intake mani., removed the exhaustmani, wire wheeled the block, and compared some parts, most notable deciding I'm going to use the pass. side motor mount that is still attached in the car as it looks brand new (compared that because I wanted to install the polyurethane mount insert but I'll have to wait til I pull the motor).

Plan to pull the motor Tuesday and should have the car running by Saturday (registered, plated, insured, bugs worked out, etc).

[DC Turismo]

It's been a slow week, far too busy to spend much time working on my Neon. Yesterday Pat sandblasted my DOHC embossed valve cover for me during the day and I sanded it down and painted it last night. Today I took off a water pump bracket, valve cover bolts, misc. bolts, and wire wheeled/cleared those. I also sanded down and repainted the metal heater lines black too. Tomorrow I plan on painting the block, clearing the head since its looking like new, and if my buddy has time, doing the timing belt and installing the UDP! If all goes to plan, we'll be pulling the crappy motor out of the car tomorrow night too so I can have some time to clean up the engine bay.

Stay tuned :evil:

[TurbododgePirate]

Upgrading to a SRT4 water pump might not be a bad idea since you have it all out of the car. The SRT4 water pump is a much better design IMO.

[DC Turismo]

Getting ready to pull the old motor here tonight! yay!

[Sgt Craig]

Upgrading to a SRT4 water pump might not be a bad idea since you have it all out of the car. The SRT4 water pump is a much better design IMO.

2.0 and 2.4 have different water pumps.

[Aries_Turbo]

Getting ready to pull the old motor here tonight! yay!

dont forget to send the old junk motor over to heaths for me :)

brian

[DC Turismo]

Got the motor pulled tonight with very minimal holdups. Worst part about it was getting the power steering stuff disconnected :)

Brian, I've decided that I'm taking the motor in for a core on Saturday, sorry man.

Did find out I will be needing to redo every corner of the car brakewise and suspension wise after looking things over in depth tonight. Wasn't planning on it, but oh well, a money pit these "small projects" become! hahahhaa I'm happy with the choices I've made for my build so far and cannot wait to get it on the road finally!

[Aries_Turbo]

i cant just pay you the core charge? cmon......

ill be down in sept and no yard around here has a 2.0L dohc. how much is the core charge. cant be more than 75$. id gladly give you that for a complete dohc 2.0L even if it needs a rebuild. i want it for my k car.

Brian

[Vigo]

Sell it to brian! Dohc neon motors are tough to find in a lot of areas, and the yard just wants the core for scrap weight. i.e. crush it.

[Aries_Turbo]

cmon billy, let me know what the core is and then take it to heaths. i dont see what the problem is.......

[DC Turismo]

Sorry Brian, wanting to stay on good terms with these guys at the yard by taking this back. It's already loaded up with some additional scrap I'm taking to them. Like I said, I'll keep an eye out for you and deal with you directly if I find something. :D

[Aries_Turbo]

nevermind. i didnt realize it had a thrown rod.

Brian

[Sgt Craig]

i cant just pay you the core charge? cmon......

ill be down in sept and no yard around here has a 2.0L dohc. how much is the core charge. cant be more than 75$. id gladly give you that for a complete dohc 2.0L even if it needs a rebuild. i want it for my k car.

Brian


Other than the pistons and the head the SOHC shortblock is the same.Might be easier to go that route.

[Aries_Turbo]

Other than the pistons and the head the SOHC shortblock is the same.Might be easier to go that route.

how is the bracketry? i have a head already and ill be putting custom pistons and rods in it anyway.

Brian

[Aries_Turbo]

ok, i did some research and it looks like i can use a SOHC with a DOHC head on it.

ill look for those.

enough trashing billys thread. :)

Brian

[DC Turismo]

PM returned Brian...


Looking to get Koni's since my suspension is shot. Hopefully will have something worked out in the next few days :)

[DC Turismo]

Cleaned engine bay, painted block. clearcoated head, block, intake. Reinstalled intake, PS pump bracket, AC compressor bracket. Things are coming together :)

Timing belt and water pump to be changed Tuesday night :D

[DC Turismo]

KONI blacks with ACR springs on the way :)

[DC Turismo]

New timing belt installed and timed, water pump replaced as well. Installed Modern Performance UDP. Installed NGK G-Power Platinum spark plugs, NAPA wires, and got my valve cover bolted down with a fresh gasket. I'll post some pics. tomorrow if time allows. Motor should be in by Friday night! :D :D :D :D Just have to order a passenger axle tomorrow. Can you believe the core charge for one of these (pass. side) is nearly double what the price is? ($91 vs. $52) LOL

[contraption22]

Can you believe the core charge for one of these (pass. side) is nearly double what the price is? ($91 vs. $52) LOL

Thinking out loud... i wonder if it's because they break axles so easily and rebuildable cores are scarce.

[DC Turismo]

Yea, mine's the definition of being broke for sure hahaha

[contraption22]

Yeah, avoid wheelhop at all costs. Thats what kills them on stockish cars.

[DC Turismo]

New brake pads, calipers, and vented rotars ordered for all four corners.

Picking up brand new (not reman.) passenger axle tomorrow in hopes that the engine can go in Friday night :)

[jl93sundance]

You should just paint it now lol, you've done everything else to make it a new car so far.

[DC Turismo]

You should just paint it now lol, you've done everything else to make it a new car so far.

Sh'up Jim, don't tempt me :lol:

[Aries_Turbo]

new factory axle or new parts store axle???

you wont be making the power or torque of a turbo car so new parts store axle would be fine but sometimes the heat treating isnt the best of isnt existent at all.... which makes them snap.

Brian

[DC Turismo]

new factory axle or new parts store axle???

you wont be making the power or torque of a turbo car so new parts store axle would be fine but sometimes the heat treating isnt the best of isnt existent at all.... which makes them snap.

Brian

New parts store axle. It was only six bucks more than a reman. and didn't require a core lol....




This weekend I plan on getting the rest of the tiny things done that I've become picky about prior to the motor going in. First I'm redoing a complete engine bay harness. The one I got with the motor from the salvage yard is very nice and complete except for a few wires that they didn't take the time to pull the plugs off nicely/unbolt a few bolts. Instead, they snapped or cut them. So, the harness that was in the car, being cut and spliced all over the place, is going to be used as a donor for the nicer harness. I plan on also scuffing up all fuel lines/ac lines/p.s. lines and painting them silver with a coat of clear as well.

I had anticipated all week of having this stuff done and putting the motor in tonight, but being a tad bit under the weather the last few days and the Steelers season opener tonight put a stoppage to that hahaha.... As long as all goes well, the motor should be able to go in any time as of Sunday evening.

And I promise, pics will come. Once I get working I've realized I've gotten in the habit of not stopping between every thing I repaint or reinstall just to take a pic. I'll take some pics of the motor prior to, during, and after install and that'll do for my liking haaha

[DC Turismo]

My KONI blacks with ACR springs arrived today :) Tomorrow, I need to pull off all four calipers and take them with me to the auto parts store as cores to pick up all of my brake goodies! Can't wait to see how quick this car's going to stop with vented discs on every corner.


I attached a couple additional pieces to the motor tonight. Installed new t-stat/gasket combo and put the nozzle on for it. I finally figured out trick to installing the prothane motor mount insert on the passenger side mount. After relaxing for a while this evening, I decided to haul all of the AC lines, the AC compressor, a TB, PS pump, and front strut bar down to my garage and wire wheel and/or clean all that stuff. Got the TB, AC stuff, and strut bar ready to paint tomorrow. Once I get the AC compressor on and do up the belts, the motor itself is ready to go in.

First though, as I took a look tonight, I'm going to clean up the fuel lines which seems like a relatievly easy chore with the motor being out.

So tomorrow's agenda: swap suspension with the KONI's, upgrade entire brake setup, paint fuel lines, clear AC compressor and lines, TB. Color match strutbar to intake/valve cover color.

[contraption22]

This is probably a discussion for another thread, but don't expect shorter stopping distances from slotted rotors.

[DC Turismo]

Gotcha Mike.

Turns out I thought I was getting the typical vented disc rotars like Daytona Shelby's have on all corners. My fronts already had that setup with the rears being solid. But after picking them up today and opening the box I found them to be drilled and slotted. Hmmmm oh well! lol... Better than what was on the car I guess.

I began the day with stripping the car of its calipers to lug in for cores at the parts store. On the way home, I stopped at the garage and picked up the AC compressor, TB, and AC lines and brought them home to get painted up. They turned out really nice, especially the AC lines.

Pat decided to install a vintage Shelby Charger fatty gas pedal in the Neon too upon removing the throttle cable that was four times longer than the one that was supposed to be in the car (which we installed as well).

Silent Jim came over a little bit later and helped me out with painted the calipers, and installing them along with the rotars, new pads, and KONI's. We also applied a fresh layer of undercoating to the wheel wells to make it look 100% better in our opinions.

Tomorrow I still have to bleed the brakes but the suspension will be done until I pursue the prothane suspension bushings down the road. The only other major thing left to do is still paint the fuel lines and power steering lines silver in the car and also clean up the PS pump which will be a chore and a half.


Things are really coming along with this car. I've spent a lot more money and time on it than I would have guessed I would, but its fun and is something to do. Even though it will be a daily driver, it will be fun to have a loud little N/A car on the road every day again haha

[DC Turismo]

Took some pics. today prior to cleaning my garage and under the car (so excuse the mess like in the pics of the struts!) To say I'm proud of the way this engine turned out would be an understatement. I seriously wouldn't mind leaving the thing out of the car just to look at it all the time in the garage, but yeah... I wanna drive the car even more though so it'll go in either tomorrow night or Tuesday night weather permitting. :thumb:

With the valve cover I am still thinking I will paint the DOHC and remaining embossed lettering the same silver to match the fuel rail, but as of right now it's the least of my worries.

I had painted the hubs on the rear discs yesterday and wanted to take a pic. of them installed then, but it was after midnight when I finished last night and the pics didn't come out good. I had to put the rims on to set the car down for the night which is why you see flaking on those two pics. Oh well, they still look nice with the rim installed. THANKS TO JIM FOR ALL THE HELP GETTING THEM PAINTED AND EVERYTHING INSTALLED!

The power steering pump still needs connected to the motor, as does the EGR pipe (I'm just installing it and will buy a blockoff kit later on down the road).

You have the pic of the crew who removed the old motor --- The Outlaws "We tear sh!t up":thumb:

You have pics of the motor showing my detailing, the UDP, etc.

You have pics showing the KONI blacks installed with the drilled and slotted vented discs and brand new calipers painted blue to match the stripes on the car just like the motor. A fresh layer of black undercoating was applied to each wheel well too in order to prepare the Neon for winter battle. :)

You have pics showing the fart cannon P.O.S. exhaust disconnected from the hangers under the car in order to cut it into two pieces with a sawzall tomorrow for removal.

And one surprise I didn't see until getting the car jacked up to remove the old calipers and rotars ---- a bad fuel tank pipe that was fixed with JB Weld and duct tape! FAIL :banghead::clap: So I gotta grab one of those from a junkyard now, blast!

[Aries_Turbo]

good luck at the junkyard on the fuel filler tube. they rust out behind that little metal shield into the inside of the pipe. if you get one at the JY, check to see if it is packed full of salt and dirt behind that shield. if its in good shape, schmoo some rust bullet in there to keep it from getting bad.

Slasky and i fixed my wifes fuel filler tube with some boat exhaust hose and stainless clamps. almost 2 years later its still looking perfect. permanent fix. :)

Brian

[TurbododgePirate]

Just a FYI the ACR springs and RT springs are exactly the same spring rate. If you want a better set you need the high rate auto X springs or X high rate auto X springs.

After racing SCCA autocross for several years I can tell you cross drilled rotors don't help the cars, other than look pretty, and they do look pretty. However, several people have found that they crack under heat, so be wary, it could be REAL bad. A better choice is HAWK HP+ pads or a custom set from carbotech. You'll see that porsche racing teams actually removed the cross drilled rotors in favor of slotted ones.

You might also want to consider upgrading the small stock rear swaybar to a 22mm, since it is a RT it already has the hardware.

[DC Turismo]

Motor's going to have to wait to be started tomorrow and then finished over the weekend. Too busy, blah.

[DC Turismo]

good luck at the junkyard on the fuel filler tube. they rust out behind that little metal shield into the inside of the pipe. if you get one at the JY, check to see if it is packed full of salt and dirt behind that shield. if its in good shape, schmoo some rust bullet in there to keep it from getting bad.

Slasky and i fixed my wifes fuel filler tube with some boat exhaust hose and stainless clamps. almost 2 years later its still looking perfect. permanent fix. :)

Brian



Thanks for the info Brian, I'm sorry I missed your post earlier. I have a source who has a parts car Neon sitting in a garage that I should be able to get the piece from. All will work out :)

[Aries_Turbo]

Just a FYI the ACR springs and RT springs are exactly the same spring rate. If you want a better set you need the high rate auto X springs or X high rate auto X springs.

After racing SCCA autocross for several years I can tell you cross drilled rotors don't help the cars, other than look pretty, and they do look pretty. However, several people have found that they crack under heat, so be wary, it could be REAL bad. A better choice is HAWK HP+ pads or a custom set from carbotech. You'll see that porsche racing teams actually removed the cross drilled rotors in favor of slotted ones.

You might also want to consider upgrading the small stock rear swaybar to a 22mm, since it is a RT it already has the hardware.

luckily you have the konis....

heath, what happens when you combine Xhighs and stock struts ;)

i second the big rear bar and the xhighs combined with the konis. youll be hard pressed to find a car that can outhandle that combo especially with good tires. i couldnt believe how fast i could take corners around my house here in NY in my buddies neon with the big bars, xhighs and konis. best part was the color... good ole leper, i mean lapis blue. :)

eibach prokits and the konis and the suspension technique big bars for the neon is a pretty nice combo too.

Brian

[DC Turismo]

I'm actually pretty content with the setup I have and don't plan on changing anything I've done :D Having never driven one before, I think it will suit the demands I'll have for it and be a blast with the current mods I've done with a few more in store. :thumb:


Anyhow, to get back on topic of detailing my progress, the old exhaust will get hacked off tomorrow night. I installed my new Mopar throwout bearing tonight so that when I take the engine off the stand via the hoist tomorrow in order to get the tranny attached, all I have left is the clutch to bolt to the flywheel.


Before I can try starting the car, I mentioned before that I am piecing together two wiring harnesses due to clips being broken/snapped both on the original harness from the car and the harness that came with the motor. That may take some time to get done seeing that this tape they used is so thick! :mad:

[Aries_Turbo]

then stay away from koni/xhigh/ST bars car cause you wont be content after that. :) you can guarantee it.

Brian

[contraption22]

Billy, just a word of advice. Keep the OE exhaust just in case you hate the noise of the exhaust you are putting on. The OE exhaust flows plenty for all but boosted or some really radical all motor applications and should come off whole without too much struggle. You'll especially appreciate a quiet exhaust when you realize how high these cars tach on the highway.

[Aries_Turbo]

i second what mike says.... even my wifes stock atx dohc car is noisy on the highway from the engine resonating the cabin at 70+. with a loud exhaust it would be unbearable.

brian

[DC Turismo]

Well I'll have to keep an eye out for a stock exhaust then because this one has seen better days (couple holes here and there, cut up for fart cannon and header). I've been unable to get it off in one piece so it's getting chopped tonight. I'll add a stock exhaust to things to be on the lookout for though. Thanks guys!

[DC Turismo]

Today's update:

Was going to use the engine hoist to get the motor off the stand, but upon tying up the strap, I noticed that my stock exhaust mani. is actually cracked. It's barely noticeable, being only a hairline crack right down the middle of the exhaust mani. but I caught a glimpse of it with the way the lighting was and thankfully I did. I'd have been upset if I isntalled the motor and had that problem on my hands.

Sgt. Craig, do you have a link to those safing tabs btw?

[Turbodave]

Cracked manifolds aren't uncommon, had the same problem with my Sister's 98 DOHC car.

Looks like the project is coming along nicely Billy, you're going to enjoy it I'm sure.

In regards to the exhaust, mine had an aftermarket muffler on it when I got it (Flowmaster). Sounded ok, but got annoying fast, swapped it to just a stock DOHC one and it's much better now, with no difference at all in how it drives per my butt dyno.

[DC Turismo]

Thanks for chiming in Dave :) I'm curious as to how my exhaust will sound since this muffler that came with the exhaust was a no name brand. We'll hopefully know by next week if I can get time to put the motor in!

[BIGBRUDDA]

Hey Billy !I gotta do a clutch change on my daughters R/T.:banghead: Ya got any pics inside the bellhousing or the clutch cable/hydro unit.:rolleyes:

[Skibbe]

Unlike a TD, you can get the exhaust manifold off without pulling the motor! Not that it's not a lot easier to do now, good catch.

[TurbododgePirate]

Hey Billy !I gotta do a clutch change on my daughters R/T.:banghead: Ya got any pics inside the bellhousing or the clutch cable/hydro unit.:rolleyes:

If billy doesn't get you one, I can, I have a couple NVT350's sitting at the house.

It shouldn't be a hydro unit unless it is a second gen.

[neongary]

Billy, just a word of advice. Keep the OE exhaust just in case you hate the noise of the exhaust you are putting on. The OE exhaust flows plenty for all but boosted or some really radical all motor applications and should come off whole without too much struggle. You'll especially appreciate a quiet exhaust when you realize how high these cars tach on the highway.
So true! I put a 2 1/2" cat-back exhaust on my R/T and the car felt slower, probably due to the loss of what little torque the engine had. The stock exhaust is 2 1/4" and is mandrel bent. No crimp bends anywhere and like you said, flows more than enough.

[BIGBRUDDA]

If billy doesn't get you one, I can, I have a couple NVT350's sitting at the house.

It shouldn't be a hydro unit unless it is a second gen.

ARRGH! Aye tought so!:D Its a 98
looked too much like a cable.(from what I could see jeez!!)
But the parts diagrahms are showin a "modular clutch" with hydro tube. Or an 8 1/4 in x15/16in-17 spline unit .But no cable offered!
Just like to see what I'm gettin into...........before its all over the garage floor!:confused:

[TurbododgePirate]

ARRGH! Aye tought so!:D Its a 98
looked too much like a cable.(from what I could see jeez!!)
But the parts diagrahms are showin a "modular clutch" with hydro tube. Or an 8 1/4 in x15/16in-17 spline unit .But no cable offered!
Just like to see what I'm gettin into...........before its all over the garage floor!:confused:

It shouldn't be bad. Basically think of it as a 5 speed with a torque converter instead of a clutch. The converter(modular clutch) bolts to a flywheel, and then the tranny and modular clutch come out like a auto and TC. A much simpler design to R&R. Also it made assembly easier as all motors had a flexplate, and you either attached a auto tranny, or a manual. After the modular clutch is removed, the basically look like any other 568 or 523 inside the bellhousing.

[BIGBRUDDA]

So They are "modular"?
What about a new cable ?
Pt # or source suggestion?

[TurbododgePirate]

Unless it is broken, I don't know that you would need a new cable. I have 156K miles on mine when the tranny tossed a diff pin, got a new tranny and modular clutch, but kept the same cable.

[Sgt Craig]

Today's update:

Was going to use the engine hoist to get the motor off the stand, but upon tying up the strap, I noticed that my stock exhaust mani. is actually cracked. It's barely noticeable, being only a hairline crack right down the middle of the exhaust mani. but I caught a glimpse of it with the way the lighting was and thankfully I did. I'd have been upset if I isntalled the motor and had that problem on my hands.

Sgt. Craig, do you have a link to those safing tabs btw?


http://forums.neons.org/viewtopic.php?t=86055

Two different part numbers showing there.Id go with the last one.I use to have the part number for them and the oil restrictor.I either threw them away or gave them to turboron when I gave him all my neon parts.If you need help getting the trans apart let me know.I also have a spare bell housing for a neon,the last Neon part I own.

[DC Turismo]

Hey Billy !I gotta do a clutch change on my daughters R/T.:banghead: Ya got any pics inside the bellhousing or the clutch cable/hydro unit.:rolleyes:

Sure, I'll snap a pic tomorrow. :thumb: PM me your email.

Thanks for the link Craig!

I've requested that this thread be trimmed down to just my posts that detail my updates, as that is the point of a Project Log IMHO :clap: I'll post more updates as they come, but for the next few days I won't be doing anything to the car due to other commitments. Stay tuned :thumb:

[DC Turismo]

It'll be awhile before anything else gets done with this because I'm going to be really busy with some other commitments coming up. It is coming along though, slowly but surely now. Thanks for viewing.

[Aries_Turbo]

I've requested that this thread be trimmed down to just my posts that detail my updates, as that is the point of a Project Log IMHO

aint happening.

all of the info here has value to others that want to build up a neon.

Brian

[DC Turismo]

Thanks anyways Brian! :) That's what I've come to understand. Oh well no worries. I'll know better for next time.

BTW, you have a PM

[TurboRon25]

http://forums.neons.org/viewtopic.php?t=86055

Two different part numbers showing there.Id go with the last one.I use to have the part number for them and the oil restrictor.I either threw them away or gave them to turboron when I gave him all my neon parts.If you need help getting the trans apart let me know.I also have a spare bell housing for a neon,the last Neon part I own.

You threw them away?!?!
I never throw anything away. Maybe that's why I can't walk through my garage or work on my cars in there.

Nice car btw!

Ron