Well I'm creating this thread to show people what I have been up to with the Neon nowadays since I bought it in late march for $500 from my dad.

A little history first of all:

The project car is a 1997 Plymouth Neon (Canadian Model). The trim is "Expresso". Manual transmission, 2.0L DOHC motor, 2 Door Coupe.

My father bought the car for $250 bucks. Had the standard blown head gasket, bad bearings, and the pistons were cooked. Also had a few other issues as follows: Peeling paint, gas filler neck was falling apart, brakes were end of life, among other little things such as the windows not winding up...

After fixing the motor, new pistons, bearings, rods, gaskets, plugs, etc. It was time to take her for a test drive, and she drove pretty well. I gave dad $500 for her (mostly to pay for the parts he put into it), and sold my old mint 1989 Corolla to my sister, which is still running mint btw...

Anyways...

Here's a picture of how she looked a couple weeks after I brought her home:



If you look closely you can see the paint peeling on the roof... it got bigger before it was painted (coming soon). The hood was full of pits and different color touch up paint as you can kinda see. It was worse up close.

After driving around with the car for a couple months, I had a problem seeing at night, typical Neon with fogged over head lights. They had to go. So I ordered a pair of the most not rice projector headlights I could find, along with clear signals lights and put them in.



What a difference they made at night, it was like the sun was at my back. I dunno if traffic minded too much, no one really flicked their headlights at me or anything. This was taken with high beams on:



After that I decided to get front and rear strut bars and a cold air intake. The intake was disapointing because it sucks in air from the factory location... right above the exhaust manifold. It still made a huge difference though. --This is getting removed soon when I make a real cold air intake and route the piping behind the bumper after the battery relocation.

After that was done I put a set of lowering springs on it from Canuck Motorsports. Dropped the car 1.75"s all around.

I don't really have a good picture of them on the car, but here ya go:





When the springs were put on I did the rear struts at the same time because they were blown. Felt like I was in one of those bouncy houses at a fair lol. Anyways...

After that was done it was time to work on the motor a bit more because it was burning a lot of oil... I mean A LOT of oil. Like 1-2 litres A WEEK!. So we decided to take the valve cover off, cam shafts out with the springs and take a look at the valve seals. SURE ENOUGH they were fucked. So off to the Dodge dealership I went and bought some new seals. They're cheap btw, around the 60 dollar CND range for all of them.

Here's some pictures of the install:



Old seal on the right, new seal on the left. Oil was getting through big time...





Cam shafts weren't too bad for 280,000kms... lol Also after it was all back together, it works great. Barely burns any oil at all.

After that was done it was time to get her painted. Couple months later I bought some paint from a local car paint shop and all the supplies. Total $216. Yes. $216. The paint color I chose was Blue Mica from the Toyota Tundra. I liked it because it was blue (my favorite color) and blended in well with the stuff that I was not going to paint... such as the interior of the doors, under the hood, engine bay, in the trunk, etc. This was an EXTERIOR paint job and that's all I wanted it to be.

Pics on next post!

This was done in 2 days (a weekend). First thing we did (my Dad and I) was take the hood down to the bare metal. It was full of so many pits, rust, etc. all the paint and primer had to go:



You can also see as I pointed out that the paint was peeling on the hood. This is how bad it was getting. It was also peeling on the trunk lid as well. This is typical of first generation Neons up until 1998. They messed up during the paint process so the paint does not adhere to the primer.

The paint came off the roof in ONE BIG SHEET. It peeled down the sides of the car until here, where it somehow would not peel anymore...





After that was peeled we sanded down everything else:







After that was done we body filled the holes for the spoiler. I hated that surf board thing on the trunk. It got in the way when I was backing up and it made it hard to see.

Also we ground off the rust and body filled that too. There wasn't too much rust on the car at all, just a couple small spots.



After that we drove her out and did some more sanding after the body fill hardened.







Now was time to set up a paint booth lol. Here we go, black plastic FTW!



Then we taped up all the lights and windows and started priming her. I didn't worry about the fog lights because I was getting clear ones anyways to replace the fogged over stock ones:



Time to get the paint ready!!

So much work for a neon. 0.0

I love the paint btw, it loved me too I guess because it went on the car perfectly. We used a spray gun for painting... hooked up to the air compressor. Worked excellent!

First coat is going on.



2nd Coat: We did 4 coats in total btw.



Last coat:



Finished product when we rolled it out of the garage Monday morning before me taking her to work.. Haha blue fog lights...



Oh, that's right. I forgot to mention the tail lights as well. Those of you that are from the US and Canada and have seen Neons, they have RED tail lights with a white strip for the backup light. These tail light are from the UK where the tail light has amber, white and red, plus a fog light which I wired into the tail light so both the fog light and tail light come on when pressing the brake.





^^ Notice it's not lowered anymore. I put the regular springs back on so it wouldn't be so bad come winter when it snows. Also there was no room for travel in the rear of the car and it was bottoming out on the strut mounts.

LOL, not the first time I heard that!! lol

Here are some more pics of some stuff I did this weekend:

Megan Racing header:



Other goodies such as Booger Racing shifter bushing, clear fog lights, UK amber turn signals and side markers:







Everything on the car:









Next on the list is to make the real cold air intake. Also put on a bigger throttle body already, Apexi S-AFC Neo for fuel correction + tuning and the Mopar Performance ECU will be here this week. I'll post some good pics of the S-AFC in a bit when I get off the couch and go take some pics.

I'll get a video on YouTube sometime this week as well, probably Thursday since I have that day off. Comments are welcome, even dumb ones, questions are welcome too. I know it's a Neon, but with all the work I've put into it I've come to love it. Hasn't ever let me down and runs like a dream.

That's all that matters.

I've had the opposite "fun". Bought a 96 jetta for 2000 bucks from a buddy leaving for the military, and crashed it 2 days later. Then bought another jetta, and it's been nothing but problems.

Aww no good at all lol.

I have a parts car:



It's come in handy like it's tie rods, alternator, sensors, etc. lol See here in the back? Paid $150 for her. My friend Mike has a Neon too. So he's raped her for parts, Same with my friend Caitlin. There's not too much left of the parts car.. it's even missing the interior lol.

Jetta's are awesome though. Especially the older ones. My grandparents had one when I was around 6 or 7. It got washed away in a hurricane in Florida...

Wth man, wayyyy to much work. Still nice little project (Y)

Any reason you went for our (UK) signals lights?

Very nice job
I've got a car I crashed just sitting in the garden here, not really got the skills to fix it up though so I think it's gonna go for scrap someday soon.
1.6ltr 16v DOHC Ford Fiesta SI 90bhp .... and it was all too much for me.lol.

Nice Job Scott. Quite a bit of work you put in to it, but well worth the effort. Best looking Neon I have ever seen.

I went with the UK signals and tails because everyone around here has those clear "Altezza" tail lights, or the stupid clear ones. I thought I would keep a stock look, plus no one around here has them or has even saw them before. I get comments on the tail lights all the time, it's kinda nice haha. The signal lights match the amber in the tails and the side markers. I hate things not matching lol. I saw an ad on Ebay for them (Ebay UK) and bought them right away. Very happy with the outcome.

Here's what the stock signals and tail lights look like:



They're "white" with orange bulbs.

The tail lights here in Canada and the States at least are solid red:




Thanks for the comments guys, I'm going to go out and take some pictures of the Neo S-AFC and put them up after supper (just got home). Mopar ECU didn't come today... argghh.

Here's the Apexi S-AFC Neo all hooked up. Actually had this hooked up a couple months ago. Pain in the ass soldering the harness for it into the ECU harness... but it worked first try.

Also if you are wondering about the pod gauges, they are Boost/Vac on the left, and Oil Pressure on the right. Car will never see boost, not soon anyway but I needed a gauge to fill the hole... lol. Those two matched with the gauge cluster (aqua color). Also I changed the S-AFC so match everything as well. It has built in colors, so I chose aqua for the buttons and orange for the display.



It'll monitor the fuel correction (once I program it with my the help of my friend's wideband). Throttle position, RPMs, and vattery voltage/charging system among other things.













The battery voltage is low because the car isn't running...

I got a PM from a member asking if all that S-AFC does is monitor stuff? Well it's just a bonus. What it really can do and what it's for is for tuning N/A motors. You can add or reduce fuel at certain RPMs.

For instance at 4500rpm where most of the power is being made, you may was to add 10-15% more fuel. The more fuel you add the richer it gets. This helps out if the motor is "leaning out", as in not getting enough fuel at higher RPMs which causes loss of power.

The AFC can add fuel and subtract it across the RPM range. So for example:

1000rpm - +5%
2000rpm - +7%
3000rpm - +4% and so on.

What you do is you hook up a wideband. A meter that plugs into where your primary O2 (Oxygen for those who failed chemistry class) sensor plugs in, usually in the exhaust manifold. The wideband will read the air to fuel ratio. Based on your readings, lets say 13.5 is what you want, you can adjust the fuel to make the engine have that ratio across the rev range. So just say at 3000RPM you get 13.5 and 4500 you get 15 or vice versa, you can subtract or add fuel to even it out.

The end result is a tuned motor that revs and produces power at almost all RPMs, except the higher ones like 6800+ on my motor because after that it's not going to make much more power unless I upgrade the cam shafts with crane 12's or 16s along with the retainers and valve springs... but you get the idea... I hope.. lol.

In between the RPM settings on the AFC it averages everything out. So just say 1000rpm you add +5% fuel and 2000rpm you add +7%, it will stretch from +5% to +7% across the RPM range to 2000rpm. So at 1500rpm you should have +6% and so on.

If you planning to use the boost gage for anything (turbo/super charging) don't waste money on a highlift cam, you'll only end up blowing fuel through the engine (instead of into it) under boost.

Yeah boosting is far from close, the motor will be dead before that happens! lol.

Mopar ECU came today from http://www.modernperformance.com/ in Texas.

Time to put her in!







I'll post some results/what i think of it late tonight. I'm off to the driveway!

Edit: ECU is all in, no engine codes (i expected a couple). Let it idle for a bit to learn everything then I took her for a drive. Drove "normally" until I got into the city, took the first highway I could find and let her rip. I just want to say: "Holy shit" lol. Not only is there more torque but it smoothed out everything. No rough idle, no nose dives when shifting, it's smooth as can be.

Very nice upgrade!

All I can say is Pimping!

Nice job!

The Neon has some new shoes!







Maxxim Aheads (I believe a Konig brand).

Got them for $500 with tires. Tires are pretty much brand new, but they will be sold due to rubbing issues. Have to pick up a set of 205/45/R16s.. Ah well. They're awesome .

See if you can get yourself a set of GSXR throttle bodies (from a 600 or a 750); can easily rig yourself an ITB setup with that, and with some careful ECU manipulation probably end up with around 180-190bhp, without even touching the compression ratio.

Yeah I saw that done on a Civic B series motor before, much like this, hell they probably used the same stuff:

http://homemadeturbo.com/tech_projects/itb/index.html

Little too much work for me though, especially with the Neon ecu's, simply because there's no software like Chrome or Hondata to change fuel maps and stuff. My friend tune's Honda's, like Civics, Integra's mostly. Has a modded ecu that he takes with him, has all the software. We've already looked into it. Could go with MegaSquirt but by that time i might as wlel but 2 more Neons... lol

Oh and it's nice to see you around BOFH. Good to know that you're still alive...

Here's a few recent pics & updates:

Carbon fiber lip spoiler:



Carbon fiber hood, just ordered, in shipping:



Other pics: Ignore the dents... lol Most of these were taken a couple days ago.











Needs to be lowered in the rear I know... plus it's on a hill. I can't lower it unless I get stiffer struts. Too much work and money for that. Struts I want/need are a grand for the set...



"Imma Run You Down Wid Ma Wide Azz Tires"



Edit:

Might as well get the carbon fiber shift boot too eh? lol

So the wrong hood came, they sent me a hood for an Eagle Talon... so I wait again for the right one to arrive... lol

Never order from that guy again. After fighting with him for awhile I got a refund and sent back the wrong hood. Morons.

Anyways, decided to put the money into the motor...

Crane 16 Camshafts from Modern Performance:



Valve springs as well so the head doesn't come apart from the cams.



And here's some random pics from me washing it yesterday for those that care lol.





Oh almost forgot...

Two more Neons to add to the collection!



Bought price: $150; Needs a motor (which we picked up last night for cheap), DOHC... too bad the tranny is an auto, ah well.

and



Bought price $400, needed an axel. Fixed. Mint. inspected last week before the axel broke.



Dad's thoughts (in the car): "Ugh, not another one..." haha.

Add a pair of wings, and it flies!

As a test, the battery is now relocated to the trunk. Real cold air intake is on now (modified the existing one). Torque steer is a bitch.

Selling the rims, stock bubble rims are going back on along with the lowering springs. Unless I find a set of 14" rims I like that are light in weight.

So the plan as it is right now:

Rebuild DOHC motor. Port and polish the head and intake manifold.

Use existing Megan Racing header. Use existing intake. Prothane motor mounts.

High flow but legal muffler.

Crane 16 cams and valve springs. Use existing replaced valve seals if still in good condition.

Use existing Mopar PCM.

Swap over 5 speed tranny and do all the custom work to put in the clutch pedal. Take wiring harness if need be, shouldn't need to though. Will look at it when the time comes.

Tune on dyno with existing S-AFC.

Money left over: Paint Nitro Yellow Green factory color.

Switch over headlights, euro tails and turn signals.

Add power mirrors, windows if I can find them.

Swap over dark cloth seats, carpet.

Swap gauge cluster with tach.

Remove cluster gauges, relocate oil pressure gauge to A-Pillar.

Sell Vacuum/Boost gauge.

Swap fog light bumper so I have fogs. Hope that money is left over so it gets painted.

Leave factory spoiler.

Remove stereo because it takes up about 80-100lbs in the trunk. I like having struts.

This is more for my reference, but feel free to add suggestions.

Ok so it's been awhile since the last update, but take a look!

Block cleaned before it went to get bored out .020 over stock...



Broken water pump comes off... new one was $39.99. Woo!



Stock cams taken out of the head... heh heh heh.



EGR Block off kit. No emissions test in NS, I don't want exhaust going back into my intake, k thx.



Cams showed up lol.



Motor back from the shop. Installed new frost plugs free of charge.







Stock valve springs (left) VS Crane valve springs. Needed them, the after market cams would break the stock springs.



New valve seals put in this time as well. Same as last time. Remember this is not the motor that's currently in the car that I used... As you can see, the valve seals (on the left) are worn pretty bad. What happens is oil seeps through into the cylinder... = bad. Then you are "burning oil".



Test fit with springs and cams!



All together.



New timing belt for good measure.



Old motor coming out! (yesterday).



Some parts out.



Jacked up the car, motor comes out easier through the bottom. Ie: too lazy to use the cherry picker lol.





Dad on the right... lol "Why did I get involved with this?"





I'll post more when the clutch gets here and the new motor gets in. AEM Wideband is installed for tuning as well at this point. Sorry no pics.

And this is what I am driving now. Dad bought this Neon yesterday for $500 bucks. Buddy said it was fucked. We replaced the fuel pump from a parts car we have. Works excellent. So I'm driving it for the week until my car is finished lol.

Car is almost back together... haven't had much time to work on it with work and drinking... lol

Axels need to go back in along with a few connectors like coil pack, battery, tps, etc.

Then she should start right up.

I'll post a video of the first startup... if it fails or works . Either tonight or tomorrow!

When you build it yourself, you know you earned it...

Jolly good show!

Started up, doesn't idle. Pulled 35% fuel at idle, then it idles fine, sounds like a muscle car for sure LOL. Loping like a bastard LOL. I loved it... key word... loved... drove it around for a bit to break in the motor and yea... it BROKE... A valve sping (crane valve spring) snapped in two.

They were used springs, so I have a BRAND NEW set on the way.

Valves look fine, so just spring damage.

When it was working though I got some pretty weird looks in traffic LOL. Loping at a stop sign, loping at an intersection. Fucking right. Oh and it pulls like a monster too. Very quick!

It was well worth it, can't wait for the replacement springs to get here. I'm going to change all of them just in case.



btw it sounds like this...

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=iy7k3adtu78

and it's a bit quicker than this:

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=eCm8fTWMkmY

hehhehehehhehee lol

It blew up... a valve spring broke and a valve went through the piston... fun times... everything on the car is sold now and it's at the JY.

Driving a regular neon right now, auto... green.

Looking at buying a 2009 2.5L Altima Coupe 6 Spd on Saturday... i'll post pics if I get it.

Ow, all that work for nothing. Can't believe you put so much effort in a modern car though! I only work on 50 year old cars, lol.

And that sounds expensive..?

$26,000. :S But I need something reliable and new lol. I go approved and insurance/full coverage is cheaper than what I was paying on the Neon for just liability. Apparently my work has a deal with TD Bank... kinda cool.

I got approved today for the Altima. I go to Nissan on Tuesday to work out all the details/features etc. I'll post pics when I get the car.

Ah, that's sweet I've actually never heard of the model Altima, is it North America exclusive?

Wow, I have no idea what you are doing. But it looks amazing!

This is the Altima Coupe

175hp (2.5L 4 CYL), 180 ft/lbs Torque.
6 Speed Manual.

Nice. Thats about the same spec's on my 98 Eclipse Convertible except mine is automatic.