*Disclaimer: If you don't like it, hit the back button. If you have something worth saying, say it, otherwise, save it.*

Now with that out of the way:
This is a little bit about the buildup of my 98 Plymouth Neon. I was inspired by 1320neon's $600 ACR thread to post this up.

It all started when I was looking for a project car in the late summer/fall of 2007. I saw this one advertised in a local publication for $500 in need of engine work. Little did I know how much of an adventure I'd be in for.



As it sat just after being towed home


And the teardown began:


A so called garage had tried to do a headgasket job and botched it badly. Not only had they installed the head gasket wrong, they set the timing so horribly far off that not only would it not come close to running, but some valves ended up being bent in the process

Off came the head:



A used cylinder head was sourced from a fellow local Neon guy and rebuilt and cleaned up:


Gasket matched intake ports:

Finally it was back together and running


Then began the first round of modifications



Re-did the suspension with Prothane bushings:




Scored a used set of K-Sport coilovers. Hey, the aftermarket for Neons is fairly limited


Then it all began to come together:




It was still missing something to finish it off, though.


BBS RX's gave the car a whole new look:



Then, it was off to the track, where a Neon belongs:





That was the point that the car was at at the end of last season when I parked it for the winter. This winter's modifications include Crane 16 grind cams, upgraded valvetrain, a freshly rebuilt block and an Apex'i S-AFC for a little tuning. Pics of all that tomorrow.

 

i love how you put that car to work.

 

Thats actually a pretty neat little car.

 

those bbs look good on there.

 

one quick question to the OP....
are you gay?

 

Probably the best looking neon I've ever seen with those bbs's.

 

Adan, You apparently are unware of the continginecy and racing programs offered by mopar in the 90's... That was MOPAR/Dealer propoganda on the car...

Build looks great, i too have been shopping for a neon recently

 

Someone is up on their SCCA trivia! As Chronic said, those are the now somewhat rare contingency magnets issued by Chrylser to Neon racers. There was a fairly lucrative pay out (at the time at least) to anyone finishing on the podium in the SCCA displaying those magnets/stickers. It's just a little bit of Neon memorabilia.

Some pics from this year's teardown:

Engine and transmission came out for a rebuild:



Intake and exhaust off:



Timing gear ready to be disassembled:


Found the source of the ticking and vibration from the belhousing area:




Throw out bearing completely burned up, and the bolts are for the clutch to flywheel. You can see how much they messed up the flywheel in the last pic.
Either the hillbilly shop that tried to do the headgasket didn't properly torque them down when they replaced the transmission (it had junkyard writing on it), or the bad throw out bearing caused them to vibrate loose. One was backed out so far that It was making contact with the block 80


I'll be tearing down the block this weekend, and assesing what I'll need. Right now the plans are new rod bearings, piston rings, and ARP rod bolts.

I'll be doing a very minor shave/tuck on the engine bay and I'm going to try my hand at painting it, probably next weekend. It's pretty ugly right now:

 

Some randoms:
Export (Euro) mirrors:


and front turn signals:


Skunk 2 lug nuts for use with the ARP extended wheel lugs:


Thanks for all of the comments, guys. This has been a very fun, cheap little car and I've learned a lot from building it up.

 

i entered the scca neon race at the belvidere plant in 98 my car looked just like your put white. it was probably the most fun Ive had in a car

 

Awesome looking Neon. I've had two in the past, they're such fun cars.

 

ohh.
nope i didnt know.
but thanks for educating me.

 

the koolest purple neon ive ever seeen. :]

 

further proof that ANY car with the right owner can be good fun. Way to go buddy

 

I've always had a spot in my heart for neons...great build, good to see you're putting it to work

 

dang cool, respect!

 

New rod bearings:


Working on my organization skills a bit:


I'm waiting on my rod bolts and I'm looking into my options for piston rings, then the engine needs honed, and the bottom end is ready to be assembled.

 

and having a nice set of wheels to set the car off doesn't hurt either.

nice ride man, very clean.

 

kick ***!! great project.

 

Great build!!! Love how it looks with bbs's. Why dont you swap the SRT-4 motor in?

 

AMAZING build!

 

Most complete SRT engines go for aroud 3-4 times what I paid for the car, plus they'd have to be shipped in from another province and usually don't include the turbo, intercooler, ic piping, and then you need to upgrade your axles, clutch, and get an limited slip diff, not to mention rewire the entire car unless I was going to run the whole thing off of megasquirt. I'm trying to keep this a low cost, fun, simple project for now, but when I graduate from college, I'll be picking up a daily driver and then all bets are off on this little turd. There are a few SRT-swapped 1 gen Neons around NS, power ot weight ratio ftw.

Thanks for all of the comments, guys. Barring any unforseen setbacks the engine should be together in a couple of weeks, and then it's time for me to try my hand at paint/bodywork.

 

what a damn peice of ****

 

See the first sentence of the post. If you don't like it, just hit the back button.

Anyway....
I was lazy today so I only got the head disassembled:
Valves

rockers/lifters/springs/retainers:

The bare head itself:


I now need a lot of seals,gaskets, adjustable cam gears, piston rings, and an engine hone and I'll be ready to put everything back together.

 

great progress for sure.