2.4L 1GN NEON. A tale that started and will end with a great deal!

Hello GRM'S SO I purchased a 1gn Neon basically sight unseen with ZERO rust for $500.  Im a Nissan/Datsun guy  but I felt this little neon was just too good of a deal to pass up. I posted some pictures here after buying it on facebook and some of the great Mopar Heads pointed out that it has a 2.4L swap. COOL!

I havn't picked it up yet but when I do I will figure out what suspension is on it  (aftermarket of some type for sure) as well as what Transmission it has  

Here is the plan:

Throw some 15's on there with some good tires.

Replace the fart can muffler with something respectable (Maybe a long tube Header as well)

Put some nice Seats in it, Upgrade the cluster with the one that has the TACH

Fix the paint. 

Dive it for a while and then Sell it to someone who loves these cars and will take great care of it!

Here are some pictures. Ill be posting Updates as they come. 

Alight working on wheels. 

Trying to choose between the 15x6 neon wheels orrr  these really cool 15x6.5 VW GTI wheels I have found both used for about the same price. Im leaning twords the gti wheels (without the center carps of course) 

Would love feedback from yall. That's kinda the plan for this build. crowd sourced opinion build or something haha. So which wheels would you choose?

I’m in to follow along!  I have a set of those discontinued ACR Konis brand new in my garage. Unfortunately I have about $550 in them and can’t let em go too cheap. But I have some if you feel a strong need. I’ll be looking closely when you go to sell. I thought you got a steal before I even knew it had a 2.4!  Have fun!

GTI wheels with no caps look way better!  (As long as the offset is right)

I say go with the VW speedlines. 

http://www.4130-products.com/wheels/Speedline-II.html

Very cool wheels, and strong as hell too. 

In reply to Lof8 :

DANG. Im for sure interested in those. Depending on what is on the car those would definitely be on my purchase list. 

GTI wheels are a steal too. Im stoked to snag them up. I think they will look really cool.

If you can't find the Dodge or VW wheels in decent shape, you can look outside the Chrysler umbrella. GM made a decent variety of 15 and 16 inch wheels in 5x100.

• Car   $500.00
• Wheels  $200.00
• Tires   (Dunlop Direzza DZ102)   $305.00
• Mount + Ballance  $65.00
• New Muffler    $100.00
• Polish Cleaning  $100.00
• 05 Seats   $60
• Guage Cluster    $85.00
• Water Pump, timing belt,Fluids ect. $155.00

Ok GRM Friends. Get your opinions ready! 

This is one of the times where you get to play a role in the creation of this little car that I never planned on owning or building but am starting to like....

Here are the wheels I bought:

Great wheels. But this is the first red car I have owned and I don't have a preference or a vision for what color combo I should go for.

Gun Metal Grey:

Black:

White:

So what do you think? Voting starts tonight and goes until February 20th. This should be fun! (I'm Team Gun Metal Grey or team White)

I'm far too lazy to keep white wheels clean, especially with pads that are a but dusty. 

Black or Bronze/Gold.

Grey

I'm a sucker for white on red, doubly so for this thing. 

In reply to Crackers :

Yeah Im feeling white too. I have always like white on a red car. We shall See. The votes will dictate what I do haha. 

White and red for sure

If the white is a factory finish, and the finish is good enough, I would stay white.  Largely because the factory finish will wear better than anything you spray on.  

If you want a budget option on the suspension, I was pretty happy with the Koni orange STR.T struts.  I had them on the rear of the rallycross neon and they did well and held up to abuse.  I used them with stock 1gn springs but I've heard good things about srt4 lowering springs.

I vote white on the wheels.

In reply to John Welsh :

I totally agree. My buddy does powder coating so i could get a really good deal on that from him If I did a different color. 

In reply to wae :

That's really good to know I had seen those online and wondered if they are any good. Thanks for following along and for the feedback! 

definitely white

In reply to MazdaFace :

Another vote for white this is moving along nicely. 

Yup, white is my vote too.

White on red always looks good. 

You also need to remember that the VW wheels use a ball seat not conical seat lugs.  When I put my old corrado wheels on my old cavalier I used lug nuts from a Honda Accord.

Definitely white, too many black/grey wheel combos out there.

I have a set of Depo clear headlight and turn signals, an 8k tach cluster, and a Modern Performance 2.4 power steering bracket up for grabs if you like and depressingly little left to recoup ie cheap. You may want to keep your eye out for a set of Fiero GT wheels fairly light, fairly wide, and they look great on 1gns

In reply to de80q :

yeha running conical lugs on ball seat wheels is super dangerous

Here is another chance for you to vote! Its time to make some choices (remember my goal is to sell this car for a profit/ increase its resale value): 

Option 1: Upgrade to a Maximizer Long Tube Header and Run the stock seats (shampooed and clean of course) $240

Option 2: Upgrade with Factory SRT4 Seats and keep the stock header for $200

Option 3: Upgrade with with these Seats and keep the stock header for $250

Vote away!