1997 neon acr coupe 2012 challenge/DD build

Weekly update time. With probably too many pictures.

First, money spent/earned

previously: 2795.84

this time:

sold interior plastics and weatherstripping from parts car to wae from GRM: 50

sold srt4 oil pan and pickup to wae: 75

sold the following to professor brap: spare konis, shift cables, dohc ecu, power mirrors and switch, clitch pedals, seat upholstery, trans, rear suspension from parts car, rear sway bar: 465

sold export turns to occasional demons: 40

bought timing belt kit and top end gasket kit from ebay: 86.31

purchased oil pan gasket and rear main from oriellys (cant find recipt) 30

purchased cast coat aluminum and hemi orange from advance 6.99x2

new total: 2296.13

so, when we left off I had one running, moving under its own power, kicked by king kong neon. And two broken ones. And a buttload of parts.

11 cars in the driveway. For two drivers. 4 street legal, 1 race car, etc. much too much E36 M3.

So I started a fire sale with a few neon guys on GRM. Gots to go. Made my wife happy!

The stuff will all be delivered when I go to ohio next month. But, I needed to get the parts car out of here.

What I ended up with this morning:

20190221_104135 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

it was hauled off by a rollback. Gave the scrap metal away so I didn't have to deal with it. Roughly $100 in scrap, but money well spent for space in my driveway and head.

What I kept: EVERY nut, bolt, screw, bracket, washer, etc. all of them. Bumper to bumper. These will be sent through the tumbler, then out for re-plating for reuse on the ACR. Along with all the ACR hardware. Should be able to get perfect fasteners for the resto of that car out of the buckets. I also kept new carpet and headliner, deck-lid, passengers door, wipers, weatherstripping rails, windows, window regulators, exhaust, aftermarket taillights, radiator, radiator fans, power steering parts, full harness, cluster, syked ecu, 2,4 swap and brackets, ac parts, the list goes on and on and on. I have way too much neon E36 M3 in my storage now. Way too much.

Anyway, the main reason for this car, other than interior parts and fasteners, was the 2.4 swap and 3.94/.72 trans.

These.

20190220_085344 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

which, when stripped down revealed a usable clutch, no gaskets (all RTV. Every last but), very small throttle body, MPX power steering bracket and adapter, unorthodox racing under-drive pulley, eBay header, modern semisolid bobble, and a bunch of random, non stock hardware. And a brand new starter!

20190221_153303 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

20190221_153309 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

while waiting for the rollback, I broke the ported intake free from the ACR to reuse on the 2.4 RT. My ported head is still on the ACR, which makes me happy. I forgot how good that one turned out.

20190221_120754 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

I then, after the shell left, started scrubbing parts. Lots and lots and lots of scrubbing. But the engine is clean enough for paint now! I've been waffling on how/what I wanted to do, but have finally made up my mind that the block is going hemi orange, aluminum parts staying aluminum, and steel brackets gloss black. With the neat gray powder coated valve cover, and eBay warm air intake. Anyway, here's a clean 2.4

20190222_155710 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

my wife and I also used various other vehicles to get the broken RT up to in front of the work bay. Started cleaning on it as well. Forgot just how great Chrysler white paint of the era was. Its coming off like dandruff while cleaning. Also, the drivers side CV boot has disintegrated and slung grease all over hell's half acre, so ill need to get some axles on order.

However, the archaeology has been fun! Someone spent a lot of hours under the hood of this thing. All the brackets, parts, and bolts were fairly recently painted.

20190222_161331 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

it also turns out that not only is the manifold smoothed on the outside, it and the throttle body are ported. The header is a 4-2-1 design that I cannot seem to find information on. New radiator and condenser, re-wrapped harness, etc. lots of care and attention to detail here.

20190222_161336 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

20190222_160836 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

so, that brings us up to present! Tomorrow, ill start painting stuff and assembling the 2.4 with gaskets this time. And then get the shop ready to pull another engine. I doubt ill get the swap done this weekend, as the upper gasket set still hasn't come in. gee, thanks FedEx.....

man this build is brining back memories... I've been driving the 2k cherokee for the last week or so and the ergos and inteior are so similar, same blinker and wiper leavers, same headlight/interior knob (except it's a little closer to the steering wheel than in the neon)... the seating position and shift leaver location are just a "little" different haha... but so much of it reminds me of how much I miss my '98 ACR coupe... it's been a bit over 10 years since I've had it but it's funny how well the brain remembers how to set the interment wipers and such lol...

I am stunned at the O2 sensor position on the parts car's header. We'll make it right on one cylinder, only....

In reply to TurnerX19 :

Whats amazing is that all 3 headers i have do that. The longtube, however, has it in the collector. I think the reasoning behind it is to keep the sensor close to the factory location so wires dont have to be extended.

Donaldson: i did 200k miles in 97-99 dakotas. The neons feel like coming home to me. Everything just feels right .

Previous total: 2296.13

new money: clutch throwout bearing, axle seals, water pump gaskets, drivers side cv axle from orielleys: 105.48

wrinkle black: had.

Heater hose: had

rtv: had

new total: 2401.61

so, busy weekend. Re-gasketed, cleaned, and painted the engine. Hemi Orange block, aluminum parts with cast coat aluminum, gloss black for the stuff that was black, wrinkle black on a stock 2.0 valve cover. The inside of this engine was SPOTLESS. I believe it may be a reman. But no guarantees on that . Just may be that low mileage and well maintained. Hopefully, many more miles ahead. I also cleaned and painted the transmission from the parts car, as its a 3.94/.72 trans. Put new hoses in all around, new lock washers, etc. looks really good! Also went ahead and installed the 24lb injectors that came with the pile.

20190224_100124 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

20190223_100549 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

20190224_103614 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

20190224_152014 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

then, went ahead and pulled the blown up 2.0 out of the R/T. And it was SERIOUSLY blown up. 2 holes in the pan, one in the back of the block, and the rod is punched INTO the starter motor on the front. Seriously blown up.

20190224_152100 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

But the intake was VERY well ported. Also, has what I believe to be a mopar performance header. 4-2-1 stainless header, with a part number. No manufacturer stamps, and a crack on the bottom two tubes that needs welded up.

20190224_152042 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

20190224_152023 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

a semisolid bobble, all motor mounts have inserts, an under-drive pulley, and there's a high flow cat underneath as well. There's nylon bushings on the front sway bar, new wheel bearings on the front, fixed/non adjustable bolts on the konis to spindles, booger bushings, etc. really well built car before it was blown up.

20190224_152028 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

20190224_152048 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

so, now its time to clean up the shop, mop the floor, clean/paint the engine bay, and get it put back together. When I pulled the exploded engine, I did it with the trans attached through the top. Im not sure that was any easier/quicker/better than it would have been to pull the trans first, then the engine. I think that's the way to go back in. less chance of scratching up fresh paint....

20190224_152118 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

20190224_152130 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

20190224_152139 by Michael Crawford, on Flickr

rustoleum rattle cans will be needed here.....

Just read this from the beginning. You guy's love for these is infectious.Dont want to hijack this awesome thread but I have a question. I have exactly zero experience with neons but with a very quick summary can you guys elaborate why these are so fun/good to drive around cones and such? Is it a well designed or engineered ride or is it a combination of parts that just seem to work? Following this thread has me intrigued and possibly interested in finding one for myself. 

I dig the hemi orange.

On paper, it shouldn't be as good as it is. 

Stiff chassis, fair geometry, decent brakes, plenty of power for the weight. But macstrut, fwd, 90s mopar.

However, in practical terms, its a fwd tin top miata. More than the sum of its parts. Just a joy to drive, and does most things well.

Dusterbd13-michael said:

On paper, it shouldn't be as good as it is. 

Stiff chassis, fair geometry, decent brakes, plenty of power for the weight. But macstrut, fwd, 90s mopar.

However, in practical terms, its a fwd tin top miata. More than the sum of its parts. Just a joy to drive, and does most things well.

I’ll also add they really embodied the “slow car fast” mantra. 

So hopefully, this should be a drop in, button up, hit the go switch kind of deal. Looks like it's shaping up.  I'm glad that gray Neon worked out for you.

In reply to Dirtydog :

Really hoping so. Im glad you had pointed it out to me!

What the everloving Berk is a bobble?

What the everloving Berk is a bobble?

In reply to Justjim75 :

The part that makes the doll's head move???

Mopar  used a gas shick on the rear of the engine to reduce wheel hop and engine movement on manual transmission cars. They called it a bobble strut. The actual gas shock has been out of production a long time.

Ooooohhhh!

What makes a Neon good. All the stuff listed above, along with dirty cheap parts, super easy to work on, and a community that doesn't take anything to serious. 

Glad the car is coming along, you will have a nice daily filled with nice parts! 

Its beginning to snowball. Badly. The r/t is not the car i want to own long term. I keep telling myself that i can break even on it, and that its not taking much time or money, and just fix whats broke and drive it. Cheap, basic transportation. 

So im painting the engine bay. Because thats obviously necessary. And will repaint and stripe the car, also because its necessary. For me not to hate it.

Dusterbd13-michael said:

Its beginning to snowball. Badly. The r/t is not the car i want to own long term. I keep telling myself that i can break even on it, and that its not taking much time or money, and just fix whats broke and drive it. Cheap, basic transportation. 

 

So im painting the engine bay. Because thats obviously necessary. And will repaint and stripe the car, also because its necessary. For me not to hate it.

If it makes you feel better you could order a RT without stripes from the factory. 

Who has two thumbs and didnt prep well enough, resulting in tons of fisheye-ing?

This guy!

Two E36 M3ty coats of white rustoleum, and ready for reassembly. 

Expecting burnouts tonight. 

In reply to Professor_Brap :

Nope.  Paint wont be dry. And munchkin has dance and girlscouts.

Additionally, i only have 6 days left on the free trial of motor trend on demand. So, priorities!

Proof of failure. 

yup, phones will always fail to show any imperfections of white paint shot in direct sunlight

good thing it's going to be hidden by the closed hood most of the time?

Exactly. And, when its crammed full of engine and trans and air conditioning and....

Yeah. Wont be seen much. And honestly, nobody but me will probably ever notice.