Learn me neon srt4

Got an interesting trade offer from a guy with a growing family. 

04 SRT4 with 150k on the clock. Rust in the wheel wells but not underneath. 

Claims stock, but I haven't had a chance to physically look at it yet, and I wouldn't know what to look for. 

Aside from Dodge electronics, "rust proofing", and the 3 year production run, are there any real gotchas? What's parts availability like? Many hoarders left here?

Dodge SRT4? We have one as a project car back in the day. 

The updates can be found here, and I need to see what’s up with that lead photo. 

Have you inspected it or is the rust description from the seller? I'd be skeptical.

I really want one but it's been a long time since I saw one that wasn't too rusty, trashed/modified, or wildly overpriced. They were not cars that encouraged their owners to treat them gently.

Neons.org will be your huckleberry.

In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :

I haven't seen it in person yet, probably this weekend when our schedules mesh. 

Mostly I need to get out of the excursion, and the trade offers at buy here pay here lots are less than scrap value. Been on the market for 6 months now, only had 3 people look at it even after a 25% price cut.

I couldn't tell you the last time I saw a body like this in the area, modified or not, which is what has me considering it despite my long time dislike of Dodge Fiat Chrysler. 

Trannys tend to be hard to find, and bad.

They're a RIOT to drive and a pain the the dick to work on

Dusterbd13-michael said:

Trannys tend to be hard to find, and bad.

They're a RIOT to drive and a pain the the dick to work on

 

You were the person I told Rico to text when he texted me about this this morning. 

Maybe I've just been made soft by easy living, but I don't know how you rust belt guys do it.  Seems like a weekend spent traveling south to buy a car would always be easier than years spent digging rust out of your hair and wondering what's going to fall off the next time you hit a pothole.

In reply to Tyler H :

Lack of funds is entirely my issue. I either need to sell outright, then coordinate our household of 4 people and one vehicle to find something else, or trade for something else. So I'm hoping for straight trade just to make things easier. 

And unfortunately, $5k cars are the new $500 cars. 

Look hard at the rear crossmember where the trailing arms go in, and where the front K frame mounts. Those cars even like to rust a little bit down here at those places. I've seen the Rockers get pretty bad too. Third ear pop out is a combination as well as others in Crows going bad. Obviously look for any signs of modification and beating on it. Great berkeleying cars when they work properly. I'm too fat for the SRT Ford front seats though

I remember if you lined up with one at the drag strip back in the day, the flex was to lower/raise your rear windows, since the driver can't do that in an SRT4/Neon.

Also, SRT4 owners get really annoyed if you call it a Neon.

Honestly when stock they're pretty robust. Rust has become an issue as you can see. Transmisisons are tricky NVG T850 parts have really dried up and it shifts like a diesel van trans because that's what it is. The clutch release fork is cast steel and wears against the TOB, the pivot ball falls out of the trans case, etc. The clutch problems are solved by a Clutchmasters hydraulic TOB these days. 

Control arm bushings (get Moog Problemsolvers with the Johnnie Joint type bushings and forget) 

Trans/Clutch 

Rust

Previous owners/modifications 

TPS sensor connector 

That's really the big stuff. 

Tyler H said:

...Seems like a weekend spent traveling south to buy a car would always be easier...

It really is. Rust sucks

Will said:

I remember if you lined up with one at the drag strip back in the day, the flex was to lower/raise your rear windows, since the driver can't do that in an SRT4/Neon.

Also, SRT4 owners get really annoyed if you call it a Neon.

As a Mazdaspeed 3 owner- I can confirm these are all true. And hilarious. 

This is all good to hear about the transmixer.

Some brief googling last night made it sound like it was fine to 425hp or so, but this is why I always like to check. 

If we go through with it, I'm not planning anything crazy unless I can get to 300hp for next to nothing. Even then I can't imagine tires lasting super long.

^ Caliber SRT4 3 bar Map and TIp Sensor

3" o2 housing, downpipe, and exhaust

big intercooler

CAI 

Convert the fuel system to return style with a 1:1 boost reference fuel pressure regulator 

Needless Torque Calibrations tune and injector package 

300hp and 380tq or 340hp and 400+ tq on E85. You could get there for $1000 if you use Ebay and Marketplace well. 

I didn't see anyone mention it, but you can find an SRT4 buyers guide here:

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/articles/buyer-guide-dodge-srt4/

It's from 2008, though there's still some useful info in there.

Dusterbd13-michael said:

...Third ear pop out is a combination as well as others in Crows going bad...

As I age, my reading comprehension is dropping off. Translation skills are still there somewhat ("ear' = "gear"), but I'm failing on "crows."

In reply to kb58 :

Freaking talk to text. I can't type with my thumbs and I'm rarely ever at a computer anymore. That should say as well as other synchros

Dusterbd13-michael said:

I'm too fat for the SRT Ford front seats though

E36 M3, we're around the same size I think. I just caught this note it's all.

I'm 5'10, 250, 40-42"waist and 30" inseam. Could be an interesting fit. 

He's gonna bring it over later today for us to check each other's vehicles out

They have a titanic-like turning radius, but other than that, I loved the one I test drove back when they first came out.  IIRC, there were a few stages of factory parts that could be added to them.

Tried it on tonight. Rockers are about gone. Needs a power steering pump I guess, I didn't notice a leak but he said it drips on the serp belt. 

Ran great, third gear didn't fight me on the test drive at least. 

That's a shield hanging down in the front from replacing the belt today, the puddle is clean water, I checked. 

There's some rust, as seen in the other pics, but it's not truely terrible. 

Will certainly be better on gas.

It does have some fugly black aftermarket wheels with very wrong sized, very Chinese looking fake performance tires that will need to be replaced sooner rather than later. Shouldn't be too hard to find cheap wheels I imagine. A set of winter retreads and a basic all season should get me through fine. 

Way less bad than expected!

How'd the seats feel since we're built the same?

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :

They surprised me honestly. Good tight hug. Might get old on long trips, but way way better than the seats in my last Miata were. Not couch comfort like the P71, but like they actually want to hold me in place.  I'm almost to tall though, hitting the clutch I noticed my knee tapping the wheel, even with it as high as it could go. I didn't make many adjustments though, just wanted to run it through the gears, so that could be easily solved. 

I don't think my wife is going to like them, but she can't drive stick so it doesn't matter.