Secrets of Speed- Building my Neon.

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Gregster

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I finally had the chance to start work on my beloved Neon. This afternoon I turned my phone off and set to work on taking her apart for the next level.

First thing I wanted to do though was attach the new brakes to figure out what size spacers I would be needing. After I made redneck spacer from washers I think a 25mm kit at all 4 corners will do the job.
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After that was done I set about removing the dash. My goal is to clean up the wiring up and get rid of all the useless stuff that I don't need. Removing the sound deadening is also on the list, running a race header with 1 5/8 tubes will cause burning.
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you put washers on your studs as spacers... oh.. my... god.. that is SO dangerous...

i hope the rest of your build is a little bit more advanced then that sort of thjing
 
I used the washers to figure out what size spacers I will need to order.... I even posted what kit I will have to order.

BTW: The car is already built I am just improving it.
 
Greg..not to be mean or anything.... im just in a urbandictionary.com phase

neon=

1)the most retarded car ever made. often found in high school parking lots with import(euro) tail lights (even tho it is a domestic car) sometimes containing a muffler, go fast stickers, go fast winshield wipers, or go fast lights.
2) a car that poverty people and retards buy and often fix up because they watched fast and the furious, but couldn't afford a real car or an import.
3) a 2.0 4 banger that is slower than shit but often drivin by kids who think they could beat a jet.
"Racing a neon is like being in the special olympics, even if you win you're still RETARDED!!!!!!!!"

btw keep up the good work!
 
Greg..not to be mean or anything.... im just in a urbandictionary.com phase

neon=

1)the most retarded car ever made. often found in high school parking lots with import(euro) tail lights (even tho it is a domestic car) sometimes containing a muffler, go fast stickers, go fast winshield wipers, or go fast lights.
2) a car that poverty people and retards buy and often fix up because they watched fast and the furious, but couldn't afford a real car or an import.
3) a 2.0 4 banger that is slower than shit but often drivin by kids who think they could beat a jet.
"Racing a neon is like being in the special olympics, even if you win you're still RETARDED!!!!!!!!"

btw keep up the good work!


and your point?
 
santurbo if I wanted to be as much of an ass, I'd say it sounds more like your describing a civic .............


and if you knew anything about grassroots racing, you'd know that neons were very damn successfull back in the 90's as production racers......
I'd much rather build something like gregs car (or escorts tempo for that matter) and actually use the car for what it's intended for, that cruise julep with a bling mobile jdm something that as comon as a bellybutton.......
 
Iv'e owned and still own several nice cars, yet when I look back on when I owned my 01 neon I don't regret buying it as my first car for 2 seconds. Did a year and a half with it before I sold it. Didn't put $.01 into mechanical repairs and I beat it to hell, crashed real hard 3 times and used it for many other things a car shouldnt be used for. With a basic suspension setup it handled suprisingly good and was very comfortable.

here's an old pic of my beauty:

im2.jpg


*greg, that grey paint on your floors is that Por-15?
 
santurbo if I wanted to be as much of an ass, I'd say it sounds more like your describing a civic .............


and if you knew anything about grassroots racing, you'd know that neons were very damn successfull back in the 90's as production racers......
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Speaking of Grassroots, I picked up my favorite magazine a couple months ago, GRM, and they had a "top 25" list. I've owned a few on the list, but there was one in there that made me think of Gregster right away...

Grassroots Motorsports top 25 "history shaping" cars of the last quarter century.
1) Mazda Miata
2) BMW 3 Series
3) Honda Civic, CRX, integra
4) Ford Mustang
5) Porsche 911
6) Chevy Corvette
7) Chevy Camaro
8) Mini Cooper
9) Factory 5 Roadster
10) Nissan Z
11) VW GTI
12) Mazda RX7/8
13) Subaru Impreza
14) SCCA Spec Racer
15) Toyota MR2
16) Lotus Elise
17) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo
18) DSM - Eclipse, etc.
19) Dodge Neon
20) Honda S2000
21) Porsche Boxster
22) Toyota Celica/Corolla AE86
23) Nissan Sentra SE-R
24) Dodge Viper
25) Volvo 2 and 7 series
 
yeah they just finished up a low-buck rallycross Neon build actually.....think they've probably done about a half dozen or so neon projects/coverage over the past 25 years!
 
Except GRM fails to mention that if you plan on building a Neon these days finding parts is rather expensive and difficult. It's no longer 1999.

I've been around Neons since 2002 and have seen the aftermarket support decline. There was a time when you could walk into a Chrysler dealer and order go fast goodies.. Now they have stopped supporting the car entirely. The same goes for many aftermarket vendors that have stopped selling parts. Sure you can still get parts but it's getting harder and harder... expensive as well. So you either need to make friends who have access to parts or you need to make your own. Both of which I do.

I get about 10 PM's and Emails a week from people asking me they want to build a track Neon etc. Once I offer them advice they argue saying "It's not that hard". Ok sure it's not hard to bolt parts on a car...however it's hard making a car that is both fast and reliable. To do it right you need to rebuild the entire car. Which I did and what most people won't do. I didn't build my car to cruise around or visit car shows.

My car has about 8000km's of track mileage (revving to around 7800rpms on constant basis) on it over 2 years. It has never broken down once. I had to change a defective water pump which was leaking and a bad map sensor. Oh yes and the radiator started leaking because the fan was rubbing against the fins. So I guess my car is unreliable?
 
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