95 Dodge Neon Engine Rebuild

[TX_Firehawk]

Hello everyone, I am new around here and to the Dodge scenen and had a bunch of questions for you guys :o

I purchased a 95 Dodge Neon 2 door with the 2.0 DOHc motor in it. The car only has 74K miles and is in mint condition. Well I picked it up for $500 b/c it needed a new timming belt.

Well I broke down the motor and the intake valves on cylinder 1 are bent. No biggie- I am going to have it fixed by a local machine shop. Took the pistons out and I am going to re-ring them and put in new bearings.

My questions now are preformance based. I have been told its a Mitsubishi motor and a decent one at that. What I want to know is should I look into maybe new cams at this point or anything else? I am going to port and gasket match the head and intake manifold. I have seen simple mods like a throttle body hot water bypass but are there any other things I should consider seeing as how the motor is ready for whatever.

Now I know this is not a drag car or anything, I just want to make it more fun to drive. And I dont mind spending some $$ on it seeing as how I have not spent much of anything on the car so far. I will have a cold air intake on it and exhaust when it is done and that is probably about it. I could see putting a 50 shot of gas on it one day if the motor can handle it.

Comments for the nub (me)? :p


Thanks in advance for any info!

:cool:

[TX_Firehawk]

OK I have started the gasket matching on the intake manifold. I am going to have to get an extension for my dremel or something, I dont really want to cut it in half to get to all of it but that is an option I guess.

[dodgeneonACR98]

First I want to say welcome to D/T.

It is a 95 2 dr DOHC,that is a good thing ! Is it a MTX or an ATX?

Sounds to me like the timeing belt broke on that neon while they were drive'N it.
Thats how the valves got bent. It isn't a mitsubishi motor but damn close... The mitsubishi heads are reversed exhaust in front and intake on backside. They gave me mitsu head at head shop when I done my H/G. I was putting on my gaskets to the head and noticed that the gasket kit for the 98 neon fit on backwards the intake gasket fit the exhaust ports and vise versa,,,,Needless to say I put my old head back on (without no problems thank God it wasn't warped) and saved myself 250 cash.

Gasket match everything..UM how much money you looking to spend on speed?
Most common upgrades is CAI,but it's only good if it's a true CAI.Save yourself some cash and make yourself one OR get an ICEMAN,or some other CAI that relocates the filter to the lower front of the engine bay.

You are port matching the gaskets so you may want to look into a 55 or 60 mm T/B.
The manual transmissions MTX's came with a necked down throttle body. You will notice a gain in hp going to a bored 55 or 60 T/B.I never seen nothing about a hot water bypass. But I was happy with the 55 mm T/B i got from Howell, other than a poor finish it worked fine,I also port matched it and polished it.

The exhaust is up too you but I gutted my cat (wish I had put a pipe thru it) and put a one in dual out v-8 Camaro muffler on it. Other than the reverb I get from the backpressure during a shift I love the sound. If I had put a pipe thru the cat Id not get that hollow reverb. I learned to shift faster to controll that. LOL
If you want to get a header for it id go with a long tube header by AFX or KIRK.
Kirk also makes a decent true CAI.

An underdrive pulley will free up some torque to the wheels.

You can get a solid rear bobble strut,for about 70 bucks. If you want to put the power down a bit better.YOU WILL HOWEVER LOOSE SOME COMFORT. They tend to vibrate the car at certain RPM's. MIne is homemade and it really helps out in the handleing dep. the whole front end feels tighter, I made it to adjust so it can be made tolerable on long interstate trips. With pre-load on it, it gets loud at about 4000 rpm's.
Prothane inserts will stiffen up the motor mounts, makes shifting smoother and helps put the power to the ground.But also vibrates some.

A mopar performance computer will wake her up a bit also.Especially with the mods above.The mpp pcm will advance time, air/fuel mix and you will never hit a speed limiter, the rev limit is raised from 1st to 4th and youll not get it wound out enough to find one in fifth gear.Altho it calls for 92 octane and nothing less. I run 93 all the time.

Stay with the regular stock Copper plugs....the neons like em best. You can get 8.5 mm plug wires.

Well thats the basics.....have fun and good luck.

[RadarLove]

It's not a Mitsubishi motor, it's a Dodge motor. My pistons still had "Dodge" stamped on them the last time the head was off. Mitsubishi used the block with their head and called it the 420A, and it was used in the '95-'99 4-cyl non-turbo Eclipse.

Neons are plenty good for drag racing if you're interested. Better still for autocross. Crane makes a nice variety of cams for the DOHC. I wouldn't go any bigger than 16's unless you plan on upping the compression.

P&P on the intake manifold is nice, just cleaning up the casting flash and gasket matching makes a huge difference (yes, you'll have to split the manifold in two). More than that and you should consider a professional - differences in flow balancing can hurt performance and reliability.

The exhaust system on the DOHC is pretty good. A true straight-through muffler would be an upgrade. Other than that, it's not cost effective. Larger piping is nice, but you'll have to get rid of the nasty bend after the cat first or it won't do any good. The stock cat flows within 5% of any "high-flow" cat on the market - another non-cost-effective mod. There are a number of headers available, some 50-state legal. Anything is better than the stock cast iron POS. Longer tubes (AFX, Kirk) will always give bigger gains than shorties (Chikara, PaceSetter).

Motor should handle a 50-shot OK, but you'll need to retard the timing with MSD DIS or something similar. Forged internals could handle much, much more...

Best of luck!

[EZ4U2CHere]

If I'm not mistaken, you can no longer buy crank bearings for the '95 block.

You might want to check on that before you get too far into this little project.

[EZ4U2CHere]

SprocketSpinner,
I just realized that you live in the same city as what I believe to be the best vendor of neon parts in the country.

Modern Performance (http://www.modernperformance.com/)

I have bought a ton of stuff from them over the past several years. Great company to deal with.

You should stop in and talk to them (I've always dealt with Cory) and he can definitely point you in the right direction.

[RadarLove]

Only the '95 SOHC block had the goofy bearing alignments, and that's easy enough to fix with a Dremel and a steady hand (and maybe a template from Jeff B. ;)).

[EZ4U2CHere]

Only the '95 SOHC block had the goofy bearing alignments, and that's easy enough to fix with a Dremel and a steady hand (and maybe a template from Jeff B. ;)).

Ahhh... right. I knew it was something. I heard about it from Jeff, and I forgot he had a SOHC.

[TX_Firehawk]

Well I am trying to find the best deal on a reworked head with some bowlwork/ 3 angle valve job. Possibly ported. I can do a lot of the porting myself and thus will save some money. I have got the intake manifold looking really nice. In this picture you can see where the runners have been opened up a bit and the one on the far right has not been done yet (it was getting late :o ).



At this time I am just going to focus on getting the best head I have the $$ for, I cant see spending more than 450-500 bucks. I can get the cams and header and what not later on. What fun would it be if it were complete right from the start? lol.

Thanks for all the info.

[dodgeneonACR98]

A re-worked head (plain re-worked no P&P) runs about 250 bucks with the core!
If you dont take in your head it will be about 400 450.

No it wouldnt be fun if you done it all at once, would it LOL.
Any how the Intake looks like its scootin right along. Keep some JB weld handy incase you take off a bit to much. HAVE FUN

[TX_Firehawk]

Well the head is at the headshop. It is going to get a 5 angle valve job, bowl work and ported/polished. That is going to cost me about $450. I am going to try and get new cams for it but I dont know if I will have the $$ for them by next week when I get the head back. I didnt want to put it back together with the stock ones but we will have to see.

I am done gasket matching the intake manifold and porting/ polishing it as well. I was not able to get all the way through the intake runners b/c I didnt want to cut it in half but I think it is going to flow wayy better.

Still need to decide on what cams and header to get.

[dodgeneonACR98]

Dont get no bigger than a #16 crane.And get a long tube header if you are serious about results from the header.Just my 2 cent.Later

[TX_Firehawk]

What would happen with more than a #16 Cam? And do you know any good places for a longtube header? I only know ebay and I think some might be cheap...

[dodgeneonACR98]

your looking at about 299$ at HOWELL Automotive for an AF/X long tube.
www.howellautomotive.com Ask Radar about the cams I think over a 16 grind will be to much for a N/A motor. It would probably idle like a Harley Davidson and run like a pile of dog shit; I dont really know . Radar can explain that.LOL

[RadarLove]

You can go bigger than 16, just not with the stock pistons/compression ratio. I mean, it's physically possible and the car will run, but it's just not a good idea from a performance standpoint. The longer duration (later intake valve closing point specifically) significantly lowers the dynamic compression ratio, which is worlds apart from static (advertised) compression ratio. Remember, nothing is getting compressed until the piston is moving up AND the intake and exhaust valves are closed. Once you put in just 10.5:1 c/r pistons, you can put in pretty much anything Crane sells off the shelf with no worries. 12:1 c/r pistons are available, but then you've really got to play with ignition timing to keep running pump gas.

Best of luck!

[TX_Firehawk]

Radar, the car is going to be non-turbo for prob 12 months before I can afford that big upgrade. Prob run a 50 shot on it. What cam would you suggest for this setup?

Assume I already have a larger throttle body as I will in the comming weeks.

[2004dram]

that is going to be sweet when done

[RadarLove]

There are so many out there... And I really haven't paid much attention to what people are running in theirs. I'd head over to neons.org and check around the Forced Induction forums. Ask what peope are running and why. Do a search first though... they can be vicious...

[TX_Firehawk]

Thanks for the info. Well the head is done, I need to scrape up the rest of the $$ and go pick it up.

I am going to try and stop by Modern Preformance today also. I am interested to see what all they have in there showroom.

Let ya know what happens. Ill post some pics of the head when I get it.

[TX_Firehawk]

ARGHHH!!! LOL Well I was cleaning my TB and decided to take the throttle position sensor and I guess what is an O2 sensor off it so I could clean it better. Well a bolt spun off each one so that makes a great excuse for a new TB now :cool:



shoud I get the biggest I can? The car doesnt have cams yet but will get some #16's and adj wheels in a month or so.

[rice_eater]

Unless your going turbo I wouldnt go bigger than a 55mm. Too big will end up costing you power instead of making it. If your neon has a turbo (or you plan to put one on in the very near future) then you should probably go with a 60mm. Bigger is not always better, unless its a turbo and you plan on running a lot of boost. If its N/A dont go bigger than a 55mm though. Best of luck.

[dodgeneonACR98]

Id go with the 60mm T/B on an ATX, and the 55mm on an MTX.

Seeing how the stock ATX has got like a 52mm straight bore already, where as the MTX was doomed with a 52 mm necked down to a 48mm or so.

Correct me if Im wrong but wouldn't a 60mm be better for an ATX.Problem is the Jeep T/B takes some work to make it work. And the only other way to get that is to BUY it.

Id do some research and see what people say about the diff in 55 or 60mm.Im sure you will but don't forget to port match the T/B to the intake, and polish that bi*** up.
Later.

[TX_Firehawk]

Yes, the car is an automatic btw. Hope that doesnt give me problems later on. LOL a TB off a jeep would fit? :o


I am thinking of getting a unit (TB) from your buddy's here in town (Modern Performance).

[rice_eater]

I suppose you a 60mm throttle body would work on an ATX neon. It'll probably give you a few more ponies over a 55mm or a 57mm... but I'd think it'll also drop your gas mileage a hair more. Maybe not, I guess theres only one way to find out, lol. Good luck.

[dodgeneonACR98]

I thought you had an ATX. Yes a 4.0 jeep T/B will work but it takes some work to get it. There may be a how-to on the org. Im not sure.And it is a 60mm.

Have you looked into an aftermarket valve body for your tranny,I hear they will hop you up some. they said "tire chirping shifts". I don't know to many Neon's that chirp second gear with an atx.You are doing alot of work to this car, I would look into a mtx swap.The SOHC's run better with an atx, the DOHC is hurtin with the atx. Im just running my flapper here,but I would hate to think you have all that power from the P&P and what not and are'nt going to get the most out of it. No doubt it will run good but it could be better I think with a mtx. Don't you?

And about the T/B useing more gas! Yes it will lower the mpg, but if you are willing to spend a few grand on Mad Mods for PERFORMANCE why cry about a few mpg.
You will easilly out run CERTAIN v-8's mainlly trucks, and you will be getting still over twice the MPG. The PCM will adjust the AIR/FUEL mix when air is increased so is fuel.
It trys to keep it from leaning out or running to rich. Oxygen sensors. Welp gotta go. LATER.

[TX_Firehawk]

Yar, I would like to get a MTX but I am thinking that will be after the car gets a turbo or it just breaks on me. I am going to be nice to the tranny, I want it to last a while. I am a fan of the auto/ big stall converter for drag but the car is going to be a street/ roadcourse ride so the MTX would be better in the long run.

[dodgeneonACR98]

Well if'n you plan to go Turbo for sure the ATX will suffice I think. Just have to get a programer to power program your PCM for shift pionts and such.Becouse the turbo will kick in around 4000 rpms and then by 5 grand be pulling hard Im sure you wouldn't want it to shift a 5500 rpm's.Before it got wound out good. BUT hell what do I know LOL Im still learning about this crap too, LOL. Good luck Firehawk. I like to see pics of your progress keep it up.

[TX_Firehawk]

This no links thing is killing me lol. None of the other forums mind my off site images. It save you guys bandwidth! lol :VHOT:

Anyway I went down to your boy's at Modern Proformance and w00t. I pull in the parking lot and there are 4 SRT's and an NSX all FARRR from stock. I was instantly reminded why I am spending all my extra $$ on this. Carbon fiber hoods, rims etc etc etc. ;) Same thing when I was leaving, a nice SRT4 starting up and leaving. Had a nice cam in it. Sounded realllllly nice.

Well I picked up some new rings (JE) and a 60MM ATX TB. Well I went to see about gasket matching it but I have a few questions. In the picture below you can see where I laid the new gasket that came with it on the intake manifold. Traced with a Sharpie and wouldnt you know, it runs across this groove that goes around the opening.

Well I can not remember for the life of me if one of those U groove- type (I guess you call them) gaskets was on there before. It is not a flat gasket, it actually sits in this U groove. I looked around and prob tossed it since I have a new complete gasket set. Well I looked in there and did not see one that would go in there in the new set. Well I know I need to use the one that came with the TB but can I remove the metal up until this groove? There is one main spot where it is going to take the inner surface all the way out to the start of that groove. I mean if i take the metal out, it will match up nice, I just wont be able to use a smaller gasket again and I don't think that should be an issue. Just don't want to mess up the intake.


As for updates, dont worry I will keep adding to it. I do stuff like this with a lot of projects, mainly heavy computer modding in the past (watercooling etc). I like to share the info for sure.

[TX_Firehawk]

OK update already. I made some calls and was told it would be ok to bore it out a bit. So I went ahead and removed enough to gasketmatch the intake to the TB but I was able to leave a very thin lip around where the original gasket would be if it were ever needed again. Also removed a bunch of material out of the 45 deg bend in the neck. I figure this was a big bottleneck.

[RadarLove]

Bet ya $10 that the 60mm butterly plate doesn't fit all the way down the TB neck... I think the biggest it can even be bored out without having to use JB Weld is 55 mm. Big (55+mm) TB's don't provide any extra airflow on the stock manifold. They do have a smaller pressure drop, so the MAP will see a lower pressure, assume less engine load, run a tad leaner, which helps power a smidge on the stock computer. Nice piece though.

When I broke the bolts on my IAC, I used 3 tie wraps to hold it on. Held up fine for almost 2 years, then I found another TB for $5 with all the sensors and swapped it out.

[dodgeneonACR98]

Wow! Well I guess you got that bored out enough! LOL That T/B is pretty too LOL.
Its not so much gasket matching tho on the t/b it's more like port match. Becouse the gasket is hidden and can't really restrict flow. The intake gasket to the head and the exhaust gasket are the main ones to gasket match.

You are going to have a damn fine machine there FireHawk.Keep it up.

[TX_Firehawk]

The intake gasket to the head and the exhaust gasket are the main ones to gasket match.




And those have been done.


I am suppose to go get the head tomorrow night. Ill post a pic or two of it.

I do have a question on the valve job. I have been reading up on what a 5 angle consists of but is it something that I can verify by looking at the head? I would assume I would have to remove a valve to look up in there or no? I guess I just want to be 100% on what the guy said he would do lol.


Radar- I know the stock intake is not going to flow a lot more but I have been able to remove a lot of material both in the neck, the bowl area I guess its called (where the 2 pieces meet) and through the intake runners. The Runners are only polished through the centers, I couldnt get my cutting tool that low accuratly.


One question. I have been told leaving a camshaft laying on the floor or a table can warp it quickly. Well I was cleaning off the workbench earlier and low and behold there are the cams over on the end. They have prob been there a week. They going to be ok??

:WHT:

[TX_Firehawk]

Pics of the new head:


He even gave me a bag of the shavings lol.

[viper24]

man thats pretty tight, i wish i was a tuner... i need to get into that, (looking in to a fix er upper)

[rice_eater]

hey, TX_Firehawk, How much time did it take you to polish your intake by hand? I was considering doing the same, but i was wondering how hard it would be. About how many hours do you think you got in it? Any advice to someone looking into doing the same, seeing how you've already done it? Thanks man.

[TX_Firehawk]

Ya know I would just be guessing on the hours. I worked on it in the evening for a few hrs at a time (holding a steady hand with a high speed vibrating tool wears ya out) for 10 days ish. Maybe a little more, maybe a little less.

I used a Dremel Model 595 Type 4 5K to 30K rpm plug in tool. You can use a cordless but they have practically no torpue and the batteries will go quick.

I kept it on low speed most of the time. I used a round (looks like a ball on a stick) cutting tip and one that was somewhat flat. Its like using an eraser on mspaint or something. That is what takes sooo long. I used about 4 bits for the intake. I later learned you can use a stone to do the grinding, but the aluminium gets in the pores really fast and it no longer works. That would prob take you 20+ stone tips to finnish. At 4+ dollars a tip that would hurt.

Last I took a wire wheel and put it on an air drill. You can use a reg corded one as well btw. The wheel will take the now clean but rough raw surface and make it like glass. I also used very small ones on the dremmel for tight spots.


I think that is all? ;)



I am doing the outside of the intake runners now. I am about halfway done on that. Pic below. Also the tools used (me not in photo lol).


Good Luck.

[rice_eater]

Hey, TX_Firehawk, Thanks for the tips. BTW, that intake looks awesome. Thanks for the advice.

[TX_Firehawk]

Thanks. I have one intake runner left and it should be done.

Ough ya, wear eye/ear protection. The tool can make a nasty echo sound on the metal and it will give you a headache after a few min lol.

[dodgeneonACR98]

Looking good !!!

[TX_Firehawk]

Dang I thought I posted a picture of the motor in the car. Guess not so here is one.

[TX_Firehawk]

ARGH. OK everything is done except one minor thing. I have a wire that I can not find the home to. It comes off of the coil and I have no clue where it goes. The only thing my book says is to never put voltage on it b/c it can fry the pcm. Well the car started and ran for a second then stoped. I am blowing the auxilary fuse and that is killing the fuel pump and igniton (so no spark).

Can someone go look on there car and tell me where that wire is suppose to go? It is keeping the car from starting :mad:


In the picture #1 is the wire loom it comes off of. The wire comes from the coil (the plug labled #1). #2 is the plug that needs a home. It is a single green wire with an orange stripe.

HELP!!!

[EZ4U2CHere]

Honestly I have no idea what that plug is, but both my neons have it. Someone told me once, but now I can't seem to remember. If it's the same plug I think you have there, it should not keep your car from starting.

Now as far as the fuel pump fuse goes, that means you have a short. 99% of the time it's the wiring to your O2 sensor. Mine were melted together.

[EZ4U2CHere]

Oh yeah, and that plug should connect to the side of the head.

[TX_Firehawk]

Dang well I dont see where that plug could go on the head. Its a short wire... Maybe I am missing something from the head.

I am going to go look again. =/



Can you look at yours and see what it plugs into? I understand it goes to the head but what on the head does it plug into?

[TX_Firehawk]

OK the O2 sensor wires all looked fine, they are not damaged at all.

[EZ4U2CHere]

Beginning and end of wire from harness is in yellow, and it connects to the thing circled in red.

For some reason I want to say that I was told it was a ground isolator for the radio.

http://members.cox.net/ez4u2chere/images/wire.jpg

[EZ4U2CHere]

OK the O2 sensor wires all looked fine, they are not damaged at all.
Mine were melted about 4" from where the O2 connector is. I had to peel back the wire loom to find it.

[TX_Firehawk]

Thanks for the picture! You are now an e-pimp. I am going to start hunting in the garage for that piece. It must be here somewhere!

[TX_Firehawk]

One question about this short. The car ran fine before I had to fix the head. Shouldnt it run fine again? I wouldnt think it would develop a short just sitting in the garage. I am going to slide under the car now and really check that O2 wire.

Just seems like it would run with no fuss. And I cant seem to find that connector for my loose wire. I am going to track one down tomorrow (hopefuly I can get one local).

[EZ4U2CHere]

Well, in my case I actually pulled my motor out, rebuilt it, put it back in, and it ran great for about 10 seconds. Then it died because of the short.

Those wires get old and brittle. It doesn't take much moving around before they'll do that.

And like I said, that's usually the case 99% of the time. There's still the unlucky 1% who have to dig really deep to find the culprit, and usually it's a very long journey.

[TX_Firehawk]

both O2 wires (to both sensors) look good. I am going to wait until I can get that connector for my loose wire and see what happens.

[TX_Firehawk]

OK I went to my local Dodge dealership and tried to tell them what I was looking for.. They had no clue. So I went down to the local auto salvage and picked up 3 (2 spares lol) of the little plug I was missing for a whole $2.87. Put it on and it fired right up.


Topped off all the fluids and I just got back from a 40 mile slow drive. Went above 4K rpm's only once. I have a small leak in my valve gasket that wont be a problem to fix. Other than that it was smooth sailing. The ATX loves to shift up quick =/. That can be taken care of later im sure. It sounds like it has a full cold air intake on it but that is just the intake maniold and head talking :o

Cant wait to get a real cold air intake and header on this thing. I know it needs. it.


More to come!

[EZ4U2CHere]

Glad you got it going.

So much for it being a ground isolator. LOL

I would like to know what it is though. Obviously it's important.

[TX_Firehawk]

Yar I am not sure what it does but there is some electronics inside of that little box, there has to be. Grounding it out dodnt work as a work-around.

Here is the piece I was missing by itself.

Ough and I took it out again and pushed it to 7K in 1st and 2nd one time ( I had toooo) and it really gets going after 4K rpm. It really needs a cold air intake and header. In a few weeks I will have to add them.

[TX_Firehawk]

I forgot to add... the car stays idleing at 1Krpm and it is kinda* (barley) rough. When I first started it up it was going to 900 rpm. As soon as you give it just a tad of gas it smooths out. Any idea why it doesnt idle a little smoother? I know I have a screw I can adjust on the new TB that can +/- the ide , but I need it to be a little more smoother. Is it just b/c the head has had a lot of work done and that is just the way it is?

I mean its not a rough idle, but its just a little more than normal.

[rice_eater]

did it idle rough or not so smooth before? I know mine has always idled slightly rough, not really rough, just not as smooth as other new vehicles. I was wondering if thats normal for neons or not. runs excellent, very strong motor, but slighly (very slightly) rough at idle (which was 900rpm, until i put a 55mm throttlebody on and now it seems to like 1000rpm better). I've heard that neons have a habit of being slighly unruly about how they idle. (but no one cares once they put there foot to the floor, hehe)

[TX_Firehawk]

Well rice I do not know how it ran before b/c I got the car in non running condition. The previous owner did not want to fix the timming belt and head. And I have a 60MM TB, that may be the issue? Like I said at any throttle its fine, just idle is a little rough.

[dodgeneonACR98]

TX, You can get an AF/X pcm that will change your shift points,advance timeing,adjust AIR/FUEL mix. And just plain out make her scream. Another thing is an aftermarket valve body for that transmissoin it would give you "so they say" tire chirping shifts.I may have mentioned that earlier.

Mopar dont make a PCM for an ATX...But that should be just fine by you, concidering the AF/X PCM will notice every mod you put in there. I guess they are able to reprogram themselves to run the best with your mods,air temp,ect. Maybe something like a V-tech honda adjusts the timeing at certin rpm's to keep the HP there.
SOMEONE CORRECT ME IF IM WRONG! seriously .LOL

I finally got to run a new v-tech honda. They run pretty stout. LOL

Anyhow Im glad to see you got it runnin.

[rice_eater]

TX, the throttle body may very well be whats making it idle different. My idle got slightly rougher with a larger throttle body as well. My car also shudders occasionally when i shut it down, does yours? I cant remember if it did it b4 the bigger t/b or not. I hope i dont have something wrong, anyone know if that little shudder is normal?

[TX_Firehawk]

Well it seems to be idleing a little better. I think I have a small oil leak somewhere. I had one on the valve cover gasket, it sprayed a little oil out the side and made a small mess. Pulled the cover off and the new gasket was riped in that corner! Got the old one, it looked good so I put it on and solved that problem. I still think I have a slow drip somewhere, I have 3 small spots on my cardboard (under the car) in 40 min. I will watch it through the night.

Well I splurged again and picked up an Iceman air intake from Modern Performance. I must say that thing fits TIGHT. I kept looking at it through the install thinking to myself "theres no way!" Well the tank was on E so I filled it up with 93 and took it out for a spin. Now it REALLY sounds good. You can tell it is breathing pretty heavy now. Still need a header but that will have to wait a bit.

[tchase]

Sounds like you've got a sweet ride comin together. I really think you'd like it ALOT more with a manual though. I question the statements above regarding the PCM that alters the AT shift points, as far as I understand the AT in gen1's is the same old FWD trans mopar has used for years and is NOT electronically controlled thus a PCM couldn't alter the shift points. I could be wrong though I don't pay much attention to AT tech, I don't think the DOHC should have ever come with one just as the engines designers originally intended (the original design actually made 180hp but didn't have enough bottom end for AT use so it was changed a bit).

[dodgeneonACR98]

Ya know Chase I done a check up on the PCM and You are probly right. I never seen read that it would change the shift points but thats the only way he's going to get that thing to run like a DOHC. Is to raise the shift points.Maybe upgrade the tranny or swapp it out with a stick. A valve body for the tranny will help it alot I think. Later

[TX_Firehawk]

My car is a DOHC.. what do you mean "get it to run like one"? You mean like a DOHC MT? After driving it the last few days the auto really isnt that bad. Yes it likes to upshift quick but thats just going to save me gas. When I feel the urge to play a lil I just throw it into 1st or 2nd. It will do for now.

Gawd I want some Mini Cooper a$$ but Ive only got 200 miles on it. Im going to take it easy until 500 miles are on it. ;)

[tchase]

Yeah, I'm thinking he meant like a DOHC MTX. I'm sure your car does run strong but the difference between a DOHC MT and AT is great even stock. The DOHC isn't big on low end grunt and as you add high end HP you sacrifice the bottom end even more, also you narrow the effective powerband making two less gears even more troublesome. As good as your car runs my stock MTX would probably eat you up, especially off the line. Consider this: DOHC AT: Final drive (axle ratio): 3.19:1, first gear 2.69:1 giving an overall gear reduction in first gear of 8.58:1. DOHC MTX: Final drive: 3.94:1, first gear: 3.54:1 for an overall gear reduction of 13.95:1! Having an auto is like starting a MTX in second gear (8.39:1 overall), minus the slight advantage given by the torque converter of course. Not to mention the much greater parasitic power loss of the ATX, which equates to about a 15hp difference at the wheels on a stock DOHC.

Just occured to me also that unless you changed you PCM, you didn't rev your car to 7000. ALL ATX cars use the SOHC 6750rpm rev limiter which is probably below you peak horsepower since a stocker peaks at 6450. MTX PCM's have a 7250 limiter.

[TX_Firehawk]

You are right about off the line stuff. It is quite slow there :x But thats ok, it does pretty good from a 30 roll.

And I just had it inspected and it passed emissions and all that stuff. W00T!


:gr_patrio

[dodgeneonACR98]

YA! I ment like a DOHC with a MTX. You arent getting the full power band out of the DOHC with an ATX. Not that its going to make much of a diff, anyway since the car will rev limit at 6700 or so rpms. Most people (drag racers) like to shift at 7000 rpms.
----Red line. The power peak is closer to 6500-6700 but still pulling harder at 7000 rpms in 1st when the rpms drop during shift to 2nd.Hear are some gear ratios for the MTX.
1st -- 3.538
2nd -- 2.125
3rd -- 1.360
4th -- 1.029
5th -- 0.718
Reverse -- 3.42
Final Drive -- 3.944
OTGR -- 2.83

It would also get a little better mileage with the MTX. It's up to you .

[rice_eater]

All DOHC motors with the mtx had 3.94:1 final drive ratios, correct? And all SOHC mtx's had 3.55:1 ratios right? I've also heard that the gear ratios (1-5) are the same in both the SOHC and DOHC manual trannies, except for the R/T's and ACR's which had a 0.84 5th gear ratio instead of a 0.72, is that right?

The reason i'm asking is because i swapped trannies a couple months back (blew up the other one, hehe) but the new one definetly does not have the 3.94 ratios. I went to an online speed/rpm calculator and found that it has 3.55's. The guy I got the tranny from said it was out of an r/t or a sport with the DOHC, but hes obviously full of sh%# because they all had 3.94's right? I dont really mind the higher gears, i get an extra 2-3mpg now and the car has a little more top end (85+ mph) with some sacrifice in the low to midrange, not a huge deal. Maybe the trans was out of a SOHC sport? did sports come with a SOHC, or just the DOHC?

[TX_Firehawk]

OK I repainted the front bumper and air dam to take care of some rock chips and damage from the sun. I also painted that silly grey strip. It looks pretty good and should last a few months until I get the car painted.

Also moved the rear wing back 1 1/4 in. Old trick I learned from my buddy. He did the same little mod on his 03 Mustang and it just gives it that "something doesnt look stock" look. I think it looks great.


When I get some more time I will post a how to on it. I took lots of pics as I did it. Im in Houston, so I am a little pre- occupied with Hurricane Rita atm ;)



`Hawk

[dodgeneonACR98]

Looking good...I used a Ford Probe wing on my car.

http://www.dodgetalk.com/gallery/files/1/2/1/2/3/Jul2428.JPG


I need to update my pics Im running my Stock Alloy rims now. Looks better with the silver on the sides.

[TX_Firehawk]

Well I have been doing a LOT of reading up on the 420A motor and various things that have been done to it both light to extreme. The other day I was trying to decide on a good header only to remember I would have to take it right off and sell it (loose $$ either way you look at it). So I am not going to buy anything for the car and save up for a Hahn G16 Stage 2 turbo. If I watch my $$ REALLY close I should have it by the end of the year. I could do it faster but hey, a guy has to eat and drink right?

One question about a turbo setup- By adding the turbo is that going to make it fail emissions in Texas? we are not as bad as say Cali but they do sniff our tailpipes. I was just curious if it would instantly fail, or just add to it getting close to failing (like if your cat was messed up or something).

If its going to kill my emissions that is ok, I know "people" but I would rather have the car 100% street legal.

[dodgeneonACR98]

DUDE! I don't think a turbo will cause you to fail emissions.As long as every thing else like Cat and sensors are up to speed with the turbo.... I could be wrong but I am going to say go for it. I would if'n the wife would let me LOL with or without emissions.
They don't sniff pipes here in WV YET! but if it's loud they might check you out at inspection time. LOL they will find my stock pipe and Cat under mine but I know it would fail emissions becouse the cat is just a shell. Tree Huggers be hatin me LOL.

I would however make damn sure the Header and exahust were legal in your state.
This will be more or an issue than any turbo. BUT I COULD BE WRONG.