'96 and '99 Plymouth ACR coupes (and '97 ACR sedan, too)

[OneOverZero]

In February 2015, I picked up a '96 ACR from a gentleman in Georgia. He'd bought it from the original owner three months earlier and decided to move on to other projects, so I picked up a very clean (aside from the notorious white paint) ACR with 93,000 miles, needing a clutch, engine/trans mounts, and other basics. It was originally ordered with A/C and the National Championship interior package.




Three months later, it emerged from the garage with the Mopar "off-highway" ECU, fresh engine/trans rubbers with Prothane inserts, full Prothane suspension bushings, Vitor bobble strut, TTi mid-length header, Maddog 50% shifter with Booger bushings, rebuilt CVs, 205/50R15 Dunlop ZIIs on 2nd-gen 15x6" snowflakes, rebuilt automatic TB, and new calipers/rotors/hoses with StopTech pads. New tie rod ends and balljoints meant that the alignment was finally consistent. And the A/C still blew cold! Perfect.



Watch as someone used to torquey RWD platforms tries and fails to wrangle an ACR at his first autocross event in it! (Ignore the heatshield rattle...)





The suspension needs work, plus the learning curve is huge as it's a large difference for me. I'm not convinced that the Arvins are functioning well and the steering rack is in need of replacement (made obvious with fresh suspension), so I may tackle those over the winter. I'll probably throw a larger rear swaybar at it (going to take a look at the options) and move into STF. If nothing else, it is an amazingly-nimble car for the narrow, aggressive mountain roads in NC!

A couple weeks ago, I came across a '99 ACR a half-hour away. One owner (Mississippi car originally), 153,000 miles, A/C, and absurdly clean with a few well-sourced updates (bobble strut, Booger bushings, etc). I snatched it up and have been using it as a daily driver while a replacement for my Challenger is built.






The condition of this car baffles me. It's every bit as clean underneath as the '96 and the interior is mint, down to the radio delete panel tucked away in the glovebox. The materials and quality of the Highline-sourced interior are definitely a step up from the earlier Base. The only downside to the '99 is its lack of the original Koni yellows - it was set up with KYBs in 2000.

I was originally planning to sell the '96 since I bought the '99, though I'm tempted to continue using it as an autocross & track day car as it's very well set-up and incredibly harsh. The '99, being stock, makes for a good-weather fun car though nowhere near as quick in any way. We'll see!

[doerun]

Nice collection. Where in nc are you? I'm in Martinsville va.

[BigScottinVa]

Damnit man, that's one nice 99 ACR.......love it!

[vivix]

Keep both

[badloneon]

Seen the blue one on Craigslist for around $3500 I think it was. Pretty sure it was the same car. I wouldn't be able to part with it as clean as it is. Seems its getting harder and harder to find clean 1st gens.

[OneOverZero]

Well, my Addco/Mopar 22mm rear swaybar and OEM Mopar ACR steering rack (both for the white '96) have been backordered for over a month now. It began smoking pretty noticeably at an event last month, so it will likely be receiving a 2.4 with a Quaife soon.

I've acquired new-old-stock Koni Yellows for both cars, though, and a set of PD & Mopar XX-high-rate coils (380/230lb-in F/R) for the '96:


And 2016 B5 Blue is really quite close to 1999 Intense Blue:

A little bit heavier, torquier, and louder, though.

[OneOverZero]

I have gone off the deep end. In my basement is a freshly-rebuilt 2.4L (Stratus block, PT Cruiser head, Crower S4 cams/springs & titanium valve retainers, etc) mated to a freshly-rebuilt 3.94 trans with a new Quaife LSD. I haven't taken a close look at the harness repinning for the 2.4 and bracketry needed to keep AC, but the whole thing will probably go in this winter after I strip, clean, paint, and re-accessorize the block.


The white ACR now has new hubs/bearings in the front knuckles, a new ACR-spec steering rack, new strut mounts, and the fresh Koni yellows with Mopar/PD XX-rates. This car, being a '96, originally had slotted Arvin struts (with no remaining effective damping or bumpstops), but the Konis I purchased were NOS '99. A Bridgeport made quick work of the non-slotted holes, per Chrysler's template.


So other than the poly bushings and high-rate springs, it's a stock ACR - such a shocking difference from where it started, though! Ride quality is excellent, turn-in is crisp and predictable, and compression damping exists.



Next up is attempting to limit the further reduction of paint. Painter's tape is sufficient to take 1"-wide strip off the doors, so there's no point in prepping the existing surface. I'll be hitting the bare sections with Eastwood or POR surface treatment and probably following up with vinyl to hopefully protect what's left.

[OneOverZero]

I only need so many ACRs! I've sold the '99 to a collector in the Northeast who is going to enjoy it as a moving time capsule. So long, farewell, until we meet again:


As for the '96, the paint is unsurprisingly deteriorating rapidly:



I need to paint the car for safety's sake. Everything not exposed to UV radiation (door jambs, engine bay, underside) is in excellent condition, though I expect that the glass needs to be pulled prior to paint due to the advanced state of decay.

Option 1
My first plan was to go the '96 Challenge Car route, similar to what ol' Bob is leaning against, but the white jambs and engine bay would no doubt irk me (though the "correct" Challenge cars of course were of course resprays, but anyway). Still a possibility, though. It would certainly be the strongest statement! A vinyl cutter should make replica graphics fairly easy, so I'd really only need yellow and black.


Option 2
I fondly remember the Mopar livery briefly used in the '90s and noticed an appropriately-painted Neon on the cover of the Mopar handbook (which I've scanned below since there are no good images of this book, as far as I can tell). It also appeared in a Mopar retrospective from a few years back. Does anyone have more photos of this car? Bonus is that white jambs and such won't look odd, and again, a vinyl cutter can handle the rest.



Option 3
Car #14 back there uses a color-shifted version of the '96 Challenge cars, similar what the factory-backed '97 Stratus Super Touring used. Same benefits as the Mopar livery, though my ACR isn't a Dodge. I may just do a Challenge livery with these colors.



Decisions, decisions.

[JeremyJ]

I vote black and white.

[OneOverZero]

I have been very boring and decided to repaint it PW7 Bright White. (I hate white cars and I hate gray interiors.) NYG and Flame Red were close runners-up, but the ease of repainting in the same color won out. The front & rear glass are coming out next (with a replacement windshield if decent-quality ones are available, as the OEM one is badly scratched and pitted).

The good news is that it's almost a bare shell, with suspension, ready to go down to metal. The bad news is that I have a garage and basement covered in Neon parts and haven't yet bounced back from having the flu, so I've just been in a "while-I'm-at-it" mood that's exploded the scope of this.

Added to to the procurement list:
Manual brakes using Wilwood master with integrated F/R bias adjuster
Manual steering using a Vitor-depowered ACR rack
Ground Control camber plates
Ground Control coilovers - 550lb-in F, 250lb-in R
Two more sets of new Koni Yellows since I'm hoarding
Vitor intake plenum spacer
2.7L modular clutch
TTi full exhaust and Vibrant CC (to mate to current TTi mid-length header)
Mishimoto radiator
SPC rear lateral links, possibly
TeamDynamics ProRally wheels to receive a set of RE71Rs
Strut tower braces (not yet sold on these given the PL design)

I started disassembling the car with a simple goal: clean out the debris-filled unibody pockets under the fenders, fix some dash rattles, and redo a scary stereo installation (which appeared to be 1996-era, given the head unit. What I found resulted in the entire interior being gutted to the firewall for safety's sake. Notice clues of a problem that I didn't see at the time, such as the two sets of wiring coming through the door grommets on an ACR - sure, someone installed speakers in the doors, but the other set is suspicious. This was in January.


First off, two of the upper structural bolts holding the dash support to the unibody were sheared off with no heads present, so it became obvious that someone had been deep in this thing before. None of the lower bolts were even there. And hey, in hindsight, it's that same wiring that went through to the doors, and it's not part of the stereo that I just removed.


Next up, I started finding... more wiring. Extra wiring, stuff that shouldn't be there, either held in place with vampire taps or just wrapped around scratched-bare sections of the OE harnesses. I ended up pulling an entire redundant column harness with at least 100ft of twisted wiring, and lying on my back, found a cheapo toggle switch positioned next to the OBDII interface. Really suspicious. I have dozens of photos of the full wiring catastrophe that was excised from the dash, but they almost all include my middle finger in the center of the shot, so I won't post them here. I wasn't entirely certain what I was dealing with yet...



...but it all slowly started to make sense when I found power door lock actuators in the doors of a 1996 ACR. Wh... someone had installed a keyless-entry system and full immobilizer in this poor car. Is there any other reason for an ACR to have these? I can't imagine that the assembly line would be terribly streamlined by installing them in all cars, especially since ACRs were built in groups each month, from what I understand.


And what made the situation clear was this: interrupt wiring (leading to that shady switch drilled into the OBDII mount) hacked into the fuel pump circuit, a particularly pro move given the nature of coupe weather seals.


Inside the dash, a July 31, 1997 invoice for ""No Green (bong it) - Int darkness after warm up" with "after warm up it seems it be better" as the solution. Bong it? Bang it? Intermittent interior illumination issues? I can't imagine how or why, given the wiring situation. Also notable: my heater core isn't as good as I thought, as the entire HVAC box was filled with fresh coolant.


So the rattles and such all started to make sense, and the thought of an electrical fire resulted in me gutting the entire car in search of more DIY dangers. Out came the entire harness to be inspected for further hacks. Thankfully, I can now say with assurance that the inside of this car is as rust-free as the underside.



Fast-forward to yesterday. The engine bay is empty apart from the brake lines, which I'll be pulling next. The Wilwood master will sit closer to the firewall without the booster, so it will receive new nickel-copper lines for safety's sake.


I still need to tear down the accessories of the "new" 2.4L to repaint the block, replace freeze plugs, install a fresh Gates blue belt & tensioner, change the sump arrangement, etc.


So although absolutely none of this work was planned, at least I'll have a clean "body in white" to begin reassembly.

[PA ACR]

I'm not a big fan of "snowflakes" but I think they look really nice painted white on your white ACR. Hopefully, you will keep the updates coming more often. You do nice work, sir!

If you don't mind, who bought your 99 ACR. If you don't want to post it I understand, at least give us a hint, what state on the east coast did it go to......

[mike_leahcim]

Looks like the project is coming along nicely . Keep us updated!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[PA ACR]

I have been very boring and decided to repaint it PW7 Bright White. (I hate white cars and I hate gray interiors.) NYG and Flame Red were close runners-up, but the ease of repainting in the same color won out.
So although absolutely none of this work was planned, at least I'll have a clean "body in white" to begin reassembly.

In my opinion, the best decision you made so far.....a white car looks smoking hot especially when kept relatively stock....

I know they are a pita to keep clean but well worth the trade off. Painting the car a different color is very difficult, expensive, and time consuming if you want to end up with a professional job.

[bsneon98]

wow you got a massive project here. look forward to seeing what comes next!

[OneOverZero]

A substantive update! It's countless days of meticulous prep work and HVLP practice, for which I can claim zero credit.

The initial thoughts for a positive-pressure filtered chamber, used with a positive-pressure, air-sourced hazmat suit for zero fume contact...


...and reality, which was even better though sans lighting:


First pass with an Eastwood metal-safe abrasive wheel (including all the way to the underside of the rockers):






First coat of epoxy primer:


Second step, one of two 2k high-build primer coats:


The car is being block-sanded prior to application of Eastwood Bright White and corresponding clearcoat. Next are doors, fenders, hood, trunk, bumpers, and grille, all of which are prepped.

[OneOverZero]

If you don't mind, who bought your 99 ACR. If you don't want to post it I understand, at least give us a hint, what state on the east coast did it go to......

It went to a man in Connecticut who raced an ACR years ago and wanted a clean one to preserve. I knew it would be in good hands when he asked if it had the original antenna blockoff plug, radio delete panel, and window sticker. I should get in touch with him and send him this way.

[PA ACR]

If you don't mind, who bought your 99 ACR. If you don't want to post it I understand, at least give us a hint, what state on the east coast did it go to......

It went to a man in Connecticut who raced an ACR years ago and wanted a clean one to preserve. I knew it would be in good hands when he asked if it had the original antenna blockoff plug, radio delete panel, and window sticker. I should get in touch with him and send him this way.

Yes, you should........

[rrs]

Paint should turn out great


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[bsneon98]

holy crap that is a nice make shift booth! What materials did you use if I may ask?

a much better implemented idea than I had with my car lol

Doing it the right way! Your hard work will surely pay off. Rockers look to be solid still too!

[bust0023]

That is a nice booth! After blocking sanding, that car is gonna be SMOOTH. That paint job is going to look great!!

[OneOverZero]

holy crap that is a nice make shift booth! What materials did you use if I may ask?

a much better implemented idea than I had with my car lol

Doing it the right way! Your hard work will surely pay off. Rockers look to be solid still too!

The lack of rust on this car is really staggering! The photo in the first post doesn't show it too well, but there's not a single spot of surface corrosion anywhere, even in the usual locations - in the unibody pockets under the front fenders, cowl tray, door pinch welds, rocker pinch welds, etc. My friend got frustrated with the rockers because he didn't realize how far they wrap around the underside of the car. It was more prep than he bargained for, but like everything else, it was taken down to bare metal. When he started and found the rock chip coating behind the front wheels:


As for his Breaking Bad cook chamber, again, I can't take any credit for it. It's a 8x20' canopy that has been reinforced at every connnection. (We've used it at Road Atlanta for high-wind thunderstorm camping, so it's stout!) The floor is plywood covered in a tarp, and the walls are all 0.003" plastic that is completely sealed against the tarp all the way around. The rear wall has two low-micron filters to prevent overspray from exiting. Once the car is done for the day, he cuts the front wall away to push it through. He's a damn artist with metal fabrication, but the level of detail he's taken with the Alien-style isolation suit and environmental isolation is pretty fantastic too. All of this is just practice for prepping and painting his Opel GT, and I'd more excited about seeing that than my own ACR. (Also the reason that it's white - it made sense to use Eastwood materials for both cars since he's using their blue, and since Eastwood didn't offer a NYG equivalent, I defaulted to white... in hindsight, I probably should've used the same blue since it's incredibly close to Lapis.)

And while I'm thinking about it, a few more things I'm adding to the list:

• Need to figure out what my oiling setup will be. It's a Stratus block with no balance shaft, so I need to research what pan, pump, pickup, and tray would be ideal to prevent starvation on-course. The SRT4 arrangement would be... urgh, probably $1000 in total if I use an I-J windage tray. But it's less of a PITA than toasting the bearings, I suppose. Hopefully there's something I can use with a Neon pan, but it's overwhelming given the Lego-like number of assembly possibilities...
• On that note, I want to tear into the 2.4 and see that the balance shafts were pulled properly.
• Replace the freezeplugs, paint the block, install the new steel water piping, and drop in studs for the valve cover, oil pan, intake, header, etc.
• Swap the wideband O_2 and gauge from my truck into the Neon to confirm that the Ford 5.0 injectors play well with the ECU at WOT.
• Create new vapor barriers for the doors. Here's what someone once did when installing those power door lock actuators, and how the doors looked prior to paint prep:

[bsneon98]

Very cool! Im defiantly taking notes on this one

[JeremyJ]

Very cool! Im defiantly taking notes on this one

That's the spirit. Take notes, no matter what anyone says!

[OneOverZero]

Hopefully it proves helpful! The unibody itself may be ready tomorrow...

In the meantime, I've started tearing into the 2.4L to see what I have. Pulled the oil pan and blammo, what appears to be red RTV sealing the bedplate:


Ugh. I guess tomorrow is going to be a fun Sunday of pulling the bedplate, cleaning the mating surfaces, and using Plastigage on the main bearings, prior to resealing with something appropriate.

Same stuff is sealing the oil pump, so I guess I need to pull the crank sprocket to re-seal the pump as well.

[OneOverZero]

Oh hey, it worked.





If the weather cooperates (unlikely in a rainforest), I'll probably tow it home tomorrow. The dash support sure is a prime candidate for POR15.

[OneOverZero]

...aaaaand a Hemi Orange block.

[JeremyJ]

I painted mine Hemi orange as well. It's too bad so little of it shows with the manifolds on.

[OneOverZero]

I should update this thread with the tiny amount of work I've done in the meantime. Most of my concern has revolved around the 2.4L, so I have a thread going over in the Engine Performance section.

Also discovered that we can't buy new LCAs containing the Moog spherical rear LCA bearing:

Bringing this thread back from the dead, but thought I should clarify something that I've learned. The Moog Problem Solver lower control arm assemblies (CK620255 and CK620256) contain the Problem Solver ball joint but not the K200791 Problem Solver vertical bushings. I've seen the question asked before but never an answer to it. The photos of the LCA assemblies do show the standard bushing in place, but since there's not an official Moog BOM available (and the photos are sometimes interchanged with the standard/economy assemblies), I gave it a shot. No dice.

I removed the steel sleeves from my OEM LCAs for Prothane bushings, so I needed new control arms to use the K200791 anyway, but it's frustrating that I need to press out both bushings from new LCA assemblies just to install K200791s and poly front bushings. Oh well! I'd still rather use Moog parts than any of the other options.

Before putting the dash support back in, I cleaned and brushed it since I hate dealing with rusty stuff.


Not entirely certain what to do against the firewall, as the factory sound deadening is definitely getting toasted by the exhaust and I don't want the foam carpet backing to catch fire. I don't know if the factory cast manifolds with heatshields do this, but I'm guessing that the TTi mid-tube has something to do with it. The TTi heatshield does an excellent job of keeping radiant heat off the cowl, but leaves the firewall exposed - not really sure what can be done about this unless I weld bosses to the header (or bolt some through the firewall itself) and tap them for a sheetmetal shield.


Several months ago I shipped my ~96,000mi ACR steering rack to Vitor and almost instantly got this gorgeous depowered rack back. Seriously top-notch. I'm looking forward to seeing how this affects feel and turn-in.


The subframe degreased nicely, but the welds on it are pretty hilarious.


OEM Koni Yellows were of course always black, but I always liked the corporate Koni yellow. So I repainted a set of Koni Yellows in Koni yellow (well, Duplicolor School Bus). Not the best use of time, but I like the result.


So it sits until I can figure out the LCA rear bushing situation.

[PA ACR]

Looks like the beginning of a factory assembly line..........

Awesome work......waiting for updates......

[bsneon98]

Looks like the beginning of a factory assembly line..........

Awesome work......waiting for updates......

x2, this is what i hope to do to mine eventually

[JeremyJ]

For the firewall, there are several manufacturers of adhesive-backed heat shielding materials. Everything from a dull aluminum finish, to a bright gold finish is available. I think it could be beneficial to strategically place some on the firewall, around the entrance to the exhaust tunnel.

[bsneon98]

I was going to suggest any heat barrier made by Second Skin. Absolutely top notch products but not sure on your price range

http://store.secondskinaudio.com/therma ... -barriers/

[OneOverZero]

Returning from Norway, I had a box containing all the colors of 1:24 ACRs that I didn't already have! It's 1995 and I'm eight again and I need these. The yellow & black 1996 Challenge car is already on my desk, where it's been since about 1996.


A few weeks ago I started a quantitative check of the 2.4 I bought. Began by Plastigage'ing the clearances on all 12 cam bearings, and it wasn't that bad - everything was very close to 0.090mm of clearance, while the spec calls for 0.069-0.071mm new. My guess is that whomever rebuilt this engine ordered standard 2.0/2.4L-spec cams from Crower, as the journals themselves measure out within a micron of "correct", and threw them in a head & cap set that was diametrically worn 0.040mm. Not the end of the world, but still frustrating, and indicative of what I was about to find down below.





I removed the bedplate to begin the bottom end. The bedplate was indeed sealed with red RTV, not anaerobic zero-net-thickness sealant - including the portions constituting the main bearing caps. Oh, oh god please no.

Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again


Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping


And the vision that was planted in my brain still remains
Within the sound of silence


This engine was built very shoddily with no math done ahead of time, as far as I can tell. I can only assume that the combination of assembly debris, unplugged pressurized oiling circuit, and RTVed caps killed the bearings and crank. Head assembly, block, pan, pumps, etc are salvageable, so I think I'm just going to sell those to recoup some of the sunk cost, and build an SRT engine instead. Rods and pistons may be fine, but don't care enough to check - I just want it gone.

At this point I have no faith in the rebuilt 3.94/Quaife trans that came with this engine, so I'm going to drop it off at a reputable shop for a close look. I should've just done all this myself in the first place.

[OneOverZero]

Waiting on some backordered LCA bushings and steering rack bellows, so in lieu of Neon progress, a beloved friend got its overdue 554,000-mile service.


In a surprise to nobody, the story got worse once the engine was stripped into pieces. The block, bedplate, and head are with an excellent machinist, as they were literally the only salvageable components in the entire thing.

Block: although definitely remachined very recently, the bores differed in size by about 0.010" total, had considerable taper, and didn't even have a consistent bore centers. (I think in microns, hate this thou stuff.) The walls showed considerable scoring on the thrust side as the new pistons were undersized and slapping, and the #1 piston was missing a ring altogether. Likely needs to go 0.040" total over to be salvaged. Machinist is going to give that a first pass this coming week, and if that suffices, I'll order a set of pistons that he can measure to hone the block accordingly. The good news is that the main bores are perfectly concentric (probably just because they weren't touched by whomever machined it last time).

Pistons/rods: Rods may be serviceable, but one piston was missing a ring and after slapping around for a while in incorrectly-sized bores, they're done. I could have the standard 2.4L rods modified to fully-floating pistons, but it's not worth the time or expense. I'm likely going with Crower rods, ARP rod bolts, and JE 10.5:1 pistons in 0.040" if I get the go-ahead on the block.

Crank: Toast, given the deep scoring. This is probably the most difficult thing to find at this point. Finding/shipping machinable cranks is difficult, and reman shops don't offer specifics.

Cams: Scrubbed by lack of lubrication due to the oil circuit foul-up by the previous builder. Since the Crower springs and retainers are fine (along with the cam journals, surprisingly), the head has been treated to a proper valve job. I'm inclined to use Crower Stage 2 grind since it's the most applicable option without reverting to stock springs.

Valves: All sixteen were slightly bent. How in the actual...? Ordering Indy stainless valves.

Oil pump: I'll find a used PT Cruiser pump and machine/rebuild it with a Melling kit.

So after blowing god-knows-how-much on this, I'm going to have a naturally-aspirated 2.5L. I'm picking up a pair of turbo EDVs (one SRT-4, one GT Cruiser) next week, but really want to keep this car NA for the time being.

Got the RE71Rs mounted on some 15x7.5 Brota Slipstreams, though:

[bust0023]

Oof. Bad day!

554,000 on your XJ?! Still original motor and trans? AW4 or the AX15? Mine had 230k before some drove into it, rust definitely would have sidelined that Jeep before the engine ever gave out, tho the lifters were quite loud until the oil warmed up. I replaced the floors about 5 years ago, pretty fun project, but the outer rockers were rotting and the inner rockers were coated in surface rust...I just couldn't keep up!

[OneOverZero]

Oof. Bad day!

554,000 on your XJ?! Still original motor and trans? AW4 or the AX15? Mine had 230k before some drove into it, rust definitely would have sidelined that Jeep before the engine ever gave out, tho the lifters were quite loud until the oil warmed up. I replaced the floors about 5 years ago, pretty fun project, but the outer rockers were rotting and the inner rockers were coated in surface rust...I just couldn't keep up!

Yup, original! 4.0/AW4/NP231/8.25". XJs are truly brilliant pieces of engineering. In 2014 I half-heartedly sold an '01 that I'd had since new, and a family member offered me this a couple years ago. The Comanche that I restored (hiding in some photos above, high-compression 4.0 with later AX15) isn't a suitable daily driver, so it's nice to have an XJ that I can bomb around in and just maintain. I don't think there are three body panels all the same shade of grey. That said, it does probably need an oil pump - lifters are pretty loud for a few seconds in single-digit temps, so I don't think it's priming itself too effectively. Maybe just a big axial rotor clearance. But it's a 4.0. You know the sound.

I borrowed a comfortable truck to drive 14 hours and pick up these bad boys. My buddy may put one in a CJ, but I may very well keep both depending on his plans. Dunno.


Still don't know what my plan is, if anything. The lack of available 10.5:1 forged pistons in 0.040" over is a damper (and concerning as to whether or not the cylinders are stable at that overbore), though I'm going to get a quote from JE and CP for custom orders. I still need to measure the head chambers and attempt to estimate how much decking has been done on the block and head, as I'm pretty concerned that I'll build the engine, clay the clearances, and find that it needs an absurdly-thick Cometic gasket to achieve a comfortable valve clearance (and reasonable DCR). Obviously can't use an EDZ block with the SBEC crank, so neither of the "newest" engines in my garage can be a block donor. I have a nifty aluminum valve cover now if nothing else.

[bust0023]

What size cams are you planning on running? 2.4 pistons sit way down the bore, even with big cams and high comp pistons, there's still a ton of clearance. Best-practice is to clay it, but I don't think it'll be an issue for you on an NA 2.4 build.

[OneOverZero]

What size cams are you planning on running? 2.4 pistons sit way down the bore, even with big cams and high comp pistons, there's still a ton of clearance. Best-practice is to clay it, but I don't think it'll be an issue for you on an NA 2.4 build.

I ended up going with the Crower NA Stage 2, mainly because it's the "mildest" cam that's suggested to run with the Crower springs & retainers that I already have. Really, really hope that the springs aren't fatigued given the 16 slightly-tweaked valves that came out of this thing. I probably should've not trusted them. I can only assume that the engine was over-revved, but nothing showed any indication of valve-piston interference, and the S3 cams that came out of this had 0.007" more gross lift than the S2. But regardless, machinist hooked me up with some very inelastic clay to measure everything properly when the time comes!

The only engine components I'm waiting on are the +0.040" 10.5 pistons. At that point, they'll be measured and the block will be bored.

Made good progress yesterday, though! Got the Moog sphericals in the LCAs, so all the suspension went back in. The Neon is off jackstands for the first time since August.






One thing jumped out at me. Was taking a look at the scorched sound deadening and noticed light... two small cracks at the corners of the exhaust tunnel. Oops.



My guess is thermal fatigue from the header, but it's a high-stress region of the firewall anyway. Still trying to decide what to do in this region. I'm leaning towards having some robust standoffs on the firewall that will support an offset sheetmetal heatshield with some secondary shielding on it.

I've been thinking more about the transmission. Based on the engine "rebuild" that was done before I bought the pair, I'm not confident in how the Quaife was installed, so I'm considering tearing everything down and throwing it back together with new bearings, new seals, and measured lash. And knowing that the original 3.94 was in such great shape when I pulled the 2.0, it's tempting to take the Quaife out of the unknown trans and put it in the never-opened one. We'll see.

[JeremyJ]

I've heard of people preemptively stitch-welding that area before. Although, given the direction of those cracks, I'm not sure how much welding the seam would have helped. Personally, I'd add some slightly heavier plate over it and then weld it up. I'd also consider stitch-welding the seams in the engine bay if the car is ever going to see some twisty track driving.

[PA ACR]

Nice to see some positive progress.......what's all that green stuff....woke up to another 4-5 inches of pure white snow on the ground this morning......