Intro (and how I saved an R/T)

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SittiRT
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Intro (and how I saved an R/T)

Post by SittiRT » Fri Jun 28, 2019 10:04 am

Hi all from the UK!

Decided to join this forum following a stroke of fortune recently. My godfather was the second owner of a 2002 R/T in black, that unfortunately wasn't seeing a lot of use in recent times. During its hibernation, problems became apparent with the Neon that deemed it uneconomical to repair, and he started making plans to have it scrapped.

My dad caught wind of this, and after some discussions, my godfather offered me the car - for nothing! In a sort of 'either you can have it or its crushed into a cube anyway' sort of deal. Needless to say, after mulling this over I thought, why not!

So we turn up next week to take the car home. It's looking a little sorry for itself, having sat under a tree all this time it's got a nice thick layer of dirt caked onto it, and it's a little mouldy in places. I was already warming to it - I'd never really looked into these cars much before now! So we jump start it and drive it home with no issues.

It is now locked up in a compound I rent space in, and my plan is to slowly work through it and restore it to a nice condition with all the issues sorted. The job list is:

Change all belts and tensioners
Full service
Diagnose coolant leak from front of the engine
(done) Fix powerfold mirror
Diagnose severe water leak into boot (or "trunk")
(done) Fix foglight stuck on, rebuild multi switch
Fix A/C
Fit correct tyres (currently on 195/55/16)
Locate break in antenna connection to radio
Investigate CEL with no codes stored
Leak around steering box
General deep clean and polish

It's the best kind of project, because I have my other daily driver there is no rush for any of these jobs, meaning I can enjoy it more! Looking forward to getting stuck in and meeting some new faces along the way.
'02 Chrysler Neon R/T
'02 Chrysler Neon R/T (spares car)
'79 Austin Allegro

occasional demons
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Re: Intro (and how I saved an R/T)

Post by occasional demons » Fri Jun 28, 2019 12:50 pm

Welcome!

Not too many UK members active here anymore, but then there isn't near the traffic that we used to have.
Bill
Olha Koba, a psychologist in Kyiv, said that “anger and hate in this situation is a normal reaction and important to validate.” But it is important to channel it into something useful, she said, such as making incendiary bombs out of empty bottles.
2000 Neon MTX swap with '02 R/T PCM
1999 neon coupe 2.4 swap
2021 Forester

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JeremyJ
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Re: Intro (and how I saved an R/T)

Post by JeremyJ » Fri Jun 28, 2019 1:40 pm

The water in the trunk is most likely coming from the tail light gaskets. You can find replacements on eBay.

Welcome.
02 base -> 05 SRT ACR -> 96 sedan -> 99 R/T coupe -> 02 R/T -> 03 SRT

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Midnight_Rider
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Re: Intro (and how I saved an R/T)

Post by Midnight_Rider » Sat Jun 29, 2019 1:53 am

I was going to post the same thing about the tail gaskets. Boot leak issues are common for our cars. I have always wanted powerfold mirrors so I hope that you can repair yours. Do your headlamp leveling motors work?

Please start a Progress Log and post photos when you update. Welcome to 2gn! Cheers!
Official "I'm Going To Drive My Neon 'til It Dies" Club #10

SittiRT
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Re: Intro (and how I saved an R/T)

Post by SittiRT » Sat Jun 29, 2019 6:19 am

Thanks for the welcome. Neon's are very rare here, there are about 70 R/Ts left here according to registration data.

So far I have rebuilt the Multi Function switch and repaired the wear to the fog-light lever, which has now sorted that issue (though the next step is to add relays to the Headlight/Fog wiring to take load off of the MFS connector). The power fold mirror I just replaced with a spare (£3 local to me on eBay!) so that is now operational. Most of the other electrics work, including the power levelling headlamps.

Thanks for the advice, I'll have to look from inside the boot and have someone run a hose over the boot to see where it is coming from and keep an eye out for water from the tail lights.

I would certainly want to start a progress log, in terms of uploading photos is there a particular hosting site people typically use here?
'02 Chrysler Neon R/T
'02 Chrysler Neon R/T (spares car)
'79 Austin Allegro

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JeremyJ
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Re: Intro (and how I saved an R/T)

Post by JeremyJ » Mon Jul 01, 2019 11:43 am

I use Imgur, but there are others.
02 base -> 05 SRT ACR -> 96 sedan -> 99 R/T coupe -> 02 R/T -> 03 SRT

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SittiRT
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Re: Intro (and how I saved an R/T)

Post by SittiRT » Sat Jul 06, 2019 5:40 am

Photos of when we first got her home.

Image
Image
Image

Trust me, photos make it look a LOT better than in person...

Will be starting a project thread soon to document my journey with getting this fixed up.
'02 Chrysler Neon R/T
'02 Chrysler Neon R/T (spares car)
'79 Austin Allegro

Midnight_Rider
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Re: Intro (and how I saved an R/T)

Post by Midnight_Rider » Sat Jul 06, 2019 7:19 am

Sure wish that ours had the repeater turn signals and the rear fogs. Export models got all of the goodies.
Official "I'm Going To Drive My Neon 'til It Dies" Club #10

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Diablo0
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Re: Intro (and how I saved an R/T)

Post by Diablo0 » Sat Jul 06, 2019 4:34 pm

Love it!

Though I am curious about a few things I don't think I was aware of on export neons. Or maybe you can clarify if some items have been replaced...

2002 R/Ts in the US, only the R/T was applied on front doors. It was only in 2001 where they included the make of the R/T as well. For instance "Dodge R/T" instead of just "R/T". I notice you indicate it's an '02, so was this different on the exports? Or was the car repaired or modified?

The hammerhead spoiler. I see the "2.0 High Output/Magnum" badge on the trunk, or what looks like the remnants of it. Did someone swap over the spoiler or change the trunk out?
-Jason
Black '02 Neon R/T | White '02 Neon R/T - SRT-4 Engine Swap
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Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value. - Albert Einstein

SittiRT
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Re: Intro (and how I saved an R/T)

Post by SittiRT » Sat Jul 06, 2019 6:17 pm

Diablo0 wrote:
Sat Jul 06, 2019 4:34 pm
Love it!

Though I am curious about a few things I don't think I was aware of on export neons. Or maybe you can clarify if some items have been replaced...

2002 R/Ts in the US, only the R/T was applied on front doors. It was only in 2001 where they included the make of the R/T as well. For instance "Dodge R/T" instead of just "R/T". I notice you indicate it's an '02, so was this different on the exports? Or was the car repaired or modified?

The hammerhead spoiler. I see the "2.0 High Output/Magnum" badge on the trunk, or what looks like the remnants of it. Did someone swap over the spoiler or change the trunk out?
Thanks! And so, I think I may have the answer.

On the logbook it is registered as a 2002. However out of curiosity I went online to do a search on the VIN number to get some more detailed info. Turns out the manufacture date is 2001, about 8 months before the registration date on its UK papers! So for all intents and purposes this may well be a 2001 Neon, but legally speaking it is a 2002 in the UK. Guess it makes sense that these potentially took a long time to make it to these shores after being built in the US.

I'm not sure about the badging on the doors really... I would usually like it but the silver finish has come off the Chrysler lettering, and a replacement is £60 per side. So I'm thinking I'd rather just take it off than have it look tatty. They seem like they're rubberised so I don't even know how you'd go about painting and reattaching them!
'02 Chrysler Neon R/T
'02 Chrysler Neon R/T (spares car)
'79 Austin Allegro

occasional demons
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Re: Intro (and how I saved an R/T)

Post by occasional demons » Mon Jul 08, 2019 12:57 pm

It's my understanding that all export 2000 to 2005 neons had the same front fascia, etc from start to finish. No face lift in 2003. I'm not sure if they changed up the rear spoiler, or tails or just kept the same fascia and export tail lights. I imagine they stayed the same to reduce costs. Because the 2003 to 2005 rear fascia would have mandated new export tails with the yellow turns.


Of course they could have done what I did, and use the reverse lights as both turn signals and reverse lights. When I went with the 2003 rear bumper on my '01, I just used yellow bulbs in the reverse sockets, and LED's for the reverse. But whether that would meet the requirements is another matter.

I just wish they had left the side repeater outline off of the export fascia. But most likely, they just cut out the hole for the domestic R/T's from the same mold.
Bill
Olha Koba, a psychologist in Kyiv, said that “anger and hate in this situation is a normal reaction and important to validate.” But it is important to channel it into something useful, she said, such as making incendiary bombs out of empty bottles.
2000 Neon MTX swap with '02 R/T PCM
1999 neon coupe 2.4 swap
2021 Forester

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