sidepipe87: A few overdue updates

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 10:10 pm

NOTABLE/IMPORTANT/USELESS UPDATES

2008
lip kit + Thermal R&D
Mopar 3D tails
Cuda stripes/smoked corners/SRT door sills
Door moldings removed
SRT-4 spoiler
Mopar Performance 2gn lowering springs
Injector cover/trunk carpet
Alpine iDA-X100/Infinity Kappa
Cupholder LEDs
2009
Painted grille chrome pieces
Nitto Neo Gen
Drag DR9s
Debadged/Wheels on
Silver AEM/Black housing lights
Tokico HP "blues"
Lowered: Mopar/Tokico
Suede door inserts
Painted mirrors/S style eyelids
H&R Springs
Begin molded AVS project
Oznium blue trunk LED strip
Hemi Orange VC/chrome fuel rail
PC'd 1gn rear disk brake swap
Molded AVS: filler begins
1gn rear disk conversion
SRT-4 Viper seats
SRT-4 rear bumper
Wingless trunk lid
2000 Neon purchase
2010
Molded AVS: filler sanding
DC strut bars/Mopar battery
SRT-4 hood/front bumper
New radiator/LCA bushings
Hotchkis sways/redded tails
Molded AVS: final prep
Painted calipers/polished torque strut
Smoothed Hemi Orange injector cover
TriNet slotted rotors
Megan coilovers/Carlisle 2010
Painted molded AVS lid/SRT-4 hood
Hacked DynoMax/Moroso muffler setup
Magnaflow tips
Cuda stripes removed
VHT Hi-Temp exhaust paint/rubberized undercoating

___________________________________________________________

I had been searching several months for a Neon that I liked for a good price, and finally found it on Friday the 13th of June 2008

It's Bright Silver '03 sxt with 39k miles for $7500 so I'm happy. It was a one owner car, and clearly well taken care of. I just sold my old Spirit for $1750 Tuesday so I'm happy about that too. Here's a little glimpse of what I have in store for the car.

My girls together when I brought the Neon home.

A side shot the day I brought my new car home

I decided yesterday I would put my sideskirts on since they came in this week. Last silver set around that I know of.

Here's what I think of the car now

I thought I'd take some pics of how I went about cutting the mud shields. I did it this way because I wanted to retain them, so I just trimmed them to fit under the skirt. This was the most time consuming part. Trying to cut these with a dull hacksaw until I went and got my Dremel, and finished the job the right way.

Another

I went ahead measured the spacing for the plastic hooks, marked the locations with a sharpie, and attached them to the car with duct tape so they wouldn't move while I screwed them on.

skirt on. Looks good! (There's a wheel chock behind the other rear wheel btw)

And another! (Don't mind it hanging. Back's not screwed on at this point because I had to take the rear wheel off.)

Here's what I think of my car now!!

For anyone wondering If they can do this themselves or not, go for it! It's simple, but can be time consuming. All in all, it took me about 5 hrs to do this, keep in mind that's because I was taking my time to make sure I did it to my liking, I started cutting with a dull hacksaw, and thoroughly cleaned all my wheels back and front as I had them off the car.

I should get a finished pic of how my skirt goes over the front fender liner. Being that there was a tab on the fender bent and drilled ,(like the one that has a clip to screw the liner on, but without the clip) I decided that instead of just screwing the skirt to the liner like they said to, I drilled through the liner since the hole on the skirt lined up with the tab on the fender, and then secured the second hole with a christmas tree fastner instead. It's not going anywhere. It's also a good idea to buy a pack of them to replace the ones you will destroy by removing them. They're cheap, just replace them.

I'm waiting til I get my Thermal R&D and I need to have my dad order me the coupler pipe so It will fit my exhaust to put my front and rear lips on.

That's all for now, Thanks for looking!

-Ryan

yellowpatrol · Post by **yellowpatrol** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 11:04 pm

Ah good idea with the duct tape. I gave up on trying to hold the strips and just threw them away.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 11:19 pm

haha, I actually liked the concept of them, and after I got up the balls to drill through my rockers I screwed them on. Worked like a charm!

King Crab · Post by **King Crab** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 12:43 am

Great job on the skirts. They really make a huge difference on our Neons.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 12:44 am

Thanks man! Yeah, no kidding! I think it looks soooo much better with just those on there.

Fuzzyneon · Post by **Fuzzyneon** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 2:17 am

sidepipe87 wrote:Thanks man! Yeah, no kidding! I think it looks soooo much better with just those on there.

I just did my lipkit the whole thing took me 8 hours front and rear lip are a cake walk compared to the side looks great though man

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 12:49 pm

Cool, thanks for the heads up! I'll be throwing those on here soon.

Passt · Post by **Passt** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 1:21 am

I liked your writeup ^^. It made me laugh with the thumb pictures! Looks good.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 3:13 pm

haha thanks man. Are you from the burgh?? Looks like the squirrel hill tunnels??

NiteHawk · Post by **NiteHawk** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 10:36 pm

wow, yeah it does, i never noticed that before.....

jetas · Post by **jetas** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 10:57 pm

Lookin good. Ive also been thinkin about Redoing my car flat black. So u know what my vote is

vntned · Post by **vntned** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 10:09 am

Satin Black FTW!

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 11:23 am

Yeah, I'm gonna do it. Thanks guys. What kind of paint do you think I should use that will stand up well on the bumper without a clear coat??

vntned - are you on turbododge??

Passt · Post by **Passt** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 12:09 pm

sidepipe87 wrote:haha thanks man. Are you from the burgh?? Looks like the squirrel hill tunnels??

Nah it's the harbor tunnel in Baltimore.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 12:14 pm

ha! damn. looks just like a tunnel we got here. weird!

INVUJerry · Post by **INVUJerry** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 4:58 pm

Looks good! Keep it silver though!

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 9:04 pm

Hey, thanks. I think there's some confusion. I'm looking to paint the indentation on the rear lip kit satin black... not the car lol

vntned · Post by **vntned** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 12:34 pm

Yep, Im a proud TD.com member. Ive been on there for almost 7 years now!

I saw your Spirit there for sale and actually thought about maybe getting it. I just spent all my money on an Omni I bought from DanteNeon though.

Definately do the indentation Satin! I did it on mine and it looks sexy!

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Thu Jul 03, 2008 12:51 pm

Haha, yeah, I thought I recognized you from over there. I ended up selling for $1750 two weeks ago so I can't complain. I posted it there for $1500 and no bites. Oh well, good ol' Craigslist came through for me once all the retards quit calling / emailing me haha.

yeah, satin black it will be. Just wish I could find some SEM satin black spray bombs here, but I don't think they sell it in stores.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 1:41 am

Well, folks as stated earlier, I bought a Thermal R&D dual exhaust from lethalp1mp on here, and it's gorgeous. As anyone from Pittsburgh knows, it didn't rain today, so that was a huge deal! It's been raining here for like the past month straight so I decided today was the day to put the Thermal and the rest on my lip kit on. I headed over to my brother's house so that I could do it in his garage and have a flat surface to work on.

Here's a pic of the Thermal

Back bumper is off! it's a beotch trying to loosen those nuts with an extension on a ratchet! I was wishing I was at home so I could use my dad's air ratchet.

stock muffler off, Thermal on!

I got carried away doing things and didn't get too many in progress pics, I also was helping my bro fix his garage door springs, so I was busy.
I had to prep the rear bumper/lip and sand/prime/paint the indent, so in the mean time, I took the front end off.

Lip mounted, getting ready to peel back the double sided tape. Bro's '04 Ram in the background.

Front mounted back on the car!

Next to my brother's other ride, an '05 5 speed sxt

At the time I got the rear back on it was late, I was dirty, worn out, hungry, etc... didn't get any pics. so imagine it lol.

I stopped by an empty parking lot on my way home to get a few pics, doesn't show the satin black very well but it's there. I'll get some in the daylight.

btw, I LOVE the Thermal! It sounds awesome! It doesn't sound ricy, it doesn't drone, it sounds perfect. I love my car even more now!

Special thanks goes out to my brother Mark for letting me use his garage all day/night, and subsequently letting me use all his tools.

I ordered a silver billet chode antenna to replace that big one that looks out of place. I just bought an AEM cai from Silversport, so that will be going on at some point. I ordered cudas yesterday... we'll see if they ever show up.

Thanks for looking, I'll keep ya posted on the changes to come.

-Ryan

Fuzzyneon · Post by **Fuzzyneon** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 3:04 am

told you front and rear lip where cake walk lol

vntned · Post by **vntned** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 9:05 am

Looks sweet! Was I right about the satin black or what!

Congrats on the Thermal. I want one for my R/T but just cant see $320 for a muffler!

I have an AEM on my R/T and I like the sound. You cant really tell its there until you really open it up. Then all you get is that throaty intake sound!

Give that thing a shave next! Lose the side moldings and rear badges quick. Its the best free upgrade you can do.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 9:22 am

fuzzyneon- it took me all evening to do that, mainly because of trying to remove those nuts by hand, and having no room to work, other than that, it's simple haha.

vntned- yeah, i love the satin black! I just hope it cures quickly as I already got some minor scratches in it putting it back on the car prematurely. I paid $180 for the Thermal used, but I hear ya on the price. It was cheaper than a new R/T muffler, so I had to go with it. I can't wait for the intake! I'd love to shave the car, but I'm not taking the door ding moldings off because too many people got bubbling paint doing that on an older ride, and I don't want to have that. I don't think it looks awful with it, but it certainly cleans up the look and makes the car look taller.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sun Jul 06, 2008 2:47 pm

Well folks, as promised, I took few pics this afternoon in the daylight so that you can see the satin black and the kit better. enjoy!

For the satin black, I sanded the area down with 800 grit wet or dry sandpaper, masked it off with blue painters tape, then shot a coat of Dupli Color sandable gray primer, follwed by Dupli Color Trim Black. It turned out pretty good!

Thanks for looking!

-Ryan

yellowpatrol · Post by **yellowpatrol** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 1:08 am

Wow looking good. You should get coils and get rid of the side moldings

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 1:04 pm

Well I'm almost scraping on my driveway as it is with the lip kit. I can only pull on one side because the other side was too steep before. and already scraped lol. I would take the side moldings off but I'm afraid the paint will be bubbled underneath being that the car is 5 years old.

I have a set of SRT-4 wheels for it, but one needs to be replaced because the curb rash is really bad. Also, I'm not too fond of only being able to run a 45 series tire on these wheels with the current struts.

yellowpatrol · Post by **yellowpatrol** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 1:06 pm

sidepipe87 wrote:Well I'm almost scraping on my driveway as it is with the lip kit. I can only pull on one side because the other side was too steep before. and already scraped lol. I would take the side moldings off but I'm afraid the paint will be bubbled underneath being that the car is 5 years old.

I have a set of SRT-4 wheels for it, but one needs to be replaced because the curb rash is really bad. Also, I'm not too fond of only being able to run a 45 series tire on these wheels with the current struts.

You're scraping and your car is this high?

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 1:09 pm

lol My driveway is quite sloped, and the curb is higher than the driveway so it bottoms out on that. With that lip being where it is, ~5" off the ground, yes it will scrape.

Also, remember I live in Pittsburgh. Pot Hole city!!

yellowpatrol · Post by **yellowpatrol** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 1:12 pm

sidepipe87 wrote:fvck you! lol My driveway is quite sloped, and the curb is higher than the driveway so it bottoms out on that. With that lip being where it is, ~5" off the ground, yes it will scrape.

Also, remember I live in Pittsburgh. Pot Hole city!!

lol you don't need to tell me about pot holes! I'm from KC!
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/10326

Number 2 lol.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Mon Jul 07, 2008 1:45 pm

lol, yeah it sucks doesn't it?? ohh well....

2GN.ORG

sidepipe87: A few overdue updates

sidepipe87: A few overdue updates

Thermal and Lip Kit on!