sidepipe87: A pandemic miracle

hul kogan · Post by **hul kogan** » Wed Nov 10, 2010 8:14 pm

Locked at the behest of Sir Wyan.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 11:54 am

Back from the dead. I think it's safe to post now...

Where to start... So much has changed since I last posted in here.

R/T front bumper is long gone and the 03 front+lip is back for good. I replaced the Drag DR-9s I sold with a set of Miro M02s I had the centers powder coated gold and wrapped in Nitto Neo Gens again.

In November 2010 I sold my red '00 Plymouth and bought jerry's old '05 because I wanted to learn to drive stick. It needed some love

In December 2010 I bought an SRT-4 with a bad engine and completely raped it.

Here is what it looked like when I bought it on Saturday:

End of Sunday it looked like this:

Once the weather warmed up, this happened:

And I was left with this:

And an entire SRT drivetrain that needed to be rebuilt

2 exhaust valves had holes burned right through them

The turbo had seen better days

Found that one of the crankshaft rod journals was destroyed. this would account for the rapping my dad said the bottom end made when the customer brought it to the dealer

-------------------------

I continued tearing the engine apart in the spring of 2011 and found this:

bearing remains in the oil pan

I tore it down to the bare block and started cleaning it up. I had the block honed and washed

I cleaned all the oily gunk off the oil pan

and painted it Hemi Orange

The block got the same treatment

I power washed the junk off the transmission too and removed the worn TOB fork

I had the head cleaned up and milled along with getting the new BC stainless steel valves lapped in

New mopar oil pump, water pump, tensioner and we're in business

head is on the block mated with a Mopar head gasket

Gates racing timing belt and stock cam gears

At this point, the engine is more or less done.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 12:12 pm

I kept tinkering and in January 2012 I began ripping the silver car apart

axles out

almost ready to yank the engine and trans

The pics of the removal process are on my camera which I don't have with me. I'll add those later

it's out

My gf shooting me with a ratchet while helping me disassemble the interior

dash, pedals, carpet - all out

2.0 body harness out, and SRT harness with Kicker wiring is in

exhaust manifold/cat off

engine bay all cleaned out

That brings us up to present times. I'm working towards cleaning up some stuff and getting ready to put the engine and trans in

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 12:19 pm

Wow, that's a lot of progress! Looks good though, when do you expect to be finished with it?

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 12:30 pm

lol @ Sean who doesn't even own a neon anymore being the first to post

To be honest, I'm not sure. My only hard goal I want to make sure I meet is Carlisle.

As of right now I need to:

-clean to battery tray. k-frame, and SRT steering rack. I want to PC the K-frame and battery tray
-clean up and repaint parts of engine bay
-buy misc parts and do final assembly of engine
-install rear main seal
-ACT flywheel
-ACT clutch
-TOB fork
-axle seals
-fuel lines
-SRT tank with fuel pump
-weld o2 bung in downpipe
-wire in wideband
-swap my SKIM module and lock cylinder over to SRT dash
-hardware for MPx 3" o2 housing

ummm, then do the swap. I'm hoping for April.

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 12:50 pm

Yeah well... I get email alerts and everyone else is probably still sleeping or hungover, haha.

Sounds like you've got a lot of work to get done. WTF are you doing online?

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 1:26 pm

It's cold as balls in that garage even with a space heater and 2 halogen work lamps. I'm kind of at a stand still right now until I get those parts cleaned up/PC'd and the bay repainted. Soon!

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 1:35 pm

You have a bathroom right? Use the exhaust fan for any fumes and get to painting.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 1:38 pm

But it's too cold to get a good coat of paint down I think. It's sub 50* in the garage. I don't like painting when it's that cold.

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 1:41 pm

I meant the bathroom in your house actually.

theColonel · Post by **theColonel** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 1:52 pm

sidepipe87 wrote:My gf shooting me with a ratchet while helping me disassemble the interior

You're lucky to have a girlfriend who's willing to help

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 2:00 pm

I know I am, Lane. She's awesome

Well it's kind of hard to paint the engine bay there since the whole car won't fit

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 3:22 pm

Good point, wasn't even thinking about that. You could paint other things in there though?

Gnuserup · Post by **Gnuserup** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 3:43 pm

pretty cool - keep on

Toast · Post by **Toast** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 5:28 pm

Looks like your latest project is off to a good start. I might just use this as motivation to get me started on mine. Spring time is just around the corner! Thanks!

LowNSlow · Post by **LowNSlow** » Sun Feb 19, 2012 7:18 pm

unleashed car?

car is coming along man... it looks good.

This look is bad ass IMO.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 12:53 pm

Thanks guys.

Your comments mean a lot to me, John. I always respect your builds

Danteneon · Post by **Danteneon** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 12:55 pm

Yay clean engine bay! I'm glad to see you going forward with this

Of course, now I feel bad that I haven't done anything with mine yet

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 1:52 pm

Thanks Dante!

Still a long way to go, but it's getting there

Dropping off the k frame and trans mount/battery tray off at powder coat today! Woohoo!

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 9:27 pm

K-frame and battery tray were dropped off for blasting and PC today. Decided to just go with gloss black. He quoted me at $100. This is the same guy that powder coated my gold wheels back in April

XxWhiteNeonxX · Post by **XxWhiteNeonxX** » Mon Feb 20, 2012 10:37 pm

sidepipe87 wrote:K-frame and battery tray were dropped off for blasting and PC today. Decided to just go with gloss black. He quoted me at $100. This is the same guy that powder coated my gold wheels back in April

is that regular price or is he cutting you a deal? ive been wanting to get my k member powdercoated as well.

MyNeonSaysHi · Post by **MyNeonSaysHi** » Tue Feb 21, 2012 12:39 am

mmmmmm very nice swap awaits your beautiful silver. Your car will be very happy!

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Tue Feb 21, 2012 11:16 am

Cody - that's the Joe Blow off the street price. I'd used him before, but I doubt he remembers that. I just called and asked for a quote.

I'm using Dylan's Coatings in Plum. I've used Electro Kote in the past as well. They did my rear disk swap and did a great job but it took several weeks because they are a pretty big commercial business and were extremely busy.

Myneon - Thanks for the compliment! I'm super excited to get this thing running.

theColonel · Post by **theColonel** » Wed May 30, 2012 9:43 pm

any new pix or videos ?

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Wed May 30, 2012 11:20 pm

Here's a new pic:

Started the car last night and it still didn't sound right so I pulled the outer timing cover... Something failed miserably and now the timing jumped like 4 teeth. I have to assume the tensioner loosened up. Won't know til the weekend at the earliest when I can tear it back apart. It's been one problem after the next. A hell of a learning experience.

speed127 · Post by **speed127** » Wed May 30, 2012 11:29 pm

Awsome work man! Your silver car has always been one of my favorites!

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Thu May 31, 2012 7:37 am

Thanks bud, it means a lot to me!

i just cant wait to get it running properly so I can drive the damn thing

Haganracing · Post by **Haganracing** » Thu May 31, 2012 9:19 am

Glad to see all the awesome progress Ryan!

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Thu May 31, 2012 10:19 am

Thanks Chris. I have a bunch of pics but they are on my gf's camera. The interior is all back together but now I have to rip the car apart and re-time it then hope it runs ok. From there i need to install the second boost gauge pod and wire up the wideband, install the 300m mirrors, vac lines and top off fluids and bleed the brakes and hope for the best. I really want it done for carlisle but we'll see...

Haganracing · Post by **Haganracing** » Thu May 31, 2012 11:48 am

That's not too bad. You are a hard worker, im sure you will have it ready by Carlisle!