2003 SRT

[JeremyJ]

As of January 2020, there will be no emissions testing in Washington, so the catless option won't be an issue. I was thinking the same thing; whichever is cheaper. With the Thermal downpipe being $220, I'm betting the cheaper option is having the current setup modified. After Christmas, I'll call around and get some quotes. I was also eyeing a 3" O2 housing, but the install on that makes me think it's not worth the trouble for the extra ten horses it's supposedly good for.

[MyNeonSaysHi]

I had a shop put a 3'' o2 housing when I was stock turbo on my silver SRT-4. It was a huge PITA for him. The lower heatshield was the hardest part he said and what I have read. He modified it to re-use it. A lot of guys just cut it off and don't even run it. I didn't run it when I went Stage 3 with no problems. But I think the extra heat gummed up the oil cooler lines faster over time and might affect the shifter cables. Is it worth doing? I honestly don't think so. You will gain a bit of power up top but that is about it. If I was in your shoes I wouldn't worry about it unless you have an exhaust leak there or something now.

[occasional demons]

You will gain a bit of power up top but that is about it.

Probably where those "ten horsepower" are gained, at or near the rev limit. If it was 10 ft lbs of torque from say 1800 to 4500 rpm, it would actually be noticeable, and maybe even improve efficiency.


Protecting the shift cables was one of my primary objectives when I fabbed the heat shield for the header on my '99. The other was the field wiring and connector for the "Turbo" alternator, as it is right there, unlike the non turbo alternator.

One of the shift cables was already a little blistered from the PO hacking the exhaust, so I figured it had seen enough abuse.

[AdioSS]

I read your previous build thread last night & this one tonight. In a way this thread makes me glad that I’m not starting with a turbo car.

[JeremyJ]

There is certainly more to go wrong with a turbo car. There are many days I miss the simplicity of my old R/T. Then I drive the car, hit the gas, and forget all about the NA Neon. Boost is really addictive.

[occasional demons]

The SRT in bone stock form, is very reliable. They still had a warranty period to survive through, just like the rest of the cars.

Like anything else, when you begin to push it, there are going to be issues that need to be addressed, or you will get bit.

You just have to be a little more smarter when dealing with forced induction, because it can be much less forgiving than N/A if you mess up. And sometimes shit just happens, even if you did it right, but that goes for anything. But with boost, it can happen in spectacular fashion.

[AdioSS]

I do enjoy going fast. That’s why I bought a blower to put in my truck. Kinda funny how my daily driver is a 6.2L V8 powered crew cab long bed 4WD that I want to lower, but my “racecar” is a 2.0L compact car that I want to lift.

[occasional demons]

You ain't right.



















You'll fit in just fine.

[AdioSS]

[JeremyJ]

I had a few hundred bucks to spend on the car, but then this virus thing happened and I've been without pay for weeks. Kiss the spending money goodbye. In my boredom, I've decided to paint the RPF1s. No more Plasti Dip. I'm trying to decide between the grey that I had painted my Silverstones on the R/T, or glossy black. I'm leaning toward grey, so it looks different than the thousands of other cars out there with black RPF1s. Here are a couple of Photoshops that I threw together.





It's hard to argue with black on black, but it's just been done so many times. I even know a local guy with a black on black SRT. If go black, I might try out those tire markers and paint the letters red or white or something. Just to break up all the black. I'm still leaning toward grey.

[JeremyJ]

For reference, here's the actual grey:

[occasional demons]

I would lean towards the grey on the Silverstones also. That's a lot of black. Looks too murdered out IMHO.

Not that you would get it with paint, but a black chrome, or dark grey/gunmetal chrome would look pretty decent too. But that would certainly be way out of the current pay grade.

I assume you are not getting unemployment because you were not laid off, just not showing up for health concerns.

It is a crappy position that a lot of employers are taking. They won't fire you, or lay you off so you can collect, but since they don't, you cannot get unemployment.

Does this also affect your health insurance?

Health insurance is the primary reason I an still working, as we would be screwed having to pay for my wife's meds out of pocket. Otherwise, I would probably tell them to piss off.

[JeremyJ]

The RPF1s actually come in a color called SBC that has a black chrome look to it. Sadly, they don't make them in this bolt pattern. Otherwise I would already have them. I am definitely leaning toward grey, just to have something less ordinary.

I am staying home unpaid, voluntarily. It is kind of rough. We're living off of our tax return at the moment. My company refuses to let anyone work from home, despite the fact that I'm basically set up to do so (I'm using my work laptop from home at this very moment). There have been a few people at the company who have had direct contact with the virus and they've been sent home, but they are insisting that the rest of us still come in, despite the potential exposure. It's a bunch of bullshit. As for health insurance, I'm going to have to pay out of pocket to maintain it. That also sucks.

[occasional demons]

My company refuses to let anyone work from home, despite the fact that I'm basically set up to do so (I'm using my work laptop from home at this very moment).

Sounds like your typical micro managing dolts, that think they need to control every aspect of your work life, and would try to manage your time at home too, if they could get away with it. We have a few of those where I work also. All the senior management and most of the office people are working from home, telling us that if we want a paycheck/insurance, we need to be here. Otherwise we stay home, without pay, etc.

We literally are not shipping a thing out the door, but they keep bringing in temp help, and are stockpiling stuff, out of fear that they may not be able to get materials or labor in the future. So basically if we all croak, they can come back after it clears, and ship stuff as needed. Not that many of them have a clue.

Your typical corporate greed.

Our two sister companies (not in the US) are open, running with a skeleton crew. But we are running full steam ahead into the unknown.

[MyNeonSaysHi]

black chrome, or dark grey/gunmetal chrome

This would look killer on your black car. The grey you posted would look very nice too on your R/T. Sorry you are out of work. Hopefully this Chinese Bat Flu subsides. 3 people at my job tested + for it. Lots of people on quarantine but business as usual. UPS is VERY important during this time. I never seen so much toilet paper and soap/cleaning products in my life!

[JeremyJ]

Well, things are starting to happen again. First, I finally got what I needed to do the all-red® treatment on the tail lights. My favorite visual mod for the '03+ tails.



That's going to happen as soon as I get a few days without rain. Most likely next week. It's been raining a lot here recently, which is not that common for June. I decided to hold off on painting the wheels until summer finally shows up here. I need some decent heat and sunshine to let them cure properly. There's also some small bits of Plastidip left in the crevices that I'm not particularly excited to remove. It's going to take a bit of work for the paint to turn out decent.

I also have a minor horsepower adder that should be arriving today. I'll hopefully have the time to install it and post more pictures later.

[occasional demons]

I thought the Night-Shades were the minor HP adder.

[JeremyJ]

Only on the headlights. I can't handle that kind of power.

[JeremyJ]

Well, in went the new performance part.



I've wanted to ditch the stock airbox for a while. I was originally going to get the AEM cold air intake, but decided I'd just stick with a short ram for the ease of installation and lower price. Also, I think the intercooler does more to cool the air than the intake does in a turbo car. The Injen is dyno proven for ten horsepower across the powerband, so that's good enough for me. Installation went alright. I think it could have fit a little better, but it was a thousand times better than the eBay intake I put on the R/T. It's in there pretty tight now.

After taking it for a spin, I can say this thing is LOUD. Really loud. Anywhere near boost and you can hear all kinds of crazy vacuum cleaner sounds. The stock surge valve sounds like a blue plate now. It's crazy loud. I'm really shocked by all the additional noise. I'm going to have to get used to it.

[JeremyJ]

Also notice how faded and gnarly my radiator looks. If it cracks on me, I'm going to throw in a Mishimoto.

[MyNeonSaysHi]

Nice, I had an Injen on my old SRT-4. Was the best fitting intake for the SRT-4. I loved how the filter sits right over the fender hole too. Its rare, but Injen actually made a heatshield for it too. It went between the filter and the ambient temp sensor. They really do make a turbo car noisy haha. I am curious how your tail lights come out. You plan on sanding them? I kind of wish sometimes I wet sanded mine down, probably would of gave it some OEM gloss. Mine are a little dull but I like how it meshes with the 3rd brake light color which is a dull red.
That radiator looks like it might crack at some point looking at the coloration of the plastic.

[JeremyJ]

I've never had to sand the tails for the tint, although that's probably a more professional way to do it. As long as it's nice and warm out and the last coat or two go on really thick, it tends to look pretty shiny for me.

I'm sure the radiator is on its last leg. It looks terrible.

[JeremyJ]

The weather's been very summer-like this week, so I got my tails tinted. I did three coats and I think they turned out pretty well. Nice and shiny.







Don't mind the mess in front of the garage; we're building a fence.

Now all the back end needs is a PVO.

[occasional demons]

Your license plate needs the L and the P swapped.

Black "PL"

[JeremyJ]

Whelp, P0522 and an oil light on the dash. This is either a sensor issue (pretty common) or the engine is about to blow. Thoughts and prayers.

This issue popped up again. I'm going to order a new sensor soon. I hope the install isn't as bad as it looks.

[MyNeonSaysHi]

Wow those tails came out perfect! Wish mine were glossy like that! I didn't want to do thick coats thinking it would of been runny. No clear or sanding?

[JeremyJ]

Thanks. No clear or sanding. Just thick coats in warm weather.

[JeremyJ]

Ever since installing the coilovers a while back, the car has had a bit of a rake to it. I don't mind a rake, but the rear was just a little too high for me. I decided to drop the rear a full inch to level things out a bit and I took some pictures. I think it looks a bit better. I think it could go down probably another inch, but I'm worried about rubbing at that point, so I'll probably leave it as it sits.





I pulled into this dead end near the house to snap some poser shots, but the location kind of sucked and the sun was in a bad position. There was also this oil stain on the road that makes the car look like it's leaking fluid. I think the driveway pics above actually turned out better.

[MyNeonSaysHi]

Looks sooo good! I have been thinking about lowering the rear of mine a bit too once I get the new cartridge in there. I was just afraid of it rubbing in the rear. Originally went to a body shop a LONG time ago when I was getting the infamous dog leg rust on my silver Neon SRT. Body shop guy was saying it was due to my car being low and the rear tire rubbing the clear/paint away of that area. Exposing it.

[JeremyJ]

Yeah, I still have another inch or so before it starts rubbing. It should be fine.

This past weekend, I addressed something minor that had been bugging me. The original owner swapped the dash bulbs for white LEDs. This made everything light up a pale blue. It's not my favorite, but it does make it look like the newer Dodge dashes, so whatever. The odometer was still lighting up green, which didn't match anything and it drove me nuts because OCD. I remedied that with some clear red light filter material from a company that makes lighting gels for theaters.

Here's the original green ODO:



First, I pulled the cluster, then removed the clear cover.





Then I cut a piece of the gel in the correct size and shape. I slid it under the face of the gauge that goes over the ODO window and used a small piece of tape to secure it.





Then voila, we have a red odometer screen. It's a bit darker than I had hoped, but it works well with the blue and red gauges. No more green.