Midnight_Rider's progress log

Do you have a project going or will you be starting a project here very soon and just want to keep a log of everything you and when? Share with everyone every step of the way what sort of progress you are making on your project.
FAC3L3SS
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Post by FAC3L3SS » Thu Aug 28, 2014 8:06 am

Wow. Such busy. Many call.
el. oh. el.

Midnight_Rider
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Post by Midnight_Rider » Sun Aug 31, 2014 12:55 am

Water has leaked through the driver's side of my car's trunklid around the wing since the car was new. While under the extended warranty, the second time the dealership tried to fix this, they tightened the nuts on the wing's screws so much that the washers/gaskets have now broken off. Of course, this makes the leaking worse and has caused the screws to rust. The dealership also glued the spoiler to my trunklid after removing it during that visit (supposedly under orders from Chrysler) so fixing this will be tricky.

The SRT-4 rear spoiler has been discontinued by Mopar but a dealership can get one through the Vintage Parts warehouse... for $800. I found a new one on eBay for much less. Now I'll have a new mounting kit and pristine screws on the wing. That leaves saving up the money to have it painted (it comes primered from the factory).
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Post by Hudson_Neon » Sun Aug 31, 2014 12:32 pm

that's quite the task to tackle gramps

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Post by Midnight_Rider » Sun Aug 31, 2014 3:10 pm

^^Yes, I've pretty much tapped out my finances for the rest of the year, considering all of the parts I've bought recently. The wing will have to be painted and installed next year some time. I just hope that a body shop won't have too much trouble removing the OEM wing considering the glue and all. My thinking now was to snatch up a new one before they were all gone.
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Post by Neon4Life » Sun Aug 31, 2014 6:30 pm

i know you like to have parts perfect but $800 for a srt wing is outrageous.. i wouldnt pay more than $150 for one gramps. just saying. but then again that $150 price tag is finding one used.
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Post by Midnight_Rider » Sun Aug 31, 2014 9:25 pm

Neon4Life wrote:i know you like to have parts perfect but $800 for a srt wing is outrageous.. i wouldnt pay more than $150 for one gramps. just saying. but then again that $150 price tag is finding one used.
Midnight_Rider wrote:I found a new one on eBay for much less.
Last edited by Midnight_Rider on Wed Sep 10, 2014 12:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by FAC3L3SS » Mon Sep 01, 2014 10:05 am

Even $150 is much. There are black ones for sale ALL the time. Local CL always has a handful for $50 each. A little buffing and it's crispy black again.
el. oh. el.

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Post by Midnight_Rider » Mon Sep 01, 2014 11:19 am

FAC3L3SS wrote:Even $150 is much.
Not for a new one, especially since I didn't pay the $800 my dealership quoted.
FAC3L3SS wrote:There are black ones for sale ALL the time. Local CL always has a handful for $50 each. A little buffing and it's crispy black again.
I had thought about that but I wanted a new one.
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Post by Midnight_Rider » Tue Sep 16, 2014 12:37 pm

Spoiler finally arrived- took 10 business days to ship (eBay ad promised within 4 days). FWD Performance had my funds for 10 calendar days before shipping and then sent UPS, contrary to ad (ad stated USPS so I had given them my post office box). Of course, UPS doesn't ship to post office boxes so I had to contact the seller to change the shipping address.

Has anyone else had experience with FWD Performance?
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Post by sidepipe87 » Tue Sep 16, 2014 1:35 pm

Not sure how popular they are with the SRT-4 crowd, but FWD Performance is a HUGE name in older turbo dodges and most who know Cindy (the woman down there) vouch that she is good to deal with. That said... I've never used them.

https://www.fwdperformance.com/Store/
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Post by FAC3L3SS » Tue Sep 16, 2014 8:47 pm

Lol @ another eBay issue.
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Post by MyNeonSaysHi » Wed Sep 17, 2014 12:36 am

Midnight_Rider wrote:Spoiler finally arrived- took 10 business days to ship (eBay ad promised within 4 days). FWD Performance had my funds for 10 calendar days before shipping and then sent UPS, contrary to ad (ad stated USPS so I had given them my post office box). Of course, UPS doesn't ship to post office boxes so I had to contact the seller to change the shipping address.

Has anyone else had experience with FWD Performance?
Sounds like it would of gotten to you earlier if you had the correct address. I bought a grounding kit from them a couple years ago. I got it quickly. They are good people. So is Forward Motion. Always get the two confused.

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Post by Midnight_Rider » Wed Sep 17, 2014 3:01 am

MyNeonSaysHi wrote:Sounds like it would of gotten to you earlier if you had the correct address.
I had given them the correct address if they had shipped via USPS as their eBay ad stated. Instead, they shipped UPS without telling me. Considering the volume that they ship/receive, they should know that UPS won't deliver to a post office box and they should have contacted me immediately to get a street address so as to not delay shipment.

From their eBay listing:

"Expedited Shipping (USPS Priority Mail Medium Flat Rate Box®)

Estimated within 2-5 business days

Will usually ship within 1 business day of receiving cleared payment

Order placed on
Saturday, Aug. 30, 2014

Payment method
PayPal

Payment date
Saturday, Aug. 30, 2014"

Sep-06-14 09:58 PM from seller (after I had messaged them two times):
"Shipping on Monday. We were in the process of moving last week so I didn't have time to get it packed up. I will update shipping info Monday night"

Sep-09-14 20:46:28 PDT from me:
"After your response to my question, I was hoping to find the shipping information Monday night but there was no change. It is now Tuesday and still no shipping information. I really want the item- when are you going to ship it?"

Sep-10-14 11:17 AM from seller:
"I'll be updating your shipping info here later today when I get home!"

Sep-12-14 05:56 AM from seller (after I contacted them about the address update for UPS):
"delivery change of address was initiated. You should be getting the package on Monday or Tuesday at the new location."

UPS tracking information:

DELIVERED

Sep-15-14, 08:32 AM, INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46268

AS REQUESTED BY THE SENDER, THE DELIVERY CHANGE FOR THIS PACKAGE WAS COMPLETED. / THE DELIVERY IS RESCHEDULED.

Sep-15-14, 06:46 AM, INDIANAPOLIS, IN

OUT FOR DELIVERY

Sep-15-14, 06:46 AM, INDIANAPOLIS, IN

ARRIVAL SCAN

Sep-13-14, 01:32 AM, INDIANAPOLIS, IN

DEPARTURE SCAN

Sep-12-14, 21:24 PM, HODGKINS, IL

ARRIVAL SCAN

Sep-12-14, 17:31 PM, HODGKINS, IL

THE SENDER REQUESTED A DELIVERY CHANGE FOR THIS PACKAGE. / YOUR PACKAGE WILL BE DELIVERED TO AN ALTERNATE ADDRESS.

Sep-12-14, 07:56 AM

DEPARTURE SCAN

Sep-11-14, 11:48 AM, MEMPHIS, TN

ARRIVAL SCAN

Sep-11-14, 10:56 AM, MEMPHIS, TN

DEPARTURE SCAN

Sep-11-14, 01:04 AM, HOUSTON, TX

ORIGIN SCAN

Sep-10-14, 20:30 PM, HOUSTON, TX

THE SHIPMENT HAS BEEN DROPPED OFF AND IS NOW AT THE UPS STORE(R)

Sep-10-14, 17:12 PM, HOUSTON, TX

So seller had my funds for 10 days before shipping, contrary to what was promised in their eBay listing. The delay was due mostly to their waiting several days to ship and not that I had given them an incorrect address. And it would have been the correct address if they had used the shipping service declared in their eBay ad. Seller fail.
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Post by MyNeonSaysHi » Thu Sep 18, 2014 11:43 pm

Flat rate box for a spoiler!?!? I work at UPS, and we get big items from USPS. I think they have a deal for bigger items with UPS to handle them. *shrugs* That is their fault though. And their fail.

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Post by Midnight_Rider » Fri Sep 19, 2014 12:56 am

Thanks for taking the time to read the explanation of what happened- I know that it was lengthy but I wanted everyone to see all of the details. If the seller had been better with communication, I would give them more credit. I was in the dark for several days and, considering the track record I've had with eBay sellers, I had started to figure, "Here we go again!" :roll:
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Post by Midnight_Rider » Sun Sep 28, 2014 2:32 am

Stage 2 and rear tension strut install completed today. The new heat shield came in handy- the OEM one had hairline cracks in it.
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Post by Midnight_Rider » Sun Oct 12, 2014 10:41 pm

The Maddog STS was installed Saturday, along with several replacement parts around the vehicle. Thanks again to everyone who attended chipdogg's WI meet for helping me! =D>
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Post by thomas_w » Sun Oct 12, 2014 11:27 pm

Cool, you are making quite a bit of progress lately. Also, glad to hear the car did not take any damage from the orange barrel.

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Post by INVUJerry » Mon Oct 13, 2014 10:25 am

Midnight_Rider wrote:The Maddog STS was installed Saturday, along with several replacement parts around the vehicle. Thanks again to everyone who attended chipdogg's WI meet for helping me! =D>
I heard about this yesterday on Facebook!

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Post by ianguilly » Mon Oct 13, 2014 12:36 pm

Maddog isn't mopar? Oh boy first booger now this.













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Post by ckrock946 » Mon Oct 13, 2014 2:05 pm

:laughing3: thats exactly what I was thinking...
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Post by Midnight_Rider » Wed Oct 15, 2014 7:14 pm

Well, Chuck used the core shifter than was OEM on my car so it is partitally Mopar. :wink:
thomas_w wrote:...glad to hear the car did not take any damage from the orange barrel.
After I hit it, I was on pins and needles the hour it took to get home. I was so glad to get the car in the garage and get a light under it to check for possible damage. What a relief!
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Post by occasional demons » Wed Oct 15, 2014 8:40 pm

(He was using one of his neighbors as underside padding.) 8-[ :-$
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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.
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Post by Midnight_Rider » Fri Oct 17, 2014 11:14 pm

:laughing3:
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Post by Midnight_Rider » Sat Dec 27, 2014 2:29 pm

Picked up the new K-frame today.
Image

Image

According to its "MADE in USA" sticker :D , the part was manufactured this past June 5th. I'm surprised considering that Mopar has seriously dropped its price this year. Notice the "FCA US LLC" on the label? First time that I've seen that on a part.
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Post by Gnuserup » Sat Dec 27, 2014 6:24 pm

cool thing

how much is it ?
a neon - what else ?

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Post by Midnight_Rider » Sat Dec 27, 2014 7:45 pm

Gnuserup wrote:how much is it ?
I paid $292 US plus tax.
viewtopic.php?p=1007681#1007681
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Post by Neon4Life » Sat Dec 27, 2014 10:47 pm

wow thats super nice. jealous over here over that frame.
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Post by Midnight_Rider » Sun Dec 28, 2014 7:45 am

If anyone is thinking about buying one, I would suggest they do it now- the dealership told me that there are six left in the US.
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Post by thomas_w » Mon Dec 29, 2014 1:52 pm

Midnight_Rider wrote:According to its "MADE in USA" sticker :D , the part was manufactured this past June 5th. I'm surprised considering that Mopar has seriously dropped its price this year. Notice the "FCA US LLC" on the label? First time that I've seen that on a part.
Cool, can't wait to see it powder coated and on the car. Well, seeing is relative since it is one of the less visible parts. Does the sticker mean they are actually still making these and not just selling off remaining stock?

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