thomas_w's log

thomas_w · Post by **thomas_w** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 9:05 am

occasional demons wrote:Damn, so you snapped the strut clevis bolts? They are the same part for both 1gn's and 2gn's, so if Gramps doesn't have a solution, you could get used ones from either generation.

Have you tried a regular fastener place like Fastenal for M12 x 1.75 bolts in a good enough grade? Granted they won't be splined on the head end, but when parts are discontinued, it isn't like the choices are optimal.

Yeah, stupid me broke the bolts... I checked with my dodge dealer online with the 2gn part numbers but I have not heard back. While I was at the dealer I asked them about the pinch bolts I still had. They told me they are of the same strength. I then checked with my alignment shop and they said they probably work. So I put those on last night and the car is in the shop for the alignment right now. I will know this afternoon if they managed to align it properly with these bolts. I guess at least these are original and they are the same size and all.

Post by **occasional demons** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 9:38 am

From my parts book, the 2gn and 1gn part numbers are the same. So there are no dealer options for those bolts.

I took mine for an alignment yesterday, but the outer tie rods are allegedly seized to the inners, so they couldn't do it. I haven't tried moving them, but they look to be nearly rust free. If it was the old one's on my 2001, I could see it.

I am not going to mess with it until I get back from Carlisle either way.

thomas_w · Post by **thomas_w** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 1:40 pm

occasional demons wrote:From my parts book, the 2gn and 1gn part numbers are the same. So there are no dealer options for those bolts.

I took mine for an alignment yesterday, but the outer tie rods are allegedly seized to the inners, so they couldn't do it. I haven't tried moving them, but they look to be nearly rust free. If it was the old one's on my 2001, I could see it.

That would explain why I do not hear back from those guys. I took it in to get an alignment and they had no problem getting it set up right. They sent me to a muffler shop to get the exhaust taken care of and told me they would be able to do it for less. At the muffler shop they welded it all together again and she is now all fixed up again

I just booked my hotel for Carlisle, I just have to register now. Not sure if the website works still or if I have to give them a call.

My tie rods were pretty fused together as well. But those were 15 years old. I tried to get them apart but gave up on it pretty quickly. Since I had bought new inner and outer tie rods I figured I might as well just cut the old ones to get the boot off. Worked out fine. Only made putting it together properly a little harder. At the first try, even though I tried to measure the old ones before I had cut them, the toe in was visible bad. So I had to eyeball it and after a few tries it looked okay. Turned out that I was not too far off according to what they told me this morning after the alignment.

Midnight_Rider · Post by **Midnight_Rider** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 4:02 pm

occasional demons wrote:I took mine for an alignment yesterday, but the outer tie rods are allegedly seized to the inners, so they couldn't do it. I haven't tried moving them, but they look to be nearly rust free. If it was the old one's on my 2001, I could see it.

Hmmm, that sounds like what my former alignment shop tried to tell me a few years ago but mine were fine. I went ahead and replaced the outers anyway though.

Post by **occasional demons** » Tue Jul 08, 2014 10:33 pm

occasional demons wrote:
occasional demons wrote:You can try registering online. I did after the cut off date and it went through. My CC got charged. Whether or not I get it mailed is another matter.
OK, just for general info, if you have registered past the June 9th cut off, and you haven't gotten your sticker in the mail by now, you won't.

You have to pick it up at Gate 3 on Thursday or Friday am in the small brick building.

You should still be able to register online (if it still works), or by phone, but you will have to pick up your stickers at the gate. Do not look for it in your mail box.

http://www.2gn.org/2010Nationals/2010ChryslerMap.pdf

You could also register there Thursday as they will be open. I plan on stopping on my way to the hotel to pick up my sticker.

thomas_w · Post by **thomas_w** » Wed Jul 09, 2014 8:39 am

occasional demons wrote: You could also register there Thursday as they will be open. I plan on stopping on my way to the hotel to pick up my sticker.

I might just do that since I have to stop by there either way. Thanks.

thomas_w · Post by **thomas_w** » Tue Aug 26, 2014 10:36 am

Just a small update: I got tired of my old radio only being able to handle CDs and not even having an AUX in. So yesterday I bought a new one and put it in last night. There was something wrong with the antenna still but it was getting dark. I fixed the antenna wiring this morning so now reception is as good as it was with the old radio. This is how it looks now:

It is a rather basic brand but I like the clean look. Many radios these days are just too flashy with blinking lights everywhere. This one is just plain black with a decent display, yet supports USB flash drives, SD cards, and bluetooth. It does not have a CD but my old radio was the only thing I used CDs for anyway. So that is actually a plus and it makes the radio so much smaller. There is a ton of room behind it now.

Post by **occasional demons** » Tue Aug 26, 2014 12:18 pm

I have basically gone to digital receivers in both my cars. A flash drive/MP3 player/bluetooth is much more convenient than a ton of CD's, or rotating them every week.

Boss speakers seem to be decent also, at least for normal use. I have them in both cars as well. For the $ they are tough to beat. About 95% of speakers are made in china anyways...

thomas_w · Post by **thomas_w** » Tue Aug 26, 2014 2:21 pm

occasional demons wrote:I have basically gone to digital receivers in both my cars. A flash drive/MP3 player/bluetooth is much more convenient than a ton of CD's, or rotating them every week.

That was my thought as well. And it does not take as long for it to start playing from the SD card compared to how long it took for my old radio to process the CD first. And it just felt wasteful to burn MP3s to a CD every time I wanted to listen to something else.

occasional demons wrote:Boss speakers seem to be decent also, at least for normal use. I have them in both cars as well. For the $ they are tough to beat. About 95% of speakers are made in china anyways...

The sound of it seems pretty decent judging from the little testing I have been able to do so far. There are not too many buttons so the interface cannot be overly sophisticated. Some way of browsing directories would have been nice though. It just creates a single list out of all music files which is pretty long when you throw a 16GB SD card in there

But overall I am happy with it so far.

FAC3L3SS · Post by **FAC3L3SS** » Tue Aug 26, 2014 3:48 pm

I dig that stereo. Back in the day I got a generic cheap one off the shelf at Wal-Mart and it was probably the best and easiest stereo I've used to date.

thomas_w · Post by **thomas_w** » Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:18 pm

FAC3L3SS wrote:I dig that stereo. Back in the day I got a generic cheap one off the shelf at Wal-Mart and it was probably the best and easiest stereo I've used to date.

Thanks! So far I really like it and as far as using it seems relatively straight forward as it does not have a ton of features that I will end up never using.

thomas_w · Post by **thomas_w** » Mon Sep 29, 2014 6:28 pm

Made a little more progress. I was tired of the paint peeling off the wipers so I painted them with automotive spray paint. While I was there I also painted the antenna just because. This is how the wipers look; not perfect but a lot better than before and I no longer need to use back to black all the time:

I also got new shoes; I went with the Micheline Defender.

The new tires feel quite a bit smoother than the 8 year old ones that were on there before. Should help in the snow as well.

Jean-Seb · Post by **Jean-Seb** » Wed Oct 08, 2014 5:35 am

Very nice ! Keeping it clean, I like that.

thomas_w · Post by **thomas_w** » Wed Oct 08, 2014 8:18 am

Jean-Seb wrote:Very nice ! Keeping it clean, I like that.

Thanks! She is pretty much all fixed up now. The next part will probably be the brake and fuel lines that I have to do at some point. They are getting rusty underneath the car.

thomas_w · Post by **thomas_w** » Sat Dec 06, 2014 7:51 pm

My strut mount in the rear on the passenger side went out last week. It was probably gone for a while as it was making some strange noise in that corner. So I took it all apart again today. The metal sleeve in the strut mount was becoming loose which would explain the noise. The driver side's mount had some dry rot. Should have replaced them with the new shocks. Oh well. So I installed new strut mounts on both sides in the rear. The annoying part is that I have to get an alignment yet again.

Midnight_Rider · Post by **Midnight_Rider** » Sat Dec 06, 2014 9:43 pm

Having to get yet another alignment is definitely a pain but will give longer wear on those new tires, eh?

Off-topic but I ended up having to get an alignment back in September even though all of the suspension parts I took to the dealership couldn't be installed (the bolts in the rear knuckles have seized and the tech couldn't get them out- he had everything partially uninstalled so an alignment was necessary even though the work wasn't completed

).

thomas_w · Post by **thomas_w** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 9:11 am

Yeah, needing an alignment with no work done really is definitely more annoying. Since the tires are new I definitely want to get the alignment done. I will probably have them align all four wheels while they are at it just because. Never hurts to double check

Post by **occasional demons** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 2:33 pm

Since the alignment was recently done, and the toe in won't change by R & R'ing the strut(s), get one of THESE

Remove the wheel and put it on the hub flange before breaking any bolts loose. Write down the angle, and then when re installing the struts, match the angle, and tighten the bolts, being careful not to snap them of course.

This should get you pretty darn close.

Midnight_Rider · Post by **Midnight_Rider** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 3:46 pm

Never seen one of those before. Interesting use for it though.

thomas_w · Post by **thomas_w** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 9:13 pm

occasional demons wrote:Since the alignment was recently done, and the toe in won't change by R & R'ing the strut(s), get one of THESE

Remove the wheel and put it on the hub flange before breaking any bolts loose. Write down the angle, and then when re installing the struts, match the angle, and tighten the bolts, being careful not to snap them of course.

This should get you pretty darn close.

Interesting idea. I have an app on my phone that can measure the angle. The only thing is that I already took the shocks out to replace the strut mount. And I did not break the bolts this time

Post by **occasional demons** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 9:55 pm

That's what you get for being so efficient.

I used an old school driveline angle finder (A needle that points to a degree wheel) when I changed the struts on the GF's car. Not as nice as a digital unit, but it seemed to work. A year later her tires are still wearing well. I am considering adding one of the digital units to my tool box tho.

For minor stuff like this, it beats paying $60 to $80 for an alignment. Especially when all they will actually have to do is bump your strut a bit to get the camber back in place. Unless you drove over a parking bumper, or the like, the rest should be good.

But meh, next time, you have an idea for possibly spending that money elsewhere.

thomas_w · Post by **thomas_w** » Sun Dec 07, 2014 11:11 pm

Yeah, I just wanted to get it done on a day that is not freezing cold

Looks like I have to pay the $65 for the alignment. Still a good idea with the angle gauge though. And anything that measures the angle sufficiently well enough would get the job done.

I hope I am done with suspension work for a while though. By now I pretty much replaced it all.

Neon4Life · Post by **Neon4Life** » Mon Dec 08, 2014 10:16 am

dang i havent clicked on ur log in a while. i like that cd player. i too need one. my old one i got isnt working that good in the cold weather.. lol. idk.

cars looking good man.

thomas_w · Post by **thomas_w** » Mon Dec 08, 2014 9:04 pm

Thanks Manny! I am still pretty happy with the radio. Since it is a digital media receiver there are no moving parts at all. So the weather should not be a problem (well assuming they soldered it together properly).

thomas_w · Post by **thomas_w** » Mon Dec 15, 2014 11:13 am

I got the alignment done this morning so she is all fixed up now. The car was sitting around for too long in the cold weather apparently as it struggled a little to fire up. It was a little rough in the beginning but once the engine warmed up more and the battery had more of a charge in it the car was driving fine.

The clunk in the rear is all gone now too. So the strut mount was definitely the cause of that. So all in all she seems happy again

Midnight_Rider · Post by **Midnight_Rider** » Mon Dec 15, 2014 12:17 pm

thomas_w · Post by **thomas_w** » Fri Feb 20, 2015 8:50 pm

I went to a conference in San Francisco last week so we spent a few days with friends and family in San Diego. Since I was still looking for those strut clevis bolts I went to the junk yard with a few friends over there to get some rust free parts. The first yard we went to actually had quite a few neons and I was able to score four of those bolts:

These are very nice and rust-free!

They also had one coupe there and since I am having trouble adjusting my passenger window I took the window guide from that one. Someone before me already had shattered the window so taking that out was very easy:

Since my passenger door is missing the bracket behind the door handle I took that too:

My neon seemed to have the bracket for the front license plate according to the build sheet but when I bought it it was gone. So I picked one of those up. I am planning on plastydipping it before I put it on:

Under my rear seat there was only one of those rubber pieces the seat mounts to. So that was pretty easy as well and I picked up two just in case:

I was also missing the grounding cable on the front driver side shock so I also got two of those.

We then went to another junk yard. I did not see any neons there at first. But they were bringing in a few cars and the last one was a 1998 neon sedan. When I got my car there was no tire cover in the trunk either. Since this four door neon just came in the interior was still in very good condition. So I took the tire cover from there:

It makes my trunk look complete finally:

I think I now have all the parts to make the car complete. I will have to wait for most of those remaining parts until it warms up some before I can install them.

Midnight_Rider · Post by **Midnight_Rider** » Fri Feb 20, 2015 10:53 pm

Wow, you really scored big! I know that the day will come for me to start scouring junk yards for parts for my car... makes me sad to think about it.

thomas_w · Post by **thomas_w** » Fri Feb 20, 2015 11:05 pm

What made me sad was seeing all the junked neons. But at least I was able to recover some good parts. I think I was pretty lucky indeed that they just brought this one neon in so that I was the first person to pick over it.

Midnight_Rider · Post by **Midnight_Rider** » Sat Feb 21, 2015 2:59 am

I'll bet that it was amazing to see so many junked Neons without rust.