darthroush: 2003 Dodge Neon SE

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.
Post Reply
darthroush
2GN Member
Posts: 1637
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 2:14 am
Location: People's Republic of Kalifornia

darthroush: 2003 Dodge Neon SE

Post by darthroush » Sun Feb 07, 2010 10:38 pm

2003 Dodge Neon SE
2.0L SOHC I4 with the 4-speed automatic
Exterior Color: Patriot Blue Pearl
Interior Color: Dark Slate Gray

I am keeping this log in chronological order of when I did everything, and will simply keep adding on from here. :)

Here it is the night I brought it home. I had already stopped at the parts store and bought new wheel covers as I couldn't stand the ones on it when I bought it. 100% factory. I had to clean the dirty engine and put some tire shine on.

Image

Pioneer DEH-2000MP CD/MP3 Player with two 10" subwoofers. Subwoofer box painted to match trunk carpeting and port inserts painted to match subwoofers and amplifier. Debadged. Prothane "street" torque strut mount inserts.

Image

Image

SRT-4 cat-back exhaust system and "new" used headlights that weren't cracked.

Image

Image

New wheel covers, just because I liked these better than the chrome ones.

Image

Image

Tinted taillights and third brake light, along with the grille insert painted flat black with trim paint to make it look new again instead of the faded gray it became over the years. LED license plate light and painted interior trim pieces.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

All new Prothane suspension bushings (lower control arms, anti-sway bar, anti-sway bar end links and rear control arms), Moog lower ball joints and Moog outer tie-rod ends.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Powdercoated Snowflake wheels in gloss black with Federal Formoza FD-1 tires. Installed with black Gorilla spline drive lug nuts. Not pictured: Fuel Injector Rail Cover

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

*Just finished*
Glove Box Light Installed
Cupholder Light Installed

**Currently working on engine ground upgrades**
2 gauge wire vs. the tiny factory braided lines.

Image

Image

03/16/2010 Update: Custom Engine Ground Upgrade has been done. Five grounds total upgraded with 2 gauge wire soldered into copper lugs and some heavy-duty, thick, weatherproof heatshrink to cover the connection. Also, the two 8" subwoofers came out and in their place a single 8" bandpass unit went in. Much louder and it takes up less than 1/2 the space in the trunk. It has nifty blue LEDs too that match the car, lol. Present from the GF for working on her truck. :D

Image

***Future Mods***
Black Grille Pieces
Painted Calipers
Tein S-Tech Lowering Springs
Tokico Struts
Front Side Marker Blinker Mod
Tinted Windows (Done 06/17/2010)
Black headlights
Autometer volt gauge
Autometer transmission temperature gauge
All beige interior pillar pieces painted to match the rest of the interior.
LED Cluster, HVAC and shifter bulbs
Last edited by darthroush on Sun Sep 18, 2011 5:46 am, edited 5 times in total.

bstc00
2GN Member
Posts: 1505
Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2007 9:55 pm
Location: auburn hills

Post by bstc00 » Sun Feb 07, 2010 11:07 pm

got some nice progress there.

User avatar
MyNeonSaysHi
2GN Veteran
Posts: 12090
Joined: Mon May 23, 2005 8:46 pm
Location: Kansas

Post by MyNeonSaysHi » Mon Feb 08, 2010 12:04 am

Very nice. And wow those stockers are glossy! :shock:

08 Acura TL-S
23 Hyundai Elantra N

measy27
2GN Member
Posts: 1871
Joined: Sun Jan 13, 2008 8:58 pm
Location: Chicopee,Ma

Post by measy27 » Mon Feb 08, 2010 1:23 am

Clean ride...
'06 Nissan Murano S AWD

glasswars
2GN Veteran
Posts: 5476
Joined: Fri Jul 07, 2006 4:30 pm
Location: NNJ

Post by glasswars » Mon Feb 08, 2010 1:43 am

Looking nice, upgrades look good. Keep it goin.
thisishalcyon.com
@halcyonphoto

User avatar
Haganracing
2GN Member
Posts: 4168
Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2007 11:23 pm
Location: Mount Airy, Maryland
Contact:

Post by Haganracing » Mon Feb 08, 2010 1:52 am

glasswars wrote:Looking nice, upgrades look good. Keep it goin.
:withstupid:

I love the snowflake wheels!!
occasional demons wrote:So maybe a FuzzyDanteHagan sammich might just beat a FuzzyHagan. :-k
Danteneon wrote:My advice is to fight those urges and enjoy the fact that you have both X and Y chromosomes. And an SRT. And your hand. You don't need a girl.

LilSparkPlug
2GN Veteran
Posts: 12206
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:49 pm
Location: RI

Post by LilSparkPlug » Mon Feb 08, 2010 8:33 am

Coming along nicely, I love the midnight blue :)

Tam
2GN Member
Posts: 3090
Joined: Wed Jul 09, 2008 2:41 am
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana

Post by Tam » Mon Feb 08, 2010 10:28 am

I love your car. Shiny clean car, with a very clean interior and dash!

keep it up. I can't wait to see it lowered.

darthroush
2GN Member
Posts: 1637
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 2:14 am
Location: People's Republic of Kalifornia

Post by darthroush » Mon Feb 08, 2010 1:49 pm

Thank you all! Lucky me, most of my "mods" have been fixing the car, but hopefully I'm over that with the exception of the timing belt, water pump and motor mount and can focus on better things!

2003se559
2GN Member
Posts: 656
Joined: Wed Dec 23, 2009 10:25 pm
Location: CALIFORNIA

Post by 2003se559 » Mon Feb 08, 2010 2:03 pm

looking good keep up the good work

User avatar
Danteneon
Former Moderator
Posts: 9591
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2007 5:13 pm
Location: Manassas, VA

Re: darthroush: 2003 Dodge Neon SE

Post by Danteneon » Mon Feb 08, 2010 3:58 pm

Car looks great man :thumbup:

I have one question though...

Image

You didn't re-install the ball joint heat shield?
If I could just figure out how to meld the Outback and the Neon into one car...

Image

darthroush
2GN Member
Posts: 1637
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 2:14 am
Location: People's Republic of Kalifornia

Post by darthroush » Mon Feb 08, 2010 9:27 pm

There was nothing else there? Nothing on either side.

LilSparkPlug
2GN Veteran
Posts: 12206
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:49 pm
Location: RI

Post by LilSparkPlug » Tue Feb 09, 2010 12:07 pm

Dante means tie rod end shield:

Image

Your car should have had them.

darthroush
2GN Member
Posts: 1637
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 2:14 am
Location: People's Republic of Kalifornia

Post by darthroush » Tue Feb 09, 2010 1:57 pm

There was nothing fancy like that one there. Oh well. I'm sure it'll be fine either way, but out of curiosity, what exactly is the purpose of that piece?

darthroush
2GN Member
Posts: 1637
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 2:14 am
Location: People's Republic of Kalifornia

Post by darthroush » Mon Jul 12, 2010 6:51 am

Here's a picture of the car, cleaned up finally, with the tint. The tint was done June 17 at Evolution Automotive/Eclipse Window Tinting in Sacramento. 5% Llumar ATR-series tint on the back 3 windows:
Image

It is SO nice for the obvious benefits, but also the light from cars behind me at night aren't glaring 100% right into my eyes through clear glass! No more blindness at night...

Next up is the timing belt, water pump and tensioner. I am probably going to order them sometime within the next week (tomorrow is the plan) and get working on that sooner than later. The Neon is up to 109,000+ miles, and there is an...interesting noise coming from the engine area, right side. I'm thinking either a now-noisy belt tensioner, or the timing belt is getting ready to bail on me.

Post Reply

Return to “Progress/Project Log”