Decisions decisions...

OB · Post by OB » Sat Oct 14, 2006 9:02 pm

As many of you know, ive been planning some big things for my car in the power department. Almost all of my ideas have involved the srt swap. The only deterrent has been money, and that hasnt changed too much, but lets just say things are looking up; so back to the drawing board I go.

Now to business: After going over all the ideas of what I can do to make my little neon into a fire breathing beast, ive come up with three main options. The simplest three build options there are: motor swap, boosted 2.0, or all motor NA build. The difference between now and, lets say, 6 months ago is, im actually strongly considering all three. Here are my thoughts and reasoning:

SRT4 MOTOR SWAP

Pros- Simple, powerful, capable, reliable, no ECU tuning required.

Cons- A bit expensive, leaves a perfectly good 2.0 w/o a home, time consuming (ill need rides to work for several days while the swap is being completed).

2.0 TURBO

Pros- Motor stays in car, original and unique, probably faster than the srt swap if tuned correctly.

Cons- SOHC (still havent decided if this really is a Con), needs ECU tuning, lots of loose ends to tie up to get the car reliable and strong.

NA 2.0

Pros- strong power band, runs cooler, very original.

Cons- Unreliable, very time consuming, requires ECU tuning, not as much HP as forced induction, very expensive.

So there u have it, my three choices. Ive recently been reading up and megasquirt, and im going to see how that might factor into my build. Let me know what u think. All educated comments welcome!

lolelectricbluesxt · Post by **lolelectricbluesxt** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 9:04 pm

Supercharge!

OB · Post by OB » Sat Oct 14, 2006 9:05 pm

trust me ive though about that as well, but seeing as how no one has done it, im gonna be realistic and go for whats actually possible with my small budget.

(sic)Arkangel · Post by **(sic)Arkangel** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 9:10 pm

I wish there was a Supercharge kit... I say Turbo existing no huge parts list All motor is cool but time consuming SRT is ok but alot of trouble..

lolelectricbluesxt · Post by **lolelectricbluesxt** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 9:12 pm

Haha. I was totally playing with you. Ive been thinking the same exact thing as you, but ive put those thoughts on hold for a bit and im working on finishing up on my plans on my enterior first. Im thinking about a combination of your option #2 & #3. Realisticly ive never even considered the srt swap for more then two seconds though.

03blackrt · Post by **03blackrt** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 9:21 pm

N/A!!! + n2o = easy 13 sec.

magnm head,deck,port,polish
comp 400, cam gear
long tube header, dump after lth
custom intake like tamma has, 65mm tb
100 direct port shot of n2o
fuel/spark control

add some weight redux and your set for under 12's IMO.

Post by **Diablo0** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 10:08 pm

I say SRT swap. For the money you start out with a 230whp motor that has the potential to make well over that with the tons of aftermarket for the motor and not to mention the mopar upgrades.

2.0 turbo you're starting wtih a 100-120whp motor that wasn't made for turbo and without touching internals you'll be around 215-250whp but after that you'll have to start diving into the internals.

N/A 2.0... it'd be awesome but super expensive but damn near impossible to come close to that of the SRT motor.

Mopar00Neon · Post by **Mopar00Neon** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 10:20 pm

SRT swap can also be done smog legally in CA.

My SRT deal feel through due to a flaky, and probably untrustworthy seller.... So IFS and air bags are next on the list to consider for my ole '57.

INVUJerry · Post by **INVUJerry** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 11:39 pm

I think N/A 2.0, but thats just me. I'm gonna build the neon to be the best DD. I'm gonna get a 1st gen for the omg 2.4t.

Port polish, lth, intake mani, crane 16, TB, DOHC pitsons from an older 1gn, and MSnS.

Srt-swap after I blow it up (maybe)

kc2005ptgt · Post by **kc2005ptgt** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 12:01 am

I like the 2.0 turbo, but with your 05 you run into NGC issues and problems with megasquirt. This is the route I am going though, Megasquirt/2.0 Turbo.

OB · Post by OB » Sun Oct 15, 2006 2:00 am

^what problems with megasquirt? from what ive heard, there is a ms program that works seamlessly with the NGC computer. thats straight from the ms forum too.

im still leaning heavily toward the srt swap, but theres a LOT to consider, as u can see, so who knows what ill end up doing. all i know is that my warranty is out the door, much much sooner than it should be! my dads gonna kill me for that too, cuz thats the whole reason i bought a new car. being a car guy, i should have known better.

davidalindsey · Post by **davidalindsey** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 2:33 am

Mmm, I’m in the same boat as you.
I have a 05 Neon SXT ATX and I tell you it is one of the slowest things around.
I have always wanted to do the SRT-4 swap it’s just that I can never find a good engine or donor car.
That’s why for now I am going to try to get a Manual Transmission in there.
I have a quick question will the SRT-4 Manual Transmission bolt right up to the 2.0L engine?
Because I heard that the Auto Trans. won’t bolt on to the SRT-4 engine.

kc2005ptgt · Post by **kc2005ptgt** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 5:37 pm

I was under the impressin that MS had not been able to be used with NGC yet. My bad, guess I will read into it more - wait, I dont need to... you apparently know

OB · Post by OB » Sun Oct 15, 2006 7:47 pm

kc2002acr wrote:I was under the impressin that MS had not been able to be used with NGC yet. My bad, guess I will read into it more - wait, I dont need to... you apparently know

ouch, sarcasm burn!

im not positive about it, but someone online claimed that there are srts working with ms, and they even compared the srt and sxt ngc issue, saying that it would work fine. thats just what i remember reading.

david- i doubt the srt tranny will bolt up, the blocks of the two motors (srt and 2.0) are completely different, from what i understand. Im pretty sure the clutches are different as well. Dont take my word for it tho, im not sure. I sure wouldnt say that my car is slow, but it sure aint no speed demon. The atx is your big enemy here. An MTX swap will help, but youll want more within a few months, trust me.

Post by **racer12306** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 9:57 pm

2.0 turbo for a little extra spunk. get in touch with graphite03. he turbo'd his 03 and was putting down 220ish hp. he had it like that for a long time to.

if you are looking for an animal, srt swap all the way.

OB · Post by OB » Sun Oct 15, 2006 10:18 pm

yeah i really like the idea of building the 2.0, but I really dont know how much power im gonna end up wanting to make. I mean, with the right money and a solid build, im sure i could hang with the srt motors that are pushing well over 300 whp, but that sort of thing, like u said, would be easy as swapping the srt motor in and droppin a few grand on it. its up in the air. keep the comments comin guys.

03sxt · Post by **03sxt** » Sun Oct 15, 2006 10:20 pm

I like the uniqueness of turbo'ing the 2.0, but the SRT swap would be the most bang for your buck and easiest out of all of them.

BlackRoseRacing · Post by **BlackRoseRacing** » Mon Oct 16, 2006 6:38 am

For starters, what did you do to blow your warranty?
Second, is this your daily driver?
Third, can you afford to have the car down?

If its your daily driver stay N/A, forced induction requires to much maintenance...
If its not your daily driver, then your better off doing the SRT swap.....

Srt4Me03 · Post by **Srt4Me03** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 11:06 am

Well here is my little story about this. My buddy Liam ( who is also on this site ) started the N/A route on his 02 ACR. He built the block, balanced and blue printed, higher comp Wiseco pistons, the head was p/p with and built with Crane 14 cam in mind, ported intake mani, 60mm t/b, cai, standalone, etcccccc cause trust me the list continues. Finally the dyno day comes near and the car is on the rollers. First run 168 whp... WTFFFF... so we adjust the timing on the cam gear and retune and add fuel on the stumble spots. Next run 170 whp... still like thats it?? Adjust again..... next run 173 whp. Well after 6 more runs after that would couldnt get any better..... so after all the work and time and money spent on this N/A block he made 173whp and 142ftlbs of torque....... Well needless to say i guess he finally saw the light like i was telling him.... and as of today he is turbo'ed and running STRONGGGGGGGGGG...... i know long post but i just wanted to give you a bit of insight bro. Turbo is you're savior !!! 2.0's can run strong if built right. So my vote is to turbo the 2.0.... shit look at what Roach has achieved with his 2.0.... 400+ whp and ive known him for awhile and he has gone through many different setup's , n/a being one of them and he still goes back to turbo to make good power.

kc2005ptgt · Post by **kc2005ptgt** » Sat Oct 21, 2006 11:44 am

^^^ I must agree on this - Turbo 2.0 sounds much more fun than the SRT swap. I personally want to do it because of the absence of SRT's here in KC (as far as wrecked goes

) - but seriously, I think less people have done this route than swapped. SRT holds potential for huge power gains with less money, but a fully built 2.0 engine with turbo makes it seem all the more unique. The Roach-mobile is a good example of "uniqueness".

And I have to get with Liam one of these days (authirish is his screen name, yeah?) when I decide to go turbo. I am putting off the LT header because of future plans, as well as some other things. I might even start piecing together the turbo so that in 2 years when I am ready to start, I can!

Over all OB - it is purely your choice and piece of cake. NA 2.0 would be fun, but expensive, Turbo 2.0 has potential, but expense as well, whereas SRT swap is most economical and has greater potential.

OB · Post by OB » Mon Oct 23, 2006 12:41 am

is it just me or does the srt swap still sound like the best plan? I mean, sure im always down to spend all my cash on the car, but in this case i need to realize that i might not have the money to do whatever i want. I actually saw a 'pick up only' srt motor with tranny and turbo for only 500 bucks. only 18k miles. thats dirt cheap. too bad it was in florida!

anyhow, im still 90% leaning towards the srt swap. all options sound amazing, but im a broke college student and i need some fuckin ponies.

03blackrt · Post by **03blackrt** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 12:45 am

orangeblastsxt wrote: but im a broke college student and i need some fuckin ponies.

Join the club.

JRM · Post by **JRM** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 3:25 am

you will be happy with the srt swap

2GN.ORG

Decisions decisions...

Which is the best method for power?

Decisions decisions...