Mod-A-Week Project Log (Week 2 Complete)

SOHCKing03 · Post by **SOHCKing03** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 9:57 am

Alright well now that the Neon is finally fixed (clutch needed replacing), I am ready to start working on it. I am looking for ideas for my "Mod-A-Week" project where I will perform a new modification to the Neon every week. So please give me some suggestions but read this first...

First, the car:
-2002 Dodge Neon R/T 5-speed

Some goals:
- Keep all functionality: I drive 25 miles to school every day with two other guys in the car. So I can't do anything like reduce weight by dumping all my other seats.
- Keep the car clean-looking and stealthy: Nothing gawdy like chrome rims or chome taillights.
-Add performance without compromising comfort: I don't want super stiff springs that will bounce my passengers and I around like crazy. I still want to enjoy driving casually without suffering.
-Add style and comfort without compromising performance: I will not add a 200lb sound system that will reduce my performance.

Restrictions:
-Cannot take longer than a day: With driving to school 5-days a week, I cannot have my car out of commission for longer than a day. All long mods will be performed on the weekends but others may get done in the middle of the week.
-Not for impressing: Each one of my mods will be an express of my style, in no way will any of my mods be performed purely to impress others.
And the most important restriction...
-No more than $25 per week: This may seem crazy, but it is the most essential restriction. Between gas, food, clothes, and a girlfriend, I have a lot of expense. I do not make much money and don't work much because of school, so car funds are low. A $50 mod will be doneover two weeks. I will save up the $50 for two weeks and mod during the second week. All expensive mods will be done after special occasions (I'm powdercoating rims after Christmas for use in the spring and getting a new exhaust after high school graduation).

Some mods floating in my head(to give you an idea)...
-rewrap door carpet
-cold cathode lights
-headlight covers
-taillight covers
-new brake lights
-new carpet

Other things I have no idea about but you can tell me about:
-repaint valve cover
-clean engine bay
-new oil cap or other misc engine parts

This is the way it will work. I will have one bank sub-account (Account A) that will start off with $25 in it. After the parts are purchased, whatever is left in Account A at the end of the week will be transfered to another account (Account B) that is a collection for bigger mods (rims, paint, exhaust, etc). Then every Monday I will put $25 in Account A again. If a week goes by that I don't do a mod because my week is booked (or some other reason) then the $25 in Account A will still go into Account B. If I am saving up for a mod, I will not transfer the $25 and keep it in there for another week to get $50. I will not ever exceed $100 for a mod in my Mod-A-Week project (approximately one month's saving).

So this thread is now officially my Project Log and Suggestion Box for my Mod-A-Week project.

Feel free to give suggestions now for mods or for my project as a whole.

-Brad

01WhiteNe0n · Post by **01WhiteNe0n** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 4:32 pm

Start with the things you dont need money to do..

Paint your valve cover, do some engine dress up with a can of engine enamel and some clear. painting is the biggest difference for the cheapest price.
Instead of wasteing money on light covers and such.. buy a can of vht niteshades.
http://forum.2gn.org/viewtopic.php?t=18791
Remove badges and door moldings ( really cleans up the look )

Make your own Cai with tubing or buy one off ebay cheap
Buy some new good spark plugs
Tint your windows

Buy some cheap lowering springs..

And Post some pics of your car.

Andpto · Post by **Andpto** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 7:23 pm

paint your cailpers. or your rims. get an srt-4 shifter boot.

change the color of your gauges.
or if u into interior lighting get some leds.
thats the only things that i can think of that is pretty cheap

SOHCKing03 · Post by **SOHCKing03** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 8:20 pm

Yeah I think I'm gonna get the Niteshade off of modernperformance ($26 shipped).

I already have the car tinted, debadged, and custom CAI.

What's a good "cheap" set of lowering springs? Eibach's are $200 and I know those are a very nice set.

-Brad

Paul56 · Post by **Paul56** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 8:37 pm

Focus on getting the maintenance status to a known state... unless the car came with maintenance records.

While doing that you can get into the detailing... interior, exterior and engine bay.

None of this is very sexy stuff, but a well maintained vehicle will be more reliable.

Oh wait... I'm wrong... clean is sexy.

SOHCKing03 · Post by **SOHCKing03** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 11:05 pm

Trust me, maintenance is up to par right now. I just spent $1200 in repairs. Only thing left is to replace my brakes next spring.

List so far (not in order yet):
- cold cathodes ($18)
- cluster and hvac bulbs ($21)
- take off rims and clean them ($5)
- intense cleaning of interior ($5)
- touch-up paint for exterior ($25?)
- booger bushings ($21)

Now I want to repaint my valve cover but powdercoating is pretty expensive. Can I clean off the one I have and use high-temp enamel paint and clear coat? Over on DNO a guy is willing to give me an extra valve cover to paint if I trade him my stock one once mine is installed.

I was originally going to get lowering springs once I had enough "extra money" but with winter coming I don't know what to get.

-Brad

Paul56 · Post by **Paul56** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 7:35 am

I can vouch for paintscratch.com for your touch-up paint.

I ordered from them a while back and the match was excellent.

SOHCKing03 · Post by **SOHCKing03** » Sun Oct 07, 2007 10:42 pm

Here are the results of this week's Mod-A-Week project...

Finally got her washed. Now granted, I didn't get to wax her but she still looks good. I now know though that the front bumper needs to be repainted along with the rear bumber (see the huge scratches in picture 2). The whole car could really use a new paintjob next summer (black again of course).

Week 1
Project: Wash and Clean
Cost: $0

At-A-Glance
Week 2 - Cold Cathode Lights
Week 3 - Dehaze Fogs & Install New Corner Lights

Future
NiteShade Foglights and Corner Lights
NiteShade Taillights
Install Headunit
Cluster and HVAC LED Bulbs
Booger Bushings

Keep the suggestions coming people. And please give me your opinions after each project. I will give links to products and make how-to's if anyone wants.

-Brad

EvoNeon02 · Post by **EvoNeon02** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 9:15 am

Sorry to say washing your car is not a mod. I wash my car almost every weekend twice a week if i have a show. you are going about this the wrong way.

SOHCKing03 · Post by **SOHCKing03** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:30 am

Okay so I know washing my car isn't exactly a mod, but I just bought the car three weeks ago and it just got out of the shop last week. I felt it was a good place to start (especially since it was free).

I owe my mom $100 every week for 12 weeks, so I'm a little short on cash. Washing my car isn't a mod, but it is a start. I ordered my cathodes last night and Niteshade today so those "real" mods are coming soon.

-Brad

SOHCKing03 · Post by **SOHCKing03** » Mon Oct 15, 2007 8:01 pm

This week's mod...

(Sorry for the crappy pics, I don't have a tripod yet)

Although not completed, I like the look of the green cathodes. I had blue and white in my Stratus but I wanted to see some new colors. I plan on adding the white ones in this week (already had them so they are not added into the cost).

Week 1
Project: Wash and Clean
Cost: $0

Week 2
Project: Cold Cathode Lights
Cost: $17.53

At-A-Glance
Week 3 - Niteshade Taillights and Brake Light
Week 4 - Replace Foglights and Bulbs

Future
Install Headunit
Booger Bushings
Cluster and HVAC Bulbs
New Carpet

I have decided to limit this to a 10 Week Project. After 10 weeks I will have started myself out on the way to really moddifying my car. Bigqer things will come after those 10 weeks such rims, exhaust, paint job, cam, CAI, and more.

-Brad