The idea started with this car...
1995 Plymouth Neon super base model. Manual steering, no a/c, SOHC, 5spd, the no front or rear sway bar suspension setup... so this thing didn't handle all that well and since it was wierd looking with the old base model gray baby buggy bumpers I decided to do something... well... different.
Switch pods for the aftermarket front power windows and the rotating light on top of the car.
2nd gen seats... win. Also carpet delete since the car was always getting dirty and it was moldy.
Roof rack, danger spoiler (from a 03 SXT), and rotating light.
Even a hitch to tow things if need be. I pulled a dead car around the block with it once before. Did a good job LOL.
This car works hard!
However, I needed funds to acquire a truck to actually be able to pull cars as I was thinking of starting my own business... so I sold this car August of 2008 which is something I wish I never did.
Fast forward a few months and then I got this...
ANOTHER 1995 Neon Sedan. This one was a well equipped highline sedan. It had the 2.0L SOHC as well but with an ATX. Cruise, tilt, power locks, power mirrors, dead a/c, light package, and more. I got this car for $175 because some dumb lady was going to junk it because someone told her "Neons are bad" and she freaked out. All it needed was some rear struts installed and it was mechanically sound.
Truck bed coated trunk
Decent interior
Undercoating for protection (and to fix that awful clearcoat peel)
Drove it for a bit but the ATX made me hate this car. I figured I'd keep it as a backup car but I ended up selling it to a buddy who needed a reliable car.
So then we come to about a month and a half ago from today... and I get this...
2000 Dodge Neon base model sedan. SOHC (of course), 5 speed, power steering and rear defrost, and that's it. No a/c. Why did I buy a car without a/c again...
Anyway, it was $450 from a little car dealer as it was in pretty bad shape. Clutch was shot, struts were shot, obvious body damage (but nothing that can't be fixed by swapping some junkyard parts), and it leaked a lot of oil from the valve cover making it smell bad. On the plus side it had 119,000 miles on it and was first owned by dad who took care of it and got the timing belt stuff replaced at 75K (and then stupid son who trashed it), had brand new brakes all the way around, and brand new tires on it too.
Needs some work...
This sucks... no a/c... must do something about that.
2.0L 16V power!
These guys came out here and installed a new clutch for me as part of a deal on a different car they were buying. Greg and Vinnie kicked ass on this and got it done quick. They also changed the rear struts out so the car was safe to drive.
Big thanks to the 1992 Sundance Duster that gave these rims to me because it's crappy A604 transmission died.
I love this steering wheel
Installed this to attempt to help with the summer heat.
Leather shifter too!
Got this for cheap and I like it. Having a tachometer is nice. Once I installed that and could see what the engine is doing I've been able to get 37 MPG city out of the car. Only other mod is I cut the muffler off the thing and put a downward facing spout on where it got removed.
Oh, also had to replace both rear wheel bearings, the alternator, the alt/ps belts, do a tune up on it, get the trunk lock rebuilt so it would open, replace those torque arm motor mounts (which still suck and let the motor slop around too much), radiator hoses, thermostat, coolant hoses under the intake manifold, and the valve cover gasket. It's needed a lot of stupid work and still needs more.
Still need to replace the heater core rubber hoses that are original and I think seeping a bit, replace the front struts, and figure out a way to get some bars for those torque arm mounts instead of the rubber soft crap. Also need to figure out some way to get some cold air into the car when it's hot out (Heat sickness
me) and haven't thought of the best way to do that yet.I also noticed that the first gen and second gen Neon hitches are different... anybody know what exactly is different about them as I have a 1st gen hitch here I'd like to use on this car but if it can't fit... well that would be bogus. Also tried to see if a 1st gen trunk lid rack or roof rack would fit... nope. So I need to find some very cheap universal stuff I can use.
Anyway for now, that's the project as of late. Not sure where it's going to turn next but if someone wants to trade me an a/c equipped mtx 1st or 2nd gen Neon for this car (and ~$250 so I can register it since I'm kind of broke) I'm all ears.
I've had no AC in the Texas summer before- not fun 
