The "Dual Sport" Neon: Rehabbing a Rallycrosser

Forshadowing: It wasn't meant to be a project - It's on jack stands in the garage right now and may be there for awhile.

Here we have my latest 90s compact, or as my wife calls them, "Dinky trash-can cars."  She's not far wrong, although this one is definitely better than some others that have come and gone.

There it is in the driveway the morning after I dragged it home early in October.  Some on the forum here might recognize it from rallycrosses in Ohio.

It's in great shape, especially structurally, and I like it.  Details: 2.4 swap, limited slip, R/T steering rack and sway bar, etc.  I got it insured, got a plate, had to clean up the battery terminals, and then started driving it to work.  It was meant to be a fun winter beater while my B-body wagon slept cozy in the garage all winter.  Long term plans also involved some mild motorsports fun.  I thought about the Challenge but I think I'd rather fix and modify this one without worrying about challenge budget.

Fix? Yes.

Oh, and here's a gratuitous pic of the Neon next to my brother's SW2.

When I brought the car home I knew it needed struts and possibly axles.  I figured I'd take it easy on the car and tackle that stuff as I had time.  Then last Monday on the way home from work...

...the brake pedal went to the floor.

Poop.  I don't enjoy replacing brake lines.  It seemed also seemed odd since from what I'd seen the brake lines and things like that were in great shape.

Finding the break took some searching but I found it in the end.  I also found the cause of the busted line.

Yes, I know that's a broken bolt and not a brake line.  It is, in fact, the bolt from the upper passenger side motor mount.  And where is the rest of the bolt?  Well... it's still in the engine.

It turns out the right combination of poly mounts, rallycrossing, and my dirt road commuting will break a motor mount bolt on a 2.4 in a Neon.  It also so happens that when that mount breaks the crank pulley will contact a brake line and you can guess what happens next.

So here it is, after limping home with almost no brakes on muddy back roads because no brakes.  I might need to awaken the power washer from its winter slumber.

End result: The Neon is a project now and therefore may escape the life of a winter beater after all.  I don't know what I'll do about the broken bolt yet.  I'll evaluate the health of the engine and decide if it's worth messing with or if it would just be better to swap to a fresh engine.  I'm pretty sure N/A 2.4s are dirt cheap.

Also, pup approves of my garage "couch."  He helps me avoid frustration while wrenching

Cool car! Sucks about the brake line and bolt, although i think the mount situation will not be as bad as you think. FYI I just bought a pair of complete 1g neon front strut assemblies on amazon prime for $100 shipped. I put them on a dodge aries yesterday, but that's a different story. It's definitely the cheap and easy button unless you like futzing with spring compressors. 

I broke a brake line in almost the exact same fashion, although mine was cut by the alternator pulley.  If memory serves, the bolt should thread into a plate that bolts on to the engine, so "in theory" the block should be okay, right?  I don't remember what the mount setup was like on that car, but I know that on mine, the bobble strut mount broke and I snapped a second of those Stratus aluminum brackets before I realized it.  It might be worth double-checking that none of the other mounts are banging around.

I don't know if this is of any interest to you, but I have a pair of Koni STR-T "orange" struts for the rear as well as front Koni "blacks" adjustables for the front that are in serviceable condition.  In truth, I have a whole set of Koni blacks but one of the rears is blown and needs to be rebuilt.  Those are taking up space in my garage right now since swapping in some AMR Engineering bits on all four corners and it wouldn't take too much to talk me out of them.  

I really wish i bought that car.

If you need anything I have a large stash of parts. 

wae said:

If memory serves, the bolt should thread into a plate that bolts on to the engine, so "in theory" the block should be okay, right?

 

That would be great news!

I send you a pm regarding struts.

Today I had a few minutes before making dinner so I poked around a bit more so I could form a plan.  I also pulled the busted brake line and organized my tools.  Then it was time to run around the house with the kid and dogs until dinner.  As wae said, the mount bolts to a plate that is bolted to the engine but I'm not yet sure if it's possible to get to that with the engine in place.  I drained the oil since it would need an oil change anyway and did see some sparkly bits in the old oil.  I'm also not convinced that the oil pressure builds with rpm like it should when it's warmed up.  Next step will be doing more to evaluate the health of the engine, doing an inventory of all the spare parts that came with the car, and ordering parts.

Honestly, I won't mind if it ends up being a bigger project.  Since it's in such good shape I was feeling a little bit bad about using for a winter beater and if it's in the garage all winter it will be spared the indignity.  I really like this car; Neons are fun to begin with and the 2.4 torque is perfect for fun street driving. I can't wait to drive it on a track next summer.  I get bored with cars relatively easily but I think this might be one I'll want to keep for a while.

In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :

Oh man, I am sorry to hear about this.  I hope the engine is okay.  I’m bummed, it always ran fine for me and I never noticed any oil pressure issues, though I’ll admit to not paying much attention to the gauge while I was actually on a rallycross course.  Judging by one of those pictures, it looks like you were able to have some fun before it became a project.

Edit:  if you track it, I recommend setting the pcv system back to stock-ish or replumbing my oil overflow.  I don’t think it’s an optimal system right now.  There’s also a restrictor that goes in the pcv line on 2.0 engines to keep them from oil starving in long corners.  I suspect the 2.4 could benefit from it as well.

I haven’t had much time to work on the Neon but I’ve been getting little things done in between house projects and other fun stuff. I’m going to fix the motor mount and brake line, and drive it as is for a while. I decided I really want to get the old station wagon ready for summer family road trips before I dive into the Neon.

Anyway, got all the broken parts off, ordered new engine mount hardware, and just need to bend a new brake line before I put it back together. I’m a bit nervous about that last part since the line goes through some tight spaces therefore will have to be shaped pretty precisely.

Not sure if it is one of the lines from the recall, but years ago when I checked, there were still a bunch of prebent brake lines available from some of the dealerships that sell parts online.  Apparently, on the early Neons, there were some brackets that held water/crud and caused the lines to rust through.  Prices were pretty good, too, just in case you want to check before attempting the job.

I also got NOS brake lines in my stash id let go of. there is also a guy making stainless fuel and brake line just  FYI. 

I need new line for the passenger side front. Looks like the prebent factory replacements they sold were for the rear end lines that run under the car.

This one kinda got put on hold for the winter. Now that we’re coming out of hibernation I suppose we should start working on it again. Up on jackstands it goes and first on the agenda is pulling the oil pan to see if I can get some clues as to  the noise in the engine. I could have sworn I saw some glitter in the oil last time I changed it but the bottom of the pan was clean.

(Her attention span lasted for one bolt. When you’re 7, racecars are more fun to watch than work on)

I forgot about this thread.

I thought about selling it last winter but didn’t; then again this spring but when coronapocalypse started happening I decided to keep it for awhile. With the weather turning nice I drove it a bit and now it’s getting some maintenance in hopes that racetrack things might happen later this summer. Fingers crossed.

Between former rallycross life and my back lot antics, the front wheel bearings were pretty much shot.  So I’m replacing those, and sticking in new axles while I’m at it. Yes, I’m 100% spoiled by the shop at work.

Love progress! 

Yeah, I love this car. Awesome to see it back up in the air!

I would have loved to have a lift while I had that car.  Must make work a ton easier.

Yeah, I love having access to a lift but the problem is it’s completely ruined me. Working on cars at home isn’t as fun anymore now that I’ve had a taste of the good life 

In other news: I found why there is an occasional clunk when making a 1-2 shift. I did the bottom trans mount when the engine mount broke but apparently I forgot about the one on the back.

Also, couldn’t get the driver side axle to seat. Some careful measuring revealed the spline depth to be off by a few thousandths. Aftermarket parts, amirite?

There’s an extra axle in the parts stash that seems less worn than the one on the car so that will have to do for now. Then I can probably spend some tedious time with a dremel to make the other one work so I can have a new spare someday.

Oh, and have I mentioned how much I love the satisfyingly therapeutic effect of sandblasting?

Now that I’m hanging on to the car I have to actually finally decide what I want to do for suspension. I mean, I know what I really want to do, but the nice shiny coilovers aren’t exactly in the budget. Gotta leave some $$ for event entry fees!

New shiny spinny bits. Now I’m just waiting on a few more parts, then I can torque everything down and drive away.

In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon (Forum Supporter) :

2 notes, please change the oil and toss that fram, and put a dab of antiseize on the axle stub and thank me later. 

In reply to Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) :

Noted! Fwiw, The orange filter is on there because it was on the shelf and I needed something to hold the oil in while is sat in the garage all winter, so don't judge me too hard :P

BlueInGreen - Jon (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) :

Noted! Fwiw, The orange filter is on there because it was on the shelf and I needed something to hold the oil in while is sat in the garage all winter, so don't judge me too hard :P

 

I understand that. The 2.2 I'm dealing with died a fram death, so it's fresh on my mind. 

Ok, so I spoke too soon.  That rubber mount that had disintegrated is (was) actually built into the bracket and a new OE bracket costs something like $90.

So:

Let's salvage the metal sleeve from the old mount.

Cleaned up it looks like something we can use!

Found some rubber that seems like a suitable consistency. $$free

A couple minutes on the lathe, press it together, and we have a mount!  We'll have to wait to see how long it lasts but it's better than nothing.

Waiting for parts, at least the Neon has good company.