neon questions, because im a noob at FWD

so, these are total noob questions i know, but being an almost total noob to neons and FWD stuff (other than basic repair and driving. i usually build trucks, corvettes, and mopars) i guess the noob questions are appropriate.

car is a 97 ACR thats been rode hard and put up wet. the more ive worked on this thing in the last few days, the more its needed. i bought it as a cheap to drive, cheap on parts car, and so far im not getting there. and i havent even made it out of the neighborhood yet!!! (another story....)

anyway, while doing the spindle/hub, cv shaft, brake caliper, rotor, and pads today, i found out why the motor felt so sloppy on my terst drive. the rear bobble strut is BROKEN. i didnt think that could happen. he snapped the shaft right at the end where it bolts to the frame. also, teh front motor mount is toast. it can move almost free will in any direction it wants to (except side to side, obviously).

so the questions on these:

1. Can i weld the bobble strut back together? it still moves in the body, its just broken in two.
2. when i had my mazdaspeed protege, i bought motor mount inserts ater my front and rear mounts had begun to tear. all i had to do was install, and forget about it. i see prothane offers a full set for the neon, for 33 from summit (unless someone can find them cheaper?). can i use them when the mount has entirely failed to repair the mount? the single new mount locally is 33 bucks and i liked my filled mounts n the mazdaspeed. made it much nicer autocrossing. inserts were in my plans anyway....

also, on the booger bushings: i installed the two up at the trans today, as there were no bushings or anything left in the shift cables. im not sure i have them seated fully. there still apperas to be about 1/8 inch gap between the "mushroom head" and the eyelet on the cable. the pin, on the other hand, is almost flush. is this right? anyone have a real good picture? my searching here and on google only showed me blurry, long view pictures of greasy booger bushings installed. just dont want one popping out going down the road and me loosing 22 bucks.

so, please empart thy collective wisdon on the neon noob.

thanks Michael

My bobble strut is $39 its a million times better than the stock hydraulic one plus they are all blown at this point.

The inserts work best on decent stock mounts. I make a solid steel front mount but its too much for a street car.

I use a 5/8s spark plug socket and hammer to seat booger bushings just make sure they are seated the pin should be almost flush with the top of the bushing

right now, im just working at getting this thing drivable. id like to put some miles on it to see what kind of shape the drivetrain is in. ive only put about 1/8 mile on it since purchase, so its pretty much unknown. im tyong NOT to spend much at this point. ifits solid, im brining it to the 2012 challenge as a mostly stock competitor on crappy tires, just to be able to say i ran at the challenge.

if its solid, ill probably buy a new bobble. got any specs on yours?

http://polybushings.com/pages/neonbobble.html

You need some give there or you'll rip the frame up after some hard launches.

If you've got a welder, go ahead and build something similar.

I do have a Mopar solid front mount for a Neon if you're interested. It would be free + shipping (USPS flat rate box)

I installed a set of booger bushings in my '02 with a large pair of pliers. was easy peasy

if you want cheap i'm sure someone would sell you a bobble strut for next to nothing... then wrap hose around the exposed portion of the rod with split plastic hose.

for the motor mounts... mine where dead also... I just filled the front one with windoweld... cheap and effective

i actually was able to find a set of inserts for 20 foe all 3. so they should be here friday. ill try your trick donalson, with the hose after i weld it back together.

hopefully tonight ill get a chance to work onmy build thread some.

michael