I haven't been getting very far on the Volkswagen this week while I've been ripping apart that new Neon R/T I got. I have managed to paint some of the engine tins, generator and generator stand.



Parts arrived today for the car as well. Including a new Bosch 009 distributor, wires, and plugs.. plus a few seals that I needed.

Thanks to a local member of the Twin Cities VW club I now have the so needed seats for this Beetle. They are 60's style Low Back seats with a matching style backseat. They will probably be reupholstered with RED vinyl material. Should really offset the green nicely.

Finally got to work on putting the engine back together with a ton of new parts. Installed new 1680cc engine kit, and some new seats along with a bunch of painted parts. Starting to look good.. should look even better when its done.

I sold my 1996 Dodge Neon Sport Coupe today. I have had this car for 8-9 months and it was perfect. Absolutely perfect. Had 196,000 miles and it looked like it was brand new.

Here are the pictures I took just before the new owner came and drove it away.



Hi.



I had the original window sticker.







I had put in the original quickstart guide that came with the car.





Goodbye.

This is the progress for today. Since today was the only day we have slated for it not to rain. I decided I should work on this and put off working on the Beetle's engine.

Amazingly this has been the fastest I've ever done a job on a Neon. I had my Dad working with me on this one, and between us.. we've each done a headgasket and timing belts ourselves. So doing this one together and it was fast.

We pulled the manifolds, belts, headgasket.. etc. In about 2-3 hours. I know some of you can do whole headgasket R+R in that time.. but this was pretty quick for us. (especially on a P/S & A/C equipped Neon).

Also replaced the tails, pulled headlights, and removed the black paint from the wheels.











I put the motormount back on, and the wheel. Its susposed to rain tomorrow and I didn't want them getting rusty. I also put garbage bags over the engine and other open spots so it doesn't get water in it.

I picked up this Neon for $400 (I overpaid) with a broken timing belt. It has every feature except probably ABS, which you don't really need. Lights package, keyless, sunroof, power everything.. etc. I could have gotten it for $200, but the person trying to fix it included a timing belt, water pump, tensioner, and idler. Which I guess is good for an extra $100 (but $200?).

Its a black R/T to match my existing R/T, but debaded and stripeless. The previous owner did a lot of crap to it. Some of it looks good, but is not my style. All the turn signals and taillights have been blacked out. The power mirrors replaced with BMW style manual ones with integrated turn signals. APC projectors.. painted the R/T wheels black.. etc.

It does have a 3.0L intake.. which will be replaced with an Iceman and Battery tray. It has a stock exhaust manifold (uncracked!) to a stock cat.. which goes to a full Flowmaster system with two mufflers and a 3" tip. Hopefully it doesn't rub, and sounds good.. and doesn't leak! Looks pretty nice.

Here are the pics!





After the wheel and hub broke free from the car while it was driving.. the driver kicked the car (as we have heard).



Luckily.. its in the area that will be easy to pound it out from behind. There is one area where it is creased slightly. That spot will hopefully be unnoticeable.. but still there when done.



I don't know why.. but this door panel was broken in half. Perhaps the speaker system he put in for the car stuck out too far and he broke it taking it off.

Getting new door panels from a member here.

Chipdogg will be getting me a R/T wheel to replace the steel wheel that came with the car. They will be stripped of their black paint.. and most likely need to be powder coated.

Sunroof is off the track, or out of alignment. Hopefully just out of alignment. But I am an expert of sunroof repair now after working on them. It would be cool to try that $2.00 sunroof repair on the tracks.

Well. Rather than pull out the body and start body work, I decided to start on the engine instead. I spent about 10 hours working on it today. I started with the full assembly and got it down to block / rods with only a few problems.

The shrouds were very rusted and it took quite a bit of work to get them all off. Some of the bolts snapped, and they will need to be extracted. The entire thing was packed with cotton and mouse nestings. They had filled up the fan shroud pretty extensively, and it would have been a huge problem had I run the engine like that. I'm glad I decided to tak it apart!





The engine will be getting new pistons and cylinders next week, and all new hardware. Will be going 1680cc with the dual Kadrons and header.. lighter pulleys and a few other performance mods. It should breath new life into this little 60HP engine.

Installed new brake cylinders, pads, and springs on the rear brakes today. Nothing special there, but it needed to be done.



Also got the pedals, and master cylinder installed. Ready to run all the brake lines and then get on to working on the body!

Got the transmission back on the chassis today with all new hardware and mounts. Also put on the clutch return spring, and new cables and bushings. Then I got the axles back into place after having to rebuild one of them again. Its all buttoned up with new hardware.

Everything got buttoned up today. The rear suspension is all backtogether and the chassis is rolled out in the driveway to get some more paint and some seam sealer. I also threw the fisheye lense on the camera to get some cool pictures.