During some testing of these fixes, the muffler kept falling down. Also, some bailing wire was wrapped around the exhaust in a couple of spots and wired to the floorboard, to hold the pipe up, if it broke again. For now, the damaged exhaust section was cut out, and replaced with some flex pipe. I replaced or repaired them all, and filled the voids with Window Weld. After a very loud ride home, I discovered that some noises I'd been hearing were from the motor moving around due to trashed motor mounts. Mid-summer, we (my wife and I, she co-drives) took that car to National Trail Raceway, and promptly broke the exhaust. I got a skidplate from a fellow racer who did not need it anymore, and modified it a bit to allow for more air to get into the engine compartment while the car is sitting in the grid. This allowed me to concentrate primarily on handling and making the car more durable.įor the durability factor, not much had to be done. PF is somewhat limited in what you can do to the drivetrain, and honestly, the rules favor turbocharged cars, so in its original incarnation this year, then engine has been left completely stock. Why a Neon? Partially inspired by GRM's project Neons, but mostly because I have friends who have rallied and rallycrossed them for quite a while, so there's a large pool of knowledge (and spare parts) for me to tap from. The intent was to build it into a PF-class car for this year's rallycross season, so most of the bugs could be worked out of the suspension, then during this coming winter, transform it into an MF-class monster. I've been rallycrossing for years, but this is the first vehicle I've built specifically for rallycross (at least that has actually made it to an event). For its miles and age it was in pretty nice shape, and practically rust-free, which is a little hard to find here in Ohio. Its a 1998 Dodge Neon Sport Sedan, purchased with about 209K miles, from the original owners. Bought the car and started working on it earlier this year, but decided its time for a build thread.
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