www.neons.org

I have this log on my local turbo dodge forum but it has crashed a few times in the last year. Every time I am afraid that I will have to build the whole log again so I figured I would post it somewhere else just in case. I love going through the logs here and getting ideas so since this seemed like a good spot. Plus the Shadow is the predecessor to the neon plus I do have some neon part integrated. :?

So here are the pages I have so far. I will up date as I go.

DJ

Some background:

In the summer of 06 I dropped a valve in my 89 Shadow cutting me short of the 300 WHP goals I had. Once the depression had settled and the counseling had ceased I pulled myself up off the ground and started planning something new. Earlier that summer I had picked up an essentially rust free 93 3.0l for 200 bucks and split the cost with Derek Beland with him taking the 3.0l drive train and me keeping the shell. My plans were to strip it and paint it b/c of the clear coat peal (still the plan as of current) and to either transplant my 8V or build a hybrid. After much thought and deliberation I decided to go with a complete 2.4 over the hybrid. Up till know I have just been collecting parts but this week I started the mock up so I thought it would be a good time to start a project log and keep you guys updated on the progress. So here it is.

This is the 93 Shadow in all it's clear coat peeled glory. Looks a little rough now but in a few months it will be gleaming



This is a 2.4l DOHC from an unknown year stratus. I picked it up for $100 from some body shop. It was pulled b/c there was no compression which I could care less about since I will be tearing it down and doing a complete rebuild. Currently on the menu are forged Wisecos with an 8.5:1 CR and .901 pins, stock T2 rods with ARP wavelocks, head studs, ported (cleaned up) head w/ stock valves (until I get the flow bench built then I will port another with OS valves), SRT-4 oil and cooling mods, and the standard machining like piston bore, torque plate hone, align bore, decked, blah, blah, blah. In this pick it is mated up with an A568 tranny with a T-Trac LSD insert. Down the road I will look at a quaiffe or OBX and A523 FD but this will do for now. Once again this is all for mock up so things are looking a little rough. It almost pains me to show these pictures.



This picture show the engine in the car with the level. First I leveled out the car side to side and front to back. Then I leveled the engine side to side. Once I finish the pass mount I will level it front to back and make the front mount.



Engine sitting in car.



The beginnings of the passenger side mount. I made a piece to fit the stock engine to engine mount piece. Tonight I will finish mating the stock Shadow mount to this piece to make a good passenger mount.

Finished passenger mount. I think it turned out well and it makes me feel for comfortable then the "too many neons" adapter with a long bolt in single sheer.

It started something like this............



and ended something like this....................



DJ

I have more or less finished the front mount. After a post on td.com I found the engine should be sitting at 13deg front to back. I set it for there and after all was said and done I ended up with a slant of 11deg which I think should do just fine. All I need to do on it is ad another tab to catch the bolt hole on the block that doesn't align with the tranny. I think I will drill the block out a bit more and tap it for a short bolt to tie everything together.



I also adapted my 8V header jig to fit the 16V flange and place the turbo where I want it for my equal length header. I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to get an equal length in but after a bit of fooling I think I have found something that should work. The turbo is angled at 50deg to the block and it fits in the space like it was meant to be. I just need to model up the exhaust to make sure it won't hit the header but I am pretty sure things should be good. I looks like it will clear the power steering on the exhaust side and the intake piping will clear the brake booster which were also concerns I had.

Here is the uncompleted model of the header. I just need to route the pipes to the flange which shouldn't be any problem at all. The rear plane simulates the firewall and they are tilted 11deg to the flange like my engine is.



Here is the 1/8" steel I bent and welded up to check the turbo placement. Everything looks real good so far.





The turbo is a Holset HE351 for those who didn't recognize it.

Last but not least I fabbed up some intercooler mount and fit the cooler in. Once again everything fit great. I will have to run the pipes on the outside of the unibody and up through where the evap can was on the pass side and where the battery/SMEC sits on the drv side. The intercooler is an XS Power with a 24"x12"x4" core. I will run 2.5" aluminum pipe from the turbo and 3" pipe to the TB. All polished of course.









DJ

I built a V-band flange to adapt the 4" pipe to the Holset. Well I didn't actually do it but I full intentions until one of our machinists whipped it off in half the time I could have done it in. Who am I to complain. ;D



Then I was able to fit the exhaust on and see if it would clear the PS pump. Well turns out it wouldn't so I had to move the turbo over to the drivers side 1". I also moved it a bit closer to the firewall just to give me a bit more room to rig up the WG actuator. All in all it turned out something like this.



With that taken care of I mounted the starter, took a few measurements and then finalized my header design. I am very happy I was able to get an equal length design accomplished. At first I thought I was going to have to go with a log again which I didn't want. It would be a shame with all my new found room without the stupid intake in the way. This is what I came up with and hopefully I will start building it in the next couple of weeks.





I also picked up a 65mm throttle body from a mustang. I really want to mount it on the passenger side but once again it looks like is going to take a bit of fooling. I have a couple ideas and hopefully one of them will work.

DJ

It was a roller coaster of emotions as I started assembling the header. During the week I had made all my cuts and position each runner and welded them together. Yesterday I need to finish up #2 and then started the task of getting them all to join in the collector. #3 and #4 went together great so I was happy, then #2 went on quite well and I was more happy, then #1 came along. In my model on the computer #1 and #2 join about the same distance from the flange as the rest. Well the difficulty came when I had no way of getting all the positions accurate between the individual bends so I had to eye ball each runner together. In the end #1 sat lower than it should have which made #1 and #2 join much too early. This is where the first major disappointment came. I finally got it all together and went to take the tacked on Turbo flange off so I could finish weld most of the runners first. That is when I noticed the the 2 bolts I was using to hold it to the jig wouldn't come out. I can't believe I over looked this on the model. And yet again more disappointment. Not having the turbo present I remembered those were the holes that weren't threaded (there are 2 thread, 2 not threaded on the turbo) which shed a bit of light on the situation. I was pretty sure I was going to have to assemble the turbo and header before mounting it to the head due to the space in that area. Well to make a long story short in the end it worked great and the turbo slides on and off with ease. So in all I am happy with it. I am just unsatisfied with the two runners making it not really an equal length but I'm sure it will still be better than a log header. Live and learn.

Header on my jig...........






On the engine, notice how far back #1 and #2 join ............




And this is why I spend hours making a jig. So everything lines up exactly like you thought it would ;D............




DJ

So wanna make some more oil pickup tubes and windage trays to help pay for you hobby...lol

Here is my intake design. This current design allows the 65mm TB to go around the alternator and exit on the passenger side reducing the amount of intercooler pipe I need to run as well as the complexity. It gives about 4.25l which is about 1 3/4 the displacement. I think this should be enough.



Here it is with 30 psi. Don't worry, the deformation is 100x greater than it will actually be. At the most deformed part is should only move about .45mm.



DJ

Well, for the most part I finished the intake. Just need to polish the bling back into it and it will be good to go. I'm pretty happy with the results. I would have liked to have it a little bigger on the #4 end to get the bend a little more perpendicular to the runners, but I don't think there will be any ill results. All I can say it is dang hard eyeballing a cut on a bend to get your piece in the right spot 15 inches away. The plenum is around 3.5l and I used a 65mm TB from a *cough* mustang *cough cough*. I used a 3" 16ga mandrel bent pipe and then one of the guys at work, who is a master with the break, bent me up a 3/16" piece to complete the plenum. Should be good and strong. Now I just have to mock up the IC piping and I can tear everything out to begin the body work. I am almost seeing the light ;D Here's some pics for y'all.























DJ

Finished the intercooler pipes. Well mocked up anyway. Still need to final weld, put the BOV on and polish but that can all be done without the engine in the car. I think it looks pretty good. The pipe from the turbo to the first silicone joint was a bit of a pig but besides that it went pretty smooth. Here's some pics as always.









Now it's time to yard the engine and begin the body work.....................I hate body work. >:(

DJ

WOW!!!! lookin good

I like all the CAD design..

I wanted to let more air into the IC without really changing the stock appearance. This is what I came up with. I'll just go sort of step by step with the pictures. I used Norton Speedgrip urethane adhesive to join the parts and Norton Speedgrip epoxy filler to shape things out. I used these because they are meant for repairing plastics like bumpers and they will bend with the bumper and not crack like fibre glass or bondo.

Here is what I started with.



Then I cut out the top and half the sides to move everything up and in a bit.



I had to section the top so I could bring everything inside the marker lamps.



Then I cut out the bottom to bring it in to match the top



Here's my hard to find donor bumper. Seems you can always find a 90+ ES bumper when you don't need it. Typical >:(



Most of the parts glued in. Still a couple pieces to trim and some left over holes.



Everything glued in and roughed out



Things always work great until the actual bumper gets in the way. Knew that was coming so that got the chop too.



And this is where I am now. I'm almost finished, just a few low spots to fill and a bunch more sanding.





So to wrap things up this is what things look like stock (my old shadow)



Compared to the much improved modded sucka




All in all a fun project. A heck of alot of work for how much extra flow I actually got but it kept things looking much more stock and much less ricey than getting an aftermarket piece or something.

DJ

I finished up the front bumper. I also positioned the muffler and cut out the back bumper to fit. To do that I needed to construct the back portion of the exhaust to situate it properly. The exhaust will be 4" to an electronic dump and then 3" back through 2 3" straight through magnaflow mufflers. For the E-cutout I will be using two window switches from an intrepid and using the current sensing portion of them so I just have to touch a button and it will open and sense when it is completely open then turn off. The same for closing.





Last night I patched up a couple holes in the firewall. I took out the AC and heater core. I figured I would only be driving it in the summer and heater lines are ugly so who needs it. And instead of the AC I will compromise and put in my power windows from the 8V. I mean c'mon, we live in Alberta ;D I also put out at least 8-10 fires as sparks shot onto the carpet underlay. It was quite an exhilarating patch job :-[. I think I found almost everything that would burn while welding a fire wall. Maybe that is why it is called a fire wall.......because everything behind it combusts in seconds and you would have a wall of fire.





Notice all the pulled back underlay. Some of it done quite frantically



I also started sanding one of the fenders and came to the conclusion that there is an easier way to get rid of all the paint. So I went and bought a gallon of aircraft paint stripper that should do the trick. I will be prepping this next week and then I will be taking 2 days off after the long weekend so I will have 5 full days to finish the paint job. I am nervous yet very excited to get this portion done. It will feel good to start assembling.




DJ

I spent 40 hrs (3 12 hr days and 4 hrs Friday night) and what does it get me?? A car with no paint. Some things just sound easier when you talk about them. Like hey, I'm going to paint my car. O well, tomorrow is primer then one more solid day of sanding and then paint. I can't wait for this to be done. It has been pure hell. I hate body work with a passion.





DJ

After close to 80 hours in 6 days I had everything stripped, sanded, primed, blocked and the plastic/misc pieces painted. Then when I went to prime the few bare spots after blocking the car something went wrong with the primer and it brought everything to a quick halt. But the problem is figured out now (hopefully) and there isn't too much repair/sanding that needs to be done to rectify the situation so it looks like I will be finishing things tomorrow when it is a bit warmer. Here are some pics so far. The color is exactly what I was looking for. Pretty much looks black until the sun hits it then it is a deep deep blue. I think the whole car is going to look awesome.

Car goes in as some bare steel and minor bondo.....



And comes out a nice flat grey. I gotta say by this point I was very tempted to leave it in primer. I think flat grey is the next greatest thing ;D



First one to find enough part for a complete Shadow wins ::)



Luckily I kept going because this color absolutely rocks. Unfortunately it will be showing some of my inexperienced body work but there will only be a couple waves. Nothing major. But I don't care. So far I am quite happy with the turn out. I think the front bumper turned out great too.





DJ

Painting is FINALLY DONE !!!!!!! ;D ;D ;D ;D

There are a few runs and sags but that is to be suspected with the lighting and ventilation I had and it's nothing a bit of wet sanding won't cure. Par for the course with a garage job. O well, it will just force me to color sand it. Here are some pics from tonight. I'm getting sent to San Francisco for a few days so I will get some pics in the sun on the weekend. I think it turned out pretty good given the circumstances though. I pretty pleased with it.

Before the clear.



and after



mmmmmmmmm............no more painting......



DJ

Well, I'm finally starting to put stuff on the car that I don't have to take off again. That feels good ;D

I cleaned up a K-frame I picked up at the wreckers and installed that with some konis and my Eibachs from the last car. I am excited to finally drive with some struts and shocks that can keep up with the springs. When I went to put the larger piston calipers and 11" discs it donned on me that I didn't have any caliper mounts for the cast control arm so I will have to pick some of those up later before I can get the brakes on (hope I spelt that right Rob ). And for the pictures as always.

Mmmmmmmmm Knois........Eibachs.......first one to spot the magic tool to getting a car back into the garage from a sloped driveway when by yourself wins a prize.......though I'm not quite sure what the prize is. I gotta say it's been a life saver though.







Since I couldn't get the brakes done I started color sanding and getting rid of all those pesky garage job runs in the clear. The thing is gonna shine when it's done though ;D and show every mistake I made :-\ but it sure looks a hell of alot better than when I started.





Still a long ways to go though but assembly does feel good. I'm hoping to get the hand brake done soon and then I can start putting the interior back in.



DJ

Did some buffing after some long hours of color sanding. When I did a test spot on I was afraid I was going to have to hit the wet sandpaper again because I could still see scratches. Well after some reading I upped the speed on the buffer and did a few more passes. Well I can't say all the sanding scratches are out but you can only see them under the proper light and heck a) it's still a dodge shadow and b) it's not a show car so chances are it will get some scratches once I start driving. Final conclusion is it's good enough for me. If I ever feel like it later I can hit it with some more 2000 grit but I spent enough time on it for now.

For those who don't know what color sanding is, it's when you sand down all the texture (and in my case some runs and sags) so you have a flat surface. In my previous pictures you can see one where I have sanded the back but not the front. The finish turns dull as you cut down the clear coat. I believe it is called color sanding b/c it used to be done on the old single stage paints that didn't have any clear coat so you were actually sanding the color. Now if I do sand into the color I have to re-clear the whole panel because it is ruined in that one spot. Once all the sanding is done (I went through 1000, 1500, and 2000 grit) you buff it with an rotary buffer to bring the gloss back. In my case I am using Meguiars products and have currently done the hood with a #84 cutting compound with a wool pad and then a cutting foam pad. Later I will follow up with two more less aggressive compounds to bring out even more shine.

In this pick you can see the difference between the buffed side and the sanded side. This is after only the wool pad and the #84 compound. The second pick was the test panel I did with the two lighter compounds though I will be using different ones for the whole car. Once again you can see the contrast from the hood to the fender which isn't polished.





Here is the hood last night after using the wool pad and the foam pad with the aggressive compound. Still more shine to come. I am quite excited to see the whole car. ;D (sorry for the poor garage lighting and dust spots on the camera)





DJ

If you are actually reading this here is the neon part


Neon Hand E-Brake in a Shadow how to:

Parts needed:

Neon hand brake
Neon center console
Neon shifter. (need to merge this with the Shadow shifter to get the boot mounts)
Hand brake mount from a Daytona
Short radio bezel from some newer Shadows
Hand brake cables. I used ones from a Daytona but they were a tad long. I didn't try it but I would be willing to bet the cables from a Neon would fit almost perfectly.
A welder preferably not TIG. It sucked like no tomorrow trying to operate a foot pedal, torch and feed wire while sitting in the back of a car. I could think of better things to do with my time. >:(

1:

Cut off the center console mount welded/brazed to the floor of the Shadow. Be careful not to cut through the floor b/c it is a royal PITA to patch up..........so I've heard....... ::)



2:

Cut the rear of the Daytona hand brake mount leaving enough to reach the rear mounting bolts on the car when things are lined up. Also cut off any un-needed parts.



3:

Take measurements from the neon as to the placement of the hand brake and the cable mounts with respects to the shifter. Also note I had to move the shifter forward 1" in my car to get the center console to line up with the seat hump properly. Drill a couple holes in the rear plate to position the hand brake. I personally welded the bolts on so I didn't have to worry about them.

I haven't done this step yet but now might be a good time to cut the top of the Neon shifter off, do the same to your Shadow shifter, and weld the Neon top to the Shadow bottom. This gives you the Neon boot mounts which will help you line up the shifter. Hope that makes sense since I don't have a pic of that step.





4:

Once everything is lined up to your satisfaction, cut the ridges just behind the hand brake and bend the back down so the cable mounts touch the floor. Then make a strap that will bolt through the rear 2 slots and weld that to the floor. Remember to leave enough play in the bolt holes to be able to remove it after you tack the strap down. You can also see in the first pic the plates I welded on which will line up with the back 2 screw holes in the neon Console to secure it down. 2 more plates will have to be welded to the front shifter mount piece for the same purpose in the front.





5:

You're pretty much done. Bolt everything up and throw it together. If you did everything right the Neon center console should pretty much fit like a glove. When I was test fitting it with carpet about the only real thing I could see was maybe heating up the front corners and bending them in a bit but that was just for fit and finish. The other thing is you need to use a short radio bezel from some of the later Shadows so the Neon console will fit underneath. This too fit like a glove when I tested it in a car at the wrecker.







Hurray..no more stupid foot brake ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

DJ

Finally I get to do the fun stuff. I'm starting to assemble the engine which starts with checking the bearing clearances. This is the first time I have done it myself the proper way sans plastigauge. For those who haven't done it this way it involves using a bore gauge to measure all the bore IDs and then a micrometer to measure all the journal ODs (ID= inside diameter, OD = outside diameter). I only had access to a 2"-6" bore gauge so with the rod journals being less than 2" I also utilized a snap gauge which you set to the desired ID and then measure with a micrometer. This method does add another factor of error since you are getting the error off the snap gauge and the error off the micrometer. It is also harder to get the snap gauges perfectly in the center of the bore. Once you have your bore ID and journal OD you simply subtract the OD from ID to get your bearing clearance. When doing mine I rounded everything to .0005" only to find after the fact I needed to get as close to the .0001" as I could so I will be checking everything again with a little more precision. Even at that all clearances came between .002-.0025" so I'm sure they will be OK. As always here are a but load of pics to go with the story. I personally love pics in a thread which is why I post so many. I feel they clear up alot of the fuzzy areas. ;D

Bare block all nice and clean


Plugged oil feed to the balance shafts. I used a 5/16" set screw since I felt the feed hole was a little big for my comfort to tap it for a 1/4" set screw.


I asked for main studs from the machine shop and they purchase studs for a 2.0l which are a little shorter than the 2.4l. I unthreaded them 5mm which still gives me 20mm of thread engagement so I am sure things should be fine. Also the machine shop obviously didn't see any problem in using them since they were installed to line bore the mains and I trust their judgment. I was a bit worried about the stud turning when I torqued them down but once snug with some moly lube I took note of where the writing on each bolt was before being torqued and none of them moved at all so things look good.


When you check your clearances you need to make sure everything is torqued down so the bearing deformation is where it will be when assembled.


Long story with the Wisecos but long and short of it is they sent me pistons with SRT4 pins instead of the .901s I asked for so I decided to just purchase some SRT4 Eagle rods with 3/8" hardware which should keep things safe past 500hp.


The SRT4 oil pumps have a possibility of cratering above 350 hp from the harmonics in the crank shaft so I bit the bullet and purchased some DCR billet pump gears to install. I figured I would be pretty *a#S!d^f* if I cratered my engine just because I wanted to save a couple hundred bucks. The stock ones are made from powdered steel and are much weaker than a billet set. The DCR gears also have a little looser tolerances built in to keep them from binding if there were some unwanted vibrations. The billet gears are currently discontinued because they are stronger than you will ever need but a local guy was selling a new set for the less than it would cost me to get the current production modified gears from DCR so I thought it must be a sign.




Dial bore gauge used to check the bearing IDs






Snap gauge I used for the rod IDs




Checking the crank journal ODs with a micrometer


That's it for now. Hopefully I will have the engine together early next week ;D

DJ

The motor is almost complete. Here are a couple pics of the ports on the 16V. I didn't do a whole lot. Just gasket matched and cleaned up the casting. I also clean up the CCs and took away a bit of material to get to a 8.5:1 CR.







A pic of the Eagle rods and Wiseco pistons. On the bench and in the engine. Pretty much looks the same as every other Eagle/Wiseco combo.







Apparently there can be issues with the stock oil pick up cavitating with higher RPMs so DCR offers an upgraded pickup. Well it didn't look too complicated so go figure I made my own. I took a 1" stainless tube, crimped the end down with our hydraulic hose crimper and then turned it on the lathe to the proper OD. Then I bent it a welded it to a new piece that one of our machinists made up for me. Turned out pretty good. I did end up being about 1/16" or so too long (oops) so I had to flatten the bottom a bit. Still much better than the stocker.









I also made a windage tray in the absence of the balance shafts. Once again you will see some similarities with the DCR piece. I used the balance shaft bolt holes for mine and I don't currently have a crank scraper. I may make one next year but I don't see it as being a necessity.





And her is the block with the MLS HG and a bit of copper spray and then how she sits now. Just waiting for me to return to finish it off and finally get it in the dang car ;D





That's it for now. The next pics should be of a complete engine with a shiny turbo and intake.

DJ

Looks great!

Usually around the beginning of October to the end of January I start putting in remote starters on the side to help pay for my hobby. Unfortunately this takes away from any time I have to actually work on that said hobby. Needless to say I haven't had an update since September because I haven't had any time to do anything worth while. I have been doing some polishing which takes for ever and doesn't give you anything to show for it. Here is the compressor housing I finished. Tomorrow I will finish welding the vacuum ports to the intake so I can finish polishing that. I just want a picture of the complete engine on the stand and I have to do all this anyway.



Today I made my first set of Polyurethane mounts. This is the first time I have ever worked with poly and it didn't go too bad. The only tip I would give is make sure the two parts are completely mixed before pouring. Mix them for a long time and when you think you have mixed it enough mix it for that long again. I had one batch not thoroughly mix and it created a decent mess. Trying to get all the uncured poly out after was a PITA also. Here are the finished products and how I made them.........sort of.

The structure I build for the passenger mount and the gutted out front mount.





I used the factory mounts to create some jigs for the two engine mounts to position things while I poured the poly. I also wanted a clean look on both sides so I used some cardboard covered in duct tape to stop the first layer in the middle so I could flip it over and get a finished look on both sides. The tranny mount was difficult for this since I tried only using duct tape. It created a bit of a mess but in the end didn't turn out all too bad. Lets just say I am only taking a picture of one side for a reason. Both engine mounts turned out pretty good though.





The finished product.



This is the polyurethane I used. It is a Smooth-On product called Smooth Cast. It is 60D 2 part polyurethane that I added blue tint to for some colour. I purchased it at Viking Plastics in Edmonton and you can get it in these convenient small packages or by the gallon. If I hadn't screwed up with my one batch of poor mixing I could have completed all the mounts with one package. I only used a small amount of the second package to fix my error.



DJ

Looks very very nice, good clean profesional build!

x20 REALLY nice work.

Incredible - amazing fab work. You're doing all this by yourself - WOW, I'm impressed.

Wow, I LOVE this. Great work all around. Plan on ever coming Saskatoon way with this car?

Do you have a set of Fiberides?

Thanks for all the compliments. It has definitely been alot of work and still will be alot more but I think the car will be sweet in the end.



Not really looking for more work right now. Just trying to get this project done. I also kind of copied the DCR stuff so I would feel right making money off their design. I put in remote car starters to fund everything which is why I've had no time lately to get anything done. Things should slow down soon and I expect to be driving by spring.



I kind of have to do most of it myself since they don't make much for Shadows. I guess you could sort of call this a custom project as well



You never know. I do have family in Moose Jaw. Saskatoon is on the way.



No Fiberides. It wasn't a Shelby. If you're taking about the rims in the pics they are 14s that came with the car. I think they're pretty ugly and am a little embarrassed to have them on the car for pictures. I am using polished pumpers and will probably get some aftermarket rims when the rubber on those is gone. I was thinking a set deep bronze 18s with a polished lip would look sweet with the blue. You can see the pumpers a bit in this pick.



DJ

Ya if you heading towards Saskatoon, make a stop in North Battleford, love to see it in person.

badass build !!

really nice car man !!

Well, there's a better chance of hitting Battleford. My parents have to move to Prince Albert in the spring so I'm sure I will through there a few times. Just depends what I'm driving.

DJ

WOW Lots of nice builds going on right now.
I like the tray and the pick up. Im going to PM you on something if you dont mind.

What did they do to deserve that? LOL Drop in regardless, Ill buy you a beer.

Nice build. What no plastigage?

lol. My dog ate it??

What a fantastic build!

Thoroughly enjoying it.

Keep up the awesome work!

Wow, simply wow. You got skillz!

-KC

Gorgeous car and build.

Mike