Put more paint on the car than what you breathe in, or you end up 90% complete and looking like this for months waiting for warm weather again!

Seriously though. I paid one dollar for this car because my buddy saved a ton of cash on a new truck and he took pity on me and didn't want to charge me the previously agreed $500 price.

Over a 2 year course of ownership, I have upgraded the following parts:

Accel ignition coil and spark plugs
165 degree thermostat
Friction Master Ceramic Brake pads
Perfection Clutch
Dynomax 2.25" Exhaust
Gabriel Shocks and Struts
Dayco belts

I have replaced the following as a result of normal wear:

Brake rotors
Engine Mounts
Wheel cylinders and wheel bearings front and rear
Headlight assemblies
Air, Oil and Fuel filters
Tie rod ends
Timing Belt and tensioner

Freshly installed:

Power Steering pump
Water pump
Top end gasket set
PORT AND POLISH JOB
Valve job
Belts
Catalytic converter (still have to pass smog check)
EGR Valve, PCV valve

As a result of fiddling with stuff and chasing new vacuum leaks and detecting a "miss" during mid-range RPM, I found a spark plug had worked its way half out and my distributor was loose. Hmmm - I guess those guys that say it is dangerous to teach a Mopar TBI to go fast might be right. I managed to get the plug back in and re-set the timing to a happy place.

Total investment of around $1400 over 28 months of ownership is about a $50 per month cost. Beats any new car...

This is what it originally looked like under the hood when it was new.

I gave it a basic tune up - cap, rotor, plugs, wires, PCV valve, belts, air and oil filters, oil change and checked the timing. It ran decent, but promptly needed a MAP sensor and a piece of vacuum line - which turned into ALL of the vacuum lines needing replaced. That gave me a car that ran like new, with all of 93 hp and could top out at 85 mph with 22 mpg.

How Sad.

Great for groceries, but then... Add an Accel ignition coil, colder range spark plugs, lower range thermostat, 8mm Bavarian Motorsports wires, short ram air (removing stock filter for one in picture), advance timing a few degrees, seal the airbox and bore out a TBI pressure regulator and 93hp stock becomes 125hp - my way. Top speed now 110 mph and it gets 27 mpg highway and 24 city.

When you need cool air, there is only one way to get it - with a grinder and some bolt in plastic parts!

Prepping for paint.

When you pull tight into the tiny garage, try not to rip the bumper off. Unless you need to get in there to paint anyhow, then it seems like destiny.

Be sure to check out my other cars in my garage, including a pair of BMW 528e cars and a Maserati 422.