~July 19, 2009~
Went to the city on the weekend, and managed to score a full body kit for the neon from a guy on Kijiji for $400! My front bumper was all cracked to hell, so I thought that was a pretty slick deal. Test fitted everything, and had to do some slight modifying to get it to fit but everything went pretty smooth. The side skirts that he said were for a 95 - 99 neon, were molded from an 03 neon... they don't fit at all. Not even close. So I'm a little disappointed there, but the front and back bumpers still worked fine. Still has to be primed, painted, and cleared yet but looks decent so far. No wheel rubbing or anything so I'm pretty happy. Pics on page 2.
~July 12, 2009~
Well, this would be the new whip. Bought it for $1200, a steal I would say. Car was a little rough around the edges but mechanically pretty solid. 1998 Plymouth Neon, 2 door, 5 speed. After my wife wrote off my 2007 Ford Focus SE (full body kit, spoiler tinted windows underglow stereo system etc. etc.) a car with a manual transmission was a must have (she can't drive standards!). Anyway mods will be pretty limited as I don't intend to keep the car for more than a couple of years but so far I have...
Tinted the windows. Went with limo tint on all of the windows except the windshield. Did it myself and it turned out great, only cost me $35 too.
Put a stereo system in. The car came with a piece of sh*t $20 walmart deck, so that had to go. Luckily I had pulled the stereo out of the Focus before the insurance company got ahold of the car, so the car has a Panasonic full colour deck, Rockford Fosgate 325.1 amp, and 2 12" Kicker CVR subs in a custom Kicker enclosure. I couldn't figure out why the deck was set to put sound out of the front speakers only, but after I adjusted it to put sound out the rear I realized why. Speakers were blown, so I replaced them with new Pioneer 3 way 6x9's, courtesy of my sister.
Painted the steel wheels. The car came with the factory hub caps, which I think are pretty stupid looking, so I took them off and realized the steel wheels were rusted all to hell, so I spray bombed em. Turned out really good, they look brand new now! ($5 can of spray paint was cheaper than new/used rims too lol)
*CLEANED THE CAR!* It never ceases to amaze me how some people treat their vehicles. I realize it's not a Mercedes, but a good cleaning goes a LONG way. Headliner was covered in what looked like chocolate stains, floor was filthy, dash looked like it was pulled out of a river... anyway Armor All makes some wicked awesome products, between those and a shop vac that made a huge difference.
Painted the stock hood. Well the hood had alot of rust spots on it, so I sanded it all down, went and bought a professional air supplied spray gun a can of Dupli-Color Primer, Dupli-Color Black Paint, and Dupli-Color Clear Coat. (The stuff with the picture of the camaro on the front of the can, actual automotive paint) Awesome stuff, works great. It's already pre-mixed so it's ready to spray straight out of the can, you CAN thin it down with paint thinner but it's not necessary at all. Anyway for having never "professionally" sprayed anything (usually just spray cans, not a spray gun) I think it turned out really well. I put 2 coats of primer, 2 coats of paint and I'll put 2 coats of clear on tonight. For basically $100 I got a brand new hood. I still have a ton of paint left over so I plan on spraying a 2 tone on the car eventually, needs a new front bumper first.
Replaced the downstream oxygen sensor. On my way home from the city with the car the day I bought it, the check engine light came on. Plugged my code reader in and came up as the downstream o2 sensor. Got it replaced, car runs fine now, and check engine light is out.
Flushed the old junk oil and replaced the filter. Who knows when the last time the oil was changed, it was pretty damn black.
Topped up all the fluids. Radiator coolant was basically non existant, no washer fluid, power steering and brake fluids were not bad. You could tell it was a young girl that owned the car, didn't care about it obviously.
That's what I've done so far... I have some pretty neat looking dual halo black aftermarket headlights on order (ordered em last night) and some adjustable coil over lowering springs... supposedly you can adjust them from 1" - 4"... I can hardly wait! More pictures to come.
Anyway that's it for now. I'll post more pics when I get the hood back on the car. Later.
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Page 2 -- Exterior
Page 3 -- Interior
