I’m going to try to do an update without getting into a huge diatribe about what’s happening in my life. That’s what planetkris is for anyway.

Now back to the show! Compression test is done. I have 180psi in all four cylinders. The rear suspension is done. The tip that Chris wrote me worked. After having the boys over at Town Fair Tire take a crack at them with the torch, James returned with them last Sunday. Gobs of anti-seize later, they are back in. Christine and I worked all last weekend getting the bushings in. To my astonishment - I realized that I don’t have a rear sway bar.

I’m serious - I thought all cars had them. I thought the Neon had one. I’ve been under the car how many times?? Only now do I realize this?! So, I added that to the list of things that I have to get at the junkyard this Saturday. I even have a nice new set of bushings for them!

Home Depot is my kind of race store. I think if they tried a little harder, they could dominate the street touring market with a selection of hardware re-branded for car enthusiasts. Gutter guard? No, no - “Bumper Screening.” PVC Pipe? Ah, yes - “Intake modification.” Are you going to buy a $3 hose clamp at AutoZone, or get 3 for a dollar at The Home Depot? No brainer. They just need to start carrying METRIC hardware. I know some do, but not all. Embrace the metric system people! Fractions were never fun in third grade and I still don’t know (nor care) if 3/8″ is bigger or smaller then 1/2″. 8 is more then 2 goddamnit!

*cough. Ahem. From the aluminum angle stock I purchased at the HD, I fabricated some bad ass mud flap mounts. Stainless hardware is the way to go here. Now she’s ready for some truck sized flaps. This weekend I have some more finish work to do. Bleed brakes, flush coolant again, paint front bumper, finish wiring, etc.

Almost forgot! I bought some bling. Every car should have clear headlights. I hate the frosted, gel, headlights on the Neon. I found that a lot of other people do too! So I picked up a set of these from neoncars.com for a lot less then some other dealers had them for. Go Froogle!

We gave up on the rear suspension halfway through the weekend. The ten inch bolt that goes through the rear knuckles is frozen solid. I called James at work and told him to source not only the bolts, but the rear knuckles. All of us took turns beating and bashing it with the sledge hammer.

We did beat the checklist down pretty hard. The front suspension is complete and back on. New struts, new springs, and new bushings. The old bushings had to be burned out and the parts cleaned before re-assmbly. Lots of bushing lube, anti-seize, and grease. I can’t wait to get the car back on the ground.

Saturday evening we buttoned up the motor, filled her with juice, and turned the key. Similar to the sound a cat makes when coughing up something unpleasant, the Neon hoarked and came to life. There was some scary rock crunching sounds that we found to be coming from the power steering pump belt being too tight. Once that was cleared up, we brought the motor up to temp and checked for leaks. The repairs we made to the radiator were successful.

Sunday was a more relaxed day. Flushing and adding radiator cleaner to the cooling system. Trimming some interior pieces that needed to be squeezed between the rollcage and the chassis. Zip-tie’ing wires up and out of the way. Checking bolt locations and tightness. Work has begun on the new foglight wiring harness, and James made some plans for the tools, jack, and tire that will sit in the trunk.

I have a good list of stuff for the next junkyard run we make. I have a list of parts that need to be ordered to finish up this “little” project. The Memorial Day goal is well within reach.

Kris’s Pics: April Garage Day Pictures from rallynotes.com
Sean’s Pics: April Garage Day Pictures from trunkmonkey.com

Last night James clicked a few shots with his phone cam, we closed the Trunkmonkey garage, and headed home. I’ve got a lot started on ze’Neon, but I have a long way to go.

We’ve got the front end stripped. Frame, engine block, and transmission - are pretty much all that is left in the car. 10 head bolts and the crank pulley are all that remain of the head gasket replacement. The oil looked good. The coolant looked awful. All the fluids are out and a heap of cat litter is on the floor soaking up the drips. I hope to have the head off, cleaned, and back together by Saturday.

The struts and bushings have arrived. The front suspension is now in a purple box in the back of the garage waiting for painting, cleaning, and re-assembly. The rear suspension still needs to be stripped out. This can all be removed with a 21mm, 18mm (steering ball joint), and 13mm (strut tops and swaybars) socket wrench. We could - “If we had to.” - replace the entire front suspension in a 20 minute service.

The engine wiring harness is now in James’ hands. I found that someone had used butt splices to hold the camshaft sensor plug on. There was exposed copper wire when I took it off the motor. I can only imaging what would have happened if the computer stopped knowing where the cam was. James will asses, re-solder and re-tape in order to survive rally conditions. He also needs to build a harness for the KC Daylighters.

My goal: Maine Forest Rally. I don’t yet see the light at the end of the tunnel - but I think we can pull it off. We press on…

I plan at some point to go back to school. When I do - it will probably be for an engineering degree. Electrical, mechanical, or technical. I figure this degree will be fairly easy to obtain after building and racing a car in one of the toughest motorsports on the planet. I know it will break, but I’m not sure why. Changing: “That’s gonna’ break…” to something like: “Based on the stress load to the cross member, that’s gonna’ break and smash up those bits there…” So much more technical.

I’m in the midst of designing underbody protection for the Neon. Skidplates are an essential crucial part of a good rallycar. Now I actually have some experience in this area. I designed and sold some for the Impreza. The first mistake in designing a skidplate is making it indestructible.

Modern cars get pretty destroyed in accidents these days. Just a 20MPH hit to the front end with crumple the nose of a car. This is done on purpose to absorb the impact of a crash. Skidplates are there to absorb and deflect the impact of rocks and terrain on a car. So taking a giant (3/4″ thick) steel plate and bolting it directly to the front end will take the impact of a giant rock on the road - and force it directly into the chassis. Bending frame goodness.

Take a thinner / lighter aluminum plate. Bolt it to a tubular steel frame and position it 2″ away from the front end you are trying to protect. Now - upon impacting the “giant rock”; The plate has a huge gouge in it, the left part of the steel tubes are crushed, and the plate is now warped and un-repairable. The unibody front end that it was tied to has survived with minimal damage. That’s the idea at least.

An aluminum 3/16″ thick front plate. Tied to spring steel supports that cover most of the front end back to the firewall. A 1/8″ thick aluminum plate from the firewall back to the front seat floor pans. This will be supported by boxed tubing sections bolted to the side sills. From there on I will use plastic. Yes. Plastics do make it possible.

Okay kids, open your engineering notebooks, and take this down. High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) & Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMW). You know that plastic that they make cutting boards out of? Well, it does a good job of keeping sharp rocks out of your gas tank. Great impact resistance, good operating temperature range, and it’s cheap. Like $30 for a 4′ X 4′ sheet of the stuff.

So now I’m making a list of parts and materials I’ll need to buy. I’m sure cutting, sanding, bending, and bolting will be in order. I’m also sure this won’t be the last set of skidplates I build.

Works cited: McMaster-Carr, plastics. McMaster-Carr, Plastic Material Comparisons. Machinist-Materials, Plastics Comparison Table Online Metal, plastics. Special thanks to the guys over at SpecialStage.com for providing the following answer to: “Skidplate Plastic?”