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Posted by: nstenz April 20, 2005 - 11:32 am

nstenz - Turbo 2.4L Stratus Build Up Project Log

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http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/nstenz


Current Specifications:

Body
1997 Dodge Stratus, base model
Paint: Viper White

Suspension
'97 suspension components
'99 shock absorbers (Koni Adjustables are sitting in the garage)
Eibach Pro-Kit lowering springs
Adjustable front upper ball joints
Dreamspeed rear sway bar

Engine
'99 Chrysler 2.4L DOHC block (0.020" overbore) and cylinder head
Stock '99 valvetrain
'99 aluminum intake manifold, port-matched
Wiseco forged aluminum pistons, 8.6:1 compression ratio
Mopar Turbo II cast iron rods with oil squirters, machined to fit 2.4L crank and pistons
Balanced '99 2.4L crankshaft assembly
'03 Neon SRT-4 oil pan, oil pickup tube, oil pump, water pump, and timing belt tensioner
'99 2.4L intake with rear resonator box removed (doesn't clear manual transmission)
Deyeme Racing "Flex" filled urethane engine mounts
'99 2.4L Powertrain Control Module

Transmission
'95 Neon NVT-350 5-speed manual, 3.55 final drive with 0.72 5th gear (for better highway mileage)
'95 Neon non-modular flywheel
Clutchmasters Stage 4 clutch
Booger shifter cable bushings

Misc.
Tinted windows (done by the previous owner)
Blue LED lock/window switches


I've rebuilt my '99 2.4L block with some new goodies and bolted a manual transmission to it. The new stuff went into a '97 shell I purchased to put them in. The engine internals should support 300+ HP easily.

The car is currently running naturally aspirated with stock components. I'll be using a MegaSquirt to handle the fuel and spark, and keeping the stock PCM for all of the accessories it deals with (I need it for my gauge cluster to work, for one). Once I have that installed, I'll be putting the turbocharger in.


(FYI- For anybody thinking about doing this, I've already spent around $5000 just to get to this point, and I did almost all of the work myself.)


Best 1/4 mi. time so far: 16.5 @ 84 MPH (non-turbo)

Posted by: nstenz April 20, 2005 - 11:53 am

06/14/2002: Before the accident



1999 Dodge Stratus

About 78,000 mi. on the clock.

Dreamspeed rear sway bar
Dreamspeed strut tower bar
Dreamspeed short ram intake
17x7 Team Dynamics motorsport wheels
Kumho 225/45 ZR17 tires
Eibach springs
A bunch of stereo stuff

All around, a fun car to drive.

Posted by: nstenz April 20, 2005 - 11:57 am

06/15/2002: Accident

I got hit by what appeared to be a '93 or so F-150 on a nice Saturday morning while on the way to a car show.
I pinched a fingertip and sprained my wrist, and whiplash permanently screwed up my neck.
Julia was also in the car with me. She had whiplash as well and a severely bruised foot from it hitting the dash (because her foot was resting on her seat when we were hit).
We were mostly OK, but the car didn't take it so well.

Posted by: nstenz April 20, 2005 - 12:06 pm

06/??/2002: Bought '97 Sebring convertible



I didn't have another car to drive, so I was borrowing my girlfriend's green '79 Bonneville with cream-colored top. It was ugly and handled like crap. She bought from her grandpa for $250. It was a car and I needed a car, so I drove it. I didn't really appreciate being in that situation too much.

I looked around the area for another Stratus to buy, but I couldn't find anything decent at the time. There were several Sebrings for sale though. I decided to check a few of them out. The '97 was in my price range, so I made an offer on it. I brought it home the next week.

Posted by: TunedStrat April 20, 2005 - 5:33 pm

I'd be glad to host a site for you. Just toss me a PM if you're interested.

I like the project log idea too.

Posted by: nstenz April 20, 2005 - 10:08 pm

Fall '02: Bought '96 Stratus

Drove to Michigan to pick up a wrecked car the engine was already taken out of. The frame's in slightly better shape than mine, so it may be usable. I think I paid around $300 for it- I don't remember.
(Update: The frame wasn't much better, but I sold/used enough other parts off the car to at least break even.)

Posted by: ntrain416 April 20, 2005 - 10:11 pm

Hey you switching the gas tank and the engine.

Posted by: nstenz April 20, 2005 - 10:12 pm

01/28/2003: Bought a suspension book

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?isbn=1557880557 (by Herb Adams)
I wanted to learn about suspensions to see what I could do to improve the handling of my Stratus. A friend of mine on the http://www.kettering.edu/ http://www.sae.org/students/formula.htm team said their suspension guy recommended it as a good beginner's book. Since I'm not building a car from scratch, most of the knowledge in it isn't useful to me for this project. However, the explanations of suspension geometry and the physics involved with getting a car around the track may help me improve my suspension setup a bit.

Posted by: nstenz April 20, 2005 - 10:19 pm

01/25/2003: Bought '97 Stratus

A Stratusphere member in the Chicago was selling his car for parts. He popped a coolant hose off while he was driving, and he was told the head is probably warped. Good car needs engine- sounds good to me. $750 later, I have a usable '97 Stratus.

Posted by: nstenz April 20, 2005 - 10:27 pm

04/2003: Gutted the '97

Pulled the engine out of the '97 and gutted the interior. Took the doors off, fenders, suspension, exhaust- It's pretty much stripped bare.

Posted by: nstenz April 20, 2005 - 10:28 pm

08/16/2003: Disassembled '99 head

Pulled the head off the '99 engine to make sure there's nothing wrong with it. Julia helped. I broke the crank damper pulley in the process. (Julia didn't help with that part.)

Posted by: nstenz April 24, 2005 - 6:50 pm

09/21/2003: Pulled '97 exhaust

Removed the remaining exhaust piping from the '97 so I can sell the Borla muffler that came with it.

Posted by: nstenz April 24, 2005 - 6:52 pm

02/07/2004: '99 engine disassembly

Pulled most of the accessories off the outside of the engine. Took the bottom end apart. Pulled out the balance shafts, crankshaft, pistons, and rods.

Posted by: nstenz April 24, 2005 - 6:54 pm

03/13/2004: Paint = Viper White

I spent some time looking at paint colors today and decided that Viper White would look better on a Stratus than the Stone White does.


I brought home a quart of it for $41.62 so I could paint my engine bay.

Posted by: nstenz April 24, 2005 - 6:56 pm

03/22/2004: Prepped engine bay

I unbolted everything that was left from the engine bay of the '97, cleaned it up, and masked everything off for painting.


I also learned that my pistons and rods were finally shipping and decided it would be a good time to get the FSM for my car so I could tear down and rebuild the engine properly. It was $106.31 from DC Publications.

Posted by: nstenz April 24, 2005 - 7:00 pm

03/25/2004: Forged pistons and turbo rods arrived

After over a month of waiting, my pistons and rods finally showed up. They look beautiful.
I'm using Wiseco forged aluminum pistons with a 0.020 overbore and cast rods from a Dodge 2.2L Turbo II (8-valve intercooled). The compression ratio is about 8.6:1, and the rods came with ARP bolts and CL77 bearings. I got them from http://www.bstockum.com/Wiseco.html for about $769 after shipping and handling.


Dad also painted the engine bay for me this week, and I did some touch-up spraying. I put a run in the paint by the strut tower. I didn't do too badly for my first time using a spray gun to actually paint a car.

Posted by: nstenz April 24, 2005 - 7:05 pm

04/17/2004: Repaired wheel well

The left rear wheel well had a nice scrape in it from the previous owner running into something. Dad showed me how to sand everything down and pull the dent, then smooth it out with body filler. Julia's brother helped, too (he's going to school for auto body repair).

Posted by: nstenz April 24, 2005 - 7:07 pm

05/10/2004: Block bored 0.020, honed, rings gapped

I dropped the block off to get cleaned up and bored 0.020 over for the new pistons. I also found out what I needed to do for them to be able to balance the rotating assembly in the engine. (They pretty much need everything from the bottom half of the engine that moves.) I don't have a manual transmission yet, so I don't have a flywheel to give them for balancing. I'll have to wait.

I assembled the rods and pistons and gapped the rings too.

Posted by: nstenz May 1, 2005 - 8:27 am

06/29/2004: Bought crank pulley; too bad it's broken

I broke some chunks off my crank pulley when taking my engine apart, as people tend to do when they don't understand how the pulley is connected to the crank. I purchased a used crank pulley from another Stratusphere member who has a UDP, after telling him it had to be in good condition. It wasn't. There are several chunks broken off of the pulley. It's not balanced anymore, so I can't use it. I'm out $25.90, plus I still need a new pulley.

Posted by: nstenz May 1, 2005 - 8:28 am

07/06/2004: New crank pulley

$81.59 after tax for the new pulley. I'm still pissed off about this.

Posted by: nstenz May 1, 2005 - 8:30 am

08/07/2004: Found a 5-speed transmission

Picked up an NV-T350 (3.55 final drive ratio) from a '95 SOHC Neon with only 44,000 mi. on it for $210. I'd been looking for quite some time, but couldn't find one with low miles nearby for a good price. This one finally showed up less than 10 minutes from my house. Since it's from a '95, it's non-modular- which means the clutch will be cheaper.

http://sun.science.wayne.edu/~jwaleke/trans/

I now have everything I need to have the engine balanced. I loaded it in the back seat of my convertible to take to the machine shop.

Posted by: nstenz May 1, 2005 - 8:32 am

08/16/2004: Dropped off engine for balancing

I confirmed with the shop that I had all the parts they needed and had Julia drop the engine off. The guy I talked to is off for the week, so nothing will probably happen for a bit.

Posted by: nstenz May 1, 2005 - 8:34 am

08/18/2004: Turbo compressor maps

While I'm waiting on the engine and don't feel like doing body work or spending more money on parts, I decided to try figuring out the best turbo for my application (with the help of http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?isbn=0837601606 and a lot of compressor maps found on the Internet). It's a pain in the rear.
I contacted http://www.hahnracecraft.com/ to ask for compressor maps for their turbos. They don't have them or won't give them to me. That's fine; I won't give them my money then. http://www.agpturbo.com/ looks like a pretty good source- they have a lot of useful information, post on Neon boards, and sell upgrade kits for the SRT-4 and PT Turbo. ("424whp on 93 octane pump gas" - Holy crap!) I don't like the log manifold they use on the SRT-4 upgrade kits, but I can get one from somewhere else.

Posted by: nstenz May 1, 2005 - 8:36 am

08/21/2004: Found good info on compressor sizing

I found a good link on turbo compressor sizing here: http://cybrina.mine.nu/MR2_Docs/compressor_flow_maps.htm
I also found a lot of good compressor maps and will attempt to re-plot my data on them.

Posted by: Stratuslowrider May 10, 2005 - 11:02 pm

Looks good Nick!! I remember the first meet I went to outside of SIM (Howell Automotive), and cruised with you guys to the show. Hopefully I will be able to get my engine build going and finished in time. Jon

Posted by: nstenz May 19, 2005 - 5:05 pm

08/22/2004: Compressor calculations corrected

I figured out that some of my calcuations used to get airflow for my engine were off, severly skewing my compressor map plots. I made an http://www.lowtech.net/nstenz/build/engine_airflow_calculator.xls to help me calculate tables of numbers I can use to plot points on compressor maps. I still don't know the volumetric efficiency of a stock 2.4L engine, or of a 2.4L with an 8.6:1 compression ratio, so I'm just guessing 90% for now. I re-plotted a Garrett T04E 50 Trim, and it's looking like a very good choice. I'll have to plot some other T04Es, bigger Garrett turbos, and the Mitsubishi 16G and 20G turbos to figure out which will work best.

Posted by: nstenz May 19, 2005 - 5:12 pm

08/24/2004: Added a lot of pictures

The shop called me today and left a message saying the engine is going to need new main bearings. I don't know if I should have them throw in stock ones or not. I'm looking at my options.

Here are some web sites with compressor maps available:
http://turboneticsinc.com/compressor.html?action=display - Garrett-based turbos; some technical info
http://turbocharged.com/catalog/compmaps/fig1.html - Garrett turbos
http://www.turbocalculator.com/compressor-map-list.html - Garrett, Holset, KKK, and Mitsubishi turbos

http://www.stealth316.com/2-3s-compflowmaps.htm - Info on compressor sizing for 3000GT / Stealth R/T owners. Has MHI, IHI, and Mitsubishi compressor flow maps (raw and converted to CFM). Good technical info and explanations.
http://www.turbobygarrett.com/turbobygarrett/images/garrett_inside/Garrett_Cat%207%2017%2013.pdf - This is a .PDF containing all of Garrett's turbos and compressor maps. The maps are all vector-drawn, meaning they can be set to any zoom level you like and still be extremely detailed. If you're looking for Garrett maps, get them from this catalog!

Garrett T04E 50-Trim map:

This one doesn't look too bad. I'm going to go plot all of the recommended Garrett turbos for my displacement and HP goal.

Garrett GT Ball Bearing Turbo sizing chart:

Posted by: nstenz May 19, 2005 - 5:16 pm

Yeah... It's been a while. You were probably one of the last people to see my car before I smashed it up. Hopefully this one ends a little better than the last one did.

Posted by: nstenz May 19, 2005 - 5:21 pm

08/25/2004: Useful info on turbo 2.4s

http://neons.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=181790
Somebody sent me a link to this. The turbo appears to be sized correctly, and I like the exhaust manifold design. However, I don't like the air having to do a 180-degree turn to get out of the wastegate, and that intercooler design is crap. The welds on the exhaust don't look too great either. It's not bad otherwise, though.
http://www.2gnt.com/www/files/2.4L/2.4L.htm
Info on the Mitsubishi (not Chrysler) 2.4L engine for 2G Eclipse/Talon guys. Has a balance shaft removal how-to and discusses internal balancing.
http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/engine/113_0309_srt/index.html (Hot Rod Magazine)
I think I had read this in Hot Rod previously, but I stumbled upon the web version today. Page 2 has some useful info about oil and coolant passages, with pictures.

Posted by: nstenz May 19, 2005 - 5:23 pm

08/26/2004: Engine balanced

I got a few calls from the shop today. I had mislabelled the intake and exhaust on my pistons. At least they can read, which prevents me from causing too much harm to my engine. They also asked me which way the oil squirters go. I said I had no idea and made an educated guess, but theirs was probably better. They decided to put them towards the thrust direction of the piston so there's oil on the cylinder wall there, since that's where the most piston friction is. That seems reasonable to me.
Anyhow, they called back and said it was ready to be picked up. Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to send anybody to get it until Monday.
I'd better start ordering new gaskets and whatnot so I can get the rest of it together.

Posted by: nstenz May 19, 2005 - 5:25 pm

08/28/2004: Bottom end assembled and in my possession

Julia was able to pick up the assembled block Friday afternoon. They threw it in the back seat of the Sebring (in a plastic tub). We then proceeded to drive to Chicago for the weekend. The block is still in there. The car handles like crap now with that big chunk of iron back there, and my already horrible brakes work even worse. I'm hoping to get the engine over to my parents' house tomorrow.

Buckle up for safety.

It cost me $482.13 for the balancing, assembly, and new main bearings. I guess that's not a bad price for making sure it's done right, and it's probably the only part of the car somebody else is going to assemble. With them having everything when they balanced it, I shouldn't need the balance shafts and should gain a small amount of HP. I would really like to use a smaller oil pan, though. I haven't been able to find one.

Posted by: nstenz May 19, 2005 - 5:40 pm

08/29/2004: Garrett GT28RS map

Garrett GT28RS 60mm, 62 trim, 0.60 A/R


I'm not sure what to think of this turbo. It's the one recommended for my application by Garrett's sizing chart. It looks like boost kicks in very quickly at low RPMs.
(edit - 11/14/04) The turbo is still 70% efficient at redline. It looks like the perfect size for 15 psi. It even has room to go up to 20 psi, although top end efficiency will suck. Rezlo thinks the power will be a bitch to control. I'm going to have a manual boost controller anyhow so I can turn the boost down.

I figure I should link the SCC article on the SRT-4 engine, too: http://www.sportcompactcarweb.com/projectcars/0310scc_projneon/
The HTML on that web page is horrible, though. I have my screen set to 1600x1200 with big fonts, and the article only uses half the width of my web browser when maximized. That pisses me off.

The block is out of the back seat. It's not as heavy as I thought it was- maybe 100 lbs. or so.

Posted by: nstenz May 19, 2005 - 5:58 pm

08/30/2004: Got 5-speed shifter

I've seen better packaging than what my shifter showed up in, but it was still in the box. I'm not sure if I want to send it out to get shortened now, or wait until I have the car running. Wayne attempted to start a short shifter group buy after getting his done, but nobody else seems interested right now.


Holy Frickin' http://www.neons.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=183757#1311213, Batman! (on the red ACR w/SRT-4 motor)
Who needs a bumper anyhow?
http://www.neons.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=183944
http://www.neons.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=183764
http://www.neons.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=176948 - topic I found on neons.org

Dad says we can probably cut some sidewall out of the oil pan to lower the capacity, then weld baffles in (and maybe a crank scraper). I've got a spare pan in case we screw up, so I'm willing to try it. Maybe I'll take a look at it this weekend.

Posted by: nstenz May 21, 2005 - 10:03 am

09/03/2004: Random stuff

http://neons.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=182663 - Not good.

I'm seriously reconsidering my former decision to remove the balance shafts. N/A 2.4 guys do it so it revs up faster. I won't have that problem with a turbo, and I'm concerned about reliability. I know it shouldn't matter much fully balanced, but the 2.4 has a loooong stroke.

Posted by: nstenz May 21, 2005 - 10:06 am

11/14/2004: Progress

I think I've finally got my part numbers for the SRT-4 oiling and tensioner setup straightened out. There are a bunch of conflicting part numbers on neons.org; hopefully I've got the right ones.

I talked to Rezlo for a while tonight. He recommended not using a huge turbo if I wanted to have traction. With a lot of power and traction, I'm worried about the half shafts, and the transmission. When I get to the point where all I have to worry about is traction, I think I'll be happy. He also gave me a link to the exact intercooler he's using, which is nice. He's re-worked his supercharger mount and charge pipes to be much cleaner. Check it out:
http://www.rezlo.com/Pages/Cirrus/Complete%202.JPG
http://www.rezlo.com/Pages/Cirrus/6g72%20new2.JPG

I'm going to try ordering the parts next week.

Posted by: nstenz May 21, 2005 - 10:08 am

11/22/2004: 2.0 SOHC Turbo - 400+ HP? Nice.

One of the Neon guys with a 2nd gen (http://www.theroachmotel.com/neon/) claims to be http://www.neons.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=194582 (on 103 octane) out of a 2.0 SOHC with a Precision GT35-S Turbo, a custom manifold, and a 3" exhaust. Damn.

Posted by: nstenz May 21, 2005 - 10:14 am

03/24/2005: Not much progress (no money - donations are always appreciated)

I haven't been getting much done the past few months- I've mostly been screwing around with cheap computers and writing code and such. I've been putting 10% of my income into savings every month, so that's 10% I can't spend on my car, which is making money a little tight.

I was able to dig through my tubs of parts last weekend and find almost everything needed to assemble the head (minus half the cam cap bolts). I finished taking everything off the intake manifold, and decided I'd try grinding down the casting flash on the outside of it. I figured it would look better, and I really wanted some practice before I attempted my first port matching job. I did the rough work on 2 runners and decided to stop for the night so I'd be able to feel my hand again.


I'm seriously considering cutting off the bottom end and having somebody TIG the throttle body upside down right where the runners start. It'll be stupid to have piping start from the intercooler, go left and up, then right and back down into the TB, only to be turned right again and back up. The runners start out reasonably merged, and I don't think I'll need much of a plenum with a turbo on there. I'll have to do some calculations on that.

Oh- I forgot to mention the book I got for Christmas- http://search.barnesandnoble.com/BookSearch/isbnInquiry.asp?isbn=1859604358. It's got all sorts of useful formulas without going into too many details about them- just good baselines without too much theory (all practical stuff the author learned while building engines and driving cars).

I found out that a Fel-Pro gasket set can be had for around $90, so I might start assembling the head until I have enough money for the accessories and gaskets for the block. I only wanted the intake manifold gasket for port matching, but I should probably get the valvetrain reassembled before I get the orders of the parts mixed up.

I guess I should bite the bullet and at least get a quote for the bottom end parts.

I just noticed I've been holding out on you guys. I have a few pictures online that I didn't add to the page. I've have the pistons and crank in for a while and never added the pic.


I also cleaned up the valves quite a while back. A wire wheel got most of the carbon off- I'm glad those things are chrome plated.


The exhaust valves have a lot of pitting around the outside- I'll probably replace those when the turbo goes on. I'm leaving the stock ones in until I get the engine running with the new bottom end.

Posted by: nstenz May 21, 2005 - 10:18 am

04/10/2005: Screw early retirement

I'm sick of the car not running, so I'm spending money. I don't know when I'll have the cash to finish the turbo setup, but I'm going to at least get the engine running again with the 5-speed in it.

Last week, I ordered the SRT-4 oil pump/pan setup, water pump, and tensioner. I'm also getting the transmission mounts, wiring, and freeze plugs. I'm talking to somebody about a pedal assembly and clutch cable. The only thing transmission-related I don't have right now is a clutch. I'll grab one when the engine is otherwise assembled.

I picked up a head gasket set yesterday. That ran me around $90 or so. I swore the kit said it didn't come with the head gasket, just all of the other stuff for the head- but it had that, too. I'd already ordered the MLS gasket from Chrysler, but oh well. Somebody will have a use for it.

The blue gaskets are purdy. I like blue.

I also picked up a metric tap and die set for chasing the threads on the holes for the head bolts. I couldn't find ARP studs anywhere around here, so I ordered some from http://www.import-racer.com/. I've never gotten anything from there before, but somebody on neons.org linked to it. I'll need to take the head apart again to replace the crappy pitted valves in there now, so I may just reuse the stock head bolts for a bit if the studs don't show up right away.

Other than that, I didn't get a lot of actual work done. I did find out that the rear head bolt hole between #3 and #4 #1 and #2 is way shallower than the other ones, and the bolt may be bottoming out there. I'm going to taper that one just to be safe. I also got my fuel rail cleaned up and painted- it looked like crap. I want to do the same to my valve cover, but I have to get all of the gunk off it that won't come off. It has a bunch of paint worn down to the aluminum from me trying to sand the letters smooth again a few years ago. I'll probably just paint the whole thing.

I'll probably be spending a lot of time at the shop in the next few months.

Posted by: nstenz May 21, 2005 - 10:23 am

Finally caught up.

I got the ARP head studs and the bottom end of the engine. I finished taking the casting flash off the outside of the intake but didn't smooth everything out yet.

I've been working on port matching the intake manifold and the head. It scares me a bit- I could very easily screw something up. I'll post some pictures later.

I put the balance shafts back in after I found all of the parts. This will be my daily driver and my girlfriend will drive it sometimes, so I'm going to keep it somewhat tame when it's idling.

I got the water pump and oil pump on last night. I'll probably head over there again today and finish getting the crankshaft seals in and the oil pan/filter stuff on. Then I'll get back to work on the ports.

I never did find the oil pump bolts. However, somehow the ones from the '97 engine I have lying around mysteriously disappeared last night...

Posted by: Stratuslowrider May 21, 2005 - 11:35 pm

Lookin good!!!!! Looks like I am in for a long road ahead when I finall get my build going................Jon

Posted by: nstenz May 26, 2005 - 5:56 pm

Water pump- check.
Oil pump- check.
Oil pickup- check.
Oil pan- check.
Front crank seal- check.

I ran into a few problems, though.

1. I used RTV on the oil pump instead of anerobic sealant. Most people don't think it will be an issue; let's hope so.
2. I had the oil pump on slightly crooked when I first torqued everything down. I noticed it about an hour later, at which point I loosened the bolts a bit and twisted it straight. The RTV and Loc-tite weren't set yet, so I think it's OK.
3. I didn't oil any of the o-rings for the oil pump. I was supposed to.
4. The FSM doesn't say anything about oiling the front crank seal, but a Haynes manual said I was supposed to. I didn't. Hopefully it won't leak.
5. I forgot to make sure the crank and oil pump surfaces were clean before I put the seal in. I'll be a little annoyed if that leaks, but it'll be my fault. I'm afraid to attempt pulling it back out- I'm sure I'll just need to buy another one then.



I'll update my posts with some pictures shortly. I'm moving my web site to another host.

Posted by: nstenz May 29, 2005 - 6:29 am

I spent most of yesterday helping my uncle put his Cuda back together. They must have finished the paint this week. It looks freakin' sweet. My dad helped him get the suspension back in; I just helped with miscellaneous crap like painting parts, putting the brakes in, gas tank, wheels, etc. His goal was to have a rolling chassis yesterday, and he succeeded. It sounds like he'll be working on it every day for a while.

I put the oil cooler and tensioner on my engine and got most of my parts in one place so I can look for stuff (like the key that goes on the crank's timing belt gear, which I still haven't found).

Posted by: nstenz June 7, 2005 - 7:11 pm

I still can't find the little key for that timing belt gear.

I'm trying to rig up a bottom mount for my engine so I can get at the back to put the rear main seal in. I dug through my parts and started laying stuff out so I could see everything, but it wasn't in there.

I sanded one of my Sebring's headlights last night, though- it helped quite a bit. It's still got a long way to go to get rid of the pitting, but it's definitely better. I'll have to do the other one later this week.

Posted by: nstenz June 15, 2005 - 9:38 pm

Ordered that crank key yesterday, along with a new oil dipstick tube, water intake tube gasket, and freeze plugs.

To do:
Repaint valve cover (again)
Finish port-matching the intake
Buy pedal assembly, clutch cable, and clutch
Assemble engine
Assemble car

Posted by: nstenz July 5, 2005 - 11:43 pm

My photo gallery has been updated with pictures of my engine progress.

http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine


I've got half of the intake manifold ports roughed out. It's taking quite a while to do (I don't want to screw up the manifold or the head). Here's what I've got so far:

http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine/DSCN31702204

If you're getting errors anywhere on my web site, send me a PM. I just attempted an Apache redirect so my web site redirects to this page, but I screwed it up the first time and it might still be incorrect.

Posted by: Furious-D July 5, 2005 - 11:59 pm

may I inquire why you are still using the Stratus Manifold?

Posted by: nstenz July 8, 2005 - 4:13 pm

May I inquire why I shouldn't?

Everybody wants to get rid of it for more top-end power. I say that's stupid. The runners are designed for a lower torque curve, and I'd like to keep that. With a big turbo, I'm not going to have a problem with airflow at high RPMs. I'm not building the engine to be a high-rpm screamer anyhow; I'll leave that to the Neons and the Honda boys. The Stratus is a bigger car- more torque is better.

If you guys think I'm crazy, I wouldn't mind a little discussion about it... I just don't see the point. I'm not going to spend money on stuff like that if it's not necessary.

Posted by: TunedStrat July 8, 2005 - 6:52 pm

I haven't built a turbo 2.4, but I have spent much time talking to Jason (formerly FastFabs), and he has made some VERY short runner manifolds that performed VERY well on a turbo 2.4.
I had one in my posession with about 4" runners on it, and was assured, with boost, it would make a substantial amount of power across the board over the stock mani.
Jason is a VERY smart individual with a lot of fabrication experience. All business problems aside, he knows what he's doing, and talks circles around me when getting into the physics of why this works, and why that doesn't.
If I did go ahead with my turbo build, I would trust that experience.

Now, at the same time, I know some boosted 2.4s using the stock stratus manifold - would they do better with a shorter runner? Who knows. Noboby wants to spend the money on parts and dyno time to compare.

So why did I post this? Again, who knows.

But some discussion would be good on this if we had some experienced people in this thread.

Posted by: Furious-D July 8, 2005 - 6:58 pm

I was just curious

im not overly familiar with turbocharged engines. My setup is big cam big piston. Peak power will roll in at around 5700-5800 RPM at 220 hp, but the torque maxes out at 3100 with 240 lb/ft. So my calulations lead me to believe

I just thought you were gonna fight for high end power. Apparenly...I was wrong.

Posted by: nstenz July 8, 2005 - 7:14 pm

There will be plenty of top end power. I'm not worried about it. The Neon engines all had shorter runners because the cars are smaller and they didn't need the torque in the lower RPMs. If Chrysler didn't think the Stratus needed more power down low, they would have just used the same manifold. They're going to share parts between cars any time it'll save money, even if there are some downsides. Look at the new Stratus/Sebring/Neon interiors- there's a good example of parts sharing gone bad (ick). There was enough of a difference that Chrysler felt it necessary to give the Stratus a different manifold. I'm not saying all of their engine design decisions were good, but this one was for a reason.

Seriously- I don't think the price-to-performance ratio figures out too well for that one anyhow. I'm very short on cash right now, so I'm not going to buy another manifold for a little bit of extra power in exchange for bottom end. I want to get the car running without a turbo first, too. There's no point.

Besides, the intake manifold is the easiest thing to change if I want to put a different one on later.


And just to update, I finished opening up the intake manifold. The ports need a little more smoothing into the runners, but they're pretty much done otherwise.

http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine/DSCN33272351

Also, I'm right. I'm right I'm right I'm right!

Posted by: BottleFed August 3, 2005 - 12:28 am

Well i say go for it and try the manifold why not? I am using the neon one and there is definetelly no lack of power. The turbo spools so fast there is more problems with traction than power! Try it out nobody else has. Whats the worst that could happen/(you buy a different one!)

Aaron

Posted by: nstenz August 15, 2005 - 9:09 pm

The head intake ports have been matched to the gasket. I did the intake manifold ports first, but I have to put the gasket back on to make sure I got enough material off them.

I also ground the casting marks down on the roof of the combustion chamber. I have to clean those up a little bit yet.

I need to polish the exhaust ports yet too.

After that, the head is ready to be put together.

I'll post pictures later.

Posted by: nstenz August 22, 2005 - 10:28 pm

The head intake ports are matched to the gasket. I may do a little more on the manifold side later. The exhaust ports are tiny and I didn't want to screw with them, so they're not polished. This head is less than ideal for what I'm trying to do, but I don't have a ton of money to throw at it, so it'll have to do for now.

http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine/DSCN37732450

I'm tentatively putting the valvetrain back in and the head on this week. I need to clean all of the crap out of the head and cylinders first though. I removed all of the old gasket material from the intake and exhaust ports, as well as head gasket gunk from the block. I told the machine shop to clean all of the crap off the block before assembly, but they didn't. There's some pitting on the block where holes in the gasket were. Hopefully there won't be a problem there.

I pulled out the automatic shifter and cable and bolted the manual shifter in after cleaning up the rust on it and spraying some rust converter on. I ordered Booger bushings to replace the cracked ones, and I hopefully have a source for the pedals. That leaves me with a clutch cable and a clutch to buy yet.

I also pulled a bunch of stuff off the car- it was being used as a shelf for various things. I blew some of the dust it's been collecting off it, too. It's going to need a lot of cleaning. I hope I can get it outside before it gets too cold.

I'm sure I'll need lots of miscellaneous things like the EGR gasket, etc. I can hardly wait to find what I'm missing every time I try to put things together. </sarcasm>

I only added a few pics to my gallery (of the head work). Hopefully I'll have mostly-assembled engine pics soon.

Posted by: nstenz August 24, 2005 - 10:35 pm

I hate the 2.4L valve springs and retainers.

That is all.

Posted by: stratman15 August 24, 2005 - 11:20 pm

how much power to the motor r u gonna get all motor and how much will u make wit a turbo

Posted by: nstenz August 25, 2005 - 10:27 pm

All motor is going to be right around stock at best. The flywheel is balanced and the intake has been opened up a bit, but the lower compression is going to kill any small gains those might have given me. The 5-speed transmission will make up for it though.

On boost I plan to make at least 300 HP. The engine is built to handle at least that much.

Posted by: nstenz August 25, 2005 - 10:33 pm

The head is on, and the cams are in. I threw on a crap valve cover to keep the dirt out while I'm repainting the good one (again). I'll be spending the next few weeks trying to bolt as much as possible onto the engine.

http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine/DSCN37932470

A fellow member just shipped me some pedals. Things I'm missing yet include-
1. Clutch
2. Clutch cable

I still have to get the car painted at some point too. We'll see what happens.

More pics in my gallery, as usual.

Posted by: Stratuslowrider August 26, 2005 - 12:31 am

Looking good!!!!! Cant wait to see it running again. Jon

Posted by: Royalty August 26, 2005 - 2:20 pm

This is by far, one of the best threads I have ever seen.

Posted by: nstenz August 27, 2005 - 10:46 pm

It would be even better if this had been 3 months in the making instead of 3 years, but at least I haven't given up yet.

If any of you even think about doing this, do it fast and keep everything organized, no matter how well you think you'll remember how everything fits together. I'm an organization freak, I labeled everything, and I'm having trouble finding all sorts of stuff.

Examples from today:
-I put the timing belt covers on to make sure everything fit (it didn't). I'm missing several bolts that hold them together.
-I put the exhaust manifold on. I'm missing one of the bolts for it.
-I put the A/C compressor bracket on. I can't find the bolts to mount the compressor on it.
-I can't find several of the engine mount brackets (although I think I know where they might be now).

I also have a bunch of spare bolts. I have yet to figure out where many of them go.

I also got the CPS and the other CPS put in, as well as the oil pressure switch and the little plug next to it. I don't even remember what the CTS looks like or where it goes anymore, so that isn't in.

I also have no idea where the big bolt for the accessory belt pulley is. That'll be fun to find.

Anybody have a clutch cable they want to get rid of?

I'll post some more pictures in a couple of days.

Posted by: dreamspeeder August 29, 2005 - 5:30 pm

I am actually happy to see this thread myself. There have been quite a few full buildups around the country but few of them bother to frequent the boards due to the lack of information regarding this kind of work. I get tons of calls regarding this stuff so I know there are people out there doing it. They just don't bother to make a full story out of it. Kudos to you for showing everyone what it takes to go fast.
And on that Intake manifold, we ran boosted for a while on that stock manifold and then switched to the Neon DOHC manifold. Personally, the car makes too much dang torque to tell a difference in the 1st place. So from one to the other, as far as I can tell, a dyno would be the deciding factor on whether or not it is worth it to change. All motor, yes, change to a shorter runner. but boosted is a whole different story, and we have found that a 20G turbo forces air through through long runners just like it does short runners, with no noticable difference in drivability. We did notice the abundance of room gained when you use the neon intake manifold so that is a plus, but there is plenty of other places to mount the fuel pressure regulator and guage.

Posted by: nstenz August 29, 2005 - 9:38 pm

We'll see how the intake works. Since it's port-matched to the intake, I'm sure I'll be quite happy with it.

It's amazing how much stuff you can fit in there when you take the automatic transmission out.

Recent purchases:
1. Clutch
2. Timing belt
3. A/C & alternator belt
4. Power steering belt
5. Spark plugs

The timing belt is pretty easy to do when you have 2 people and the engine is out of the car.

Apparently I bought some timing belt covers and an engine mount I didn't need from the Neon tensioner swap how-to. Hopefully I can sell those on the Neon boards. I'd rather not throw any more money into this project than I need to.

Posted by: nstenz September 12, 2005 - 9:56 pm

I sold the extra SRT-4 stuff already- that was quick.

The valve cover and intake are all painted, and I painted a cast iron motor mount I had to buy. I got one of the new mounts on the transmission, but I need longer bolts to get the other one in. I'm still missing most of my extra bolts, but I stole enough from my spare 2.4L's mounts and transmission to fill in a few things, and I found a small bag of bolts inside of my other car. We're tearing the shop apart tomorrow night to look for more stuff. I'm going to try getting some of the intake manifold back together then too.

Posted by: Stratuslowrider September 13, 2005 - 12:20 am

Sounds like you are getting really close to firing the bad boy up!!! Looks like I should invest in a small arsenal of zip lock baggies, permanent markers and boxes to put things into!! Jon

Posted by: nstenz October 22, 2005 - 11:53 pm

I think I found all of the bolts except the ones for the flywheel. I might have to buy some new ones (as well as the backing plate that goes with them.

I still need a clutch cable.

I broke my coolant temperature sensor today by knocking my half-assembled intake manifold onto the floor. That was fun. The freeze plugs I got for the intake don't fit, so I'll have to go shopping and try some other ones.

My Sebring is eating a lot of coolant for some reason- I might need a spare car very soon.

Posted by: nstenz October 29, 2005 - 5:01 am

I found the bolts for the inside of the timing belt. That got me the lower timing belt cover, crank pulley, and accessory belt on.

I bought all of the bolts I needed (I think).
Got a new coolant temperature sensor.
Found some freeze plugs that fit.
Got the clutch cable.
Got tranny fluid.
Figured out how the throttle body mounts to the block with that crazy bracket attached to the bolt for the starter.

Assembly will continue shortly, hopefully with no interruptions because of missing parts.

I still need to get my Sebring to stop leaking coolant though, which is really cutting into my assembly time.


I haven't taken any pictures lately because there hasn't been much progress, but I will start posting pics again soon.

Posted by: nstenz November 8, 2005 - 12:03 am

This is freakin' awesome. I wish I was made of money:

http://www.srtforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121320

Those pictures should come in handy...

Posted by: NightRider80 November 8, 2005 - 12:37 am

http://www.qwkslvrsrt.com/day5/IMG_0202.jpg

http://www.qwkslvrsrt.com/day5/IMG_0198.jpg




(Edited by nstenz: Those pictures are huge! Changed them to links.)

Posted by: BottleFed November 16, 2005 - 8:47 pm

That looks like pics of a neon engine bay not a strat!!

Aaron

Posted by: nstenz November 20, 2005 - 10:46 am

Indeed it is.


I'll be ordering the clutch this week, even though I can't really afford it right now. I want this car running.

I got the intake manifold back together last night. I'll be bolting it on today if I can get the starter and heater lines, etc. all hooked up. I put the good valve cover and new plugs in. I blocked off the EGR, but I may reconnect it later- I haven't really decided yet. I'm going to use a Megasquirt shortly after the car's running, so the EGR will be useless at that point anyhow.

I posted a few pics, but my camera battery died yesterday, so there isn't much to see.

Posted by: nstenz November 20, 2005 - 11:33 pm

The intake manifold is on, as is most of the other stuff on the front of the engine. The wiring and vacuum lines are going to be fun. There's really nothing major stopping me from getting things together now.

Posted by: TunedStrat November 21, 2005 - 1:17 pm

Looks great. What's the status of the chassis? Car itself ready for the engine install, or you have more work to get done on it first?

Posted by: nstenz November 22, 2005 - 9:20 am

The car is pretty much gutted. The only things in it are the rear suspension, the front subframe with steering rack, the brake booster, and the dash. I have the shifter cables in and will need the clutch cable, pedals, and a seat obviously. The engine bay is painted, but not the rest of the car. That can wait.

I'll just need to bolt in the exhaust and everything under the hood to get it running. I suppose I could put the doors and stuff back on too.

I might need to pick up some vacuum lines and heater hose and such- I'm not sure how much of it got cut up, and I won't really know until I try putting it all in.

My credit card statement closes today, and luckily for me the balance is reasonably low right now. I'll be calling Modern tomorrow to order the clutch.

Posted by: TunedStrat November 22, 2005 - 3:47 pm

Pics! Pics!

Posted by: BlackStratus November 22, 2005 - 4:09 pm

looking good man..cant wait to see the finished project

Posted by: nstenz November 27, 2005 - 1:54 am

I forgot to order the clutch on Wednesday, but Modern was open on Friday, so I called it in then. 3-5 days to ship it. Woohoo.

I was going to attempt to piece more stuff together on the car yesterday, but I had to tighten the power steering belt on the Sebring. Then I noticed some leaking tranny fluid from the radiator tank- more than usual. I decided to take the front end off so I could get at the back of the radiator better. While I had that apart, I fixed the cracked/broken plastic and fiberglass from whenever the car was hit before I bought it. I sheared off the 4 bolts that hold the bumper to the fenders because they were completely rusted. The good news is I put normal bolts in there and I got to fix everything, so the top of the bumper is screwed in properly now- previously it had an extra screw and was on crooked because of a broken bracket. I also swapped on the winter tires, which was good, because it snowed about 2" while I was working on the car.

I also dug out some brackets from the spare drivetrain to sell and cleaned up a few things.

That meant no working on the Stratus. I would have gone out there again today, but the apartment has been a mess for 2 months and we decided to clean it up today. I can see the floor- it's incredible. We're not done yet, but we're getting there.

Posted by: nstenz December 5, 2005 - 8:01 pm

The clutch is in. It's a Clutchmasters Stage 4, in case you haven't been following along.
http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine/DSCN47132774 http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine/DSCN47152776

The transmission is bolted to the engine.
http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine/DSCN47222783

The starter is in.

My baby is patiently waiting for her new engine.
http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine/DSCN47232784

The Booger shifter bushings are a pain in the rear to install, and are not in yet.

The brake pedal assembly is also a pain in the rear to remove. The manual brake/clutch assembly is shorter than the old one, so the top 2 nuts aren't being used. I'm not sure why that is.

I don't have the little plastic clip that connects the clutch pedal to the cable, so I have that on order. It probably won't be in until the end of the week (which is really the only time I get to work on the car anyhow).

The next thing I'll probably end up doing is jacking up the '97 and the '99 to swap suspensions, exhaust, and change the fuel filter. I'm not looking forward to that (especially in Wisconsin in December).

Posted by: Viper238 December 5, 2005 - 10:33 pm

Perrrrdy!!!

Posted by: cirrusperformance December 5, 2005 - 11:21 pm

wow that ead work on the neon is absolutely beautiful! smooth as a babys bottom!

Posted by: BottleFed December 6, 2005 - 5:38 pm

That looks just like my clutch!! hahah... It is really nice and is very streatable. Just dont try and slip it on a launch at all. If you launch under boost it will slip. Other than that it has taken all the boost i have thrown at it!

You going to have this thing done by SIM or what nick?

Aaron

Posted by: nstenz December 6, 2005 - 11:54 pm

Let's hope the money (and time) holds out. I still have a lot to do after I get the car running:

1. Paint
2. Megasquirt
3. Turbo

#1 is reasonably easy and will probably happen right after I get the car running.
#2 is necessary for #3, so I should get that installed as soon as I possibly can and get a lot of practice tuning with it.

It's like 1 degree outside and I was just out there for 3 hours working on my coworker's car (alone). I'm sooo freakin' cold I can't even think. I'll keep you posted.

Posted by: BottleFed December 7, 2005 - 1:13 am

Yea i am hoping to get a MS into my car before SIM. I want to get this thing on the dyno and really stretch its legs on some race gas to see what that litle 20g can do!(hahaha....) With a MS i will also be able to tweak the timing curve to really maximize all the money invested in this prodject.

With any luck my friends shop will have there brand spankin new dyno in the next couple of months. You can really make some power when dyno time costs you a case of beer for the night!

Aaron

Posted by: nstenz December 10, 2005 - 2:27 pm

If they do happen to get a dyno, can you ask them how much it costs? (The machine itself, not a few runs on it.)

Posted by: BottleFed December 12, 2005 - 5:24 pm

I was talking to him the other week and he said somthing like 125k for the whole set up. Talk about some cash!

Aaron

Posted by: nstenz December 24, 2005 - 4:58 pm

I got an oil pressure gauge for Christmas.

http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine/DSCN47882849

Hopefully I'll be able to work on the car some more Monday. It's been above freezing here the past few days, so maybe I can get some more stuff off the '99 (which is still outside).

Merry Christmas everyone.

Posted by: SilvaStratus December 26, 2005 - 1:10 am

i've just read this entire thing in detail and it really helped me with a few things a LOT....im looking at going with a stock srt4 turbo with a few minor changes to the setup to run at least low boost....something besides this slow car as it is right now

ill be hitting you with a few questions tho believe me..

good work on the log!!

Posted by: Lionzfan27 December 26, 2005 - 3:23 am

I 2nd that, and keep up the good work.







GOOD TIMES!

Posted by: nstenz February 2, 2006 - 9:49 pm

I finally got the oil pressure gauge sender and a heat shield figured out. I had to come up with something that would fit everything. I'm keeping the idiot light sender so I can attach a much bigger red light to it.

http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine/DSCN48012862 http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine/DSCN49002949 http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine/DSCN49012950

Of course, now I can't find the wiring diagram for the gauge. Great.

I pulled the full exhaust off the '99 a few weeks ago to put in the car too.

Progress...

Posted by: CyberManiaK March 8, 2006 - 11:31 pm

Any update ?? well i have a question for you since i'm involved on the same stuff like you

I currently have a mexican 2.4 turbo that i'm building to make 300whp that is taking so long too but i guess the transmision (41TE/A-604 with autostick) will no be able to handle that power. I'm confused to swap it for a 3 speed spirit trans (A-413) or put a manual box. My main concern is what would you do with the stock TCM ?

Also if you need some part numbers or something of the mexican 2.4 stratus turbo 1gen, Just let me know.

Good Job for all the stuff involved.

Cheers

Posted by: BottleFed March 9, 2006 - 2:11 am

Use it as a paper weight. It will set an engine light but i just took the bulb out of my car. If your worried about an engine light than it is going to be pretty hard to get away with a 300hp turbo setup.

Aaron

Posted by: nstenz March 18, 2006 - 1:24 am

We decided to finish painting the car before putting the engine in. It's being reassembled now.

Posted by: NightRider80 March 18, 2006 - 1:46 am

Looking awsome nstenz when is your expected date of firing her up?? Have any bigger pictures of the car? Oh never mind i saw your buildup page looks great nice paint job. Are you going with any kits or you going for the sleeper affect?

Posted by: nstenz March 21, 2006 - 10:57 pm

It'll be running again whenever I can get it put together. Only time will tell. I'm about ready to reinstall the engine, sans turbo (for now).

Progress-

Interior: The carpet and the door panels are both in, as well as the front seat belts. The seats just need to be bolted in when I'm sure I won't need to get at anything else around them.
The rest of the interior is staying out for now.


Body: Safely (somewhat) wrapped in plastic. There's still a bunch of clearcoat unevenness that needs to be cleaned up.


Suspension:
Just finished painting all of the front suspension components tonight. I could have had the front wheels on Sunday, but everything was rusted to hell. I cleaned it all up and sprayed them semi-gloss black. Waiting for paint to dry sucks. I'll probably assemble them tomorrow.
I'm having trouble threading a few of the bolts into the aluminum pieces at the top of the strut tower. I already stripped one out of the '99, so I'm being extremely careful with these. I got most of them to go with my fingers, but there's 2 or 3 that are still tight. I need to find those plastic alignment cones too- I only have 1 set of them on.


Engine Bay: I think I'm going to need a bunch of vacuum lines. I still haven't found the wiring and instructions for the oil pressure gauge either. I'd put a bunch of stuff in, but it would all get in the way of the engine.

It was really cold out last night. Pulling wiring out of a door outside was not cool.


I think it's about time to start looking for pictures of engine bays. I'm going to need a visual guide to reassembly.

Posted by: stratuspride214 March 24, 2006 - 9:05 pm

WOW this post is the best thing since sliced bread.

Posted by: BottleFed March 29, 2006 - 12:01 am

I should really post some of the hundreds of pics from my build. Way to go man hope to see it on the road soon!

Aaron

Posted by: TunedStrat March 29, 2006 - 8:00 am

If you need any pics of the engine teardown/reassembly I have hundreds (like aaron) that I took when removing my engine, and reinstalling. Closeups on a lot of where bolts came from, how wires were routed, etc.

Posted by: nstenz March 29, 2006 - 11:57 pm

Well where the heck are they?

You show me yours and I'll show you http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/disassembly_all.

Posted by: NightRider80 March 30, 2006 - 2:03 am

yikes

Posted by: nstenz March 31, 2006 - 9:37 pm

http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine/DSCN51053144 http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine/DSCN51013140

The engine and transmission are mounted. I'm still collecting some other parts.

We completely crushed a power steering hard line lifting the engine to get behind it. I need to swap that out now.

I should have the wiring done tomorrow, and will probably get the radiator and such installed.

I'm applying for plates and checking on insurance. Hopefully I'll be on the road soon. Then I can break the motor in and start working on the Megasquirt setup. After that- turbo shopping.

Posted by: Stratuslowrider April 9, 2006 - 4:36 pm

Looks like by the time you get yours on the road, mine will still be in the planning stages. I do have a question for you on the compressor maps though. Did you convert from cfm to lbs/minute by dividing the cfm by 14.27?? According to maximum boost they say to multiply it by your altitude above sea level, but if you do that it gives you a huge number that doesnt come close to being able to be plotted on the maps. Do you think it will be running by SIM this year?? Looks good, and keep up the posting, this has been a tremendous help for me in my rebuild planning. Jon

Posted by: BottleFed April 10, 2006 - 7:09 pm

Pretty much all the pics i had were from the engine building. There were not very many of puting the engine in or any of that part. One of these days i will post them in my garage.

Aaron

Posted by: NightRider80 April 10, 2006 - 11:05 pm

HURRY UP!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by: nstenz April 16, 2006 - 8:54 pm

It was a long time ago- I don't remember what I did anymore. However, you should be able to take my spreadsheet on page 1 and match up the cells on the CFM and lb/min sheets... I'd check the notes I wrote in the book, but my Dad borrowed it for his turbo project.

It should be running in the next week or two unless something goes horribly wrong.

To start the car:
1. Change the fuel filter.
2. Bolt the exhaust in.
3. Fix the power steering line.

Other stuff:
4. Figure out what support I'm missing from the upper radiator support and fix it.
5. Put front fenders, headlights, bumper, etc. on.
6. Make sure the electrical stuff works (hooked up the battery Saturday night, but windshield wipers and blinkers don't work- maybe other stuff too).
7. Oh yeah- figure out why the brake switch is always on.
8. Put the interior together.

Posted by: Stratuslowrider April 17, 2006 - 5:01 pm

Thanks for the reply, I ended up using your spreadsheet to check my values, and they were pretty close to what I had calculated. Hope to see it running Jon

Posted by: nstenz April 23, 2006 - 12:02 pm

I've been busy, so I haven't been posting pictures... Here are a few.

I probably won't have it running today, but I could have if we didn't have to fix my buddy's Jeep- check it out: http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/jeep

Tranny wiring... check-


The '97 and '99 wiring harness/PCM plugs are different.
Problem solved-


Cooling module: good-


Installed-


Bumper and battery-


Tail lights-


I'm getting lazy, so here's the link to the gallery with those pics. No hotlinked pics for you! http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine?page=13

Posted by: Stratuslowrider April 25, 2006 - 7:30 am

Lookin good!!!

Posted by: nstenz April 29, 2006 - 10:24 pm

I fixed the crushed power steering hose earlier this week, as well as hooked up that noise-filtering capacitor on the back of the head. That took hours and hurt a lot.


Here's what I did today:

- Got 6 gallons of gas from the gas station
- Got the other front cross-brace figured out and installed
- Found out the battery I put in was dead; swapped it out
- Changed the fuel filter
- Put the exhaust in
- Put the gauges back in and put the needles on
- Tested the wipers, windshield washer, and blinkers
- Realized I had no turn signal bulbs (had 3 cars and no bulbs to be found- go figure)
- Pressurized the fuel system
- Cleaned up the gas that came out
- Found out the rubber-to-hard line connection on the fuel line was leaking
- Pulled the front half of the fuel line from the '99 and spent half an hour figuring out how to switch the two
- Tried to find the leak on the passenger side of the engine bay
- Found out the leak wasn't power steering fluid -- it was coolant
- Found a crack in the intake manifold coolant passage along the thread for the coolant temp sensor to almost an inch up
- Drained a gallon of coolant
- Took the intake manifold off
- Welded the crack shut (hopefully) - BTW, that took an hour with borrowing a welder set up for aluminum, swapping the tank for pure Argon, unwinding the tangled aluminum welding wire and fixing it, finding another welding helmet that we could actually see through, ...
- Ordered a new intake manifold gasket
- Picked up an air filter, some bulbs, and some radiator stop leak

My dad helped me with pretty much all of that stuff one way or another.

It's one thing after another lately. I hoped I would be able to start it today... I guess not. I probably won't tomorrow, either - I have plans until 6-7:00. It won't actually take that long to get the manifold back in if everything goes smoothly, though.

As far as the crack goes, we figure it was from the accident in '02. The coolant temp sensor was snapped off in the accident; it must have hit the manifold pretty hard. We didn't notice anything until the intake was torqued down and coolant added- bolting it in probably opened the crack up. A pressure test found the crack pretty quick.


I still have no fenders or front bumper on. I'll do that as soon as the car will start.


Also, somebody rear-ended my Sebring while my girlfriend was driving it today. It just messed up the bumper a little, but still- not pleased.

Posted by: stratusfear April 30, 2006 - 3:17 am

lookin good, Ive been following your project pretty close, one question though, I noticed you still have the harnesses hanging for the auto TCM, are you going to tuck them away or what do you have planned for them.
thanks

Posted by: Viper238 April 30, 2006 - 7:13 am

Awesome!

One thing I can recommend that a mechanic told me..

Cycle it thru a bit to build your oil pressure before you actually fire it up..

Posted by: Stratuscaster April 30, 2006 - 7:30 am

Tell me more about this...

Posted by: nstenz April 30, 2006 - 10:28 am

There's really nowhere else to put it except under the fuse block instead of next to it. Maybe I'll mess with it later. I'm just worried about getting it started right now.




http://www.stratusphere.net/forums/Name_this_wire_on_the_engine_harness_-t41914.html



Edit:
New pics are up.
I also forgot to mention that I don't have an aftermarket intake to put on, but the stock resonator box for above the transmission doesn't fit. I ended up putting a plug in where that box connects to the actual tube. I'm guessing nobody with a stock intake ever tried to throw a 5-speed in. I'm crazy like that.

I talked to Dad this morning- he said he put the front fenders on. I'm picking up the intake manifold gasket this afternoon. Maybe this week yet...

Posted by: stratman15 April 30, 2006 - 4:21 pm

why dont u jsut put a k&n filter directly on the throttle body till u get one with the pipe so thers no restriction

Posted by: Viper238 April 30, 2006 - 4:59 pm

Did ya figure that out?
I had the same problem.. the actually push s/w that the pedal touches couldn't reach it.. I had to bend the factory bracket on the 5 speed pedal assembly so it would shut off when I let out the brakes..

Posted by: nstenz April 30, 2006 - 8:55 pm

A K&N filter costs money. When I want to spend money, I'm going to buy the whole intake anyhow. Since I'm not, I'm using what I have.



No, I didn't figure out the brake switch thing yet, but yeah- it's the same problem. The switch doesn't even touch.

Is the switch for the 5-speeds different or something?


The fenders were on when I got there tonight around 7:00. It took me about an hour and a half to get the manifold and everything back together. I put a bunch of JB Weld around the coolant temp sensor before I screwed it back in. Hopefully it doesn't leak, because it's never coming out now. I'm letting it cure and then I'll fill it tomorrow night and pressure-test it. Hopefully I can start it...

Posted by: Viper238 April 30, 2006 - 11:39 pm

Not sure.. I didn't have to time to play around and find out.. so I just started bending away.. lol

It worked out.. I think there is a difference somewhere.. but.. I just bent it and got it positioned fine.. haven't had a problem.. if you got time.. possibly look into it and let me know.. or just bend it up...

Posted by: Stratuscaster May 1, 2006 - 7:30 am

Thank you. As I had thought, I have the exact same wire/plug just dangling in mid-air on my car.

Posted by: nstenz May 2, 2006 - 4:34 pm

Viper: I bent it too. Crammed a pry bar behind the bracket and pushed the pedal down a little bit. Thanks for the tip.

Jim: Interesting... Saw your post in the other thread.



The bad news: It still leaks.

The good news: It should be startable anyhow.

I dumped in a bottle of radiator stop leak. Then I threw on the intake, the bumper, headlights, some seats... cleaned the windows...

I still have to hook up the air bags and horns (why they changed the connector on me between 97 and 99, I have NO idea) and put in some knee bolsters in case I run into something.

Insurance would be good too.


I want to work on it tonight, but my girlfriend wants to be there when I start it, and it doesn't sound like it's going to happen today.

Posted by: JellyBean May 2, 2006 - 6:55 pm

you should take a video of the first starting of the car

Posted by: nstenz May 5, 2006 - 8:56 am

Idle!

Yeah. Trying to slip it doesn't work too well... My girlfriend wasn't too impressed with my attempts at a gentle launch.


More details later...

Posted by: nstenz May 5, 2006 - 7:24 pm

http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine/Dscn52803317 I really don't have any decent pictures, video, or sound of it running yet- mostly because it doesn't sound too great- but it is running.

http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine/DSCN52813318 Laptop saying to '97 PCM- "Yo! Wassup?"

I tried to start it on Wednesday night. I cranked it several times for a total of probably 30-40 seconds before I finally got it to start and idle very poorly. I wasn't sure what was going on, but it was making this horrible rattling noise and shaking like a mofo.

I pulled the plugs to see slightly burned oil in #2 and #3 (in there from assembly), and absolutely nothing on #1 and #4 except little puddles of gas in the piston dishes. Everything looked like it was supposed to, except the plugs for 1 and 4 were wet with gas and obviously hadn't been burning anything. They had no spark.

Long story here: http://www.stratusphere.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=42177

Short story:
After testing all of the wiring and finding no obvious problems, I decided to swap out the '97 PCM and try the '99. That worked, and the car started immediately and idled fine. I don't know where the PCM/BCM VIN mismatch no-start info came from, but it seems to be bogus. The '99 PCM with '97 BCM works. FYI, it seems to take the engine 30-60 seconds of run time before it complains about the missing transmission.

I still don't know what the hell is wrong with it, but there's a nasty rattling that sounds like it's on the accessory side of the engine. It doesn't keep the car from running, but it definitely isn't smooth either. I can't really describe it.

I drove the car down the driveway and back up. Nothing seemed abnormal other than that stupid noise, so I decided to take it out for a drive. However, I can't find a hood latch or the correct screws for the headlights, so I threw some longer bolts in on the headlights and rigged up the "ghetto latch": http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine/DSCN52923329 with some engineering help from my girlfriend: http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine/DSCN52943331


The front suspension was completely out of alignment (I threw in the spindles and upper control arms from my '99 with the adjustable upper ball joints from the '97). My first shift into 2nd while on the gas prompted some wheelspin from the left side and a nice little lurch to the side. The slightest bump or gravel on the road made the front of the car do things that didn't make me overly comfortable. Over 60, it was a death trap. I slowed down.

It runs nicely. It doesn't feel that fast, nor did I expect it to. The engine isn't broken in, it's extremely low compression (8.6:1), and extremely high gearing for a Stratus (3.55:1 final drive ratio). It drives a lot like my old Dodge Shadow did. The CM Stage 4 shifts just like that car did too; maybe just a tiny bit grabbier. I'm comfortable with it. 1-2 easily breaks the tires loose if I shift hard, but that could be the alignment problem.

I have Booger shifter bushings in, and one of them never did seem like it was on completely. When I pulled away from a stop sign and ran through the gears hard, the gear selector cable popped right off the pin on the shifter while going from 3rd to 4th. I'm glad I took some tools and a flashlight with me! I used a pliers to shove it back on- and took it easy on the way back. Other than that, there were no incidents.

I changed the oil after my 14-mile journey. It looked pretty good. Mostly clean oil with a slick of assembly lube on the top. No real metal shavings to be seen- just some little bits of black crud that may have been burned chunks of oil.

We also pulled the camber in as far as we could on the passenger side. It was WAY out. It still is a bit. I need to get the wheels cleaned up and the rear sway bar in so I can get everything aligned properly.


So- now the front end has to get somewhat taken apart so I can pull off the accessory belts, make sure the damper pulley is on straight, and find out where that vibration is coming from. I can hear that the bearing on the A/C compressor is shot, but I don't think that would make it vibrate as bad as it is.

I also have to clean all of the dust off the car and give it its first bath and some wax. The paint is soooo smooth right now and looks sweet even though it's covered with a layer of primer dust (Dad has been sanding the '40 Ford for several weeks on the other side of the garage). It's a lot brighter than the factory stone white. I love it. It looks a lot sweeter outside (even in the dark) than it does stuck in there. I need to get a decent picture of it.

I also found the correct horns with the '97 plugs on them- after I put the bumper back on and cut one of the wires to put the '99 plug on it. Only 1 of the '99 horns still worked, so the car has one spliced in and 1 wire hanging.

Oh- I forgot. The coolant leak seems to have taken care of itself. I didn't see any coolant at all around the area. I think the stop-leak sealed it up. The engine didn't get overly warm either- a little under halfway up the temp. gauge. I think dumping coolant directly into the engine before putting the thermostat in got most of the air out of the system. I'm glad I didn't need to fill that up. The power steering lines still have some air in them though.

The back brakes were pretty rusty. They started feeling better after 20 miles or so.

That's all I can think of right now.

IT RUNS!

Posted by: nstenz May 8, 2006 - 7:55 pm

Time for an update, with pictures.

http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/97stratus/DSCN53183355

The noise was (is) the tensioner pulley rubbing on the bottom outer timing belt cover. I tried to grind the cover down on Sunday so it wouldn't rub, but I guess I missed a spot, because the noise came back when I put it all back together. Hopefully it will wear everything down and shut up.
http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine/DSCN53123349*http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine/DSCN53133350

The other noise is the fried bearing on the A/C compressor. It's covered in rust. I'm not sure if I should bother trying to fill the system up; I'll probably ask somebody a little more knowledgeable about it.


The car's running a tad lean (at least it was after 27 miles on it).
http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine/DSCN52993336*http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine/DSCN53043341*http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine/DSCN53053342*http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_engine/DSCN53073344


The TPS only reads between 16.9 and 78.8 no matter what I do. I wonder if that's part of the problem. I tried 2 throttle bodies/sensors and 2 different PCMs, with the same results. Anybody know if this is normal?


The alignment still isn't great, but it's driveable. I took my girlfriend out for some ice cream, while trying not to make an ass of myself attempting to work the clutch. I haven't killed the engine yet (after 3 times out), but damn does it shudder when you try to slip it (like BottleFed said, it doesn't work too well). My problem is having to run through most of 1st gear before shifting to something that doesn't scream like a banshee. If I don't, I get shudder in 2nd, and it ain't pretty either. I'll get used to it eventually.


The cruise control doesn't work. I'm also getting a code about the evap. purge solenoid too (I wasn't before with the '97 PCM). I am not, however, getting the code for the missing transmission right now. The PRND3L indicator has boxes around everything, but no code. Odd. Anyhow, the cruise control servo and the evap. solenoid are right next to each other in the '97 setup, so I wonder if I knocked something loose over there. I have to check that out.


My dad wet-sanded the rough spots on the clear coat before I took it out for a drive. I haven't cleaned up all of the bad spots or polished and waxed it yet, so I really shouldn't be driving it much.

http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/97stratus/DSCN53143351 * http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/97stratus/DSCN53153352 * http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/97stratus/DSCN53163353



That's enough for this post.

Posted by: Viper238 May 8, 2006 - 8:35 pm

Ya.. My PRND3L has boxes around them all too..

and with my stock 2.0L clutch.. I have noticed a shutterniss as well.. but I'm not sure if all my mounts are good still..

Posted by: nstenz May 8, 2006 - 9:06 pm

I have firm mounts front and rear. I know what my problem is.

Does that clutch grab OK? It only being rated for something like 130 ft-lbs bothered me enough to take it back and shell out a lot of dough for a high-torque one.

Posted by: nstenz May 8, 2006 - 10:03 pm

I just trashed my photo gallery.

Posted by: Viper238 May 8, 2006 - 10:17 pm

She's been holding up.. I've got a lead on a Centerforce(300ft-lbs rating) so will see..

I'll see if I can get a vid for you..
I haven't revved her out and dumped it.. but getting that nice transaction and then putting her to the floor will fry to tires for about 10 feet easily..

Posted by: SilvaStratus May 8, 2006 - 10:28 pm

nstenz, did you swap from auto to manual thru this whole build too?

i'm still confused on the ECU and wiring harness i'm supposed to get for mine..

Posted by: nstenz May 9, 2006 - 12:46 pm

Yes.

I'm just using the auto wiring harness and auto PCM.

I'm trying to write up a better how-to for the wiring.

Posted by: SilvaStratus May 9, 2006 - 10:40 pm

you still throwing codes for that junk?

Posted by: nstenz May 9, 2006 - 11:37 pm

Dunno. Wasn't able to do anything useful tonight.

I pulled out the stock sway bar, which was rusted in tight, and sheared off 2 bolts for the brackets in the process. I broke the rusted bolts and nuts off the brackets and welded new nuts on them, then used different bolts to put the DS bar in. It installed a hell of a lot easier.

Then I cleaned up the 17s and threw them on.

The camber on the front pass. wheel is still WAY out. I tried to drive it that way, but it's dragging horribly. I put it back in the garage.

I also heard several *CLUNK* noises during that little stint down the driveway and back. I will be really, REALLY annoyed if one of the sway bar brackets broke in 50 ft. of driving.

Posted by: TunedStrat May 22, 2006 - 2:51 pm

Glad to hear it's running. Now starts the long period of working out the bugs after a build like this

Is your gallery down? I couldn't access any of the pics.

Posted by: nstenz May 22, 2006 - 9:18 pm

Lots of bugs.

-Major suspension clunkage. Sounds like something is very loose somewhere. I can't figure it out.

The front right steering knuckle off the '99 was bent in big time from the accident. Yes, that's cast iron- bent. The DS sway bar I put in may be the culprit in the whole clunking fiasco. My DS strut bar got bent in the accident too. I didn't see anything visibly wrong with the sway bar, but the knuckle looked the same as another one as well.

The rear end is loose as hell and jumps all over the place. Damn does the car hate potholes. Feels like it wants to go sideways when it hits one. Not safe.

I can hear the front left clunking as well, though. Heard the left rear tire squeal this morning leaving the driveway, like it jumped up with the brake stuck on.

I'll probably have to take apart the entire rear end (now that I've gotten a 4-wheel alignment) if taking the sway bar out doesn't work.

What are the chances that 3 of my 4 struts blew while sitting around with lowering springs attached for 3+ years?

-Cruise control doesn't work. Drove to Chicago and back on Saturday without it. Would have been screwed without the handheld GPS on the windshield showing my speed where I could see it easily.

-Throwing a code for both an evaporative system problem and a TPS high reading. No idea why.

-That bearing noise is seriously annoying.

-Having charging system issues of some sort. Battery light came on driving home Saturday. Gauges are flickering like crazy. Probably a bad alternator. Cranks fine.

-Laptop quit allowing crappy Win16 OBD-II software to access COM port for scanner or something- worked on Thursday night; didn't on Friday night. Need to try another computer. Can't read anything from the computer about the charging problem!

-Extra radio I grabbed didn't work when I plugged it in. May be something to do with most of the audio wiring being cut. Why was the wire for the trunk light cut? Probably a mistake. Note to people running their own audio: UNPLUG THE SPEAKERS- DO NOT CUT THE WIRES FOR THEM!

-Reverse synchro may be fried. Very touchy.

-Killed the car 3 times so far; flooded it the first 2.

-Took 5+ seconds of cranking to start when I left work tonight, approx. 4 hours after I drove it at lunch. Acted like it did when I flooded it, but started much sooner.

It feels slow. Low compression + low gearing = no fun. Seems like it's getting a little faster though; probably me remembering how to shift properly. It's really a dog at certain RPMs. Porting a long-runner intake may not have been the best decision. I need to get a baseline dyno on the thing.

But hey- I can drive it.



Oh, and my web host's stupid CPanel directory move script trashed my entire Gallery folder. I'm beyond pissed. They have a backup, but want to charge me $20 to restore it. Thanks, but your server trashed it. You want me to pay you to restore it?

I was attempting to MAKE a backup of the folder by doing a copy, but obviously that worked for crap. I'd rather upload all of the pics again than pay them to fix the damage their script caused.

They also implemented a policy last week that has something like a $20 cancellation fee no matter what for new signups, among other things. The $ restore was a recent addition as well, and support busted out the ToS for backups on me when I asked nicely for them to do the restore for free. Looks like they're going downhill. Doubling storage space twice in 1 year (up to 24 GB now) as well as upping bandwidth and unlimiting several things is nice, but I think their customer service is suffering. They used to be nicer.

Hey- know any good web hosts?

Posted by: nstenz May 22, 2006 - 9:22 pm

BTW, one of the 17" wheels is bent. I stole the 15" alloys off the Sebring.

Wonder if I'll be able to sell 3 good wheels to 3 people with bent ones...

Posted by: Viper238 May 22, 2006 - 9:44 pm

good luck to that..
I tried.. I just ordered a new one..

can't drive on this
[attachmentid=4329]

Posted by: TunedStrat May 23, 2006 - 6:32 am

I happen to know of one good webhost, yes.
I'm pretty sure I offered that to you before, toss me an email anytime.
I'd start offering more free stuff if my biz was going downhill too. That's really a shame on the restore fee. I mean, with cPanel it takes about 3 clicks to restore a backup. Or they could at least copy the .tar file to your directory so you can download and extract the info yourself. But this isn't a sales pitch. lol Not trying to jack your thread....



I still have bugs to work out from when I put my car back together. Mostly just small things I haven't taken the time to fix. Nothing life threatening.

When I put my front suspension back together, turns out I should have put in new ball joints. Just a suggestion to check those, and the tie rods if you haven't already. Front sway bar end links can make a nice clunking sound as well.

Just a guess, but it's probly pretty slow in the 2500-3500 rpm range? I lost a fair amount in that range when I had ported a stock 2.4 manifold (the older style).

Charging issue definitely sounds like a bad alt, or maybe a bad connection to it. When the battery light comes on, downshift and bring the RPMs way up - if the light goes off... you need a new alt. Just be careful driving it too long like that, I fried the wiring coming off the alt on my eclipse. Alt was going out, I kept the RPMs way up to keep it charging, eventually it just gave out - when I took it out to replace, alt was a nice charred black color, and wiring was burnt right off of it. lol

Intake will be less of an issue once you turbo it.

Just throwing out some ideas. I'm sure you're aware of all of them already.

Posted by: nstenz May 23, 2006 - 8:25 pm

I know the wheels will probably be a loss. That sucks. I doubt I'll find another one to replace the one I broke.

I'm thinking upper ball joint. Only the left side does it, so I think the front ball joint is shot; but something's definitely very wrong with the back, too. Most of the serviceable bushings are leaking grease out the sides; I may have to replace them all.

Yeah. No power until 3500-4000. On top of that, it goes to hell in some gears as soon as you hit 5000. Some seem to keep going, though. That's probably in my head. It doesn't seem to do any good to rev 1st gear past 5k, but it's somewhat useful in 2nd. Is that everybody else's experience as well?

I tried downshifting when the battery light came on- no go. I think it leaves the light on until the next restart.

Gotta remember to call some junkyards (and Fairbanks) to get the parts I need.


I just got back from washing/waxing the car. Its first official bath (yes, with soap!) since... well, ever. Looks nice. Too bad it got dark while I was waxing it. Good for waxing, but crappy for pictures. I'll try to get some pics tomorrow before I drive it too much. IT HAD BETTER NOT RAIN.

Awesome. I hate the weather.

Posted by: TI88 May 23, 2006 - 9:00 pm

Reverse doesn't have a synchro, at least in the Stratus transmission, I know you have a Neon one though...

Posted by: TunedStrat May 24, 2006 - 6:24 am

First gear is kind of useless. When the motor was stock, I don't think i reved it more than 4k. I find myself reving it higher now, but that's only to get into good RPMs when I shift into second. Shift quick and hard, and it'll light up second now though, lol. Of course, I also have my rev limiter set at 8k since that's what the motor is built around.

With the low compression, you really won't find a good place to shift IMO. Once the turbo is bolted on, you'll use first to get the car rolling, and (if I remember correctly in your choice of turbo) the power will come in nice and low in the RPMs, so second and mid-RPMs will be nice.

I hear ya on the rain. It just stopped here after raining for almost 2 weeks straight.

Posted by: nstenz June 11, 2006 - 9:15 pm

I just got back from being in Canada for 2 weeks. I'll probably pull the wheels off sometime in the next week and try to figure out what's up with the suspension. The wheels from the Sebring stick out too far on the Stratus; maybe the Sebring is wider than I thought. Hopefully I can find some cheap wheels that will fit it.

I need to find an amplifier to replace the factory one that was cut out so I can wire the radio back up. I'm hoping to find a cheap Eclipse or JL 4-channel (something with low distortion).

I don't really have a coherent plan on what to work on next.

Posted by: Stratuslowrider July 12, 2006 - 7:44 pm

Hey Nick, any updates on the ride?? Just wondering. Jon

Posted by: nstenz July 12, 2006 - 11:30 pm

Runs great; just hit 1000 mi. Going to switch to synthetic now.

Informal measurements from a stretch of road near my parents' house says the car is faster than the old one, even though it feels slower. It's possible that the speedometer is just that far off, though.

I actually tried to do a burnout for the first time Saturday night. I've been spinning the tires pretty much every day without trying due to revving too high or wet roads or on the gas while turning, etc., but I never really tried all that much. I can rev the car to under 3,000 and dump the clutch and have a good ol' time. First is geared so low that I could probably set the parking brake, hold the throttle 1/4 open, and melt the tires down to nothing. I decided to actually continue driving after 5 seconds or so. Great family fun.



I'm running factory steelies- total pimp. Suspension is still trashed. I was going to swap the rear springs back out to factory (lowering springs on the back make the car too low), but I fell asleep when I got home. Maybe I'll have time tomorrow night. Still no idea what's wrong with the front (*CLUNK*).

Scratched up some paint on the hood already from road construction on my street. Kinda ticked about that. It doesn't help the suspension either.

A/C compressor is still noisy- checking junkyards on that. Alternator may be bad too; gotta get a couple of quotes on a rebuild.

Still no cruise. Looks like I'm not going to have any with this PCM because there's no signal from the transmission that it's not in park or neutral. That means a 5-speed PCM and a MegaSquirt as soon as possible (but I have to do some wiring first).

No radio; still need to go shopping for a replacement amp. Just paid off the girlfriend's ring, so I should be able to spend a little money soon.

Got the oil pressure gauge hooked up temporarily- pressure is right around 50 psi. Gotta figure out where to mount it. I may work on the pods for my other 3 (future) gauges and throw it in one of them temporarily. I've never fiberglassed before, but I've watched it done many times. It will be interesting.

Got my photo gallery back up with what was in it at the beginning of December. Still have to upload all the other pics again.

Posted by: nstenz July 13, 2006 - 9:59 pm

I put the DRL module into the '97, as well as the floor vent piece. Car starts = lights go on. Safety first!

Looks like I won't be wrenching on the car anymore until Saturday. I brought the Sebring home tonight for a bit.

Posted by: Stratuslowrider July 23, 2006 - 8:52 pm

Check your pm, I think I found something on ebay that you may be able to use!! Jon

Posted by: nstenz August 23, 2006 - 8:41 pm

Thought I'd post an update.

I haven't been driving or working on the car much because of a few major annoyances (the same old thing). I've fixed a couple of them, though.

Bad A/C compressor bearing:
I replaced the A/C compressor. It sounds beautiful now. I also picked up a new A/C dryer. I haven't gotten the system refilled yet, though.

No amp; no radio:
I was going to bid on a couple auctions on eBay for amps that would have worked perfectly, but I wasn't around a computer when the auctions were ending, except for one that I missed by 10 seconds or so. One of them didn't even have any bids! I was a little annoyed.
I did pull more than $200 worth of wiring out of my '99, though. Hopefully I won't have to buy any wire to get the system together.

I had fixed the problem with my HVAC control not allowing me to turn the heat off, but after pulling the controls out to line them up propertly (so I could get the center trim around it), the heat is stuck on again. That works great in summer.

I pulled the rear drop springs off to put the stock ones back on because the back was just too low. Now the whole car looks jacked up. I didn't unbolt the sway bar in the process, but I don't think that should make a difference, since the bar is just supposed to pivot anyhow. The car handles much more predictably now and feels a lot safer (but still turns in nicely). I need to work on some strut bars.

I still have weird squeaking and clunking noises coming from various parts of the car. I get a nice squeal/screech turning the wheel to the right that gets worse the more I turn. I have no idea what's going on.

My girlfriend is driving my convertible now, so I've got a little more motivation again.

On the pictures/web site note, I've started working on my web site, trying to clean up the mess from losing all of my pictures since December (and nearly losing my Dad's local copy of his pictures when his hard drive started freaking out). I think I'm just going to upgrade to Gallery 2 before I try adding anything else.

Posted by: nstenz September 9, 2006 - 9:16 pm

I'm in the process of uploading my missing pictures right now, in addition to some others. It should be done within the next hour or two. Hopefully all of the pictures and links will start working again- I'm using the same filenames as before, so they should be OK.

I'm also looking for another web host.

I refilled the A/C and it does indeed work. Of course it hasn't been that hot since then, but I can use it for defogging the windshield. Also, my window defroster keeps turning itself on. I can't figure out why.

I figured out the hot/cold problem, too. I was bending stuff around to get the HVAC panel lined up, and I popped the temperature control cable off its clip on the back. That was easy to fix once I could see under there.

I think the squeaking/squealing noises might be the washers on the top of the front shocks rubbing against the shock towers. I'm not sure how to go about testing this theory. That area was obviously damaged when I bought the car, but I figured it was the particular drop springs that were being used.

I still don't have a radio. I just figured out how I want to wire up the car, so I'm going to get the wiring run, then get the amp. Even smaller 4-channel amps are huge. I'm currently leaning towards an Eclipse EA4000 or something similar (preferrably used or equally cheap). I'm going to put a distribution block in right away for other things like a computer and AC inverter.

Posted by: Stratuslowrider September 11, 2006 - 8:40 am

Hey Nick, I have the same problems with my washer on the driver side hitting the top mount. If you look at the two the drivers side strut isn't centered in the hole, like the passenger one is. I was told to take the washer off, then take out the bushing and cut it in half, then reinstall it. I have tried to tighten the nut down more, but the whole shaft rotates. I have tried holding the threaded part with a pair of vice grips, while I use a wrench to tighten, but it wont budge. If I push on the washera little, it stops the sqeaking for a coupl of days. Jon

Posted by: nstenz September 11, 2006 - 6:14 pm

Basically make the top bushing shorter so everything is down further?

Posted by: Stratuslowrider September 12, 2006 - 11:55 am

Thats basically what I was told. I still think that my strut mount maybe bad, and this is the root cause of it, cuz my passenger one is totally fine. Mine started doing it shortly after I had the car lowered. It started out just doing it when hit bumps, but now even on straight roads, it sqeaks like mad. Jon

Posted by: nstenz September 13, 2006 - 4:32 pm

I just went to look at it again. Something has to be backwards, or the car was in an accident and something is bent. I compared it to my Sebring- it just doesn't look right.

I'll post some pictures of it later.

Posted by: nstenz September 13, 2006 - 5:14 pm

I just took a minute to think about it and realized I already have $3000 into this project.

Ouch.

Posted by: Viper238 September 13, 2006 - 5:20 pm

Doesn't that suck..
I know the feeling.. it hurts..

Posted by: nstenz September 18, 2006 - 3:28 pm

The suspension problem was totally obvious; I can't believe I missed it.

It is hitting. The alignment shop pulled the shocks way out to compensate for the shorter springs. The problem is, they pulled them out to the point where they're both hitting the strut towers on moderate bumps. They apparently didn't even consider that, and they definitely didn't bother to tell me. I'm pretty annoyed, because if they'd called me and told me it was an issue, I could have dropped off the adjustable ball joints I have lying around that I didn't think I'd need (because they weren't necessary on my '99 when I put the same springs on).

Now I have to unbolt the upper ball joint and try to get the adjustable ones in, attempt to get the shocks lined up with the different ball joints, and probably get another alignment. I'm so sick of messing with the suspension on this car.

Posted by: Stratuslowrider September 19, 2006 - 8:59 am

That looks exactly like my the one my drivers side. The passenger one is totally fine. I wonder if this is what is causing my alignment issues......For the last 2 years all the shops I go to say that they cant get it totally aligned for some reason. Looks like I need to get under the car and look at some things again. Jon

Posted by: nstenz September 20, 2006 - 12:00 am

Something on your car probably got damaged at some point if only 1 side is off.

Get adjustable ball joints and see if they can correct it that way.

The cheapest ones I found were an Eibach "alignment kit", for a little over $130. Make sure you get the front one for '95-'03. I found another supplier, but they were $70-80+ per ball joint.

Posted by: nstenz November 14, 2006 - 2:59 pm

Wow. I haven't posted any updates in quite a while. I've been extremely busy, so I haven't been working on my car much. However-

I finally got the adjustable ball joints in a few weeks ago. It took me hours to do the first one by myself, and about 15 minutes to do the second one with my Dad's help. It is possible to get the entire front shock and tower out without unbolting the lower ball joint or the tie rod, but probably not without help. Anyhow, the shocks aren't hitting the towers anymore, although my alignment is probably a little off now.

On Sunday, I finally attached the wiring from the interior to the fuse mounted on the power distribution center under the hood. I'm not sure if I snapped a picture of that yet, but I finally figured out a way to mount it very nicely (much better than my last car). Now I just have to loop a small cable from the other end of the fuse to the positive terminal, but there's no point until I get things inside wired up.

I also ran the amp wiring through the interior to the trunk. I used some nice 4 ga. and a set of audio cables from my old car and was very careful to do a beautiful job routing them through the center underneath the console (which I don't have installed) and protecting them with wire loom where necessary. I didn't try to hook the power wire to the distribution block under my dash yet- I hope it reaches.

Now that the wiring is finally run, I was able to put in the rest of my interior. The back seat and seatbelts are all in, with the exception of screwing down the side bolsters and putting on a C pillar cover (because I'm missing one of the push-ins). I still have to get the plastic trim in that goes under the doors and get the front kick panels in, but other than that, I'm set. It looks nice except for all of the exposed mechanical stuff in the center, which I have to fab something for. I still miss having cupholders.

Oh- I found the correct screws to hold my headlights in a while ago, too.


I fixed my laptop's problem with my OBD-II software last night, and saw that I'm still throwing a code for the evap. system purge solenoid or something like that. I compared everything to a vacuum diagram somebody found me, and it is all hooked up correctly. I think my '99 PCM just doesn't have the programming to work with the '97 parts, which are different and were relocated a bit as well. All of my engine components and harness are from a '99, but the body stuff is from the '97. I don't know if a '97 computer would work any better. For all I know, the '97 PCM I already have isn't broken, but just doesn't work with some of my '99 parts.

Posted by: nstenz December 3, 2006 - 5:17 pm

I popped in the other interior C-pillar cover yesterday and got a temporary radio setup in (the 2 front door speakers connected to an aftermarket CD player). The only major annoyance left in the car is the lack of cruise control.

Posted by: nstenz December 27, 2006 - 11:14 pm

I cut my balance shaft chain this weekend.

The car doesn't seem any faster, and there is definitely more vibration. It seems louder while driving as well.

However, I swear it acts like it's "easier" for the engine to move the car now- like it doesn't make as much of a fuss about it. I'm comfortable using 5th gear in 25 MPH zones now; before it would be pretty shaky at that RPM with any load on the engine. Now it's fine crusing at slightly over 30.

I left the balance shaft assembly in so I wouldn't have to deal with plugging the oil feed hole, adding more oil, and doing something about the extra oil sloshing around (baffles, windage tray, crank scraper, etc.)

The oil was a little dirty, but everything looks good in there.

Posted by: nstenz January 13, 2007 - 1:23 am

http://forums.neons.org/viewtopic.php?t=217647

I'd like to break the tires loose at speed in 4th gear. I did it today, but the icy roads may have had something to do with it...

I just bought an EGT gauge from another member. I'm not going to have any place to hook it up to yet. Oh well.

The car wouldn't start tonight, and it went completely dead last night too for a minute or so. I'm not sure what the problem is. It could be the battery or it could be wiring. Maybe the alternator isn't the problem at all.

Posted by: nstenz February 16, 2007 - 9:04 pm

Well, it seems that a few of my electrical problems were caused by a bad battery. Whether a bad alternator caused the battery to go bad is something I have not figured out yet.

I replaced the battery last weekend, and the car has been starting right away ever since. The gauges don't flicker anymore, the headlights don't flicker, and the needles don't jump around. The keyless entry works every time now; it was hit-or-miss before.


I'm currently shopping for a MegaSquirt. There are so many options- I'm trying to decide which version to go with.

Posted by: Stratuslowrider February 16, 2007 - 11:09 pm

Glad to see things are coming around with the car!!! I agree with you on the megasuirt thing, too many things to look at!! Jon

Posted by: nstenz February 21, 2007 - 12:13 am

EDIT 02/23/07: Picture added.

I actually started gutting out the '97 PCM I have lying around that would only fire half the coil pack. I haven't been able to get the board out of the housing yet. I got most of the goo off the top of the board, but the goo on the bottom is holding it down.

http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_ms/DSCN64474467

I may have been a little premature in that, however- it looks like removing the factory PCM completely could be a little more difficult than I originally thought.


The following things are currently controlled by the PCM and would need to be addressed if it were removed (there's probably more):

• Alternator
• Auto Shutdown Relay
• Fuel Pump
• Fan relays

Alternator: I was really worried about it at first, but apparently it can be controlled with a junkyard external regulator from an 80's Mopar. No problem.

ASD & Fuel Pump: The MegaSquirt has an output to turn on the fuel pump. I can probably wire the ASD relay off that, but I'm not entirely sure what's hooked up where. The MS fuel pump output is off unless the engine is either running or cranking and has been cranking for less than some number of seconds. I'm sure it's not hard to figure out; just something I have to address.

Fan Relays: Both MS2 and MS1/Extra can control at least 1 relay; I'm not sure about controlling our dual-fan dual speed setup, though. MS2 looks to be pretty easy to program for that, though- when (x) variable reads (y), trigger this output on/off. I don't know C very well, but I'm perfectly capable of cramming that in the file. With MS1/Extra, everything is in assembly language and I have no chance of having any options that aren't already there.


Temp Sensors:
One thing that's annoying me about the general MegaSquirt "community", including most of the Neon guys, is the attitude "just use GM sensors". If you're converting a car from a carb to run on EFI, yes, that's great. However, if you're converting a car that already has EFI, why not use the sensors you already have? They will work just fine if the computer knows what kind of output they have. It's recommended to use GM coolant temp and intake air temp sensors rather than mess with the Mopar ones, but you CAN use the ones you have.

For the original MegaSquirt processor (MS1), you have to use a program called EasyTherm to build a new calibration for your sensors and then compile them into the MegaSquirt code and burn it to the MS. I've seen warnings on neons.org saying that there will probably be issues with that, but haven't been able to get any more details.
The MS2 has thermistor tables that can be programmed directly from MegaTune without having to recompile any code.


Spark Control:
Since I want to use MS for spark as well, I have to get either MS1/Extra or MS2. They can both read the Neon's crank trigger wheel, but MS1/Extra has custom code to work the Neon/420A coil pack, and MS2 doesn't yet. That's a showstopper for me and will put me in the MSnS/Extra camp automatically.

Idle Air Control:
The 2.4L comes from the factory with an IAC stepper motor. The only code that supports said motor is on the MS2, with its associated outputs for the motor. I have to find out what the Neon guys are doing for idle control. Nevermind- they're just not. Suck.

Knock Sensor:
I'd like to retain this as well. I know MS1/Extra supports it; I don't remember if MS2 does.


I really want to use an MS2 because everything is written in C, the resolution is higher, and it has CAN bus support built-in for add-on modules... but the options don't seem to be there yet.


http://forums.neons.org/viewtopic.php?t=205510&highlight=iac
http://megasquirt.sourceforge.net/extra/
http://www.msextra.com/manuals/MS_Extra_Manual_Index.htm

Posted by: nstenz February 25, 2007 - 3:06 pm

Another sweet build up on neons.org: http://forums.neons.org/viewtopic.php?t=255537&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

Topic about http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=145691 on DSMTuners

http://www.not2fast.com/turbo/maps/
^ Maps for LOTS of turbos. Nice.


http://www.not2fast.com/turbo/glossary/turbo_calc.shtml
^ SWEET.

Assuming the numbers I put in are somewhat in the correct ballpark, the following compressor maps look like they might work.
(assuming 15 psi - party starts around 3000 RPM - max efficiency starts somewhere around 4000 RPM - still reasonably efficient at 6500 RPM):

• Garrett GT32 71mm, 52 trim, 0.52 A/R
• T0E-40 or 46
• T3 Super 60

I wish they had the GT28R(S) as an option- not sure why they don't.

Posted by: nstenz February 26, 2007 - 1:18 pm

Well, I figured out yesterday that full standalone is going to be pretty much impossible for a daily driver.

The PCM controls way too many things. A lot of the sensor inputs that I thought went into the BCM actually go into and/or are controlled by the PCM, and the signals are sent/received between the PCM, TCM, BCM, and gauge cluster over the CCD bus. If I could interface the MS or an add-on board with the CCD bus, I could at least drive the gauge cluster from it, but there would be a ton of things that would not work without the PCM. Some examples:

• Cruise control
• A/C
• Purge solenoid and EVAP system

There's a bunch more stuff; I'll post it all later.

I guess I'm going for a side-by-side installation. The question is how much I can run on the MegaSquirt without pissing off the factory PCM to the point where it doesn't do what I need it to anymore.


I can post more details on the manual swap speedo issue and the cruise control trouble I'm having too.

Posted by: spenser_hasemann February 26, 2007 - 7:11 pm

that is a sweet build on that neon that thing has got some time and money in it, i'd say definately worth it though......

Posted by: Stratuslowrider March 28, 2007 - 8:27 pm

Nick, those links sure make it easy to compare things!!! I spent quite a bit of time doing the whole compressor and effeciency maps by hand. Any thing new with the ride and the issues that are popping up?? I am dropping my motor in the car the first week in april, so hopefully boost will be in by next year sometime. Jon

Posted by: nstenz April 9, 2007 - 7:30 pm

I did the maps by hand, too. Pain in the rear.


I still need to replace all of the shocks, and the upper ball joint boots are both leaking, so I need to replace both of those (aftermarket adjustable, and expensive).

I should probably just replace the tie rod ends while I have everything apart, too- the boots weren't seating properly on those either. Hopefully the lower ball joints are fine and I don't have to replace the lower control arm too.

As long as I have all of that stuff apart (and am spending a bunch of cash), I might as well throw different spindles in for the 15" brakes at the same time. There's no point in going fast if you can stop.


Other than that, I'm ready to start spending money on the MegaSquirt too. I bought a solder sucker this weekend- I'm sure I'll need it at some point.


I do need to fix the paint in a bunch of spots. There's still some runs in the clear coat, a spot of thin paint, and a few places where I was extremely stupid and chipped it already. I want to get those fixed up before SIM, but it's snowing here again and I need to make sure the paint can cure without needing the heat cranked up in the shop for a few days.

Posted by: nstenz April 25, 2007 - 11:25 pm

Rock Auto in Madison has tons of replacement parts listed for our cars on their web site. I had no idea there were so many options. I'm making a list of available suspension parts from them so I can figure out what to order to replace most of them.

As far as the upper ball joints go, I've discovered there are some other options for adjusting camber. However, first I'm going to see if I can find some polyurethane replacement ball joint boots that will fit what I have now.

As long as I'm working on the suspension, I'm definitely going to do the following:
- Koni adjustables front & rear
- bigger wheels
- bigger front rotors (11") spindle & clevis swap
- new front wheel bearings
- new front sway bar end links
- new outer tie rod ends (the ball joint boots were barely holding on when I installed them)
- new front lower control arms IF either of the ball joints are questionable

...and possibly replace the upper and lower control arm bushings with poly ones if I can find some that fit.


I need to hurry up and find some 15" or 16" factory-style wheels so I can squeeze the bigger brakes in there. I keep forgetting I have puny 14" steelies on the car!

Posted by: Stratuslowrider April 27, 2007 - 12:33 am

Sounds like a ton of fun!! I just had my outer tie rods replaced and today I noticed a weird shake-shimy when I was making a hard hard right turn.......I fear that my upper and lower ball joints on the driver side are shot, that or the wheel hub has gone bad. Jon

Posted by: nstenz April 30, 2007 - 7:07 pm

Jon,
I've got a crapload of part #s and prices on suspension stuff if you need them. Just shoot me a PM.


I think I've narrowed my wheel options down to these:

'99-'00 Stratus ES 15x6 alloy wheel (silver):
http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/97stratus_wheels/white_stratus_1G_15x6


'01-'03 Stratus Sedan 16x6.5 alloy wheel (silver):
BTW, this picture is too bright- I chopped them on there and don't really know what I'm doing as far as adjusting the colors.
http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/97stratus_wheels/white_stratus_1G_16x6_5_silver



Any comments?

Posted by: Paulwuzhere April 30, 2007 - 8:50 pm

I'm a fan of 16s, but those look good.

Posted by: Stratuslowrider April 30, 2007 - 9:17 pm

Looks good, gives it that nice stock sleeper look!! I might hit you up for some part numbers. Jon

Posted by: nstenz May 3, 2007 - 5:50 am

(EDIT: I took a new picture of the car with a little more sun so the colors would match better.)

Wifey likes these ('01+ Sebring 15-spoke... 16x6.5):
http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/97stratus_wheels/white_stratus_1G_16x6_5_15_spoke_silver_2

Posted by: t vago May 3, 2007 - 11:08 am

I guess those wheels are shiny enough. Not quite as shiny as this:



but again, shiny enough.

Posted by: Stratuscaster May 3, 2007 - 12:29 pm

I like the 16" 5-split-spokes from the 1G verts...

Posted by: cirrusperformance May 3, 2007 - 12:33 pm

if your looking for a set of the sebring wheels i believe i have a set laying around with tires if your interested. pm me

Posted by: Stratuscaster May 3, 2007 - 12:41 pm

What kind?

Posted by: pite0007 May 3, 2007 - 12:58 pm

Nick, is the Strat gonna be boosting in 2 weeks? Or are you gonna make the trip on low compression again?

Posted by: nstenz May 3, 2007 - 8:11 pm

Sllloowwwwww car or no car, I'm afraid. It's not all bad though- the dragstrip will give me a good (bad?) baseline.

Comes with a radio and almost complete interior this time!
Still haven't fixed the suspension.... gotta get the wheels.

Everybody seems to be voting "shiny" except for me. It's really not a "shiny" kind of car, though. The color just isn't right. Tom, your paint screams SHINY!!!!! I don't think I have that kind of car.

I was liking the 2G sedan wheels, but they're a little angular, and the 1G just isn't an angular car... the 1G ES 15" wheels are a little angular too, though.

I'm going to put the wheels on the more shiny pic of the car to see if it makes a difference. I'm going to put the SHINY wheels on too just so everybody is happy (namely, my wife).

Posted by: cirrusperformance May 3, 2007 - 8:42 pm

the 15 spoke ones

Posted by: nstenz May 3, 2007 - 9:06 pm

With the different lighting-

http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/97stratus_wheels/white_stratus_1G_16x6_5_chrome_2

The color's still wrong on this one- way too much blue:
http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/97stratus_wheels/white_stratus_1G_16x6_5_silver_2_darker

Posted by: nstenz May 3, 2007 - 9:57 pm

Stratuscaster's suggestion (I think) ...which is starting to grow on me:
http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/97stratus_wheels/white_stratus_1G_sebring_16x6_5_split_5_spoke

The black chrome/hyperblack look:
http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/97stratus_wheels/white_stratus_1G_16x6_5_black_chrome

Posted by: cirrusperformance May 4, 2007 - 9:47 am

I really like the black ones

Posted by: t vago May 5, 2007 - 5:38 am

I just happen to like shiny objects. Mmmm... shiny objects...

Posted by: nstenz May 16, 2007 - 9:51 am

Well, I haven't been doing much performance stuff lately, although I'm getting close to the electronics part.

I've been working on building a gauge pod into the right side of the gauge cluster in my dash. The goal is to make it look factory. I've got it mocked-up and lined up, and now I just need to fiberglass it. It took me quite a few hours to get it where I wanted it and get some materials in there that would hold up. I ended up getting the general shape with cardboard with some plastic behind it to hold the shape until the fiberglass is on. Once it sets, I'll pull everything out of the back and have a nice open area with a mounting surface and room for wiring. If I did it right, nothing needs to be cut other than the piece of black trim around the gauges.

I've decided to hold off on the bigger brakes for now, since the car stops decently as-is. I wanted to just swap everything because I have to fix whatever's wrong down there, but my wife's Sebring is a lot heavier, so I'm getting bigger brakes for her. I may put her rear drums into my car, since the ones on the convertible are bigger than the sedans.

Also, I e-mailed Specialty Products Company about getting replacement boots for my adjustable front upper ball joints, and they're mailing me new ones for free. Those are the ones Dreamspeed sells, and they're nice- the boots just didn't hold up very well to 5 years of wear and tear.

I ordered a set of 4 Koni shocks from Dreamspeed on Monday. That should keep the car from bouncing around so much. Unfortunately, I didn't order them soon enough to have them on by SIM, but I've been without them for a year... hopefully the car doesn't make a bunch of noise at the dragstrip to the point where they won't let me race. I expect it to hold together for a while longer yet.

I'm also selling whatever's left from the old cars. I'll have a post on that shortly. It's mostly interior parts and the doors, a bumper, and the trunk.

I'll have some pictures up in a while.

Posted by: nstenz May 16, 2007 - 8:12 pm

More http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/dashgaugepod.

Posted by: nstenz May 26, 2007 - 9:28 pm

Lots of stuff going on...


SIM was fun. I think I had the fastest overall time at the go-kart track, and I had the slowest time drag racing. I did better than expected, though- 16.8 @ 83 MPH.
http://www.stratusphere.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=47422&st=8


I patched my flat tire- it had a little chunk of nail in it. I'm using my wife's full-size spare right now- I still have to put my wheel back on. I realized today that I should probably rotate my tires too, but my suspension is coming off shortly, so I can take care of that then.


I got the shocks too. I knocked the spring perches off a spare set of stockers and cleaned up the rust on them. When the rust converter is dry, I'm going to paint them bright red and try to match the shocks. Even if it's not exactly the same color, it will probably look better than black will (especially since they'll be dirty most of the time anyway).

http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/97stratus/DSCN68044823

http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/97stratus/DSCN67954814

I'm having a little trouble with the adjustments though:
http://www.stratusphere.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=47507

Several people have already asked what people adjust theirs to in these topics:
http://www.stratusphere.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=35277
http://www.stratusphere.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=23609


I washed my car today. It was 100% spotless at the show and shine last Saturday, and it got a nice layer of dust on it shortly thereafter. There was some dirt from the dragstrip, and it got a little dirty driving back home. However, mid this week it rained, and apparently there was a lot of dirt on my car and not enough wax, because my car was just covered with big drops of water with suspended dirt in them (and I was parked!). All of the spots dried, and my entire car was just covered with brown dots. It sucked. Less than a week and I had to wash my car. Bright white paint = high maintenance.


I'm also trying to figure out if I can re-use my DS rear strut tower bar. It bent a lot after the accident, but the threads on the bar seem mostly OK except for the last few. I think the reason for that is the length of the bolts. I checked again tonight, and I'm not even sure if I could get 1/2" threaded in on each side. I never liked the mounts for it in the first place, and the bolts just don't seem long enough, so I'm going to try making new mounts out of some thicker steel with a cross beam reinforcing them. That'll be a pain.


Oh, and I started the fiberglass work on the gauge pod for my dash cluster. It's the first time I've ever actually tried to fiberglass, although I've been watching my dad do it for 20 years. I'm guessing I didn't do a very good job. Hopefully I won't have to sand down all of it (there's a lot of tight spots in there) and re-do it. What I'm worried about the most is the face where the gauge is going to sit. It has to be perfectly flat, squared in the direction I want it to face, and the edges have to be rounded nicely. I'm not sure if it's going to turn out. If it does, I might try to make a mold so I can make them for other people (after some practice).

http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/dashgaugepod/DSCN68024821


I think that's it for now. More pics will be up soon.

EDIT: Updated with a few pics.

Posted by: nstenz May 26, 2007 - 11:45 pm

Here are the timeslips from drag racing last weekend:

Posted by: nstenz May 27, 2007 - 2:11 pm

I added some pictures to yesterday's post.

I also took this shot before going home last night, which I think turned out pretty well:

Posted by: SebringLX May 27, 2007 - 10:28 pm

^^ That's a sweet pic, very artistic.

Posted by: pite0007 June 9, 2007 - 11:33 pm

I didn't even notice it until now, but I was car #13. I've gotta get my scanner figured out cuz I can't get it to scan right now - I want to put up some time slips too.

By the way, I just spent probably the past two hours reading this entire thread. Very informative, very entertaining...ok, I'll admit it, I have no life. Good work and progress, Nick!

Posted by: nstenz June 10, 2007 - 11:02 am

And I was only a second behind... another 100 feet and I would have been great, I swear.

Posted by: trox June 11, 2007 - 10:08 am

I really like the gauge pod. I was thinking about doing something like that but I'm lazy and haven't been in the mood

Posted by: nstenz August 28, 2007 - 9:23 pm

Looks like it's been a while since I posted any updates, huh? That's because I haven't been working on my car AT ALL. I've been trying to fix the brakes in my wife's Sebring, and ended up just swapping out all of the shocks and doing a JXi big front + rear disc swap at the same time. It's still not right, and I have a few more parts ordered. I'm not going to have anything left to change after this.


Anyhow, a friend asked about my MegaSquirt install today, so I did some searching, and I found out that http://forums.neons.org/viewtopic.php?p=2336407! I was really hoping for this for a long time, because that means I can use the factory 4-wire IAC stepper motor instead of having to rig up something else with a random 2-wire one. I believe I can use ALL stock sensors now if I don't have to feed them to the factory PCM (which I do to start with, unfortunately).

So- I'm going to order stuff. The remaining question is whether the RS Autosport kits are hard to modify for MS2 with the 4-wire stepper IAC.

I need:

• MegaSquirt v3.0 board
• MS2 processor
• MegaSquirt "stimulator" (probably not necessary, but nice for troubleshooting)
• MS2/Extra firmware
• Wiring harness
• Wire loom or wrap
• Injector connectors/pigtails?
• Big resistors to trick the stock PCM into thinking it's controlling the injectors
• Bias resistor to use stock coolant temperature sensor (optional with MS2 I guess- MegaTune can modify the thermistor tables on the fly)
• GM intake air temperature sensor? (not sure if I can use the Mopar part; I think I can) + connector pigtail
• VB921 ignition coil driver? (RS Autosport kit already has the extra)
• Vacuum line
• http://www.diyautotune.com/catalog/innovate-digital-wideband-controller-with-sensor-p-41.html
• AFR Gauge (Autometer bouncy lights? http://www.diyautotune.com/catalog/innovate-gauge-only-blue-p-169.html?)
• Some other stuff I don't remember

I have:

• Serial cable for MS to laptop

Other stuff on shopping list:

• Thermocouple wire for EGT gauge
• Modified cluster hood with extra gauge pod (still working on)
• Oil pan baffles; maybe a crank scraper (I'm suddenly worried about oil starvation for some reason)

Looks like I need to fill out a full RMA form to get Koni to send me a new dust cap for one of the shocks... STUPID. Have to do that yet so I can install those, replacement upper ball joint boots, and new front wheel bearings.


OH- I got myself a used Dreamspeed short ram intake from another member who got rid of his car. He didn't have the filter for it anymore because it wore down rubbing on things, so he threw in this giant "MonsterFlow" filter that his brother had lying around. After a lot of cutting, I think I got it to the point where it'll fit under the hood. It's a foam filter, not cotton gauze, so I had to order a different recharge kit than the K&N oil I already have. It should be here in a few days. I'll take a pic of the hacked setup so everybody can see what I did in case they want to waste a bunch of time on it. Supposedly the foam filters better, but the cotton ones flow better, and the stock paper filter is worse on both accounts. I guess I'll find out.

Posted by: stratusfeer August 30, 2007 - 7:28 pm

Oil pan baffles; maybe a crank scraper (I'm suddenly worried about oil starvation for some reason)

--just wondering, but how would oil pan baffles benefit the car? i mean it couldnt hurt, but even with the engine running and on a HARD turn, there is still a fairly large pool of oil in there, and the pickup goes pretty low. just one of those "better safe than sorry" things?

Posted by: nstenz August 30, 2007 - 10:54 pm

I wouldn't call it a 'large' pool of oil. Once there's a turbo in there, more oil is going to be used by it as well, and the oil pan won't be any bigger.

If the oil is all pulled to one side of the pan (really not that hard to do, at least for short periods of time) and the oil pump pickup is on the opposite side, there goes your oil- you're sucking air. Plenty of Neons have toasted bearings from road racing on long, sweeping corners with the stock oil pan. I probably won't be road racing, but I will be driving this car for quite a while, and sucking any amount of air instead of oil isn't good for the bearings. It's (relatively) cheap insurance.

http://www.crank-scrapers.com/prod01.html

Posted by: 5ltreatr August 31, 2007 - 4:54 pm

I have a crank scraper installed in my car, and it is the best modification I have done to my car so far!

Posted by: stratusfeer September 1, 2007 - 1:10 am

well while we're on the subject of oil, have you switched to the jeep liberty 3.7L oil filter? i have been putting that n my car now since ive had it. it is the same o-ring size but it is twice as long. it makes it take 1/2 quart more oil. not too much more filtration i guess, but it can only help

Posted by: nstenz September 1, 2007 - 3:47 pm

I use Purolator filters for an SRT-4. They're almost twice as large... maybe it's the same filter.

Posted by: stratusfeer September 2, 2007 - 11:34 am

yea prob is. i havent heard good stuff about purolator from work, but then again they said the same thing about fram when i used them on my old cars and i never had a problem with them.

Posted by: nstenz September 2, 2007 - 12:59 pm

MegaSquirt is ordered.

Parts:
MegaSquirt-II Engine Management System w/PCB3 - UnAssembled Kit
PCBv3 and v2.2 -- VB921 High Current Ignition Coil Driver Kit
MegaSquirt Stimulator v2.2 - UnAssembled Kit
12' MegaSquirt Wiring Harness (MS1 / MS2 Ready)
Innovate LC-1 Digital Wideband Controller with Sensor
Wire - Shielded 20 Gauge - 10'

Total: $569.75 from DIYAutoTune.com

It should be here by the end of the week- then the soldering begins.

Because I ordered an MS2 and I don't want extra circuitry I'm not going to use with the Neon setup, I'm going to assemble my own board from scratch. I will be running MS2/Extra and attempting to use only stock sensors, without pissing off the stock computer.

I know what I'm doing, but it's going to be hard to do it right.

Well, I've read several studies of oil filters, and Purolator is rated very good for filtration efficiency, although the flow rate isn't the best. Fram is usually rated pretty poorly for quality. K&N is rated very well for flow, but not quite as well for filtration efficiency. My oil always comes out pretty clean, so I should probably cut open a filter and see what it looks like to see if I can get away with a K&N or something. I'd also like to try an Amsoil filter at some point.

Posted by: SebringLX September 2, 2007 - 1:40 pm

Getting all that stuff to work is going to be fun. Good luck.

BTW, should have asked me for a quote... can't get the MegaSquirt stuff, but I could have gotten you a better price on that Innovate LC-1.

Posted by: Stratuslowrider September 3, 2007 - 9:20 am

Looks like you are finally getting ready to take control of the engine management!!! Nice choice with the Innovate LC-1 with an LM-1 for the wideband. I am going with the same wideband but am looking at using a Split Second PSC1 for my controls. The only thing I dont like about the LC-1 is the size of the display. I was looking at trying to take it apart and mount the lcd in the dash and relocating the record button some where else. I would also like to find a laptop mount for my front seat, kinda like the police use) so can download my data right there while I am driving too. Good luck with the soldering.................not one of my personal favorite things to do either. Jon

Posted by: nstenz September 4, 2007 - 8:26 pm

1-stop shopping plus easy ordering FTW. Your web site isn't even working!

Posted by: nstenz September 4, 2007 - 9:09 pm

The LC-1 is just the wideband controller built into a cable + a Bosch sensor- no gauge. I may get a bouncy light gauge to go with it, but I think I'm just going to use the laptop for tuning to start with. The gauge would be for safety to make sure I'm not running way lean.



This morning I e-mailed DIYAutoTune and upgraded the MAP sensor to a dual unit with baro correction for the heck of it. I wanted baro correction, and this is both sensors on one little board with a 4-pin header, which is nice.

Posted by: SebringLX September 5, 2007 - 7:31 am

It's working. I guess I forgot to announce that here, lol. It's been up since last Wednesday. Lower price FTW! lol

I still need to pick up a wideband for myself. Not sure if I want to go with the AEM UEGO or the Innovate LC-1 yet. Just using the shop's wideband for tuning right now.

Posted by: nstenz September 5, 2007 - 11:18 pm

I tried it last night and got an error. I don't remember what it was though. It was an ASP error handler message of some sort.

Actually, the wideband I really wanted but couldn't find the other day is the http://www.plxdevices.com/products/sm/afr/ made by PLX Devices. I wish I had found the damn link because I would have ordered one instead. It's actually $5 less than what I paid for the LC-1. the iMFD modules can be chained together and run into a datalogger box or display.


Then you can hook up the sweetest 2" gauge I've ever seen- the http://www.plxdevices.com/products/dm100/. It's a fully programmable mini-monitor that can read the outputs of any of the iMFD sensors and display them in basically whatever format you want. It's a color monitor crammed into a little circle!


You can use a normal gauge too if you want- it's just not as fun. Adding the sweet LCD gauge adds $200 to the cost of the wideband controller, but you can use the same gauge for all of their other sensors as well. It's not such a bad deal for sensors you don't all need to see at once.

Posted by: SebringLX September 6, 2007 - 4:48 pm

Yeah I found the error on the home page which wasn't in use anyway... correct link is https://www.aerospheric.com/store/ which the home page will redirect you to now. Had a typo in the redirect code, it's fixed now.

That PLX is kinda cool, I can't get PLX though.

Posted by: Stratuslowrider September 6, 2007 - 9:49 pm

Nick, I think the LC-1 can be linked together with other modules from innovate, but you will need to purchase the LM-3 AuxBox. Jon

Posted by: SebringLX September 7, 2007 - 7:53 am

I don't think you need the AuxBox to use other modules from their MTS system if you're only using a couple others....

http://www.innovatemotorsports.com/products/MTS_examples.php

Posted by: nstenz September 13, 2007 - 10:46 pm

Well, after dealing with an unexpected signature required delivery and the USPS, I got my MegaSquirt parts last night.

I cleaned off a table tonight and pulled everything out. I'm starting with the MegaStim, but there really aren't very good instructions on the site. Thankfully, all of the parts in the DIYAutoTune kit are labelled- just pull parts out of the baggie and solder them on the board wherever the sticker tells you to. Hopefully all of the stickers are correct!

I already burned myself. I was working on the 5th or 6th resistor on the stim. This is going to be fun.

Posted by: nstenz September 15, 2007 - 8:04 pm

I got the stim together last night. The hardest part was cleaning all of the flux off. I was using a tube of flux and straight silver solder- what a mess. I ran to the store to pick up some 91% isopropyl alcohol and some acetone. The 91% worked a lot better than 70%, but still didn't get everything. Oh well. What annoyed me was there were no instructions on testing the stimulator. I could have checked the DB37 pinout for some wires to test, but I figured I'd just keep going.

Today I got the power section of the MegaSquirt together- using regular rosin core solder this time. I wasn't getting any voltage when I tested it with the stim, but I was seeing a little ground potential somewhere. What happened was I didn't put a power plug on the stim because it had a header to run 12v to it, and I was just using that... but the plug is one of those that passes through internal power until something is plugged in- then switches to that instead (like speakers that shut off when you plug headphones in). Once I hooked that up, everything worked great. All of the 5v lines are testing at exactly 5.00v.

Posted by: Bender November 5, 2007 - 5:31 pm

Nice to see someone actually doing work to their car that actually matters. How much HP are you aiming at? Are you going to do anything with weight reduction? I would think if you are going for anywhere near 300 HP and reduced weight you can aim for decent acceleration. I am just curious wouldn't it be better if you swapped for Mitsubishi Evo engine which already has turbo setup and pushes 285 HP plus we all know that evo engines can be pushed much further than 400 HP. You can get Evo engine on eBay for about 4500. I would think you need to do some fitments adjustment but wouldn't it be worth it in the end?

Posted by: IRSmart November 5, 2007 - 5:34 pm

for all that work, why not just buy an evo??

Posted by: Bender November 5, 2007 - 5:43 pm

Because evo is a 35K car and maybe guy loves his stratus more than evo. Just like why do honda guys put 20 k into their civics to go faster when they can buy already faster better looking car. To each his own I suppose.

Posted by: 5ltreatr November 5, 2007 - 6:58 pm

Great phrase....but, its only a myth lol! Anyways......I wont get started on why people don't look into swaps....just look at past posts on engine swaps lol, and it shall answer all of your questions. I don't have nothing against them...but others seem to.

Posted by: nstenz November 5, 2007 - 11:12 pm

300 HP, but I want to be in the 13s. I don't know if that's going to do it. I think the engine should be able to handle 400 if I up the boost some more.

You can run 500 HP on a Stratus 2.4L block, and it fits the car already. Putting a 2.0L in from an Evo would be silly.

The only weight reduction I've done is try not to put anything heavy into the car if I can help it (like the subs I have sitting in the garage). I'm sure ditching the automatic transmission for a manual helped quite a bit.

Posted by: Bender November 6, 2007 - 12:12 am

SRT/4 engine fits on stock brackets? With no changes what so ever? That's really good. To get those times you would need semi slicks for sure to get that grip going and as for weight reduction you could really go hardcore about it and trow everything out of the car that you don't need, get lexan windows and carbon fiber 1/4 panels trunk hood doors replacement that is if you can do molding yourself. And then go for lighter wheels and other components. You know I was always wondering why no one did replica of Stratus race car in terms of looks and performance but I guess people who own stratus cars don't play with a lot of budget to begin with.

Posted by: Konflaca November 6, 2007 - 1:41 am

Is this going to be a track car or a kick a*s daily driver? For track your have the right idea, but for a daily driver
you still need some of lifes little luxuries. (A/C, stereo, power steering, a back seat, etc..).
By going with the 5 speed you loose around 75 lbs. Give or take.

Posted by: Stratuslowrider November 6, 2007 - 8:47 am

You dont really need to spend a ton of money to get these cars going pretty quickly down the track. There is a member here that ran mid 14's with only 9lbs of boost and an auto tranny on street tires and no weight reduction at all..........Not bad for a four door family car!!!

How is the mega squirt coming along Nick??

Jon

Posted by: Bender November 6, 2007 - 7:51 pm

Konflaka pure brute track car is always on my interest side rather than daily driver

Stratuslowrider mid 14's is really slow. I'm not trying to say anything bad but I would personally prefer low 12's out of a project like that.

BTW can someone please tell me for sure that SRT/4 engine can be swapped directly with no changes done to brackets or not?

Also were did you get yore CF hood from and how much did it cost you?

Posted by: toast9897 November 6, 2007 - 10:07 pm

srt-4 can not, i repeat not be put into a stratus without a lot of customization. i've heard people say it's been done, but that would cost a lot of money.

edit: or cirrus, or breeze.

Posted by: Bender November 7, 2007 - 12:10 am

what kind of modifications must be done if you don't mind describing?

Posted by: toast9897 November 7, 2007 - 12:51 am

i myself have no idea, and don't even want to think about it. it would give me a headache. i'm pretty sure it would pretty much mean reorganizing the engine bay...

Posted by: Bender November 7, 2007 - 2:01 pm

Well that doesn't really help much . I need some solid info

Posted by: Nimbus November 7, 2007 - 2:16 pm

The turbo manifold won't clear the firewall. Anything is possible, but trying to put an SRT-4 into a Cloudcar is just not reasonable, nstenz is going the better route.
This should be a new topic, if you still want info Bender, as this is what they call a thread-jack. As well using the search feature you can find multiple posts on the SRT-4 engine and how it isn't easy. PM me if you have any trouble finding what you are looking for.

Posted by: nstenz November 8, 2007 - 10:47 pm

Yeah- thread jacking is rude. I'd clean up all of the posts, but it would take a while. I actually started this topic, and I wish more people would read it before posting: http://www.stratusphere.net/forums/Can-I-put-an-SRT-4-engine-in-my-car-t35195.html

The block bolts up. It's basically the same, but reinforced, better oiled, and better cooled. If you read my entire log, you'll have a pretty good idea of what mechanical parts fit a cloud engine (most of them). However, the crank trigger can't be read by pre-'03 computers, and the turbofold doesn't clear the firewall. So no, you can't- but as you can see, you don't need to. You can throw in some SRT-4 rods & pistons, bolt on an aftermarket turbo & manifold, and figure something out for fuel. It's not plug-and-play, but it's more so than using a full SRT-4 setup.

That's enough talking about why not to attempt using an SRT-4 engine for this topic.


Anyhow... this is my daily driver, and it will continue to be and have all of the creature comforts I can afford. I really want an in-dash computer, but good LCDs are so damn expensive....

Jon- I cut a little daughterboard and heatsink for the injector drivers (now the http://www.rs-autosport.net/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=253) the other day. I have to dig through my parts bin to find some wire and connectors to get the circuits back onto the main board.

Posted by: Bender November 9, 2007 - 9:37 pm

Hey man, didn't mean to jack anything by all means. I'm illiterate when it comes to forums so I do apologize. I just really wanted to ask few questions because it seems like a lot of people on here know what they talking about.

I love you're project and defenetely waiting to see final results.

BTW if you're from Plymouth why are you driving a stratus? j/k. I passed that place a few times not too long ago.

Posted by: nstenz November 10, 2007 - 1:14 am

You were over here in Wisconsin? What for? Not that I haven't been through Toronto quite a few times the last few years, but it's a bit bigger, and you have to go through it to get to the eastern side of Ontario.

This area is one of the top places for rich bachelors to live in the U.S., but I don't think that's Plymouth- more like Kohler and Sheboygan, about 10 minutes east. I guess it's close enough. I'll let you guys know when I win the lottery or something.

Posted by: Bender November 11, 2007 - 5:23 am

I did a lot of driving in the past 2 month. Went from Toronto to Edmonton all trough Canada then down south to Calgary - Montana, Utah, Vegas, LA California and then back on I80 all the way to Detroit and then Toronto. What's funny is that I've seen a lot more exotic supecars in Toronto for a past weekend than I did throughout the whole trip.

Posted by: nstenz November 11, 2007 - 11:39 pm

Wow. That's crazy.

A couple of people I know from the Toronto area just moved to Edmonton and Calgary. One of them made her husband drive the moving truck while she flew instead. She couldn't handle driving that (or even being in the truck).

The farthest I've ever driven from here would probably be South Carolina or Maine. I'd like to drive through the southwest to California and then up the coast, but I want my car to be done, and I'd need a ton of time off work.

Posted by: nstenz November 21, 2007 - 12:14 am

Just a quick update. I figured I'd post a pic of how far I am on the MegaSquirt (not very). I did get my daughterboard cut correctly and get the heat sink for it lined up, which is a start...

http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_ms/DSCN74625461

And that's about all I've got for now.


Oh, and Koni sent me a replacement dust cap for one of my rear shocks. I have to install those puppies yet too.


Please let me know if any of my pictures are not showing up or something else is messed up on my web site. I'm switching hosts right now, so it might be a little flaky for a bit- but I want to make sure I find and fix any issues right away.

Posted by: SOHCKing03 January 15, 2008 - 6:11 pm

Any update on how your doing with Megasquirt?

It's pretty much the best option for us Neon guys when we go turbo (except for SRT-4).

-Brad

Posted by: nstenz January 15, 2008 - 11:09 pm

I haven't touched it in months. Between work, house hunting, and the holidays, all of my free time has been used up lately. I wanted to start working on it again a few weeks ago, but now I'm not sure how far I got on it. I need to go through the assembly instructions until I find where I left off.

Maybe one of the Neon guys has built an MS2 with 4-wire IAC and can give me some better instructions... but I doubt it.


On the bright side, I did finally get a new alternator in my car after a couple of years of all the lights flickering constantly. It took care of it for a few weeks, but when it got really cold, the flickering started again. The battery is only a year old, but the alternator may have damaged it. My other guess is that the voltage regulator in the PCM is shot and gets weird when cold. When the MegaSquirt is in, I can switch the car to a 2.0 5-speed computer, which would rule out the current voltage regulator. I guess we'll see.

Posted by: SOHCKing03 January 17, 2008 - 11:01 pm

Sounds like a cool but frustrating project. I'm running MS this summer in preparation for a turbo build next winter/spring.

Keep us updated.

-Brad

Posted by: nstenz February 18, 2008 - 5:22 pm

Sooo we're buying a house next week (yes, with a really nice garage), and I'm still trying to gather insurance quotes from people. I got a pretty low quote from somebody, but after the agent asked for more detail about why I wanted $5000 in additional parts coverage, this was the reply I got:

I see.

In my reply, I took 15 seconds to rattle off $2000 worth of "unique" parts in the car and just told her that if she can't cover that, I'm staying with Progressive (who, unfortunately, is the most expensive out of everybody, but everybody else has a multiple policy discount because of the homeowner's insurance). This quotation process is getting really annoying.

Things add up fast, don't they? This is what I listed, only counting the things with a dollar amount by them:
"...it has $800 custom pistons and rods, a balanced crankshaft, hand-ported intake manifold and head, a $450 high performance clutch, a $200 improved sway bar, $430 shocks, $200 springs... That's over $2,000 alone (and I wasn't counting labor)."

Oh- and we have 2 cars down right now, so I've been shuttling my wife everywhere. I can't double-flare a brake line to save my life, so I can't finish swapping the last thing I can try on the Sebring- and now the Cutlass won't start when it's cold. Good times.

But hey- the Stratus is still running well. However, the damn battery light has started coming back on, even though I changed the alternator. It started when it got cold. What the heck?

Posted by: Stratuslowrider February 19, 2008 - 7:11 am

Congrats on the house purchase!! I had the same problems when I was looking to be added to michelle's car insurance, they wouldn't even touch my car because it was what they deemed a "street racer type car" The lady was pretty sure I did some racing, so I walked out of the office. I am with progressive and had no problem adding extra coverage for my engine and extras. I was told by them that as long as it was bolted to the car, and I had pictures/receipts they would cover everything up to the dollar amount I was covered for.


Enjoy the new garage too, we are going to be moving again in july and after having my own 2 car garage for the last 2 years, we definitely are going to have to find a place with at least a 2 car garage.

Jon

Posted by: nstenz February 20, 2008 - 8:28 pm

Thanks. Hopefully everything else goes smoothly. I'm waiting for a few more quotes and then we get to start writing big checks. My wife just handed me a check for many thousand dollars to transfer from our house savings account into my checking for the down payment. I wish she'd do that every month!

The garage walls are insulated and have some wallboard on them, plus a bit of a workbench-type area, but it's otherwise unfinished, so I can do basically whatever I want to it. Oh- and it has a gas heater hung from the ceiling as well, although it was only set up for a small propane tank. Once I insulate the ceiling and trench a gas line or get a bigger LP tank out there, I will be ready to rock. Then I have to drag all of my tools over...

Let's not even TALK about the fish tanks right now. Want to come help move those? BTW, we found an abandoned 55 gal. by our dumpster a few months ago with coral sand in it... if it doesn't leak, we're going to set that up too.

Posted by: Stratuslowrider February 22, 2008 - 10:43 pm

Sounds like a great garage!!! I would offer to help with the fish tanks but, I know all too well what a PITA they can be. I am not looking forward to moving my freshwater tank, and even more unexcited about moving the saltwater tank!!

If your wife kept handing you over large checks to deposit, life would be great for you

Posted by: nstenz October 8, 2008 - 7:46 pm

29 MPG last tank stomping on the gas. Probably 27 or 28 the tank before that.

I only got 25 MPG a couple tanks earlier trying to save gas- shifting earlier, accelerating more slowly, using a higher gear than I normally would in the city...

I guess the car likes to be driven.


Soooo... I'm still around. As you probably figured, the project is on hold. Our house is still a mess, and half of our stuff isn't unpacked yet. I'm going to finish painting one of the rooms now so we can move things back into it.

I dug out the MegaSquirt boxes a few weeks ago, and I've been reading the MS tuning section on neons.org to keep up on recent developments. I was a bit unsure how to finish building the board before; things were very confusing regarding MS2 and the Neon setup. Now a lot of people seem to be moving to MS2, and Una posted some much better instructions I can use.

I really need to get the Konis installed and new tires put on, though. It's getting cold and wet, and my front tires are bald from all of the spinning over the past couple of years. My rear tires look great- obviously I didn't rotate them. I'm going to move those tires to the front and put winter tires on the rear. I plan on getting some 16" wheels by spring... otherwise I would go for all-seasons.

I'll post another update when I get something accomplished.

Posted by: nstenz October 24, 2008 - 6:41 pm

Assembled.
http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_ms/DSCN9457


Aaaaand working on splicing a wiring harness (but not this one).
http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/stratus_ms/DSCN9439


I'd post more details, but I don't really feel like it right now.

Posted by: Mckinney_Tx October 24, 2008 - 7:24 pm

damn bro your just bulding the car from the ground up.

Posted by: pite0007 October 25, 2008 - 5:44 am

Nice work, Nick. Are we going to hear a woosh-psst come SIM '09? You realize that as your progress on this project increases, your gas mileage is going to proportionally decrease, haha!

Posted by: nstenz October 25, 2008 - 7:06 pm

Possibly...

I think my mileage will go up with the MegaSquirt installed- the dished pistons I have need a way different VE table than the PCM has programmed. I seriously do get better mileage when I mash the gas. I should get my wideband installed so I can see what the PCM is doing right now. It sucks that it's getting cold, but if I can get this hooked up in the next month or so, at least I'll be able to tweak the warmup enrichment for winter. Unfortunately, nobody has the MegaSquirt stepper IAC working on Chrysler right now that I know of, so idle is going to be a problem. We don't have an idle adjustment screw, do we? I don't remember seeing one.

I tested the spark and injector outputs last night- both seem to be working, and I haven't seen any sparks or smoke yet. Impressive.

Posted by: TOP STRATUS October 26, 2008 - 7:33 pm

Trigger wheel different. I had to retrofit custom older style wheel. OEM crank sensor and front mount bracket got to me moded to fit properly under starter. Few wires got to be extended or shortened. Thats all. If using standalone , SRT 4 wheel better ,higher resolution , better , more precise tuning.

Posted by: nstenz November 10, 2008 - 7:12 pm

Updates...

I found some more parts in my dad's shop last weekend, including the engine wiring harness and throttle body I was looking for. I should be able to start working on my piggyback box soonish.

Yesterday I changed the oil in both of the cars. A little under 4 quarts came out of mine- that's no good... I topped it off a month or so ago too. I wouldn't think my dipstick would read high with the SRT-4 pan on, but maybe it does.
I checked all of my spark plugs and they all look OK. I noticed some bad carbon build-up or something on the front part of piston #1, though. I couldn't get a very good look down there, but the back of it was shiny and the front wasn't. All of the others looked pretty much like new. I dumped some seafoam into the #1 plug hole and let it sit overnight... hopefully it cleaned it up.
I tried to clean everything off on the bottom of the engine to find my oil leak. I have to check it now that I've driven it. There was oil all the way up to the top of the block pretty much, and there was oil around the sending units, but there was also oil around the back of the transaxle where the passenger side axle shaft goes in. It could be the head gasket or the other two options; I can't tell.
I'm also a bit low on coolant...

The other funny thing is that I blew the 20 amp fuse for the circuit the horn is on. That worries me a bit. That circuit is also supposed to have the factory stereo amplifier on it, but I think all of those wires are disconnected. If they aren't, that could be where the short came from. I haven't noticed anything odd otherwise.

We got some flurries yesterday... I'd better get some new tires before the snow really comes down.

Posted by: nstenz November 17, 2008 - 7:17 pm

Winter is officially here. I left work today to find over 1/2" of snow covering my entire car. Luckily I bought a new extendable ice scraper/brush when I was at Advance picking up that other stuff last weekend- I broke my old scraper chipping ice off my windshield last year. The new one is nice and great for my short arms.

I still have almost no tread on my front tires, and the roads around work and 2/3 of the way home were covered with ice. I didn't have any big problems, but I had to take it easy. I tested 3rd gear on the gas below 20 mph coming out of a heavily-traveled intersection and started sliding right for the shoulder.

Luckily it hasn't been below freezing very long here, so the freeway, which is concrete, wasn't quite as cold as the asphalt everywhere else and wasn't iced over much. Once I got within 3 or 4 miles of the lake on the way home, there was no ice on the road, and no real accumulation anywhere. Hooray for giant thermal masses controlling their own weather. It sucks in spring though.

I'm going through tire reviews now trying to find some good winter tires. I'm hoping to get new wheels in spring, so I'm aiming for at least 2 full-on winter tires.

Posted by: Stratuslowrider November 17, 2008 - 9:16 pm

Sounds like your coming along with the stand alone system nicely!! My project is on hold for now untill i get some stuff caught up. I had the same problem with my oil leak this past week and was able to pinpoint it. I had noticed small drops of oil and figured it was just my drain plug dripping a little bit (I need a new drain plug) then last monday I come home from work and opened up the garage and noticed a huge pile of oil. I jack the car up and the whole pan is covered along with the passenger side of the axle. Long story short, the factory sending unit was puking oil like crazy upon cold start up, once the engine was warmed up it would only drip a little bit. (I park in a parking garage at work and never noticed any oil when backing out of the spot). This is the second factory sensor in less than a year that i replaced, so I just blocked that side of the fitting off with a 1/8" brass plug. I figure with the oil psi gauge I will be fine. I think that as soon as the temps here dropped the plastic sending unit just became seperated from the metal body (80+ psi on cold start was too much for it to handle), when I went to disconnect the harness I pulled the whole plastic piece off of the threaded part of the sensor. Good Luck with everything and winter sucks!! Jon

Posted by: nstenz January 16, 2009 - 11:33 pm

I bought something.

Posted by: Stratuscaster January 17, 2009 - 9:17 am

Something?

Posted by: nstenz January 17, 2009 - 9:21 am

Yep. Something.

More info next week.

Posted by: nstenz January 21, 2009 - 9:32 am

Do dooo do doooo doooo...

Posted by: nstenz January 21, 2009 - 5:32 pm

That's right...

Posted by: pite0007 January 21, 2009 - 7:36 pm

'bout damn time.


Nice purchase!

Posted by: nstenz January 22, 2009 - 2:06 pm

Yes... yes it is.

Posted by: Hyper4fx February 18, 2009 - 12:31 am

So where did you get it my friend ? I would like to pick one up as well.

Posted by: nstenz February 19, 2009 - 5:40 pm

It's a Hahn Racecraft Super 20G, and a Stratus R/T exhaust manifold from Mexico. I bought it from somebody who bought it from Dreamspeed when Rich was still working on cars full-time. I have no idea where he got the manifold from. Texas isn't too far from Mexico...

Posted by: ky_black98stratus February 19, 2009 - 10:46 pm

Well S.O.B. you finally got it. I am glad... you going to have it done for SIM or no???? PM me when you get the chance I have some questions that maybe you could answer , Thanks

Posted by: nstenz March 17, 2009 - 9:47 pm

My car's down for a bit. I was getting some odd noises from the front end, and took it apart to find:
1. One of my cracked adjustable upper ball joint boots completely came apart, and I can see bare metal with no grease on it- so that's toast.
2. The ball joint boots on the outer tie rods are both old and cracking and peeling away from the tie rod.
3. There are grooves worn into the front spindle where the brake pads sit, so they won't slide or seat correctly now (explains the weirdness I've had braking this winter).

I ordered a bunch of parts from RockAuto last night. As long as I'm going to have the front end all apart anyway, I'm going to find some 15" spindles and upgrade the brakes. Spindles look to be available for $35-50 each at some junkyards, although I have to find one with a matching pair that will ship them. I might as well get new brake hoses too, unless I put new ones on when I put the car back together- I don't remember. Most of the parts on the car were used, so I'm not too surprised that they're falling apart now.

This creates another problem though... I'll need new wheels to clear the brakes, and I haven't decided on wheels yet.

Posted by: ecs March 17, 2009 - 10:40 pm

IIRC, all of the manufacturers of the adjustable ball joints have a lifetime warranty. If you can spare the downtime, i'd check it out. Good call on the spindle from the junkyard. A guy hit my car in the rear and bent the spindle. $368 at the dealership and it's a dealer-only part. I'm glad HIS insurance company is paying for it. I can only imagine how much more the front is.

It shouldn't be too hard to find wheels to clear the brakes. There are plenty of clouds out there with the 15" rims, and IIRC the SRT rims clear them too. A set from the junker and 300 bucks worth in new tires will get you rollin; not to forget to mention that SRT rims on these cars look sick. I picked up a set of 4 for $125, 2 of them had decent tires on them, the other 2 were just bare rim. Try looking it up on craigslist, killer deals on there. Good luck, suspension work isn't fun.

Posted by: nstenz March 17, 2009 - 11:01 pm

I think it's down to one of these two stockers... convertible split-spoke, or 2G flat 5-spoke. I didn't think I would like the split-spoke wheels, but I think they look better on my car than they do on the convertibles...



EDIT: Fixed these to be less blue. They're supposed to be pretty much the same color as the wheels above (a little more sparkle in them, I think). But they're still blue... damnit.


There's a regular pic of one here: http://www.phenixwheels-store.com/servlet/Detail?no=5542
I'll try hotlinking it...



EDIT: Can anyone 'shop a 16x7 Motegi MR7 in gunmetal or hyper black onto my car? I can get you a much larger pic if necessary. It kills the stealthiness, but it's a nice wheel... just not sure about it on my car.

No, I don't want anything larger than a 16". My last Stratus had 17s.

Posted by: Crazy83519 March 17, 2009 - 11:22 pm

Vert wheels FTW

Posted by: NightRider80 March 18, 2009 - 4:01 am

Wow this build has come alooooooooong way, congrats dude. Keep up the good work, can't wait to see her run.

Posted by: captainkirk March 18, 2009 - 5:51 am

Hey, those split spoke wheels from the vert look great on there.

Posted by: SebringLX March 18, 2009 - 7:36 am

It might just be the angle of the picture, but for some reason your Super 20G looks smaller than mine.

You're going to love it when you get it running, it's a lot of fun.

Posted by: nstenz March 18, 2009 - 7:46 am

Len Ayala confirmed it was a 20G from the pic and the part #s, and everything I searched for the part #s came up 20G as well... I'm purrrrrrrrdy sure my Schwartz is as big as yours (however they spell that... haven't seen that movie in years!)


[You know you're only allowed 1 sig pic the size you have each of your two at... pls fix k thx?]

Posted by: SebringLX March 18, 2009 - 9:54 am

Fixed.

You need to get that installed and have everything running before SIM.

Then we can have an Auto 2G vs Manual 1G showdown. I think you will have a slight weight advantage, but it should be a very close and very interesting race. If you don't get it ready in time for SIM, you still need to come down to Byron for a show down when you do get it running! Or maybe Union Grove, that'd probably be closer to halfway between us.

Posted by: nstenz March 18, 2009 - 4:45 pm

I'm working on it... kind of.

I'm pretty sure this "new" damn turbo needs to be rebuilt. The compressor wheel is nicked in a few places, so I think it has to come apart. That's money I shouldn't be spending.

I'm trying to gut out the trashed PCM case I have, but that circuit board is really glued in there. I have to go buy something to persuade it, but make sure I don't wreck the connectors in the process- I need them.

If it isn't ready by SIM (not looking promising), I'll be taking it down to the track as soon as it's tuned to see what it can do.


My car is definitely lighter and should have less drivetrain loss. You can probably shift quicker, have much better traction, and have that handy-dandy exhaust cutout... I doubt I'll be anywhere near the times you've already run. Having 2 boosted clouds in the same place should be fun though.

Bought the front spindles today... need to get brake rotors. Anybody have suggestions? I'm going to go with r1concepts again otherwise.

Posted by: nstenz March 18, 2009 - 10:56 pm

Decided on some black EBC rotors:

I suppose I should go with some Red Stuff pads too.

This is getting expensive, huh?

Posted by: SebringLX March 19, 2009 - 7:36 am

If you are going to daily drive it ever, do not get the red stuff pads, get the green stuff. The green stuff pads are great, gotten me through a years worth of daily driving (minus winter), autocross, and drag racing, and they are still going strong.

Red stuff pads are race pads, and they need to be warmed up before they work.

Posted by: nstenz March 19, 2009 - 10:29 am

I was going to go with Green Stuff originally, but EBC's web site says the ceramic Red Stuff pads (apparently the ceramic is a recent thing) have "Good" cold friction, just like the green ones do, and "Excellent" hot friction, plus a longer lifetime, and less dust. I hate cleaning my wheels. HATE IT!

http://www.ebcbrakes.com/redstuffinfo.html
http://www.ebcbrakes.com/greenstuffinfo.html


Do you know anybody who's tried both recently with more than 1000 mi. on the pads to compare them? (Magazine test maybe?) I'm not knocking what you're saying or the same stuff I've read by other people, but if their pad compound changed, the performance could be different, and people might be going off previous results. They take a while to bed in:

Is anybody else running the Red Stuff pads on a Stratus? I wouldn't mind being the guinea pig if nobody can tell me they've tried them and they sucked.


It sounds like either way, they should stop better than factory, even cold.

Posted by: SebringLX March 19, 2009 - 11:40 am

I was not aware that they changed the Red stuff pads, maybe you should try them out and let me know. At the time that I bought my green stuff pads (late 2006 IIRC), the Red stuff pads were listed as race only application.

I may try them next time I have to replace my pads. I have been thinking about attempting to get the Wilwood big brake kit for the SRT-4 to work on my car for some time now, if I ever get around to doing that, I think these pads would be a good addition to it.

Ugh, so much stuff that I still want to do, so little money.

Posted by: nstenz March 20, 2009 - 8:56 am

I'll try them out.

Posted by: nstenz May 18, 2009 - 10:34 am

Buy EBC sport rotors with RedStuff pads. Thank me later.

Suspension is back together; went autocrossing this weekend. Good times.

Posted by: nstenz August 5, 2009 - 1:16 am

I've been neglecting this thread a lot, even though I did a lot of work on the suspension recently.
Pics: http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/97stratus



The wheels are from a '97 Sebring convertible. My dad had some kind of charcoal color left over from painting some sort of GM vehicle that we ended up using on them. I think it looks pretty sweet, although the car attracts a bit more attention now than it used to. They're wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus rubber (205/55, I think). It was the biggest tire I could get to fit my car with these wheels. They are THIS CLOSE to rubbing: ||
Those are Koni red shocks all around, set at 3/5 firm (which is too stiff- the car bounces a lot, and I think my traction is worse than if they were softer).
The previously mentioned EBC sport rotors (black zinc-coated) and Red Stuff pads are there as well- very nice:

I also-

• swapped the larger front brakes from the 15" wheel model in (with the spindles nicely painted semi-gloss black)
• put new wheel bearings in the new front spindles
• replaced the front upper ball joints with new adjustable ones
• replaced both outer tie rod ends

So, after an alignment, I got the car all cleaned up for SIM... then took it racing and chewed up the new tires (and a cone) for fun:


Everything was mostly good (except a squeak from the front suspension somewhere) until last week. Then I started hearing a bad noise. Apparently the combination of less sidewall and much stiffer shocks took care of one of my sway bar mounts. It looks like after the back of the mount sheared off, the front of it flexed enough to fatigue the metal of the crossmember the front was still bolted to, so I need new brackets and a crossmember:


I just so happen to have spare ones from the '99 I wrecked. Luckily, my dad hasn't scrapped the car yet, although he just cut off the rocker panels to sell to somebody with rusted-out ones...

The replacements are getting some serious reinforcement before I put them in (both the brackets and the crossmember). We spent several hours cooking up some reinforcement plates for the brackets on Sunday, and the crossmember is going to have reinforcement around the area where the brackets bolt on as well. It should take a ton of force to tear it apart when it's done. Oddly enough, I determined I could take the tight cloverleaf onramp on the way to work at 50-55 mph with one of those two brackets gone (I didn't know it was destroyed at the time). 50 seemed reasonably stable, but 55ish is when I realized I was pushing it a bit and something bad could happen- so no more of that.

I need to soften up the shocks- at least the rears for sure. The rear ones come out with only 3 bolts, other than the hard time getting the bottoms bolted back onto the spindle again. I don't know whether I should try for 1 full turn, or just leave them on full soft. I swear something didn't feel right with one of the rear shocks- maybe it screwed with the rate of travel on one side and contributed to the destruction of the sway bar bracket. Let's hope not.

Well, I'm out of pictures. When the new bracket setup is ready, I'll snap some pics of that for you guys- I'm not the first one to break those things.


I am still working on the MegaSquirt- I'm trying to desolder the factory PCM wiring harness connectors from the circuit board to route them to a plug-in MegaSquirt piggyback relay harness. Basically, a gutted engine computer case with connectors will sit where the computer is now, with the stock wiring harnesses plugged into it. The wires will then be routed from that box to another set of harnesses going to the factory computer. Any splicing or re-routing of wires to the MegaSquirt will happen in the relay box to keep everything tidy- and if I need to pull the MegaSquirt out and just run the factory computer temporarily, I'll still be able to do that by plugging it in directly instead of through the relay box.

Oh- I also need to remember to call Hahn and get my "new" turbo sent in for inspection and probably a complete rebuild with new CHRA.


I really need to get the MegaSquirt in so I can get the 2.0 manual computer in there to fix my wobbly speedometer and have working cruise control. We're planning a 12+ hour drive to Canada in the next month or so, and I'm sure I'll be driving the entire way because my wife refuses to practice driving my car (and "doesn't trust it"). I think that will have to be a two-day trip this time.

Posted by: nstenz August 9, 2009 - 9:25 pm

Newly reinforced crossmember and brackets next to old one:
http://www.lowtech.net/gallery/97stratus/DSCN0389

I dialed the rear shocks back to full soft too. It rides much better now.

Fixed the clutch switch too so I don't have to keep reaching under the dash to start the car.

Posted by: SebringLX August 10, 2009 - 8:28 am

Think you'll have everything running by the time the tracks open up next year?

We need to meet up at either Byron or GLD when you're up and running. 1G vs 2G with similar setups will be a good race.

Posted by: nstenz August 10, 2009 - 9:04 am

I hope so...

Posted by: Charger August 10, 2009 - 10:40 am

It's hard for me to see in that picture what you did because your new cross member is so clean everything blends together! Did you cut and spot weld a plate onto the cross member, then make up new bolt tabs for the brackets and weld those to the brackets themselves? How thick is the reinforcement plate on the cross member? I assume that'd increase the height of the bracket (i.e. installed it'd be say 1/16" lower), so did you weld the bracket to the mounting tabs to offset the height you gained with the base plate?

Posted by: SebringLX August 10, 2009 - 10:56 am

I just realized I've probably said the same thing in your thread about 8 times now.

Posted by: captainkirk August 10, 2009 - 6:54 pm

Okay, just checking to be sure; the reinforced crossmember and sway bar points are on the front or back? I am thinking front from reading, but I want to be sure.

Posted by: nstenz August 10, 2009 - 11:24 pm

Anywhere you see a new spot weld, it's metal on top of metal. There's a big new plate on the crossmember itself, and then bent pieces welded onto the sides and bottom of the mounting tabs of the brackets. The thickness is about the same as the brackets; maybe a little thinner. The difference in height is negligible; the bushings still bolt on fine with the same spacer.

Posted by: Charger August 11, 2009 - 5:48 am

Ah, yes, the bushings would accomodate the height difference I suppose. Nice work, man.

Posted by: nstenz August 19, 2009 - 11:12 pm

Quick update... I sent the turbo to Hahn this week to have them inspect it and see if the bearings are any good. I haven't heard back yet.

I still haven't gotten the connectors de-soldered from the spare PCM I destroyed- I have to figure something out there. My desoldering iron sucks (and I have two).

I haven't had any trouble with the sway bar, although I wasn't expecting to. The only remaining suspension issue (besides maybe softening up the front a bit) is the really annoying squeaking from the front of the car. I think I need to pull apart the front and spray all of the rubber bushings with some silicone spray. If they're making the noise, that should fix it without deteriorating the rubber.

Posted by: nstenz November 15, 2009 - 8:13 am

Hahn said the turbo was junk and charged me a pretty penny to replace the entire center section. A certain someone who sold me the "like new" turbo isn't answering e-mail now. If anybody knows where to find Mike Germond, let me know. I would just appreciate a refund of the difference between what I paid and what a brand-new turbo costs, which I think is less than $300. If you sell somebody junk, whether you're the one who broke it or not, be a man and stand behind what you sell!


The silicone spray fixed the squeaking for a month or so. It would've been a lot of work to take the entire assembly apart and really get in there, but I was able to spray around the outside of the bushings with the car jacked up. I want to soften up the front suspension; if I get a chance to do that, I'll disassemble it again then.


The Gutless is fixed other than a gas tank leak when full, so we have two cars running again and are shopping for a third. That means I'll have a winter beater and will be able to work on Tourette this winter.

I've almost got power back to the garage again (should be filling in the trench with the new power line today), which will be nice.

Posted by: nstenz February 6, 2010 - 4:14 am

Heyyyyyy long time no posty. No progress on the actual car in the last... however many years it's been running. Consider this my to-do list.


My wife got a Murano, so I'm driving the '91 Olds and the Stratus is parked for the winter. The tires on the Stratus suck in snow. Also, the Sebring is done for, so if anybody needs some parts, I could use the money.

I still don't have power in the garage. I got approval from the electrical inspector to hook it back up and call him when it's done so he can check over things. He let me know that he'd be pulling out outlets and such to make sure they're wired correctly, so I pulled them to check, and... none of the grounds have wire nuts on them, some aren't pigtailed correctly, and some are twisted backwards, so I have to pull those apart to be able to get wire nuts on at all. Plus some runs of wire are only 14 AWG (not enough for 20 amp breakers), so I've been replacing those. I hope to be done tomorrow finally. Of course, that's assuming I get up at a decent time, since it's 4am and I'm still up.

Then I still have to get the heater in the garage working. I have to move it over about 4 feet away from a window, re-route the exhaust vent, wire it in properly, and come up with a decent solution for hooking up the propane (apparently the former owner just set a small propane tank on the workbench connected to a hard line- not pretty). It's not a necessity, but it gets a bit cold here in winter.


I have to get the MegaSquirt wired up to the car (and get the latest firmware on it), then tune the thing.


I'm looking at sensors and a gauge right now- ~$700-750 for a wideband o2, boost, oil pressure, and EGT monitoring. I could skip the oil pressure and EGT, but I'd like to have them there for safety's sake, and if I don't do it from the beginning, I never will. It's a lot easier to install that stuff with the engine bay disassembled.

The rest of the shopping list:
-another temperature sensor for MS (can't share with factory PCM)
-another intake air temp sensor for MS (ditto)

-new head gasket (found coolant in the oil last month) $40?
-exhaust manifold gasket $10?
-some kind of heat shielding/wrap

-fuel pump
-fuel line
-fittings
-fuel pressure regulator
-injectors (i wish i knew how much i needed- i have to figure out what kind of base pressure i'm going to run)

-exhaust plumbing
-maybe (probably) a high-flow cat
-probably a better muffler or two
I'd really like to run 3" to the rear and split it out to duals with some subtle tips on them...

-intercooler
-intercooler piping and fittings
-intake pipe
-air filter

I also think I'm going to cut the 90 off by the throttle body on the intake. Air already has to come up from the bottom and from the front to get to the throttle body. Hopefully somebody can TIG that for me cheap (or free). I'm not qualified.

Crap. I need a blow off valve too.


Let me know if I'm missing anything. (Yes, I already have a turbo w/wastegate and manifold.)


I'll have to find this stuff and start adding up prices. I'm not sure I want to spend this kind of money with my job situation and a baby on the way. Hopefully another $2k will cover it... but I'm thinking it'll be closer to 3. That's not including the PLX sensors and gauge. Ick.

Posted by: captainkirk February 6, 2010 - 4:13 pm

Well, you have already taken your time up to now, so no need to rush it now. Keep gathering parts if you have to budget, then get things straight.

Posted by: spenser_hasemann February 8, 2010 - 7:41 pm

Would love to see it completed, most get in deep and back out when almost complete at last minute. I hope you get it all figured out and get that baby purring. waaaaahhhhh psssttt waaaaaaahhhhhh pssssssstttt

Posted by: TOP STRATUS February 8, 2010 - 10:11 pm

i got bunch a parts left yet from old buildup. Buncha parts that never was used , inclooding Autometer gauges. If you want some of it , let me know. I think i can have somewhere 1G 2.4 gaskets too , if they didnt endup stolen by KY_blackStratus. Let me know if you interested in parts from me.

Posted by: nstenz February 9, 2010 - 11:25 pm

I've got gauges covered:
http://www.plxdevices.com/multigauges.html

Let me know if you have anything else on that list though.

Oh, FYI for those of you thinking about going to EBC Red Stuff brake pads- I found out when it dropped below freezing that they don't have a lot of bite until they're warmed up. Above freezing, they're fine.

Posted by: TOP STRATUS February 10, 2010 - 8:28 pm

ok , i'll make list.

Posted by: TOP STRATUS February 15, 2010 - 11:50 am

PM me your email . I'll send you some pictures and we'll talk money. I got some parts for you , incloding head gasket.

Posted by: TOP STRATUS February 15, 2010 - 12:04 pm

Also got some SS 3" exhaust piping , injectors , IC piping , Intake piing , fuel lines and fittings , sensors , 1" wheel spacers , custom intake manifold that works with OEM fuel rail , fuel rail that i can mod to be used with fuel system that have return , catch tank , breather , aluminum 2.5" intake pipe with flange for Blitz BOW , 38mm Tial WG springs , 5/8" aluminum hard fuel line ( return) e.t.c.