with help and tools from holidave, and a garage, experience, and patience from greg, we did some work to my car this weekend. started out as a saturday event, turned into a weekend event. however, we got many things done:
- lumpy cam is in
- cam gear is in
- head is rebuilt
- long tube header is in
- fluids are new
- 2 motor mounts replaced
- associated timing stuff is replaced
things i learned:
- 2nd gen neons are much better built than 1st gen neons, in terms of powertrain reinforcement
- there is no way to get a 1/2″ drive breaker bar on the PS and A/C drive belt tensioner. we used a crowbar to push down on it from the top
- with the exhaust and “meltables” moved or bent out of the way, it’s not easy to put the alternator belt back on
- you can scare children when you start an open-header neon. 😆 (quicktime req’d)
- the header will probably melt the coolant overflow bottle. we relocated mine to the parts box in the trunk and shoved the overflow hose into a 20oz mt dew bottle in the fender until i find a permanent replacement
the pictures start on page 7. i will take more “finished” pictures once it’s all done.
MANY THANKS TO HOLIDAVE, GREG, and DCX for their help and support