The Only Shelby Lancer On StanceWorks.

[G-type]

Because racecar, is basically the point.

[Low Life]

Neons never had a 420A. I have a set of first gen Neon BCs if you decide to go that route.

[Daviticus]

Phase 1.5: "What Junk Bolts Up, Anyway?"

So I hit up the local U-Pull-It yard to get some suspension ideas. I had a plan in my head initially to use a Neon strut in its' entirety up front - boy was I in for some tricks and treats.

*Note- I refer to the stock strut as a K-car strut ... this is THE strut Chrysler used for almost everything FWD from 1982 to '98, from hatchbacks to Caravans, convertibles, and sedans ... only the Aries and the 600 were technically "K-cars", as everything else had a different designation albeit using the same basic designs [for the record, the Lancer and 1st Generation LeBaron were H-bodies]. For simplicity, I'm referring to them all as K-based. Also of interest to mention, is that all Neons, regardless of generation, use identical struts, top-hat mounts, and knuckle-to-strut bolt patterns. In example, a '95 Neon Highline would have the same struts as a 2006 Neon SXT.*



What you see there from left to right is a stock K-car front strut off an '89 LeBaron GTC, a 2001 Neon strut, and a 2003 Neon complete assembly.

As you'll notice, the Neon stuff isn't a whole grip shorter from a glance. Although I didn't measure anything, I'd wager to say the difference is around 1/2" shorter. One check against the Neon setup, based off my original thoughts.

The real deal-sealer now for me is how short the threaded portion of the strut rod is. IDEA: I can use this to my advantage by building a custom top-hat mount that brings the threaded end further into the engine bay - I can't do this with the K-car struts, as they'd hit the hood if I moved them anything over 1" closer. Essentially I'd just be building myself a custom camber plate that also moves the strut rod mounting further up, increasing strut travel without raising the spring perch with it. So, one merit to the Neon design.

So now I started looking at bolt patterns for the strut mounts. Chrysler has always had a way with keeping things pretty close in design to reduce tooling costs, and this was no exception concerning struts and knuckles - the bolt holes between Neon and K-car struts are identically-spaced, confirmed by physically bolting a Neon strut to a '90s Caravan knuckle, using the Caravan's original bolts. Looking closer:



This is a bad angle, but you can just notice that the K-car strut [at bottom] has elongated bottom strut mount holes, where the Neon unit leaves no adjustment. Also of importance is how much narrower the K-car knuckle mount is compared to the Neon units - A nice bonus of having spare parts left over, are some small spacer bracket pieces originally used on the outside of the K-car strut bolt-holes, before they were equipped with camber bolts. If I sand the surfaces clean on two of these spacer brackets, I can just barely tap one on each side of the knuckle to fit the Neon's wider strut bracket. More USDM Legos FTW.

BUT, why would I be wasting all this time and effort for a strut that's only 1/2" shorter, that requires mods to even fit in a stock application? Friends, that is an excellent question. While romping around the intarwebs for Neon strut options, I found this little gem of awesome:



That, is an image of Koni Sport adjustable strut cartridges for the Dodge SRT4. You're probably thinking right now, "Okay, cool, so what's the big deal then?"

The Neon uses a McPherson strut design at BOTH ENDS of the car. Since my Lancer uses a separate spring and shock in the rear with a beam rear axle, I can't use inserts in the rear. So, look at the pic above one more time. See the shorter inserts? Those are for the rear of the car. Now, judging by the pic alone, I'm assuming those rear struts are about 1-1/2" shorter than the fronts, and the exact same diameter, which would be AWESOME for a front setup in shortened housings. Summit sells Neon Koni rear inserts for $161 each. Cha-CHING. Budget custom coil-overs FTMFW.

So that's where I'm at, folks. I'll probably be picking up a pair of front Neon struts at the junkyard this week and start cutting them apart. Hopefully with next week's paycheck, I can order the rear Koni's for the front, and pick up an AFCO coil-over sleeve kit from Summit as well. Then its' time to start drawing up templates for the camber plates.

So that's it for this update, until next time Stancers!

[Daviticus]

Neons never had a 420A. I have a set of first gen Neon BCs if you decide to go that route.

You're correct, I'm mixing my engine information now, my bad. Thanks for the correction.

Just out of curiosity, even though I probably won't go that route, what do you want for the BCs? I know a Neon guy in Salt Lake City that may be interested.

[justaneffer]

why do i love this so much? in for a wide and low lancer.

[NudeLobster]

how did i know it was you just by the title? Looks good

-Justin

[Daviticus]

Haha, sup Nudie. I was wondering earlier how many StarQuest owners would recognize me.

I also just realized I'm doing essentially the same thing with these Neon inserts as us SQ guys do with MR2 rear inserts. This is getting too-awesome.

[Daviticus]

So, I've been doing a bit more homework on the rear suspension for the Lancer, and came upon Rich Bryant from Phoenix, who builds custom and retrofit parts for the old Turbo Dodges. He has been working with Jeremy Mitchell from Gillette, Wyoming to get the rear spring adjusters properly built for BC springs [I'm looking into other options currently as well, including building my own threaded perches or possibly converting the rear shock to a coil-over]. This is as low as Jeremy's Lancer goes out back on the BC springs with adjusters:



And a quick shot of the adjuster, spring, separate stock shock:



That makes things a bit easier for me. I'm going to contact Mr. Bryant soon and see if he'll sell these adjusters, sans springs, separate from a BC coil-over kit.

[ullyeus]

I like where this is going. Retrofitting parts to go low FTW!

[Dr.AK]

Very interesting project, can't wait to see more!

[Earl]

You selling whys?

[lyonsroar]

Went to car's and coffee a few weeks back and this thing showed up. Mountains and mountains of awesome! Your build reminded me of it...


IMG_1127_wm by Lyonsroar91, on Flickr


IMG_1193_wm by Lyonsroar91, on Flickr

[projecthoarder]

Neons never had a 420A. I have a set of first gen Neon BCs if you decide to go that route.

Pretty darn sure they did, its the same 420a that came in the non-turbo 2g eclipses.

[projecthoarder]

Sorry, same block, different head, my bad.

[slowstefan]

I'm not sure how I feel about the car's "looks" but other than that.. I totally respect the uniqueness going on here and you can sense the love you have for the car lol and I love old school!! I can't wait to see the progress!