Urness Motorsports

1996 2dr PR4 Plymouth Sport Coupe
PR4 Red, SOHC, 3.55 transmission, power nothing, steel wheels etc. I bought the neon in 2002 for 600 dollars with 61k miles on it. It was beat! Blown Headgasket, cracked windshield, dead bird under the hood, spoiler was missing(torn off studs still intact), speedo didnt work, the car had been jumped off the road twice (barbed wire on car still, squished frame rails, crushed steel oil pan), it had been sideswiped on both sides (concrete pillar in parking garage), missing the gas door cap, no paint on the lower portion of the car due to speeding on a gravel road, broken down interior due to rolling in/out of the car, dead mouse in heater core (sweet!), a hole in the front bumper from a truck hitch with a matching crumpled hood, a dented in fender due to a drunk mail order bride kicking in the fender with heels, three matching wheels and one odd ball, stereo didnt work, blown out speakers, and brakes that had a been running on the squealers for at least a month.

My first ever modifications!
-removed bird from under hood
-removed rodent skeleton from heater core
-got the windshield replaced
-Found replacement parts at the junkyard for
- spoiler
- gas door
- mirror
- driver side fender
I installed all the parts (borrowed from a totalled white 2dr)

The speedo didnt work because the sensor had been unclipped..for whatever reason. fixed!

Next was the headgasket... Took me two days to do the headgasket with the verbal assistance of a local tech. To get it done...it cost me around 500-600 bucks. I ported the plastic intake manifold, ported the head, decked the head .040", port matched the tb, installed a 60mm tb, Deyeme Front Motor Mount, MSD Ignition, Iceman Intake, H&R Race Springs, New Falken Azenis tires, R/T wheels, and new spark plugs. Fired the car up. Car ran great except the oil pump had bitten the dust long ago. I replaced the timing belt...but used the old oil/water pumps (DOH!)

Car worked well for a couple of weeks. The oil gave up and I lost oil pressure during highspeed corning and ate a few rod/main bearings. I went as far as I could towards home before it gave up at 122nd on I-84 before the connecting rod beat a whole thru the cylinder wall! I went throught what every car nut goes through...indecision. Should I go na? 2.0L? 2.4L? Turbo? Nitrous? Turbo and Nitrous? burn the car? When I started school...i wanted an all motor 2.0L...I ended up buying Crane 18's, 12.5:1 Compression JE pistons, eagle rods, BDMS Long tube header, Ported head that I did myself, SAFC, MSD DIS-2, AFX ECU, 24# injectors, 60mm throttle body, Booger bobble strut, Deyeme FMM, MSD Wires, SPEC stage 3 clutch, and other parts I cant remember...but that was the jist of it. During my sophmore year (2003) the srt-4 came out and I started fabricating Downpipes and o2 housings for them...i made good money doing it too! I spent most of my sophmore year making parts and saving money... during which i had yet another bout of indecision!

Turbo vs. NA? I finally decided that a ghetto turbo setup would be faster than any NA setup. I got on .org and sold everything off..started buying turbo parts.. I still didnt have an engine for the car so that was a major problem... I did some looking around to finally get an '01 PT shortblock...it wasn't a runner like i was told...shafted. It would need to be rebuilt. So I kept looking for a good 2.4L. Months went by and I kept spending all my money on my car that I hadn't driven since late 2002. I finally got a 2.4L from a stratus with low miles which I rebuilt with srt-4 internals, srt-4 crank, srt-4 everything with some arp mixed in. Stock cylinder head through and through. The parts list was pretty close to the one below... Walbro 255lph fuel pump
36# brown top Bosch injectors
SDS EFI EMS
GM 3 bar Map, AIT, and ET
Innovate LM-1 Wideband
Greddy Profec B Spec II
PG LSD
3.55 transmission
Clutchmasters stage 4 4 puck clutch
Autometer CF boost, h20 temp, and oil pressure gauges
.63AR T3/To4s 60trim Garrett turbocharger
TiAL 40mm wastgate
mustang 65mm throttle body
Stock 1g DSM bov
black hump silicon couplers w/ t-bolt clamps
I made the 25x10x3 Intercooler,intake manifold, "Sidewinder" turbo manifold, 3" downpipe, and external dump tube, steel 2.5" ic piping

I started the car for the first time in dec of 2005. My first problem was the injectors i bought off of ebay...1 of them leaked. I went and bought a replacement from napa...100 dollars later i had 4 good injectors. You may be wondering why i had 36# injectors for a turbo 2.4L? I took the advice of people from neons.org and not from Russ Carol(RC Engineering) DOH! I quickly changed them out for stage1 SRT-4 injectors...figured that would be all the injector I would ever need(wrong!) I went and dyno tuned the car after i had heat cycled the engine 8 times and rough tuned it on the way to portland. John Reed of Torque Freaks tuned my car and helped me with all of the questions that no one else seemed to have the answers to. [John Reed now works at RRev Motorsports...HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! Best tuner in the NW hands down] After maxing out the srt-4 injectors with a static fuel pressure of 49psi the Neon made 250 wheel horsepower and 250 ft lbs on 8psi! Not a lot if you read magazines but for a 2200lbs neon!!!!! holy smokes it scoots! I still remember my first time in boost...i got onto I-205 and merged at nearly 100mph! I couldnt phathom the amount of power the car was producing!

With some seat time in the car now I began to understand what was normal and what wasnt... AFR's in the low 10's and high 9's needed to be leaned out. So I tweaked with my $150/hour tune and leaned it out to a consistant 11.5:1 tune...learning how to use my wideband and the ems together. I then began to tune my part throttle and idle...soon enough I was comfortable changin more parameters. By spending all my money on insurance, race gas, Mobil1 Oil...I didnt have a whole lot left over to spend on the car. So while I was at school...i ran the car at this power level. May rolled around and i was in DIRE need of more boost. I had worked hard enough to afford some 1000cc injectors, 25x9x13 slicks, slick wheels, and an SX 1:1 Fuel pressure regulator. I finally swapped the injectors and retuned the car on the street for 14psi!!!! what a riot! my IDC's were at 100% though!!??!!? I remember thinking...I maxed out 1000cc injectors? no way. Time for a return fuel system! I scrapped and worked my way until I had enough money to do a complete AN fuel system. I bought an external fuel pump and put it in series with my in tank pump wired it up...routed my stainless steel line, tightened my an fittings and set my base pressure at 40psi. Fired the car up! Ready to go! I street tuned the car at 14psi again (22 degrees of timing at 14psi on an 8.1:1 engine...waaaay too low)

I went to PIR running 8psi to see what it would do at different boost levels. 13.2@108...13.2@110. No matter what I did I couldn't break a 13.2 at 8psi. So Guess what! I turned it up to 14psi... 13.2@116mph...13.2@118mph. The car was way faster but still no 12's on street tires!!!! c'mon!

I got on the fast train to getting my slicks on. I spent 3 days and prepped the car for the track. The night before I'm to leave the car has a fueling problem and wont idle or drive for crap! Turned out i burn my ecu when coolant SOMEHOW got into the ecu case! 100 dollars later...we're good to go!

I strapped the slicks on and went to Woodburn to beat the dreaded 13.2@1million mph sickness that was ailing me. FIrst pass I ran a 12.4@112mph...continuing through the day I got better and better finally ending up with an 12.1@118mph I was happy...but still greedy for power as ever!

I went back to work in the shop thinking about my poor 1.9 60's on these HUGE slicks! I equipped the car with ebay coilovers, DSS stage 3 axles, and adjusted the suspension...corner balanced the car, and adjusted the camber during launch to zero as well as the toe. Time to test it out!

PIR during a V8 cruise-in...I was the only neon running. 1/8 mile too (teh gayzors!) I ran a 7.212@98mph with a 1.66 60'! Thats what Im talking about! we're moving now! much better than in my 12.1 pass! I got three passes in all at 1.66-1.68 60' times...launching perfection has been achieved! Time for more POWAH!

I took the car to the dyno once again...Torque Freaks was FULL, GroundZero was FULL, even Matrix Integrated was FULL! I stumbled upon a shop called Unnatural Inc where two guys named Ricky and Wes worked. I got the dyno for Friday at 5pm til we're done! I backed the car off the trailer and everyone there immediatedly started snickering, "haha neon psssh" "what a gay neon" "whats a neon doing here?" I kept to my own and kept my head square for the tuning session. I spoke with Ricky and we got the car strapped down and ready for the first pull. Inquisitive onlookers asked me what kind of power I planned to put down...I responed, " Im not stopping until I hit 400whp" They all laughed histerically and joked about how much it would "really" make. First pull on the dyno at 14psi the car put down 305whp and 320 ft lbs of torque. :D By just pulling fuel we had the car up to 327/345 Upping the boost to 20psi staying TOO conservative with the timing the car pushed near 370whp. We noticed leaking from the uncrushed 1g dsm bov, but continued on anyway, determined to hit 400whp. 22 pulls later, at 1am, 28psi, and 16 degrees ignition timing at peak torque, I had made 394 whp and 387ft lbs...the profec B was maxed out...that was all the turbo had left in it.

Time for Mopar Natiionals! but first a little test ride
strapped on the street tires and took it out for a spin. Short shifting 2nd onto I-84...shifting into 3rd at 3k...stepping on it. 17psi and the car was pulling extremely hard and wandering over both lanes of traffic...I had to lift. I slowed back down and tried it again...trying to control the car this time. This time I stayed in it...19psi and the tires went up in smoke the engine banging of the limiter for a few seconds as I was in awe of the power. Shifting into fourth and slowing rolling into the power...14psi...pretty effin fast...19psi...getting insane hold on...25psi and the car is lifting waaaay too high 30psi and the tires were on fire AGAIN!!! bouncing off the limiter at 115mph!!! I couldn't hold my hands still for about 3 hours...too much of an adrenaline rush! I put the car away and began prepping the car for Mopar Nationals. I welded in a 6pt cage (11.50's) and a scattershield. I took care of all the iffy NHRA things..battery shut off etc. checked my helmet, 5pt harness', seats, etc...all legit.

The First pass
unsure of the power and traction the car would have...i opted to go on the safe side ;) 2nd gear burnout until I saw smoke come thru the vents. Pulled up to the line watching the tree....trying to keep my rpms up around 4k thinking I was going to blow the tires off. Green! I bogged extremely hard off the line but the boost picked me back up! short shifted into second around 5k...shifted into 3rd at 5k as well but having a hard time coaxing it into gear...yes finally in gear. Then after a second the boost came back...shifted into 4th at 5k...stood on it til the traps and BARELY eaked out a big block. rolling back down the return road I got a few thumbups and a few people cheering which I really appreciated due to the amount of money, time, and hardwork to get this far. I got my time slip and crept away from the tower trying to read and drive. 11.8@123.7 w000t!!!!11's!!!! i started w00ping and hollering in my car. I was stoked! Couldn't believe it!

IT ended as quickly as it came...
2nd pass I came off the line on teh limiter...a great launch and promising pass...only to have the ic piping blow off. damn! 3rd pass was bracket racing!!! no more testing...doh! I put down an 11.49 on the car hoping to not break out when I get my good pass in. I put 6psi in the slicks...and mentally prepare myself. no more short shifting...we're going to 8k everygear...where the power is at. We're not going to bog...we'll spin off the line but no bogging! No missed shifts this time...it costs to much when the turbo comes out of boost.

2nd gear burnout...nice and long. Make SURE they're nice and sticky! At the line I setup in the groove...prestage...staged. The yellow lights start and I tach it to the limiter...8k here we go. Green! dump the clutch..riiip! 8k...2nd gear...8k...3rd gear..we're hauling ass this pass! top of third waiting to hear the rev limiter break up the ignition and CHUNK! CRASH! BANG! no more power. I reach for the shifter to take it out of gear...its attached to air...UH OH! I remember thinking...please god not the engine!!! To my surprise it was the clutch! separated into 3 pieces and ripped the flex plate to shreds! Broke the transmission, broke the differential out of the transmission, both half shafts, put a hole in the radiator, broke the starter, downpipe, and a piece off my block! The track guys really loved me then! lol. They muttered... "god damn neons."

At this point I was out of cash...had a broken car...and was about due to go back to school for my last year. The Neon would have to sit and wait for another day.
I slowly worked on it doing little things to fix it. replaced the clutch, replaced all teh broken parts, and got it running. Ran it at 28psi on the freeway...thats when I found out the axles were toast. I began to repair it little by little. Time passed by...

it was the summer of 2006... I let my friend borrow my turbo...when he lost oil pressure my turbo was no more. One more thing to push the driving of my car back. I considered selling it now...too much money invested into something i cant use. AGAIN...that indecision struck! I decided to sell the car...put it up on teh forums etc. ended up selling it on ebay to a guy in western oregon...once he drove it...it was too much car for him...he backed out of the deal. A godsend? I dont know...but I knew I needed to keep it after that bs. The new turbo on the car was a stock srt-4 turbo...great turbo all except its freaking tiny and wont carry boost because the turbine housing is the size of my pinky! I dyno'd it anyway. 390ft lbs of torque and 277whp...not bad but the torque curve was COMPLETELY WORTHLESS!!!! Slicked down the car ran a 13.2...the DREADED 13.2...i mean worthless! i had some clutch issues trapping 106...time for more money the car said to me. Then dropping to 3 cylinders later that week....because of a faulty 1000cc injector. Great.

working now...
I drove the car for about 5 months to work and back (graduated now) and I finally got tired of driving a race car to work and back...opted out and got a 2000 4.7L automatic Dakota (towing in mind) I parked the car at my parents place and kept it in my thoughts. I started spending money on it again like wild fire...TiAL 44mm wastegate, PT61 turbo, Eagle Rods, Wiseco pistons, arp fasteners all around, Brian Crower Stage 3 cams, BC springs, retainers, and valves, AEM wideband, New cylinder head that I ported, and extra 2.4L block, getting ready to purchase a twin disc clutch...when it hit me. Im spending all the money on a NEON! woah! what am I doing? I should be spending this on big screen tv's and tools and maybe even a new car...house payments etc!! So I decided to part the car out. I started selling off the parts when that INDECISION STRUCK again! I should start road racing this car...or should I rebuild it? Well boys and girls...we're rebuilding it :D This time...with a few changes.

#1 the paint will be clean...no gay graphics due to my uncle this time around!!!(for those of you who know...)
#2 The Cage I will take more than 12 hours to fabricate!
#3 No more insane power goals!
#4 No more stripped out beer can neons!!!
#5 PS, AC, Cruise control, and a stereo are a MUST!
#6 PSSSSSH!! its going to be quiet inside and outside! No loud exhause (just an atmo wga dump :D)
#7 No more shortcutting the suspension!
list goes on and on!

Links:

the "org"
HT
ATP Turbo
Full-Race
Love Fab

THIS PAGE HAS BEEN UPDATED AS OF April 2nd 2007