2003 DODGE “NEON” SRT-4 – PROJECT: #HEAVY WEAPON
Posted: December 1, 2015
HEAVY WEAPON VERSION 1.0
An employee vehicle – Project Heavy weapon started in 2006. Bought it with an AGP 50trim kit on it and no fuel management. An AEM EMS and some RC750’s later it was making a little power and after a cat delete and Needswings, downpipe coupled with a proper tune from PREracing it made proper power putting down 415whp on 92 pumps and 470 on vp110. A nice Clutchmasters FX700 hybrid and some Mickey Thompson 26×8.5×15 slicks later and it was doing 11.5’s at 123mph until a nice cold day down at Woodburn dragstrip when my Perrin EBCS failed in the full bleed off position and we had ALL THE BOOST.
Whoopsie! Anyways, here’s a couple more videos from that fateful day:
Mods at the time were pretty basic. Stock engine, stock head, stock trans, AGP 60 trim turbo kit, Perrin FMIC, Perrin EBCS, AEM EMS, RC750cc injectors, AEM hard pipes, Clutchmasters FX700hybred clutch, MT 26×8.5×15 slicks, Needswings downpipe, and custom 3in the full exhaust.
HEAVY WEAPON VERSION 2.0
The car went under the knife for the largest revision yet.
Decided on the DCR Option B short block package with all the goodies. Coupled that with a Level10 performance “bulletproof” (hardly) automatic 3-speed transmission with a high stall converter. Turbo was shot from its encounter with ALLTHEBOOST so a 60-1 was found with about as much shaft play as the moderators' lounge but it held boost and didn’t smoke.
We found out that to run an FMIC with the auto you have to modify the cold side outlet so we scrapped that PERRIN pile and went with a custom Air-To-Water intercooler setup from Frozenboost. Everything back together and tuned we made around 400whp on e85 through the auto. Unfortunately, transmission issues plagued the setup, and the car never really lived up to its potential.
We upgraded to a Precision PTE6266 turbo but the power didn’t really change. Primarily the car was bracket raced for 2 seasons on this setup until the transmission was finally DONE and needed a full rebuild.
First-ever run on e85.
Breaking the 11.5 second barroer on the 60-1
After rebuilding the trans we filled the tank with some K&S 120 race fuel and cranked up the boost putting down just shy of 500whp. Off to the track and after a night of traction issues we blew a head gasket on the top end of the strip at around 125mph. Needless to say, it was a mess. Time for another rebuild.
HEAVY WEAPON VERSION 2.1
Decided it was time to step up the game a bit and finally build the head.
- DCR Springs, Retainers, Keepers, and seals.
- BC oversize valves.
- DCR spec custom ground Crower cams.
- Port, polish, and assemble from Aluminum Head Rebuilders in Portland, OR
Picked up a DCR intake manifold from a friend then found out my RC injectors didn’t fit with their custom rail setup so we ordered DW2200cc’s and those didn’t fit so we modified the old rail to work with the DCR manifold. Coupled it with a nice Boomba 70mm throttle body.
A challenger approached: Import Face-Off
While we had raced IFO events in the past we had never attempted to compete in the heads-up areas of the competition opting instead for the brackets. Well, we decided to go after the Forced Induction Sport class which required some changes to the car.
- The air-to-water intercooler was prohibited from this class.
- The car must have interior.
- The car needed to be about a second faster than my fastest pass ever of 11.4 to even stand a chance.
Once we got the head back from Aluminum Head Rebuilders we had about a month before the event. Two weeks went by and everything was up and running ready to race only the car wasn’t making the power it should on the dyno barely hitting 450whp. We took it to the track anyways to run and after battling fuel pump fuse issues we finally were ready to make a full pass when the differential exploded during the burnout sending the spiders out of the case all over the burnout box. Phantom grip death it’s called. The car was loaded into the trailer and we figured we were out for the event.
HEAVY WEAPON VERSION 3.0
Out with the auto and in with a stock 2005 manual trans and Clutchmasters Race Twin. Put it on the dyno and HOLY crap, it actually made horsepower!
IMPORT FACEOFF WOODBURN 2013
For those who don’t believe that aero helps, we picked up 9 miles per hour off changing nothing but aero and the wastegate default spring, target boost was identical, hp was identical, a little more power under the curve (as you can see in the video) Pretty cool stuff.
HEAVY WEAPON VERSION 3.1
ENGINE:
Darrel Cox Racing 2.4L short block “Option B”
- DCR Custom Spherical Pistons
- DCR Custom Rods
- DCR Ion Honed Treated Crankshaft
- DCR Coated Rod & Main Bearing Set
- Balanced & Blueprinted Rotating Assembly
- DCR Machined Bedplate
- DCR Main Studs
- DCR Billet Crank Strap Kit
- DCR Windage Tray
- DCR Crank Scraper
- DCR Oil Pickup
- DCR Treated Oil Pickup
- DCR Big Filter Kit
PRERACING CUSTOM HEAD PORT, POLISH
- DCR Custom Valve Springs
- DCR Titanium Retainers & Keepers
- DCR Valve Seals
- Brian Crower Oversized Valves
- DCR Oil Flow Modifier
- DCR Extreme H11 Head Studs
- Mopar OEM Headgasket
- Crower Camshafts, Custom DCR Grind
- Fidanza Adjustable Cam Gears
- NGK Iridium Spark Plugs, Straps Cut for extreme low gap
TURBO & INDUCTION:
- PREracing custom Twin Scroll T4 sidemount manifold
- Precision PTE6266CEA Turbocharger, T4 Divided 1.32 AR exhaust housing
- Twin Turbosmart Comp-Gate 40 wastegates
- ARP Exhaust Manifold Stud Kit
- DCR Intake Manifold
- Boomba 70mm Throttle Body
- Boomba Check Valve
- PREracing Custom Intercooler and Charge Piping
- PREracing Phenolic Intake Manifold Gasket Spacer
- Tial Racing Blow Off Valve
- Custom valve cover breather setup
- Moroso breather tank
- PREracing custom hood dump exhaust
- NOS Sniper Wet NO2 system, 40shot single nozzle, AEM logic controlled
ELECTRONICS:
- AEM Engine Management System
- AEM Smart Coils, Individual Coil Per plug
- Turbosmart Eboost2 Electronic Boost Controller/Gauge
- AEM 5 bar map sensor
- AEM Wideband o2 Sensor
- Autometer Oil Temperature Gauge
- Autometer Tachometer
- Interstate Sealed AGM Battery
- PREracing low mount battery brackets
FUEL SYSTEM:
- Deatschwerks 2200cc Fuel Injectors
- Fuelab Prodigy Inline Fuel Pump
- RCI 4 gallon fuel cell
- Turbosmart FPR-1200 fuel pressure regulator
- Redhorse fuel line fittings
- Redhorse fuel filter
- Aeroquip start-lite fuel line
- Modified Lorenzo Fuel Rail
DRIVE-TRAIN, CHASSIS, & MISC
- Honda Half Radiator
- PREracing Aerodynamics Package (Drag Wing, Under-Paneling, etc)
- Clutchmasters FX725 Race Twin Disc Clutch
- AGP Extended shift selectors 1,3,5 & 2,4
- Custom steel braided clutch line
- PREracing Custom Undersized Hub Setup for 13in wheels
- Bassett Racing Wheels, 13×10
- M&H Racemaster Slicks 24.5×9.5×13 Slicks
- BC Racing Coilover Suspension
- Eibach 18kg/mm Rear Coil-Over Springs
- PREracing 6 point Roll Bar
- Corbeau FX1 seats
- Racequip 5pt Camlock Harnesses
- Ksport Hydraulic Staging Brake
- Custom Steel Braided Brake Lines
