Neoru (AWD Neon)

Chrysler

Neon

2000

0

Signup or Login to like and comment
The finished product, 3.5 years of hard work.
Day 1 of the build, Sept 19, 2019, both cars run and drive.
The cut down 1999 Subaru Forester. I bought this car with front end damage for $300.
What’s left of my faithful 2000 Neon, it served us very well for 8yrs, now time to take it to the next level.
Starting to fit the Neon body onto the Subaru platform
Neon ranch?!
In the shop now that the big pieces are moved around.
Had to shorten the body and rear doors to match the shorter Subaru wheelbase.
This is just an example of how rusty the Neon had gotten and that’s why I chose this direction to salvage it.
Patching in some rear door rust.
The trunk area lined up nice and I also added some structure.
The Subaru had platic moldings for it’s rocker panels, this wasn’t gonna work for my needs so I built new rocker panels using 16 gauge and thick wall pipe.
I added the Subaru roof beam and also beefed up the perimeter of the roof structure. Neon’s were lacking in this area so I felt the need to improve that since my family will ride in this car.
Had to relocate the Neon fuel door to match the Subaru fuel cap.
I beefed up the front frame rails to handle my snow blade.
I joined everything with spot welds just like a factory car.
My fog light recesses, I went with some really nice Aux Beam yellow fog lights.
Bracket for the fender, it mounted totally different then the Forester fender.
Fender mount.
PCV tank, the EJ25 has 3 breather hoses, this links them all to the intake.
Had to move the car out to clean up and shuffle other cars.
Body work…
Exhaust recess, the exhaust is all custom and high clearance.
The structural ribs for the rear bumper.
My custom 2-1 muffler.
Bumper ready for paint.
Zero body fill.
Some strut tower reinforcing brackets.
All 4 strut towers are heavily reinforced and lift added.
Rear strut towers wrapped in 18 gauge x2.
Custom charcoal canister.
The Neon body has a lot less overhang at the rear and didn’t have the room for the original unit.
I incorporated the original screens and filters from the Subaru unit.
I built a fire extinguisher quick release mount out of a piece of used ABS pipe.
First drive!
EJ25 boxer engine, with the custom exhaust and intake it does 0-60mph in 8.0 seconds, much faster then a stock Neon or Forester.
If you wanted to find flaws the interior is the place to do it, but I knew that going in, it’s not my area of skill and I knew things wouldn’t match up perfect. This was a high trim Subaru and the interior was very nice so the seats and dash are very nice, just the Neon parts don’t exactly match up perfect. It’s not a show car.?‍♂️
Parked next to my custom Mercedes in front of my shop, it’s a proud moment for me.
Hauling a load of garbage to the local transfer station, pulls a small trailer really nice.

Mods

I think the only thing stock and original on the car is the trunk lid… Pretty much everything is modified.

Build story

It started in 2011 when I bought a very beat 2000 Neon for $100, that turned into the best vehicle I have ever owned. In 2019 I was considering restoring my faithful Neon to it’s full glory, then I came up with the idea to just body swap it onto a Subaru platform. I had been using the Neon as a off road utility vehicle to clear snow on my acreage, move dead cars and even run some off road trail just for fun. This car was all about making a Neon into the best utility and off road vehicle it could be, to handle all my daily needs and get close to 30mpg while doing so.

Comments

To leave a comment on Neoru (AWD Neon):

Login or Signup