80LS1T Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 Me and a buddy from work are going to be racing the 4 cylinder class at the local dirt tracks this summer. We are planning on using a 1st Gen Neon because we work at a Dodge dealership and parts will be cheaper if we need sensors and such. The rules say it has to be a SOHC engine. We cant run a header or fancy intake either or port anything out. It has to be stock(well it has to appear stock! ). So Im looking for some info on what we can do to a 2.0L SOHC Neon engine. We are looking into wether or not the 2.4L block will fit with the 2.0L SOHC head but are still unsure at this point. That would pick up some HP&TQ Im sure but we will see if its doable first. I really doubt there are a lot of people swapping a SOHC onto a DOHC engine! LOL Like everyone else at the track....we'll "bend" the rules but we dont want to raise any suspicion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myplasticegg Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 www.fwdperformance.com and http://www.forwardmotioninc.com they have calibations and whatnot aslong as suspension parts that look stock. as far as i know for the 2.4 SOHC thing, the 2.0 and 2.4 DOHC are the same head, so if they swap out on the 2.0 block then why not on the 2.4 block? www.neons.org should help you out a good bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
v80z Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 shave the head raise compression run race gas port the head and stock manifolds bigger cam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tfreer85 Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 shave the head raise compression run race gas port the head and stock manifolds bigger cam The problem with that in my area is that they do a compression check to see if its "stock," so that might be a problem, it not do it then. Tyson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LS1T Posted January 18, 2006 Author Share Posted January 18, 2006 Raising the compression might be doable because from what I understand the guys that actually check to see if your legal are morons. They cant even figure out that the late model class, that one of the guys that I work with, harlf the guys are running 383-406 strokers! We cant port anything because it would be too obvious if they torn us down. Race gas is probably legal but unless we raise the compression enough and tune for it wont be of any use. We have to run the stock PCM. If we can get more air though we can probably change injectors to get more fuel with out them knowing. As for the cam, if we go bigger it will need a tune. We will have to see if anyone tunes these PCM's. I think I found out that we can swap the 2.0L SOHC head onto a 2.4L DOHC block so this is good news! Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 Unless you have a lot of experience racing on dirt, I would leave the engine alone and spend money on track time to do testing and chassis setup. I would also spend money on driver training and coaching. He who gets on the gas sooner and stays on the gas longer wins the race. I saw Steve Kinser at LVMS show up for a fun demostration race with a midget and beat a whole field of amateur drivers running 360 cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_hunt Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 Run 15 inch wheels if you can find some that fit, they really help putting down contact patch. Those are strut cars are they not? Need some stiffer spring on the right front for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myplasticegg Posted January 19, 2006 Share Posted January 19, 2006 for wheels, you want to find the "crab" style off of a shelby Z daytona. all the weight is in the center of the wheel, and you can find a set that is 6.5" wide. I have 2 6.5" and 4 6" that i can get rid of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LS1T Posted January 19, 2006 Author Share Posted January 19, 2006 We found a 12 valve SOHC Ford Probe today for $100 and it runs! This is going to be our back up car though I think. John, your are probably right. Neither of us have any dirt track racing experience. We were going to start out in hobby stock(stock V8 in cars like Monte's and Cutlas's). But we decided against because we dont really feeling dieing this early in life! LOL Plus we would probably just be in the way out there with the guys that actually know what they are doing! This should be a fun learning experice. The good part is there are 3 guys at work that race. One was running the late models. And 2 run go karts. So we should get some good advice on what and how to do things. Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
80LS1T Posted February 20, 2006 Author Share Posted February 20, 2006 A little update on the car... We are using a 1996 neon. We sold the Probe. The car is pretty stripped down on the inside and we are trying to sell as much of the interior as possible to recoupe some of the $350 that we paid for the car. The engine has been a fun learning experience thats for sure! We are using the 2.4L block under the 2.0 SOHC head. We did some research and a few guys said that it was doable with 99% stock parts. I dont know what they hell they were talking about because we have had to hack up the timing covers and mesh them together, modify the timing belt tensioner bracket, modify the alternator bracket, get a different alternator belt, modify the p/s bracket and other odds and ends. We also have to remove the p/s pump pulley and use a serp belt pulley rather than a V-belt. This is the only thing that might raise suspicion. everything else looks very stock. With a 20% increase in displacement we are hoping to gain roughly 20-30HP/TQ over the 132HP stock. We know its not a lot but it might be the edge we need to make up for our crappy/novice driving! Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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