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Intrepidation's Sig Thread

30K views 109 replies 29 participants last post by  lowtown42 
#1 · (Edited)
[ Kimura's Intrepid M]

Stock Specs
  • Year: 2000
  • Steel Blue Pearlcoat paint
  • 2 Tone interior
  • Infinity I sound system
  • DRLs
  • 2.7L V6
  • 173,000 miles when I bought it

Mods so far
  • Added exhuast tip
  • Added Dodge licensee plate brackets
  • Added Dodge leather steering wheel cover
  • Engine Conversion at 196,200 miles from 2.7 to 3.5HO with 122k on it.
  • Custom painted 3.5 plenum.
  • Replaced gray vinyl arm rest with dark slate 300M leather arm rest
  • Replaced gray cloth seats and with dark slate 300M leather seats, gained 40/60 folding rear seat.
  • Replaced original 300M rear arm rest with one that has cupholders
  • Replaced three of the four door weatherstrips
  • Replaced the aux power jack
  • Replaced stock gauges with Concorde gauge cluster
  • Installed chrome door handles
  • Installed chrome switches
  • Installed Automatic light sensor and switch
  • Replaced vinyl shifter with leather shifter
  • Replaced leather shifter with chrome shifter
  • Upgraded to 18" Mille Miglia Uno 18"x7.5" wheels. Wrapped in Michelin Pilot Alpine rubber
  • Removed dealer sticker
  • Installed OTIC
  • Installed auto dimming mirror
  • Replaced seat memory switch so now the memory works

Future Mods
  • Fix the trunk light
  • Get the center speaker to work
  • Upgrade the sound system to Infinity II
  • Get the body panels to line up properly
  • Reapply the 3.5HO badge
  • Replace gray carpet that has a hole in it with black carpet from a 300M
  • Get black floor mats
  • Change the interior color scheme to a custom dark slate on taupe scheme
  • Replace the dash with one that inst cracked
  • Upgrade to ATC
  • Get a RB1
  • Get a CD Changer
  • Replace Evaporator Core
  • Get a new a/c compressor
  • Get a cold air intake
  • Install true duals
  • Upgrade the brakes (next time I do them)
  • Have the windows tinted
  • Have a one-off front bumper of my own design made
  • Have the car repainted Deep Water Blue Pearl
  • Get Caliber SRT4 wheels
  • Gets some new exterior badging
  • Realign rear door trim
  • Possibly replace driver's door (but I may just stick with this one and have the dents fixed when it gets repainted...dunno yet)
  • Autostick
  • Considering a OEM spoiler
  • Considering Spyder headlights

And I'm sure there's more!

My name is Andrew, I live in Lawrence, Massachusetts.
I bought my Intrepid, my first car, at an auto auction in New Hampshire. It was love at first sight and I plan to keep it forever. :D
I paid $2,100 for it. It took me and 3 other people across country in 2007. Gave me mostly trouble free miles besides a crankshaft sensor and the fuel pump gasket up until the timing chains needed to be done. Now it's gone from the base engine to best engine (besides the Special's). ;)

Some photos from the night I brought it home:







And how it looks today:



















 
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#69 · (Edited)
For anyone who wonder the difference between economy brand parts and Moog parts, here's a case study.

On the right is the cheapy part, on the left is the Moog part.



Notice how much larger the diameter is of the bar on the link. It uses thermoplastic bushings rather than plain rubber for where the link connects to the sway bar. The bolt that connects the link to the bar has a hex head so you can hold it in place while tightening the nut (neither the cheap one nor the OEM part has this). It's also forged as opposed to cast.

Compared to the OEM part, the cheapy actually looks pretty close, but the Moog part has design improvements (forged, thicker metal) to prevent failure like that again.



Since the bugger was snapped in two I used a jack stand to support the sway bar and vise grips to hold the other side of the bolt in place, since it has no hex head.



And the the vise grips to hold the rest of the link in place to remove the top nut.



Much better.



Might as well do the other side soon. Just look at those rusty (original) struts, those are being replaced come spring. Interesting that the sway bar bushing, on that side at least, look fine.
 
#72 ·
For anyone who wonder the difference between economy brand parts and Moog parts, here's a case study.

On the right is the cheapy part, on the left is the Moog part.

What is the brand of the link on the right?
 
#76 ·
Yep!

Happy Birthday by the way Ed.

Yeah, I heart Moog for alot of things. There was talk at some point of Autozone carrying it. I hope it comes true. I have front Moog sway bar links, the cheapy advance ones I originally bought never lasted, these moogs are several years running now.

Of course, don't think even moog has much on my sway bar links for the rear.......(also andrew, take note of how my bushing is. As I had mentioned earlier being squished like that will shorten their lifespan way way way much more.)
I already loosened them. That's what I get for going by the torque specs on a Haynes manual. It called for the small link to strut nut to be torqued to 75 ft-lbs! That's more than the torque spec for the much larger link to bar nut. I never did make it that tight. A check with the FSM confirms that it should only be 17 ft-lb!
 
#75 ·
Yeah, I heart Moog for alot of things. There was talk at some point of Autozone carrying it. I hope it comes true. I have front Moog sway bar links, the cheapy advance ones I originally bought never lasted, these moogs are several years running now.

Of course, don't think even moog has much on my sway bar links for the rear.......(also andrew, take note of how my bushing is. As I had mentioned earlier being squished like that will shorten their lifespan way way way much more.)
 
#78 ·
Well they lasted a whole year and 2 months, but the mounts are making noise. You can see the coil spring hang up on the bearing as you turn the wheel, and then when the spring finally moves it makes a clunk.

Going to call up Monroe and give them an earful. One would think this problem would have been fixed by now with such a high failure rate. Getting them replaced seems pointless if its going to happen again. I'd rather them give me the money back to pay for OEM mounts and put those on.
 
#82 ·
Black Sensa Tracs, although I think they use the same mount part number regardless.

These are on the front Andrew? I think I recently put on a moog on my front end when I did my 300m Special swaybar during my engine swap.. I can double check the records at work and get you a part number, they seem fairly heavy duty. Cant remember what they are for sure tho...
Yeah, they're on the front. I wondered about Moog. I talked to a Moog rep before and he told me that they aren't rebranded Monroes, that they are built under contract by someone else for them.
 
#81 ·
These are on the front Andrew? I think I recently put on a moog on my front end when I did my 300m Special swaybar during my engine swap.. I can double check the records at work and get you a part number, they seem fairly heavy duty. Cant remember what they are for sure tho...
 
#83 ·
I'm guessing you should've used OEM strut mounts and Bearings! I did a test fit of a Monroe bearing on an OEM strut and it had high clearance. That lead me to buy OEM strut bearings and there were no issues with clearance.

The FSM clearly states the difference between the left/right OEM mounts and how they should be installed. Take a look at that. There have been more than one instances where people have installed OEM strut mounts & bearings on Monroe/Moog "Quickstruts" with some success.,
 
#84 ·
You're right, I was apprehensive about putting Quick Struts in because of the issues with the Monroe mounts, but I had the Quick Struts installed as is because I was in a pinch and couldn't wait for the dealer to get OEM mounts in. Looking back, maybe I should have kept the old mounts. The struts may have been rotted out, but the mounts were still quiet!

Its funny, I recall the FSM stating the mounts are two different part numbers, yet all aftermarket mounts, as I recall, are one. I asked that Moog rep why, he didn't have an answer (big surprise).
 
#86 ·
The reason I asked about the color of the quickstrut is because myself and another 300Mclub member have installed the cheaper blue economatics and neither he or I have had any issues so far. His have been on for about 1 year...mine for about 3 months. And everyone that I have seen on these forums with issues has installed the black ones
 
#87 ·
I just got off the phone with Monroe, they told me as of January 2012 the bearing design was changed for the mounts. I got mine October 2011 so I would have the old design. Who knows, maybe this new design will actually last for more than a year.
 
#89 · (Edited)
Weird thing is that the mounts for both the Econo-Matics (blue) and the Quick Struts (black) use mount 903901. Did the Economatic come out last year or are they an older line than that? I wonder if they've been using the newer design and there's still Quick Struts manufactured before 2012 in inventories with the old design.
 
#91 ·
Nice trep! Looks very close to mine other than mine is an ES and has the 3.2 I had a starting problem so I just upgraded the injectors from the stock two hole spray pateren to a four hole and gained some ponies under the hood!
 
#94 ·
still looks good. nice car Andrew!
 
#96 ·
Been a while!



I realize this is over a year old, but in case you were still wondering: yes those are the correct numbers. If you buy them, throw out the Monroe mounts and reuse or buy OEM mounts/bearings. As has been said many times on here, Monroe strut mounts/bearings for these cars are awful. Replaced them twice before buying a set of used OEM units. Problem free since.

Anyway, what's all happened to this car since the last update...

Well the suspension is in pretty good shape all around now. Fronts were sorted out by replacing the Monroe mounts/bearings with OEM units, and during the original installation it got new sway bar links and bushings.

After that the car was unfortunately rear ended over the summer, but was not totaled and they did a good job repairing it. The rear bumper lines up better than it ever has!









After that was taken care of I purchased rear Quick Struts and sway bar links. I was planning to do this myself, but I discovered through research that while the fronts aren't too bad to do (only took a couple hours to change out the front mounts), the rear struts seem to be a real PITA. After reading about sheered bolts and the assinie way these things are bolted to the car, I elected to have them professionally done. They took 4 hours and lots of heat, but my mechanic got them out without breaking a single bolt. My only problem wit these Quick Struts is the car sits higher out back than it used to and more than the fronts do. I wonder if this is normal for these? Still, it rides so much better now.

The next big item was doing a transmission service. I've never done it, but I figured it was as good a time as any. The fluid wasn't burn or black, but it definitely looked well used. No flushing, as I've heard unpleasant things happening as a result of that. Instead I just dropped the pan, cleaned it (normal amount of metal on the magnet), cleaned the pan, replaced the filter, and put new fluid in. Now its nice and pink-ish. Transmission seems a bit more responsive too.

One night my truck release wouldn't work. I pulled the wiring harness apart and found not one, but two broken wires. Fixed both and my truck light began working for the first time since I've owned the car!

Had the joy of replacing the driver's side downstream O2 sensor recently. That was just awful. They are so far up under the car with so little room to get tools around them. I spend more time getting tools to fit on it than anything else. And that was with a lift! Couldn't imagine doing it on the ground. At least it wasn't seized. Popped a new NTK sensor in and all was good.

I haven't really had time for any more big projects, however I did fix a couple vacuum leaks it had, one from the hose feeding the LDP (had to fix it twice) and found a leak at the corner of the plenum.Not junkyards had one, so I used Permatex black plastic weld to fix it. Seems to be holding.

Finally, I noticed my PCV hose was soft `n squishy (and oily). My car doesn't have the funky heat exchanger, but finding the OEM hose was proving to be a challenge. Instead, I opted to replace it with my own construct.







Clamps came from a hardware store. The brass adapter came from Advance. The tricky part was acquiring 5/8" and 1/2" fuel rated hose. Heater hose that size is easy to get but doesn't hold up against oil. I was able to get both from Carquest though. They even say "Fuel Vapor >PCV/EEC<" on them and are much stronger, thicker and kink resistant than heater hose is. I ran the 5/8 hose from the PCV valve and put the adapter just before the nipple on the engine. I had thought to use a couple 90° fittings, but the hose is strong enough where it doesn't seem like it will kink. If it does I'll add a couple elbows.





Cost me about $10, and I have enough leftover hose to make another one.

That's pretty much it for this year. Soon it'll be time for winter hibernation. Next year I plan to swap out the dash, as mine has two big cracks in it now and it's driving me crazy. While doing that, I'd also like to change the carpet out for a black one.

I'd like to get the roof repainted, as the clear coat is slowly pealing from the trouble area by the driver;s door.

I think its getting to be time for new lift supports front and back.

Need to replace the tie rod adjusting sleeves before the next alignment.

I'd like to replace the coolant reservoir with a nice new one at some point.

And that's pretty much it for high priority items. Almost at Almost to 219,000 now. We were going to take it to KS this week to visit family, but foul weather canceled those plans, a bummer. Her last big trip for the year will probably be to CT a few hours away for vacation.

How's everyone else doing?
 
#98 ·
Yeah, pay, its steady and benefits aren't bad. I freelance design on the side and fix lawn mowers in the spring/summer as a hobby/side money. Busy busy.

Haven't done too much with the car, just keeping her clean and happy. I still have lots of plans when I'm able to get to it. Chief among which is body work. There's small bubbling above the rear bumper on the driver's side and a tiny bit on the passenger side wheel well. The paint clear coat issue on the roof by the the driver's door has gotten slowly worse. These are top priority after some big changes this summer. I also plan to swap out 3 of the 4 doors as they are showing signs rust along the seams. I should gain access to rust free cars soon, so it'll be easier just to replace them. The under body isn't bad, but there's surface rust along the pinch welds I want to clean and repaint.

Finally, I still want to do some big interior changes, but they aren't critical and thus remain lower on the list. Plus, I'm missing 2 door panels to make it work. If I acquired those I'd probably do the interior swap first since its easy, just can't find any taupe Intrepids around here.
 
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