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My Midnight Fantasy

32K views 207 replies 20 participants last post by  MrBigE 
#1 · (Edited)
I've decided to make a thread for my car since I enjoy (and envy) everyone else's!

So, a little short history of my car, I bought my car November 20, 2009 for a mere $1,000 with 137,691 miles. I am the third proud owner of a beautiful 1997 Dodge Intrepid 3.5L V6 Sport. Besides a slight, but annoying oil leak and occassional squeaky belt during wet weather she has been a great and very dependable car. I haven't done a lot to my car but here we go. This is her when I bought her:


Luckily for me, my fiance works at his dad's body shop and he painted it! It took me a long, long time to finally decide on the color, but I knew I wanted something in the purple family. I went with midnight purple and I wanted a small metallic flake. The flake wasn't exactly what I wanted, it looks too show-carish but the car is beautiful needless to say! It's actually kind of funny that it came out like that, because my favorite perfume comes in a bottle that is dark purple with silver studs on it and it's called Midnight Fantasy. Since my car is painted midnight purple, I stole the name Midnight Fantasy. :)


It took me forever to finally decide on a nice set of wheels! I love the black wheels with chrome lips, but I didn't want to spend a fortune on them. I finally chose some 18" TSW Jarama wheels. A lot of people ask me if they're 20s, but they are in fact 18s. I think I they were a good price - a little under 1,000 after shipping; included wheels, tires, nitrogen fill, lug nuts with the locking lugs.


I have updated the stock radio with a cheap JVC cd player that I got at Wal-Mart. It's great because it has 30 different colors to choose from and they have a greenish/teal color that matches beautifully with the factory interior lights! I have replaced all of my speakers, I have Kickers in the front dash and Sony Xplods in the doors and rear. I also have two 10s that are Kenwood and a small little baby amp of 300 watts (I'm asking Santa for something with a *just* little bit more boom!). I'm not into the really loud stereos with heavy, heavy bass; but I do enjoy that "concert" feel with a nice deep base sound.


I have put in some nice, bright purple interior LEDs. I got them off of Amazon.com for $35 shipped. They are a lot of fun to play around with. I either keep them on steady or have them a flash that beats to the music. I don't do it while I'm driving because I don't want it to mess with any other drivers (health hazards; I don't want to be responsible for triggering someone's seizure - seriously). I also have the purple LED wiper nozzles. I know a lot of people think they're silly, but I can't help but love purple lights!



I just recently got a new set of clear headlights with some mounts for a little over $100 at 1aauto.com. I really want to say something about that website too. I had never heard of them, but I am glad I found them. They ship fast and they package things very well! Plus, they actually supply fantastic how-to videos! I was very impressed. Anyway, I am currently looking for a decent pair of clear fog lights but am in shock that they cost more than the headlights! Ha! Speaking of fog lights, I just installed (with some help from PappaSmurf) some beautiful 30000K purple HID lights. They are the Xentec brand, and I got them from eBay for $32.99 shipped. I haven't had them in long, but so far, no problems - even with the 1" of rain we have received today. I am asking Santa for a pair of 6000k for my headlights too! :D I have my turn signals, tail lights, back up light bar area, and trunk reflectors Nite Shaded. I am really happy with the look and that the reflectors still reflect! :)





*I want you all to know that I have SilverStar Ultra halogen headlights with my new clear lenses... and they still look yellow in comparison

So... there you have it. That is my car as of YET! Other than normal vehicle maintenance, that is all I have done to my baby. I'm really hoping to do much more, but my list of want to is bigger than my checking account. :D Whatcha think?
 
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#4 ·
Thanks! I'm hoping to do more soon, but I'm running out of things I can do myself and things I will have to pay for and to pay for someone else to do! lol My transmission was starting to act funny and I was already prepared to have my dad's friend rebuild it - buuuuuuuuuuuut after talking to Ty and after he informed me about Valvoline's transmission fluid being incompatible with our cars, I am taking it to the dealer next Monday! Valvoline *was* the place I had taken my car to to be serviced, but not any more. I'm hoping the $159.99 (for filter, fluid, and labor) will be the fix to that problem - which means the money I would have spent for the rebuild can go towards the want list :D *fingers crossed*
 
#11 ·
Squilliam darlin', I have no idea! On the receipt, it did say MaxLife ATF. I don't think the people here at the local Danville, Kentucky Valvoline Instant Oil Change pay much attention to vehicle specifications. They have been running 5W30 oil in my car all year round saying it was recommended - even though the manual suggests otherwise. Also, about the transmission they said they weren't able to change my filter either. Again, this is a subject I don't know much about honestly.

It's funny though, I called the dealer right after talking to Ty about it and as soon as I told the guy at the dealership that I had gone to Valvoline, he let out a groan and said "oh no..." Another plus, it's cheaper to have it serviced at the dealer than Valvoline. lol
 
#13 ·
Lol, well oil changes are less expensive than transmission fluid changes apparently. At Valvoline I was paying 75 for full service synthetic, no filter. I can't remember what they told me at the dealer, but I will check again. I go next Monday for the transmission service of $159.99
 
#14 ·
Lol, well oil changes are less expensive than transmission fluid changes apparently. At Valvoline I was paying 75 for full service synthetic, no filter. I can't remember what they told me at the dealer, but I will check again. I go next Monday for the transmission service of $159.99
Whew, that explains it :D
 
#16 ·
Looks great! Glad to see someone investing in a nice 1st Gen.

I looked at your album last night and saw all the close up of the flake - a bold color to be sure, but looks great!

FYI - I would recommend 5W30 in your car no matter what.

Good luck with the fluid and filter change! I really hope that makes her behave!
 
#17 ·
I have the 10w30 in now and it seems to do much better. I don't leave as many oil spots behind and the oil light doesn't flicker nearly as much. It doesn't get extremely cold during the winters here in Kentucky. From the manual, it seems as though 5w30 could be used year round in the 3.3 but during colder weather for the 3.5s. But, again, I'm on a topic I don't know much about, lol

May I ask why you would recommend it? I am not very mechanically inclined and appreciate any advice and help! :)
 
#18 ·
Ah, if you have leaks, 10w30 will leak less - I'd say 5w because even at room temperature, it will pump to the top of the motor (over head cam engine) faster than a 10w oil. Once the oil is up to temp, it is the same viscosity rating either way, but that's o.k., the oil is already at the top of the engine.

But yes, it is true, you don't get that cold in Kentucky.

Odd that it lists 5w30 for the 3.3, it is a push-rod motor with the cam lower in the motor.

It is COLD in ND right now, so I'm running 5w30 (Valvoline), but at the same time I only have about 40K on the motor.
 
#19 ·
Yeah, my car's oil leak used to be a lot worse! With a lot of motivation from Ty and someone's super helpful thread post on how to change the spark plug tube seals (I cannot remember the person's name :\), she's a lot, lot better. She still leaks around the bottom on that horse shoe shaped thingie that I forgot the name to. But, it's just a nickle size drop here and there. I usually have to add half a quart to a quart of oil.

In any event! I just got a package in from Santa. And apparently he has a sense of humor this year! Haha... it's *purple* zEbRa print seat covers - for the whooooooooooooole car lmao. I will have to post some pictures once I wrestle with them to get them on the seats haha
 
#21 ·
Yeah, December we usually stick around the mid 30s in Kentucky, sometimes it will snow but doesn't normally stick because it's not cold enough. January and February are usually the worse, sometimes we get down into single digits (rarely ever in the negatives), but usually just stick around the teens at best. At least the times of day I would be driving. But if I lived in an area where it stayed cold, I would go back to the 5w30. If I have any issues with it getting too cold, then I would gladly go get an oil change. Which I'll probably be due for one by time the cold part of winter hits lol
 
#22 ·
I haven't looked in my book, I don't even know if I have one any more - but most of the time there is a chart of what oil to use in what average temperature - and with oil changes every 3 months, you could tailor your oil weight to the weather quite well.

This is from a Briggs and Stratton engine manual, but you get the drift:
 
#25 ·
Yeah, I haven't noticed any difference in MPG myself. The only difference in MPG that it would make would be the efficiency you are getting until the engine is heated up. Then it should be the same between the two oils. I just figure it probably protects a little bit better on initial start-up though.

I'm interested to see if there is much difference when the temp goes down into the single digits or below. My 3.3 has never had a problem starting in those temps, although it does tend to groan quite a bit of course.
 
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