At the last autocross of the year for me in October, I noticed the right rear Koni leaking at the nut around the adjuster on my 99 Neon. The no was loose so I tightened it.
I had no more leaks that weekend, but when I went to check on the car last weekend I found oil weeping from around the nut and the nut was tight. The Neon has not been outside of my garage since mid October. I figure I have a choice. I can replace my rear Konis or I can have them rebuilt. The problem is that if I rebuild them, the turnaround time is about six weeks, it is cold in my garage, I would have to leave the Neon up on blocks for that time and rebuilding, shipping and my extra time make buying a new pair almost as affordable.
The down side of buying new is that they are out of production and there are not many pairs available out there. What says the board?
Have you got something else to drive? Cars can be "winterized". Is there something out there cheap enough that you could just throw them on for as long as it takes for the rebuild to happen?
One thing I'm learning personally right now is that 90s cars (mine are two VW Corrados, and an 8v Golf, all from 1992, oh..and one of the Corrados has a Bilstein coilover kit) are just entering that period where companies don't make new stuff for them anymore..but they're not old enough to companies to treat them as "collectable" (and start making replacement stuff) yet.
I'd recommend rebuilding the Konis..if you can still get to work while doing so. The "not many pairs available" is what makes me think that.
If you do replace them, keep the old ones. In our Accord community, very few exist, and they fetch a good bit of money, even in poor condition.
Another thing to consider is that Koni can rebuild a Red shock to a Yellow when they rebuild. A few Accord guys have done it, and they have the only Koni Yellows for those cars because Koni never made anything other than Reds.
In reply to friedgreencorrado:
The Neon is a dedicated autocross car. I have other cars to drive. Time is scarce for me and the garage is cold. My main impetus for buying a new pair is the convenience of doing a replacement job once. The cost savings of rebuilding mine, once time and shipping are considered, is not much versus buying a new set,
In reply to Derick Freese:
I hear you. I located a few sets of blwn Konis and they fetch about 2/3s the price of new.
I was under the impression that yellows are no longer available new for 1st gen Neons.
It's funny, I had a set a few years ago that I sold cheap since no one wanted them, now they are valuable. The l-body konis are like that too, $300 for a blown set plus $600 to rebuild them. New is usually cheaper than rebuilt when they are still in production though.
In reply to Brett_Murphy:
There is still some new supply available in inventories.
Moparman wrote:
In reply to friedgreencorrado:
The Neon is a dedicated autocross car. I have other cars to drive. Time is scarce for me and the garage is cold. My main impetus for buying a new pair is the convenience of doing a replacement job once. The cost savings of rebuilding mine, once time and shipping are considered, is not much versus buying a new set,
Buy a propane heater and quityerbichn....
In reply to turboswede:
I have three and two electric. Just buying anotehr set and having the current set rebuilt. More = better.
Used up Konis for 86-89 Accords are nearly the price when they were in production. Someone has a set that was for display only, and they're the last known "new" ones, until someone overseas finds some again. I offered him $400 for the set and he laughed at me. He's still sitting on them because most people only have marginally more than that in their whole cars on that site.
1gn neon Konis are no more:
http://www.modernperformance.com/blog/koni-adjustable-shocks-for-1995-1999-neon-now-discontinued
If anyone knows where to get new ones let me know please. I think 2gn neon inserts would work for fronts the rears would be too long.
Moparman wrote:
In reply to turboswede:
I have three and two electric. Just buying anotehr set and having the current set rebuilt. More = better.
Dude, IMO..if you've got something else to drive through the winter, don't sweat ignoring the car in the garage until the weather warms up. Shove the heaters. You don't have to do the work until the world thaws out.
That being said, I still vote for rebuilding what you have instead of searching for a "perfect" (and they won't be, unless you're lucky) set elsewhere.
YMMV, of course..
In reply to friedgreencorrado:
Ordered a new set. Koni had some in the warehouse.
Moparman wrote:
In reply to friedgreencorrado:
Ordered a new set. Koni had some in the warehouse.
That's seriously cool..but keep your old ones on the shelf. For the reasons some of the other folks have mentioned (new stuff not there forever, few remaining worn-out examples being worth some bucks, etc.).
