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New to the forum, not to my Dart

839 views 0 replies 1 participant last post by  SUP3R 
#1 ·
Goodmorning all!

This is the first forum i've ever joined. I've just found new love for my Dart and it's time to get to work on it!
I'm the newly proud owner of a 2013 Dart Aero 1.4 manual. I've had the car since new, purchased Oct 2013.
From day one it was laggy as all hell, and i would stall it numerous times a day (i've been driving stick for 15 years, and i also drive tractor trailers, so the stalling made me feel like an idiot.) I hated it, and only purchased it to stay true to mopar, and fuel mileage. I chalked up the issues to being a tiny motor, numb clutch, and getting used to hill assist. It would throw random CEL here and there but by the time i'd get it to a dealer, it would be gone. From 1000 miles, it was leaking oil onto the valve cover. Dealer told me that was impossible and accused me of putting it there to get a loaner car...

So i dealt with it, just to save on gas. (avg mpg was 40, my ram 1500 hemi was 13mpg so it was nice to spend less when i didn't need to haul anything)

Fast forward to last year.
I dated a real "winner" of a woman... no use getting into that whole story.
To make it short, she claims to have hit a black bear in my car. She drove back to PA from VA in Limp mode! Destroyed the bumper cover, AGS, intercooler, cold side intercooler pipe, and various other bumper cover clipons.

To avoid my insurance increase, i chose to repair it myself.
While doing so i noticed that the hot side piping into the intercooler had a dislodged gasket. I corrected that, and replaced everything that was broken except the cold side pipe. I JB welded the crack in it, until the time i could order the part.

Car was instantly back to "normal" and i got rid of the girl shortly after.

Fast forward to last month.

I decided to finally change the intercooler pipe due to throwing a CEL for low boost.
On my first test drive after replacement i was effing blown away!! the car woke up and was a little rocket ship!! for the first time it would pull in 6th on the highway! the power curve smoothed out, and stalling is a thing of the past! I believe between the dislodged gasket, and the JBweld, it had a boost leak from day one!

Now I LOVE my dart! fuel mileage turned to hell because i'm driving like i stole it, but still 3 times better then my truck!

Now to explain why i'm here, and how i found this amazing community!

Since i'm now in love, it's time to modify! every google search brought me here. Every question that had a googlable answer, brought me here.
So here i am!

A couple weeks ago, i pieced together a spectre CAI and adjusted my wastegate to 6mm. It's even quicker than before! Not to mention feeling like a teen again, giggling every time the compressor surges!

One thing missing, that i have always hated about my dart, was lumbar support. I had back surgery a few years ago, and ever since, poor seat ergonomics is a killer on long drives.
I looked into purchasing the leather seats with 4 way lumbar. After the sticker shock of the used part market for them, i started looking for salvage darts to part out.
A couple days ago, i found one. 2013 limited 1.4 Auto. I purchased it on copart for a winning bid of $575 ($1100 after fees, and considering the cheapest leather interior ive found locally was $1400 i think i did pretty good and get other parts too!)

So now the swapping process begins. The day i got the Limited home, i immediately swapped the exhaust and rear bumper, the wheels, and the brakes as they were new.
After trying like mad to google how to swap the seats and have the wiring work, i found nothing. I found the wiring diagram for them but not much else. So i'm here for advice, tips, and general knowledge from you fine folks!

I plan on swapping
the radio, so i can have nav
the interior, because lumbar and heated seats
the fog lights,
and if it's not TOO crazy, the dual zone climate control.

Most of which, besides fogs, i've been unable to find useful information on.
I purchased an OBDlink MX and plan on purchasing the AlphaOBD when it comes time to align my proxy shenanigans (i'm very computer literate and this all sounds like voodoo to me)

So i hope you will join me on my #LimitedAero journey!

Sorry for such a long welcome thread, but i'm rather excited about the car for once, and actually enjoy driving it!
 
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