Block heater purchased and should be installed soon.
Had some health issues with my wife at the end of October. Which required a few days in the hospital and a bit over 5 weeks in a skilled nursing facility... One of the first evenings she was there (35 miles from home), I delivered some clothing and other needs. As I was leaving, and waiting to pull from a stop into traffic, the Neon died. Wouldn't start. I figured it was either a the cam sensor failed (2 codes for cam sensor) or, the timing belt broke. Breaking at idle is good. Better than at speed. Got the car pushed out of the way and a bit later a friend with a trailer showed up and brought my car home. Its nice being a Jeep guy and having friends!!! So the little car sits forlorn in the garage waiting for me to get to it. I had the timing belt, tensioner pulley and water pump on hand and was looking to do the service the weekend my wife went into the hospital... I hope to get to the little car weekend after New Years. My son is planning to come help. Besides, he wants me to fab a front bumper, light mounts and front and rear racks for his ATV...
Other news, plans for lighting the Neon have been seriously upgraded. I have on hand, HIDs as planned for the low beam projectors. 75 watt bulbs for the highs. A relay harness to provide battery voltage for higher watt use without throwing that extra current trough the headlamp switch. And, to keep the HIDs on with the high beams. The pushbar idea is going through. Removable when not needed.
And I will be blasting light off them with these big 8" offroad lights. Mostly for winter time, or the couple weeks in summer I have to be to work in the dark. They have a really tight spot out some distance and light the area in front a little as well. I have 4 of the 6" lights, 2 are already on my Jeep, the other pair will be getting HIDs palced in them for the front of the Jeep. I have to remove the front fascia anways to replace the washer reservoir, more easily route the power for the block heater and fab and install brackets on the crashbar/bumper for the lightbar and the lights being fit where the foglights go.
The LEDs are 18 watts, 1800 lumens and have a 30* beam. These will be going in the factory foglight spot, as well as some projector fogs. I'm also using a pair of the LEDs on my Jeep. The projector fogs might get HIDs also, since I would prefer to maximize light output without placing too big a demand on the electrical system. Unless, of course, I have high beams and driving lights on. Otherwise, I'm also looking to swap a lot of bulbs over to LEDs, again to lower demand on the alternator, and the Neon only had one size, 85 amp.
On my Jeep...
I have the 6" Harbor Freight lights mounted to the A pillars. They are a better light than the $10 price suggests. I am adding the LEDs to the top of the bumper as well as the other pair of the 6" lights, with HIDs as soon as I order them.
Again for the Jeep. I hate the stock headlights. They are a bad design. And I've been through a bunch of lights trying to find something that works better. Yes, even the Silverstar Ultras were not what I wanted... I found a better bulb, in my opinion. With
Solux Tehchnology. I have no idea what that means or what makes them so much better to my eyes.
9007 Silverstar on the left for color comparison. Solux in the middle, and normal 9004 on the right. I don't see anything significant different, but the light is so much better than the Ultras I took out. With low beam, I no longer feel the need to drive around town with my foglights on, and the high beams are substantially better. To me. I realize for most folks, lighting is purely subjective...
Also, for the winter, I put on smaller tires than I prefer, to save fuel and offset the winter blend loss of MPGs... Since the Jeep has to get me through till the Neon is on the street again...