What can i do to enhance my festiva performance?

[JPT]

Do this...

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26219

[Aaronbrook37]

Thanks FestivaFan I was about to link that lol.

[muscle_Car1]

For the price of the cam and header, you could get an early ('88 - '89) B6. Bolts right in.

For a little more work and a lot more power, get a B8.

Well if you get an early B6 that cam & header bolt up to the B6

[blkfordsedan]

It's surprising what a lightened flywheel does for an otherwise stock B3's performance.

One of my buddies sez you can take the intake / exhaust cams straight out of an Aspire B3 & drop 'em in the Festy B3 & it gives you 0.005" more lift.
Which should produce a tad more HP / torque. It also means you may have to tweak the timing to optimize it.

Yes, you can drop an Aspire cam into a Festiva B3 (they are the same base motor), but the Aspire is a roller cam so you would also need to use the Aspire rockers as well. There is a slight benefit from the reduced friction of the roller cam, but the valve timing and lift between the two are so close that any power increase would be negligible. Not really worth the effort, IMO.

I think the best bang-for-the-buck with the least effort would be a stock B8ME swap.

[sasquatch]

=
One of my buddies sez you can take the intake / exhaust cams straight out of an Aspire B3 & drop 'em in the Festy B3 & it gives you 0.005" more lift.
Which should produce a tad more HP / torque. It also means you may have to tweak the timing to optimize it.

you can do this and it works but as soon as you get past 5000rpm they lift its and awful noise... but i was using the festiva cam, if you used the aspire cam i think it should be fine...

[TominMO]

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26268

Endless loop.....

[JPT]

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=26268

endless loop.....

lol!!

[sam.1956]

Yeah I wondered about that issue with lift at higher RPM, which would only be exacerbated if you also installed the lightened flywheel (motor with it revs up like instantaneously). The guy told me that the procedure was to "unbolt the cams/lifters/axial springs as an assembly" & drop the whole thing into the Festy B3.

But then again, I also thought... "wow... no more periodic clearance adjustments! Wooo Hooo!!"

"endless loop" is right! LOL!

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[JPT]

Why would you swap the Aspire valvetrain onto a Festiva head? Why not just swap heads and be done? Is the festy cam better?

[sasquatch]

it has a higher lift... so if you put the aspire rockers on the festiva cam it gives alot of lift... but its to much lift and the springs cant push it back fast enough past 5000rpm so they float maby my springs are just worn out...

[JPT]

it has a higher lift... so if you put the aspire rockers on the festiva cam it gives alot of lift... but its to much lift and the springs cant push it back fast enough past 5000rpm so they float maby my springs are just worn out...

Needs heavier springs.

I see a problem. The Festy cam uses hydraulic "lifters" and the Aspire cam is roller. Hydraulic (and solid lifter) cam lobes are ground with a slight angle. This angle makes the lifter spin. If you put a roller on a hydraulic (or solid lifter) cam, the angle will side load the roller and quickly wear out either the roller, cam and eventually both.

[blkfordsedan]

Needs heavier springs.

I see a problem. The Festy cam uses hydraulic "lifters" and the Aspire cam is roller. Hydraulic (and solid lifter) cam lobes are ground with a slight angle. This angle makes the lifter spin. If you put a roller on a hydraulic (or solid lifter) cam, the angle will side load the roller and quickly wear out either the roller, cam and eventually both.

Your forgetting that the B3, B6, B8, etc. are OHC, the rocker (follower) arms run directly on the cam lobes. They do not have what we would call traditional lifters. The Aspire rocker arms have a roller (instead of a raised pad) that follows the lobe of the cam. The valve end of the rocker arm has the lash adjuster, same as the Festiva. The lobe profiles and the materials used between the two types of cams are not compatible, regardless of what spring is used. In the case of the early Festivas with "mechanical" cams, they do not have an oil fed lash adjuster on the valve end of the rocker arm but rather a simple screw type adjustment. I don't THINK you can run the mechanical adjusting rocker arms on a late model HLA cam. In theory, the follower end of the arm is the same design, but I know the cam profiles are different. I would guess there may be a difference in ramp speed or something that may create problems. On traditional OHV applications, you can run an adjustable valvetrain from a solid lifter cam on a Hydraulic cam, but you still have to use the hydraulic lifter.

[JPT]

Your forgetting that the B3, B6, B8, etc. are OHC, the rocker (follower) arms run directly on the cam lobes. They do not have what we would call traditional lifters.

It was late and I wasn't thinking. :error:

The Aspire rocker arms have a roller (instead of a raised pad) that follows the lobe of the cam. The valve end of the rocker arm has the lash adjuster, same as the Festiva. The lobe profiles and the materials used between the two types of cams are not compatible, regardless of what spring is used. In the case of the early Festivas with "mechanical" cams, they do not have an oil fed lash adjuster on the valve end of the rocker arm but rather a simple screw type adjustment. I don't THINK you can run the mechanical adjusting rocker arms on a late model HLA cam. In theory, the follower end of the arm is the same design, but I know the cam profiles are different. I would guess there may be a difference in ramp speed or something that may create problems. On traditional OHV applications, you can run an adjustable valvetrain from a solid lifter cam on a Hydraulic cam, but you still have to use the hydraulic lifter.

So the lobes on the Festiva camshaft aren't angled or beveled? If they're not, I wonder if having them hardened (and slightly reground) would let them work with the Aspire rockers.

If so, you could do this to the FMS cam and have a high performance roller cam.

[gorgonheimer]

That's entirely too much work. Just swap it. You will love it.

[blkfordsedan]

I wonder if having them hardened (and slightly reground) would let them work with the Aspire rockers.

If so, you could do this to the FMS cam and have a high performance roller cam.

I believe the Aspire cam is steel and not cast, so you would have to start with a steel cam core. The real advantage of a roller cam (besides less friction) is being able to have more aggressive ramp speeds on the lobes. This equates to faster valve movement and more flow with less lift and duration than a flat tappet cam. This means you get the flow of a more aggressive cam with the smooth idle, broad torque curve and economy of a more mild profile. To really do it right, you would need to to have a complete new custom profile reground. May be able to use an Aspire cam as a blank. It is entirely possible, but not feasible when you can just buy a FMS cam, or swap in a B8, B6T or BP for less money and get more performance.