Aspire sway bar in a Festiva

[fastivaca]

Just installed the Aspire front sway bar in my Festiva. Nothing unusual in the install... contact with the front transmission mount and interference with the lower rad hose.

A couple of ideas to throw out in the way of solutions...

If a 1/8" or 3/16" plate were added between the sway bar bushing and the frame this would drop the sway enough (I think) to clear the transmission mount without hitting the crossmember. It would have to be shaped to follow the contour of the bushing where is meets the frame. I don't see any issues with alignment etc. The other idea I had would be to add a plate or a couple of washers between the transmission mount itself and the crossmember, effectively lifting the engine up a bit at the front.

Does the Aspire radiator fit in the Festiva? I'm assuming that the lower rad hose outlet is designed/located so that the hose clears the sway bar. I seem to recall that Roger did the Aspire rad in the "project" Festiva he used to have on his site with one of the rad supports needing relocation.

I've only driven the car to work today with the sway bar in but already noticed a big improvement in handling. I'm going to work on the back end soon. I think I'm going to try the same thing Tim DeRonne did on his race car a few years ago which was adding a 1 1/2" dia. steel tube in the Festiva rear axle beam. I think I might still have some photos around somewhere, I'll see if I can find them.

Your comments and suggestions welcome.

[Safety Guy]

Ian wrote:

"I seem to recall that Roger did the Aspire rad in the 'project' Festiva he used to have on his site with one of the rad supports needing relocation."

That's what I remember.

Karl

[fastivaca]

I picked up an Aspire radiator today. It's wider than the Festiva and the lower outlet points over to the passenger side rather than straight down so that it clears the sway bar. I'll check out the mounting a bit later to see what mods are necessary. I'm also going to see if there's an easy way to modify the Festiva outlet without compromising the cooling system.

[hot4dl8ly]

I just solved my trans mount clearence issue with the Aspire sway bar. I took out the mount, notched on the witness mark with an air hammer, put the mount on a V-block in a hydraulic press and pushed that side of the mount in about 3/8". Now with the car on a rack and the suspension at full drop, I still have over 1/8" of clearence. I am just hoping I didnt kill the rubber bond to the metal.

[fastivaca]

That reminds me... I solved the radiator issue while keeping the stock one. When I picked up the Aspire rad I also got the brackets that hold it at the top. When I got home I noticed that the shape was different in that the was less of a drop from the surface where the bracket mounts to the rad support to the hole that the rad post pokes through. The Aspire ones aren't straight like the Festiva's are but I had an idea. I also brought home the "donuts" that go at the bottom of the radiator.

What I did was to cut the fat part off the Aspire "donuts" and used the smaller part as a spacer between the stock Festiva "donut" and the mounting hole. I then straightened out the Aspire brackets and used them instead of the Festiva ones. This effectively raised the radiator up about 1/2". This combined with shortening the lower rad hose at the radiator end all but lifted the hose off the sway bar. I'll try and get pictures sometime this weekend and get them posted.

What I'm going to try for the mount interference is placing about an 1/8" spacer between the mount and the crossmember. This will lift the front of the engine a bit but I can't see it causing any problems.

Hope that helps.

[fastivaca]

Here's the photos

Stock Festiva bracket:


__________________________________________________ ______

Stock Aspire bracket:


__________________________________________________ ______

Bracket comparison:


__________________________________________________ _______

Modified Aspire bracket:


__________________________________________________ _______

Stock bottom "donut":


__________________________________________________ ________

Modified bottom "donut":


Install one of the larger rings onto each of the legs on the bottom of the radiator then install the stock "donut". The leg is long enough to go through both pieces.

__________________________________________________ ________

I've been running with this setup for quite a while and have had no issues.

Hope it helps.

[fastivaca]

Here's a photo of the resulting clearance between the lower rad hose and the sway bar.

[Damkid]

I don't think i would have the clearance to install an aspire sway bar :lol:

[littlecar]

Is the bar installed Right side up or up side down with your method?

[Festiva_Fred]

^^ Thats right side up.

[littlecar]

Thanks just making sure. Haven't installed mine yet. Trying to see what others have done.

[speedoholic]

Will it even go in upside down?

[GenevaDirt]

Will it even go in upside down?

yup....seen one at Ohiostiva that way....not sure what the benefit is, maybe clearance.

[littlecar]

That's been what I've been trying to find out. It seems that you can do it both ways, but each have their respective issues.

[TominMO]

When I put mine in, I looked at installing it upside down, but it seemed more work than just installing it right side up. I do have minor rubbing with the front trans mount, but ignore it. The lower rad hose I solved by adding part of another lower rad rubber mount to both lower mounts, to raise the radiator itself; and cutting the lower rad hose near the rad itself to help with clearance, both of which festivaca explained. Kept the Festiva upper rad mounts tho.