Lightning, My 93 Festiva build

[Tyler77]

!Update.

the seafoam did help noticeably it has stopped much of the Smoke on acceleration and on Wot(wide open throttle)but has not eliminated the oil burning or the smoke entirely.

also a side note, cyl 4 always had slightly lower compression than the rest, at about 175 psi but after the seafoam it measured right up with the rest at about 183.

so it may be a moment before the next update as I believe I’m going to be pulling the engine out to put in some new piston rings. as that is really my only feasible option before I Instal megasquirt then the turbo

[blake3868]

This is pretty neat, not too many people ever did the MX3 1.6. Do you have any more pictures of how the F series trans fits? Like space form the trans to the frame-rail and the clearance around the steering rack and radiator. I'm planning a swap using a F series but there was never really many people that used those transmissions.

Also I saw you said that the Miata wheels rubbed pretty bad, was that with the smaller 1 7/8 springs and what size tire? The Miata wheels are easy to get but the offset is a bit high for the rear of a Festiva.

What wheel studs did you use, the ford Taurus ones that people used to recommend? I didn't know those where long enough to run the extra 1/2" spacer in the rear.

[Tyler77]

Hey Blake, I’ll see about getting some pictures soon, I have to replace the clutch master cylinder so I’ll see about snapping some pictures while I’m in there doing that.
There is about an inch or more of clearance between the steering rack and the transmission, and between the bell housing end and the frame there is probably, a quarter of an inch.

Yes the rubbing was with the 1 7/8 springs, it’s because those particular miata wheels I used have something like -40 offset. Spacers fixed that but then you need to cut out a bit of the inside fender lip.

the wheel studs that I used were a standard Dorman kit, I went to the automotive store and looked through a booklet of all the different types of wheel studs, found the ones with the right length and the right thread pitch. Then I drilled the holes to size according to the wheel studs that I got.

[blake3868]

Yeah, some pictures of how close the trans is to the frame rail would be fantastic. Would really help me work out the placement for my swap. .

I figured that the rubbing was with the smaller springs. The Miata wheels are all normally ET45 which is a lot. You can always use spacers but then, like you said you end up with issues on the other side. I ended up buying a set of BMW bottle caps which are ET35 so if you only needed 1/4 spacers I should hopefully be good with no spacers in the rear..
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[Tyler77]

IMG_6959.jpg IMG_6986.jpg
Haven’t been on the forum here for a while, anyway got the car in the shop doing the next stage of modifications and upgrades to it.

as your probably familiar with this is the core support mod for mounting aftermarket radiators and strengthening the frame up some.


I had a blast driving this car for a couple years till the clutch started to go, and it started getting some pretty bad blow by.

so right now the engine is out of the car on the stand, and I am just in the process of honing the cylinders for the new rings, did two stage hone , 240 then 500 plateau, for the rings to seat nicely.

I have a load of other parts that are going into this vehicle,
rear coil over bushings and camber plates
495 cc injectors, forget the brand right now
diyautotune crank tone wheel and sensor conversion
ignition coil conversion
clutchmax stage 1 clutch and 10lb flywheel
Acura integra koyo rad
miata camshafts, and valve spring shimming for 7200 redline
fender braces and maybe strut tower bars
rebuilt protege calipers
r1 concepts slotted & drilled rotors and heavy duty semi-metallic pads

going to pour my own engine mounts 70a shore

excited to finally be getting this thing going again

cheers!