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Aaron's Festiva Build Thread

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  • Aaron's Festiva Build Thread

    **Note I'm not posting all of the pictures from the past because of how many there are. For future stuff, I will. But for now, links will have to do.

    My signature got too long trying to keep people updated with my mods, so it's time for a build thread!

    I registered on the board in 2007, right after graduating from High School. I come from a Mitsubishi import background (CSM/DSM) and was looking for something different. I needed a small vehicle that would be just as much to play with as the original plans I had for my Colt. Thus I started my research on small hatchbacks that weren't necessary "hot" by definition, but had the potential of becoming hot hatchbacks. Like many of you, I spent a long time looking for my car after abandoning my searches for Suzuki Swift Turbos, Justys, Micras, Golfs, and other small hot hatches from 1985-1995.

    In December of 2009, I came across what I thought would be the perfect car. An original owner from 1990, this guy had racked up 499,500KM onto his Festiva by commuting around BC 5 times a week round-trip. The car appeared to be in good shape, but I wasn't exactly sure what had been done to it. The wheels looked large, and the suspension unusually high. The owner disappeared until late April, when I was returning from University in Ontario.

    I then sent in the venerable veteran Sasquatch to investigate, and the findings were many. We were both a little worried about the high mileage on the car, and there were another few little issues here and there that caught our attention. Despite it's flaws, I had waited far too long to acquire myself a hot hatch in progress. I drove over to Abbotsford (via ferry and highways) to pick up the car.

    Having sat for the better part of 7 months as a result of him buying a fancy Mazdaspeed Protege to replace it, it wasn't the greatest off the bat. The car's exhaust was noisy, the interior was a little dirty, the engine bay was filthy, and the overall feel of the car was "cobwebbed."

    It made it back alive and well to Victoria, and I was very pleased with my purchase. The owner had told me at the time of purchase that the car was indeed Aspire-swapped, and that the reason it sat so high was because of the KYB's with stock Aspire springs, all of which had been professionally installed by a mechanic who was a relative.

    Here are Mike's investigation pictures:











    So I got to work on her. It had come with: KYBs + Aspire Springs, Aspire Swap, 14" Steelies, 185/60-14 Tires, Custom Cargo Shelf, 6 Speaker Audio with JVC Deck, Auto Console. I met up with Pacific-Northwest legend Ken (hotroddin4me) whose collection of parts and cars was nothing short of fantastic. I acquired a replacement headlight to attempt to fix my woes with mossy rust.



    I went back to visit Mike twice (including our trip to Westiva this year) and we made some good adjustments to the car. We replaced the entire cat-back, which had rusted out severely to the point where there was a 2" gap between the intermediate pipe and the muffler. Man that thing sure was loud! We installed a Civic Short Shifter and a proper Camry Shift Boot. We also tightened up my loose pedals and alternator belt.

    The car was running really well, having received an oil change, air filter, and inspection by my local shop with a few cans of Seafoam for good measure. Recently, I've started to focus on a few other miscellaneous projects. Mike provided a Nology Coil Amplifier and an Intermittent Wiper Module for the car. I did some serious cleaning all over the car, and a lot of general maintenance that was lacking on the car. Everything from lubricating the dome light switches to rewiring audio pieces.



    Here's a picture of my car at Westiva. You can see how much grime I got out of the engine bay. The wheels/tires are also black again, and stay that way with religious maintenance.


    I redid the front door speakers, since the ones that came with the car weren't wired up all that well. They are 6.5" Alpine Type-S's, and they're a fantastic addition to the car.

    Lately, I've been working on a wide variety of projects:

    I added a factory service manual to my literature. Combined with the Haynes manual, I'm well equipped to answer a lot of my own technical issues. I just adjusted my e-brake the other day with this book's help, and man... what an improvement!

    On the outside of the car, I'm working on doing some quarterpanel rust delete:

    Currently in the primer sanding stage... I hope to have some paint on it before I leave for school. Will update picture later.

    I also removed my peeling side-moldings. For now, I have replacements made out of painter's tape just to help shield the small sections of bare metal a little bit. Once I repaint the car, I will either add new ones or shave them completely.

    I traced a good quality set of wheel studs and chrome lug nuts from a VW aftermarket company, and they're in the mail right now. I've had a wheel off once or twice, and I already loathe the lug bolts. This will be a great upgrade both cosmetically and functionally.


    On Ebay, I ordered an LED dome-light replacement with 24 bulbs that pops into the stock location, as well as an orange dash clock. I'm in the process of purchasing some power swoopies and a white KM/H tach'd cluster from Germany as well. Might be a bulk pack of 194 bulbs to replace some burnt out ones too.

    In terms of the future, I have a long list of stuff I'd like to accomplish:

    For the exterior, I want to repaint the car one of two ways - either completely white, or a two-tone white and black seen here. Definitely going to be a $50 paint job regardless, and it will be at least somewhat white to stay in accordance with the interior and engine bay.


    For the interior, in addition to what I've done/am doing, I also want to re-do the cargo cover, add some NOS 323 pedal covers and gas/hatch release cables, add a headlight reminder buzzer, and maybe some stealthy power door locks with keyless entry. I'm also trying with Eurotiva and a few other users on getting myself some better quality shifter bushings... slowly. The slack is killing me!

    Stock-piling handling/suspension parts is my winter goal. On the list:
    Cut Aspire Springs, 185/60-14 Sumitomo HTR A/S P01, Inner Tie Rods, Escort Outer Tie Rods, Festiva Steering Rack Boots, Control Arms and Balljoints, Poly Bushings (Super-Pro CA-CH, Moog SB-CA, Super-Pro SB-CH), Aspire Front Swaybar, EGT Front Calipers + Pads, Aspire Rotors (perhaps D/S, likely not), New Brake Lines, Aspire Master Cylinder and Brake Booster, New Brake Fluid (Duh), Aspire Rear Brake Shoes and Hardware Kit, and Wheel Bearings and Seals

    Essentially, I want to do a complete rebuild of the knuckles a la Freshtiva in quality. My car's handling is fine, but it could be a lot more precise with some new rubber parts and better quality stopping power. I found a retired mechanic in town who does high quality work on Mazda imports for under a third of shop rates, so he will be my go-to guy for most of this work.

    On the side, Kofkof_00 and I are working on a cold air intake using the stock air box setup, but we're not in much of a hurry to get that done... at least I'm not haha.

    My ideal goal would be to have all of that above finished by Westiva '11, including the paint. I'm away at school from Sept-April (carless), but I graduate from university in April of 2011, so it should be enough time I hope. I'll basically be sending large piles of Festiva parts home the whole time I'm away, working on the side in school to pay for the school/parts. I'll then also give FOTM a shot, hoping that a completely rebuild suspension and decent interior/paintwork will win me the prize! Hopefully late next summer will be B8 time!
    Thanks for reading!
    Last edited by Aaronbrook37; 08-02-2010, 05:08 PM.
    1988 Chevy Sprint Turbo 997cc

  • #2
    Cool project, and Hey! thats a picture of my old 90' I had
    -93' L BP swap/e-series, coilovers, RIO front swap, redrilled festy drums, Miata 14" 7 spokes.
    -88' Mazda 323 SE, work in progress..
    -85' Nissan Sentra 5 spd.

    Comment


    • #3
      That first post should be copied and pasted into a FOTM entry just how it is!! it shows the enthusiasm (<-sp?) that some of us have for an old high mileage car which makes for a great FOTM entry :thumbright:

      1988 323 Station Wagon - KLG4 swapped
      1988 323 GT - B6T Powered
      2008 Ford Escape - Rollover Survivor

      1990 Festiva - First Ever Completed KLZE swap (SOLD)

      If no one from the future stops you from doing it, how bad of a decision can it really be?

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Festiva_Fred View Post
        Cool project, and Hey! thats a picture of my old 90' I had
        Thanks Fred hahah... I appreciate the picture as well!

        Originally posted by Damkid View Post
        That first post should be copied and pasted into a FOTM entry just how it is!! it shows the enthusiasm (<-sp?) that some of us have for an old high mileage car which makes for a great FOTM entry :thumbright:
        Thanks, DK. Even though I have the story for it, I want to have something unique/significant with my car before I run for the prize.

        In other news, got the details all worked out for this:



        I doubt it'll get here before I leave for school, but at least it's mine now!
        1988 Chevy Sprint Turbo 997cc

        Comment


        • #5
          Couple updates:

          Still waiting on that LED dome light... not happy with the cross-border shipping. Hopefully it's here soon!

          Body-work is moving along slowly, I'm going to leave it primered while I'm at school, since I plan to have the whole paint redone next year.

          I decided that I want side-moldings, so I'm going to pick up a wide set from Sasquatch. Then I'll do the acclaimed red pinstripe all around the car to sharpen up the look.

          Wheel studs and chrome lug nuts should be here soon... I may have a set of Miata Daisy rims and some Michelin tires to throw on at the same time... depends if the seller still has them!

          Cluster is somewhere between Germany and British Columbia, no idea haha. German shipping tracking is a lot of work, so I'll wait patiently.

          Picked up a set of smoothies from Ken, and got them installed with new mouse pad gaskets. Really easy work, but I got frustrated with removing the rear quarter interior panels. Lots of work, and it's only more annoying when mosquitos attack you.

          I'll get some updated pictures soon... my blackberry-pc cable seems to be missing.
          1988 Chevy Sprint Turbo 997cc

          Comment


          • #6
            Received my Haynes manual today as well as these:



            1988 Chevy Sprint Turbo 997cc

            Comment


            • #7
              welcome to the world of easy wheel installing good buy, its well worth it


              Mike, AKA the sasquatch
              1990 LX, bp+T/g25mr, 9psi dynoed at 194HP, turbonetics t3/to4e 57trim, haltech E6X standalone, 550cc injectors, turbosmart wastegate, synapse BOV, walbro 255 fuel pump, aeromotive FPR, AEM wideband, 3 inch exhaust, huge FMIC, 9LB flywheel, 6 puck clutch and way more parts that im forgetting i installed lol...

              Comment


              • #8
                Discuss improvements to your Festiva or Aspire in the handling, braking, wheels and tires areas.

                Studs are finished! (Before and after pic)



                That first shot shows my under construction bodywork and side molding replacement as well! No pictures of smoothies yet, I'll get some up when I can.
                Last edited by Aaronbrook37; 08-10-2010, 05:14 PM.
                1988 Chevy Sprint Turbo 997cc

                Comment


                • #9
                  So anyone who has seen my car knows I have bleach bumper disorder... and since it's white, it looked absolutely terrible. Today, it was time to change that and make my bumpers mega-awesome in anticipation of them matching up with my impending body side-moldings. Did two-three light coats, and though I have a few runs, it looks pretty damn good. I jacked up the front to ensure I got all the tough spots... it's difficult as a tall person in life! Rear was peanuts. I'm going to put this into how-to format eventually, but here are the pictures for now. The bumper paint was $7.50 per can, and I used two. Pinstripe was $7 or so at Canadian Tire.














                  It's amazing how much of a change it makes to the car. The bumpers look brand new, and absolutely fantastic with the pinstriping.

                  You also get some shots of my new smoothies! I also fixed up my loc-tite issue while I was waiting for coats to dry:

                  Last edited by Aaronbrook37; 08-11-2010, 05:32 PM.
                  1988 Chevy Sprint Turbo 997cc

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Like the smoothies, and great job on those bumpers, they look better than new !!
                    -Greg
                    Euro-bprt...WORLDS FASTEST FESTIVA !!! 11.78@115.9
                    BP, G trans, Megasquirt/ 550cc inj. t3/t3 (tbird) Garrett, REAR TURBO!!!! AND AC!!!!
                    Redneck Engineer
                    FOTY - '09
                    5x Festiva Madness Attendee...FM 3,4,5,6,8
                    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpCZ7...9Pwqw-oe8s2OYQ
                    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU_eX...9Pwqw-oe8s2OYQ

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      So I'm going to go visit Sasquatch (and maybe Leapin) sometime next week and grab those side moldings. I'll repaint them to darken them down and redo the pinstripe so the colours are a dead match.

                      But the question I have is - do I leave the region below the side moldings white, or should I re-prime it and use the bumper paint?

                      Here's a Mitsubishi Mirage / Dodge Colt example - this little bugger is an Eclipse 4G63T AWD swap. Message me for more details, or visit www.lilevo.com!



                      I think the bumper paint would be an unusual yet cool looking two-tone, but I dunno... plus that way I don't have to steal Fred's idea. Unique is never a bad thing!
                      Last edited by Aaronbrook37; 08-11-2010, 05:46 PM.
                      1988 Chevy Sprint Turbo 997cc

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by eurotiva View Post
                        Like the smoothies, and great job on those bumpers, they look better than new !!
                        Thanks, Greg. Means a lot coming from someone with such good taste! Let me know your thoughts on the sub-side-molding region.
                        1988 Chevy Sprint Turbo 997cc

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          it's your car do what you feel you will like

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Blade View Post
                            it's your car do what you feel you will like
                            Yeah haha I realize that, just trying to survey the field and maybe get some +s and -s that I didn't think about when I was brainstorming this.
                            1988 Chevy Sprint Turbo 997cc

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              I'm kinda partial to solid colors, mine used to have black bumpers.
                              -Greg
                              Euro-bprt...WORLDS FASTEST FESTIVA !!! 11.78@115.9
                              BP, G trans, Megasquirt/ 550cc inj. t3/t3 (tbird) Garrett, REAR TURBO!!!! AND AC!!!!
                              Redneck Engineer
                              FOTY - '09
                              5x Festiva Madness Attendee...FM 3,4,5,6,8
                              http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpCZ7...9Pwqw-oe8s2OYQ
                              http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU_eX...9Pwqw-oe8s2OYQ

                              Comment

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