I call this... Progect Pheonix. :D

[gergorian]

Alright. So I have had my festiva for about 5 years now. ( and another for a little longer.) I have been procrastinating for the past few years about getting it running after I spent 50$ in oil to get back to Michigan from Chicago :eeeeeek: .

The good news is I just took delivery of my newly machined block and new pistons installed on the old rods . The block has been bored .030 over to accomidate the new slugs and I have all the bearings and gaskets to go with it.

Now I havent forgot the head. I scored a newly remaned head on ebay last year for a decent price and I have some plans for it as well... I will first explain a little bit.

About 3 weeks ago I was looking through a bunch of old posts and found the one by MattDickmeyer. I was stoked about what he was doing and when I found out that he just up and dissapeared I was sad to say the least . But I did not give up. I tracked him down and called him and we talked for about an hr and Happy Days! he had valves, springs and cams left!

So that brings us to today. I am waiting for a little more cash flow and I will be sending my head to Mr Dickmeyer to have a full port job, Stainless valves and new stronger springs put in. I am planning to have the car running by the end of March and just in time for my birthday

I will snap some pics of the car, block and all the parts when I het home in the morning as I work midnights at Ford. :-D

Let me know what you think!

P.S. Before sombody says "why dont you just do a swap...." I dont want to. Thats not how I roll. I want to see what I can do with what I have and to make the most of it inthe process.

P.P.S. The reason Matt left ( as told by him, not verbatim though ) Was that he had people backing out after he made all these parts and he just couldnt make a bunch of parts then have most opf them just sit there. ( Dont flame me for saying this please, I am just trying to explain as there was alot of people wondering where he went.)

[Bert]

The idea of a slightly stronger B3 sounds very interesting. Are you figuring on an another 500 or even 1000 rpm? Really souped-up formerly-ordinary stuff usually self-destructs in very short order. I have to agree that B3s are tough little engines that have proved themselves admirably over the past 25 years and the non-interference Mazda engineering has endeared them to numerous frugal owners.

[lil red rocket]

I am interested in this as well, would like some Odessa for my aspire

[gergorian]

I am hoping for a little more rpm's but I am looking for mainly more power. I found this place that cleans and can re- size injectors and I have been thinking it may not be a bad idea to send the injectors out for at least a cleaning and flow matching. I think you can't post links here but if you want, pm me and ill forward the address. Also, thanks for the reply's. :-)

[kumalaba]

you can post links here.

[gergorian]

you can post links here.

Hmm. I swear I read somewhere you couldn't. Here it is.

http://fuelinjectorconnection.com/shop/index.php

[blkfordsedan]

P.P.S. The reason Matt left ( as told by him, not verbatim though ) Was that he had people backing out after he made all these parts and he just couldnt make a bunch of parts then have most opf them just sit there. ( Dont flame me for saying this please, I am just trying to explain as there was alot of people wondering where he went.)

I really liked Matt. His knowledge and skills were world-class, and I hated to see him leave. He was a valuable asset to our community. I'm not sure how many people "promised" to buy his stuff (he may have been mislead), but I do remember when he announced what items he was offering. In all fairness, I think he assumed that alot of people here would jump at the chance to buy performance parts for the B3 platform if he offered them (I believe he even said something along those lines). His theory was that he could supply us B3 parts so that we would no longer have to resort to engine swaps to gain power. The problem was multi-layered. Even with a ported head, healthy cam, bigger valves and a header, the output of the B3 is not any better than a stock B8....and less than a BP or B6T. His own initial naturally aspirated B3 build proved that (which was awsome, BTW). Second, the total dollar investment for such a build is more than a good J/Y motor swap. Third, such a build is in all honesty beyond the abilities and capabilities of many of our members, both technically and financially. The bottom line is that even the entry level enthusiast can budget for a $300 engine swap and perform it in the driveway with common tools and the help and support of other members......and get more power with factory stock drivability and dependability.

I understand your reason for staying with the B3 and making the most of what you have. I am the exact same way, as is Matt and a few others on here. I am doing a B6 build because I love building performance oriented engines. It's my passion. I would much rather port heads, install cams and custom mod stuff than simply do a motor swap. There is a certain pride and satisfaction that goes with building a motor, even if it costs more money......and in my case it has! But as fate would have it, we are the minority.

This is not meant to criticize Matt in any way, but I remember the events and could predict what was going to happen. He was used to building sophisticated and well engineered cars for customers that could pay to play and are a little beyond the scope of the typical Festiva owner. Unfortunately, Matt also caught a lot of criticisim about his build strategey and the predicted results. I believe he was used to people coming to him to work his magic (and rightfully so) and not questioning his methods or vision. I suspect this also has something to do with his leaving.

I really wish Matt would return to the forum, but I understand and respect his position. My though is this: How does he expect to sell the current inventory of parts if he's not on the forum to give them exposure? I'm certain he could sell some headers, cams, springs and all his stuff over time. If he had stayed, he may even have sold them all by now!

[Flyin4stroke]

We should make a mattdickmeyer please return thread.. Probably one of the best fabricators we have here. But if it's money he wants it isn't to be made on $1,500 cars. We will have to look at his work on Porsches and bmw's. B3 builds are always fun to watch.

[PhoenixSHO]

You miss spelled Project and Phoenix.

Yup im the kinda guy who piss in your cheerios.

:toothy10:

[Damkid]

When Matt offered to make parts, people here asked for the parts, the members here backed out, so Matt wasted his shops time, now has parts laying around, and while making the parts, his Festiva was torn apart to test fit parts etc., when the festiva was supposed to be his "parts runner" then to top it all off, people here kept telling him that building a B3 was stupid and wouldn't shut up about it, I even had to lock one of his threads so no one could bash his threads anymore when he stopped logging on

Matt seen that I locked his thread and PM'd me with this info and all the above reasons drove him away, so thanks to those who contributed to that

[gergorian]

You miss spelled Project and Phoenix.

Yup im the kinda guy who piss in your cheerios.

:toothy10:

Lmao.. I just noticed that.. dur.

Flyin, Damkid. I thank you for your insight and wisdom on this situation and I plan on talking to Matt about possibly returning to the forums. I almost forgot, ill go snap some pics now and put them up.

[gergorian]

Ok, for some reason I can't edit my other post's so here is the pitchers!!!




















And now the reason the car was parked in the first place. :-/









Let me know what you all think! *waits eagerly*

[Oren09]

I agree with y'all on rebuilding B3s.
I have a cherry Festiva with 71,000 originals miles on the body. Everything is stock Festiva parts except the radio, tach, cluster lighting, and wiper stalk and control module.
My car will be considered a classic in just a few years and I'm the kind of person who likes classic cars to remain stock.
I replaced the engine in my Festiva when I got it because the previous owner shattered a piston rod, but I replaced it with a B3. A 181K mile B3 that is now nearing 195K. The engine has some knock in it and when it goes, I want to tear it down and rebuild it. I want to keep my car stock- original components and for maximum fuel efficiency. I know others say that B6 swaps get near the same mileage of a B3 but I want the most MPG I can get.
If I acquire another Festiva I may make it a performance car, but not doing that with my current one.

Kinda rambly. Sorry haha.


*edit*
That's a nice block!

[gergorian]

I agree with y'all on rebuilding B3s.
I have a cherry Festiva with 71,000 originals miles on the body. Everything is stock Festiva parts except the radio, tach, cluster lighting, and wiper stalk and control module.
My car will be considered a classic in just a few years and I'm the kind of person who likes classic cars to remain stock.
I replaced the engine in my Festiva when I got it because the previous owner shattered a piston rod, but I replaced it with a B3. A 181K mile B3 that is now nearing 195K. The engine has some knock in it and when it goes, I want to tear it down and rebuild it. I want to keep my car stock- original components and for maximum fuel efficiency. I know others say that B6 swaps get near the same mileage of a B3 but I want the most MPG I can get.
If I acquire another Festiva I may make it a performance car, but not doing that with my current one

Kinda rambly. Sorry haha.


*edit*
That's a nice block!

I feel ya there man, but I am about 50/50. I want to keep it pretty stock but with a little more ooomph.

[cway1319]

i agree with georgian stock is nice for the classic aspect of things but my 91L only has 3 gears and maxs at 85mph and i do alot of highway driving and need ALOT more ooomph