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A tale of a Festy's adoption and transformation
Hello all!
I have been lurking for a while now and using all the great info on this forum so I decided it was about time I make a post.
It all started after the third time my Celica GT-S was broken into. I go to The University of Toledo and let’s just say it's a little rough where I live. Between the crater like potholes (a 3" dropped Celica doesn't like those too much), destroyed window cowls, and marred up dash (the thieves didn't bring a socket set so they instead tried to pry out my double din touch screen with a large screw driver, I would have preferred they just stolen it instead of trash my dash!) I decided to garage the Celica and look for a cheap lil gas saver. After looking around and doing some research my mind was made up. I wanted a Festiva! So I hit Craigslist daily and kept my eyes peeled. Eventually one came up that caught my eye, needed some work but the price was ok.
So here is my journey from where it started and where it's at now.
Things I have done:
-Replaced rear struts after the passenger one was so bad it was sticking through the plastic
-Replaced front passenger wheel bearing
-New plugs, wires, dist cap, and rotor
-Oil and filter change
-New (used) tires all around
-Replaced the pretty much nonexistent exhaust with an idea I saw on here, cherry bomb out the side! The RedBull can tip is actually needed to hold in the DIY wire mesh and steel wool silencer!
-Swapped the cluster for one that has a tach and back lighting
-Swapped the terrible rotted out seats for much better ones
-Swapped rear seat plastics, the previous owner tried to "sound proof" the car by spraying expanding foam between ALL plastics and rear hatch. He didn't realize the rattle was coming from the blown strut and broken coil spring
-Removed ALL of the expanding foam from the car, what a disaster
-Made a spare wheel cover, previous owner had deck boards SCREWED into the metal with drywall screws
-Replaced the blown out stock speakers
-Threw a lil amplified sub in the back
-Fixed the terrible head unit wiring by previous owner
-Dome light swap
-Replaced driver side auto seat-belt motor
-Fixed door switches
-DIY Alignment
-Painted bumpers and black plastics
-Painted the whole thing
-Painted rims
-Fixed rear bumper loose mounting
-Fixed hatch latch assembly so now it works again
-Temporary ratchet strap fix for rusted out radiator cross-member support
Things I still need to do:
-Patch radiator support
-Fix e-brake
-Valve cover gasket
Here is the gallery: http://imgur.com/a/VS9nV#0
Figured that was easier than uploading them all here.
I know the paint scheme won't be liked by all but my fiancée and I love it! This is such a great little car and I have to say I think we might enjoy bombing around in it more than my Celica?! Plus, you can't beat an average of 42 miles to the gallon!
Hope you all enjoy!
I have been lurking for a while now and using all the great info on this forum so I decided it was about time I make a post.
It all started after the third time my Celica GT-S was broken into. I go to The University of Toledo and let’s just say it's a little rough where I live. Between the crater like potholes (a 3" dropped Celica doesn't like those too much), destroyed window cowls, and marred up dash (the thieves didn't bring a socket set so they instead tried to pry out my double din touch screen with a large screw driver, I would have preferred they just stolen it instead of trash my dash!) I decided to garage the Celica and look for a cheap lil gas saver. After looking around and doing some research my mind was made up. I wanted a Festiva! So I hit Craigslist daily and kept my eyes peeled. Eventually one came up that caught my eye, needed some work but the price was ok.
So here is my journey from where it started and where it's at now.
Things I have done:
-Replaced rear struts after the passenger one was so bad it was sticking through the plastic
-Replaced front passenger wheel bearing
-New plugs, wires, dist cap, and rotor
-Oil and filter change
-New (used) tires all around
-Replaced the pretty much nonexistent exhaust with an idea I saw on here, cherry bomb out the side! The RedBull can tip is actually needed to hold in the DIY wire mesh and steel wool silencer!
-Swapped the cluster for one that has a tach and back lighting
-Swapped the terrible rotted out seats for much better ones
-Swapped rear seat plastics, the previous owner tried to "sound proof" the car by spraying expanding foam between ALL plastics and rear hatch. He didn't realize the rattle was coming from the blown strut and broken coil spring
-Removed ALL of the expanding foam from the car, what a disaster
-Made a spare wheel cover, previous owner had deck boards SCREWED into the metal with drywall screws
-Replaced the blown out stock speakers
-Threw a lil amplified sub in the back
-Fixed the terrible head unit wiring by previous owner
-Dome light swap
-Replaced driver side auto seat-belt motor
-Fixed door switches
-DIY Alignment
-Painted bumpers and black plastics
-Painted the whole thing
-Painted rims
-Fixed rear bumper loose mounting
-Fixed hatch latch assembly so now it works again
-Temporary ratchet strap fix for rusted out radiator cross-member support
Things I still need to do:
-Patch radiator support
-Fix e-brake
-Valve cover gasket
Here is the gallery: http://imgur.com/a/VS9nV#0
Figured that was easier than uploading them all here.
I know the paint scheme won't be liked by all but my fiancée and I love it! This is such a great little car and I have to say I think we might enjoy bombing around in it more than my Celica?! Plus, you can't beat an average of 42 miles to the gallon!
Hope you all enjoy!
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