Tweaks Re-build thread

[moz]

The hype was 100hp per litre of displacement, naturally aspirated, if I remember right

That's pretty restrictive.

They've been chopping and changing laws here like crazy.
Up until recently, if you were under 25 you were limited to 150kw/tonne (~200hp/2200lbs).
Now restrictions are off but they still calculate max displacement allowed on a vehicle according to it's weight.

Eg. Max engine cc on a Festiva 1894cc if turbo, 2100cc non turbo.

Catch is that if you increase displacement any more than 15% above factory, you have to get an engineers cert.
this means you have to upgrade brakes, suspension etc... Snowballs

[Bert]

The hype was 100hp per litre of displacement, naturally aspirated, if I remember right

Sorry; my bad, I continually mess up on decimal places. In 1970 a 'wild' Camaro with the Z28 option put out 360 hp through a 350cu in (5.7 litre) engine; today the engine in a taxi, pickup truck or handicap van will easily do that all day long. To achieve 570 hp out of a 60's engine meant that it wasn't going to be very streetable, wasn't remotely OEM nor was it expected to 'stay together' for 100,000 trouble-free miles.

The Rolls Royce Merlin V12 engine was state of the art during WWII and steady climbed from 1100 hp to about 2000 hp over the course of 5 years. The cutting edge damn-the-expense technology in these was unaffordable (superchargers/multiple carburetors/sodium-filled valves/4 valves per cylinder/alloy heads/ overhead camshafts etc etc) by automobile manufacturers (imagine paying $25K just for an engine upgrade in an otherwise $1000 luxury car). However; given today's kind of increasingly routine performance numbers a 24 litre Merlin-equivalent could power a small city!

[Advancedynamix]

Whoops forgot to add the picture, but here is the sticker I got. When college is over I plan a very reliable 300+hp Festy. Even though road racing is downright awesome, drag racing is what I love.

Yeah, that's the sticker! Wear it proudly, especially at the age you were when you swapped a car with enough quality to get that. Some people try for years! So Tweak is one of 2, and my bubble isn't burst sharing that list with you, you're amazingly talented and innovative,
.

[Advancedynamix]

Quite the adventure you've had and nice videos for show as proof of the carefully engineered performance achievements you made with a now-vintage car. I can't help but notice that the long ago performance milestone of one horsepower per 100 cc is currently being achieved without much fanfare and available on increasingly more ordinary mass production grocery-getter type cars. Are you somehow going to be able to take advantage of these recent types of engine developments? Or are Festys more or less constrained/limited to Mazda drivetrains that were produced from 85-98? I for one am not interested in tangling with increasingly sophisticated electronics for possible retrofit into older cars.
I'm currently driving a relatively simple 10 year old Toyota Echo and am amazed with how much more power (and revs) are available via become-standard twin cam technology, and how much more fuel efficient that 1.5 litre DOHC engine is over the older technology 1.3 SOHC B3. We're talking a consistent 15+% better with regard to gas mileage and yet the darn thing has 75% more hp and is propelling a heavier car. Heaven knows what they've done with the 1.5 motors in the new Honda Fit 'housewife' cars because they're very close to achieving that magic 1 hp/100cc as of this year and yet are expected to behave at low speeds and be quiet, durable and reliable for city and highway driving for a long time. I can't even wrap my head around the idea of what you'd get if you or the factory souped them up.
Carry on my good man and happy motoring!

We're on top of that Bert. High pressure direct injection has improved almost every aspect of internal combustion engines. One problem that we're having is that modern engines are often physically larger than they were 20 years ago,and the Festy is limited on available engine bay space.
I've been involved in development of performance alterations for both the New Fiesta and the Mazda2. These cars are basically the most modern renditions of the Festiva bloodline, (arguably the fiesta bloodline). These cars are examples of a long lost automotive formula of efficiency through simplicity, and light weight.

[Advancedynamix]

Okay, so I was looking through my pictures this morning and I realized that this thread could be a lot better and I promised more detailed pictures.





Aside from having to modify the shift linkage and shifter support bar, I also replaced those weak plastic bushings with 1/2" shoulder bolts and thrust washers.

[Advancedynamix]

I built the exhaust from 2.5" .050" wall (18g) 304 stainless tubing. It has a Flowmaster stainless muffler that is removable via V band and a straight pipe that replaces it. It also has a Catalytic converter that is replaceable with a resonator (pictured above). It was all big welded and back purged for strength and flow (nice smooth seams inside) The system is very light since it's 18 gauge tubing and is removable without dropping the beam due to the V band clamp before the beam.

[Advancedynamix]

This picture was taken after my first track event. I was running street tires and capri xr2 brakes back then. I found that the best pads available for the Capri brakes was the cheapest organics that O'Riely sells, but I had to keep a lot of spares. I was starting theses pads on fire and using a set about every hour of track time. You can see the effects of the heat on the calipers and rotors. It was apparent that this car needed some real rubber for track duty and that meant 13" wheels, which also meant no more Capri brakes.


So, I got an aspire setup from a salvage yard and tore everything down to be inspected. I had everything magna fluxed, then the knuckles were coated. I installed new Timken bearings and synthetic grease.




The aspire hubs and stock Festiva rear drums were drilled for 12mm racing studs in a 4x100 bolt pattern.
I used generic eBay sourced cross drilled front disks with Performance friction sport pads for the Aspire automatic. I went from replacing pads 4 times a weekend to using the same set of pads for 2 seasons and they are still on the car to this day! It out brakes a Porsche GT3 and no more fires!

[Advancedynamix]

Since I chose not to use an intercooler on Tweak, I installed a water methanol injection system from Snow Perfomance. This is where the name "tweak" originated from. Tweak is addicted to Meth, and it causes the car to be quite hyper and do crazy things.


To adapt the Methanol injection to the B6t, I made an injector manifold that goes between the turbocharger and the charge pipe. I made the charge pipe to the throttle body out of 304 stainless steel to avoid corrosion from the water methanol. The methanol tank is the windshield washer bottle from a carby festiva. It has a fitting epoxied into the bottom which goes through a grommet in the body to the pump down below. I mix the water and methanol at a 1:1 ratio and have raced this car hard at 16psi of boost in 100 degree heat with no problems. In fact, it pulls more consistently than cars with a front mount intercooler and no methanol injection. The car put down 180ft lbs of TQ at the wheels on a dynapack with a stock ECU. My favorite part about the system is that it's mostly invisible. The lines and pump are all hidden and I've painted the meth injector manifold and charge pipe a satin black to appear stock. This car causes so much confusion when the hood is popped the track. Most people overlook the fact that it's even turbocharged. I tell them it's a stock festiva motor. haha

[TominMO]

O. M. G. That is some serious porn right there.

[MiltonHavoc]

In for the next build. Especially since you have chosen the b6d. I can pick up some pointers.
do post pics of the dizzy mod, as ive lost our conversation about that :-(

[greywolf200]

You never fail to amaze me man.....wanw

[bhearts]

Since I chose not to use an intercooler on Tweak, I installed a water methanol injection system from Snow Perfomance. This is where the name "tweak" originated from. Tweak is addicted to Meth, and it causes the car to be quite hyper and do crazy things.


To adapt the Methanol injection to the B6t, I made an injector manifold that goes between the turbocharger and the charge pipe. I made the charge pipe to the throttle body out of 304 stainless steel to avoid corrosion from the water methanol. The methanol tank is the windshield washer bottle from a carby festiva. It has a fitting epoxied into the bottom which goes through a grommet in the body to the pump down below. I mix the water and methanol at a 1:1 ratio and have raced this car hard at 16psi of boost in 100 degree heat with no problems. In fact, it pulls more consistently than cars with a front mount intercooler and no methanol injection. The car put down 180ft lbs of TQ at the wheels on a dynapack with a stock ECU. My favorite part about the system is that it's mostly invisible. The lines and pump are all hidden and I've painted the meth injector manifold and charge pipe a satin black to appear stock. This car causes so much confusion when the hood is popped the track. Most people overlook the fact that it's even turbocharged. I tell them it's a stock festiva motor. haha

Did you use a progressive water methanol controller, or just a fixed rate pump and injector style setup. And what size nozzle did you use

[Grey Vw]

Yeah, that's the sticker! Wear it proudly, especially at the age you were when you swapped a car with enough quality to get that. Some people try for years! So Tweak is one of 2, and my bubble isn't burst sharing that list with you, you're amazingly talented and innovative,
.

Wow, that means a lot coming from you. Thanks Charlie!

[blake4591]

Advance,

First thank you for everything you've done for this community. I just have a quick question, what battery is that in the pictures of tweak and what mount are you using with it? Is it a Miata battery, or a lawn mower battery, or something fancier? I have a BP swap and currently have a homemade up and over intake to use a factory location VAM and battery. I would like to switch the battery and VAM to clean up the engine bay and that small battery is exactly what I need.

[Advancedynamix]

Did you use a progressive water methanol controller, or just a fixed rate pump and injector style setup. And what size nozzle did you use

Snow Performance progressive controller. It's attached to the side of the center cubby. See above picture with the can of methanol. I used the second smallest injector that snow offers. I can't remember the flow rate on it, but I had to special order it.

Advance,

First thank you for everything you've done for this community. I just have a quick question, what battery is that in the pictures of tweak and what mount are you using with it? Is it a Miata battery, or a lawn mower battery, or something fancier? I have a BP swap and currently have a homemade up and over intake to use a factory location VAM and battery. I would like to switch the battery and VAM to clean up the engine bay and that small battery is exactly what I need.

Thank you!
That battery is made by Deka. It is a heavy duty powersport battery, equal to a yx12 iirc. I'll look for a better picture of the actual part number. I got that one from Batterymart.com and it was less than 60 bucks. The original battery I had was a Braille racing battery that was 150 bucks and was exactly the same battery, also made by Deka. If your going to use a glass mat style powersport battery in your car, make sure it has the thick heavy duty terminals like this one does, and not the type like motorcycle batteries usually have. The amperage on these batteries is actually much higher than they are rated.
I made the battery box myself, but you can buy nice ones now on eBay. I'll try to dig up more info for you guys.