Pedro the Festiva's build thread.

[kumalaba]

very nice! diggin that 500hp ride also

[Advancedynamix]

Lots of updates here.
Last weekend I drove Pedro for the first time in nearly 2 years. It's hard to remember back that far, but I do remember the car felt very solid and stable for a nearly all original 88 festy. I think it's got Monroe rear shocks, but I'm pretty certain the fronts are original to the car. I threw on the best set of stock 12" steelies have with the least deteriorated kuhmo155/80-12 tires.

Impression: hahahahahaha! If you don't push on the gas pedal much then it's a really a pleasant little car. It is like driving a very smooth and tight b3. Butt, over half throttle and it's like driving a cartoon car. The front of the car raises up what feels like a foot and the back squats down and it spins instantly. No noticeable tq steer with the dry old 12" tires, but it spins pretty easily in first and second gear. It doesn't take any effort to light these things up.

So, I bought some 155/65-13 Sunny tires off eBay to replace these dry old 12's and had them mounted to a set of old Hyundai Excel 13x5 alloys that I had. Much better traction, but I blew a hole in the stock exhaust. So I put it up on the lift last night and cut the old exhaust out. I then chopped up a stock exhaust from a 2015 mustang to get some nice stainless mandrel bends and I'm going to build a 2.25" system today for the car. Here is where Pedro slept last night. Can you see the excitement in his headlights? He's digging on that 500whp MK5 in front of him and tickled by the S5 on air under his belly. Haha.

[Advancedynamix]

I'll spray the panels. If I can get the head liner out of Virginia without ruining it, I'll spray the roof. That'll make a huge difference. If I can't get the headliner out in good shape than I won't touch Pedro's because it looks nice now. I'm not putting a back seat in Pedro, and I'm removing the seat supports for more room. I'm going to make panels for the back and I'll have it bed lined with grey bedliner.

[rmoltis]

It is always nice to have tunes while your cruising.
next step is to sound deaden the interior.
to help eliminate all that freeaway noise.

[Advancedynamix]

Exactly! I did the cross country trip 5 times with no radio. I'm going to have tunes this time.

[greywolf200]

More comfortable drive to Madness this year?

[Advancedynamix]

So, thanks to 1990new, Fastivaca, and AZGTX I've been able to put grey interior in Pedro. I finished up all the engine wiring, including the oil pressure gauge harness and the harness to plug in my Innovate LM1 wide band (I can datalog A/F against Rpm with my laptop on this car now). I then built a harness that goes from my stereo head unit to the amp location under the drivers seat. I'll be using a Precision Power p900.5 amp to power ppi components in the doors and rear, and a 10" ppi sub behind the passenger seat. I then installed the Carpet, dash and the grey BF Tracer seats that I got out of Clays parts car. I ran out of daylight to take pictures, but here are a couple I took before dark.

This beautiful original early model grey carpet is courtesy of 1990new, the e-brake cover came from Fastivaca. Thanks guys!

[Advancedynamix]

Charlie, I'm sorry as can be we ate up your Pedro build time, but your help in the machine shop, and particularly at the track are Truly appreciated !
Your machine, welding, and build skills, as well as your overwhelming generosity are only equaled by your Driving Skills!
Carolyn and I owe you one!

+1

Well thank you! Don't be sorry though, you guys have helped me in so many ways. I enjoy being able to return the favor. Plus, I would have driven just for Carolyn's Lasagna, you know that!

[fastivaca]

Charlie, I'm sorry as can be we ate up your Pedro build time, but your help in the machine shop, and particularly at the track are Truly appreciated !
Your machine, welding, and build skills, as well as your overwhelming generosity are only equaled by your Driving Skills!
Carolyn and I owe you one!

+1

Well said Ryal!!!

[Dragonhealer]

Well, I didn't get the chance to do much to Pedro this week. I was busy most of the weekend, but I did get the fenders, bumper and lights back on. It'll be a few weekends before I can make any more progress as I'm going to MN this coming weekend. It's hard to be this close to driving Pedro and not be able to work on the car.

Charlie, I'm sorry as can be we ate up your Pedro build time, but your help in the machine shop, and particularly at the track are Truly appreciated !
Your machine, welding, and build skills, as well as your overwhelming generosity are only equaled by your Driving Skills!
Carolyn and I owe you one!

+1

[Hecka]

... and here I am putting flame stickers on my doors for the extra 2 horsepower.

[Advancedynamix]

Well, I didn't get the chance to do much to Pedro this week. I was busy most of the weekend, but I did get the fenders, bumper and lights back on. It'll be a few weekends before I can make any more progress as I'm going to MN this coming weekend. It's hard to be this close to driving Pedro and not be able to work on the car.

[greywolf200]

Well, you seem to always make an installation look factory irregardless of what it is. Great work as usual.

[Advancedynamix]

Thanks guys! This swap would have gone a LOT faster had I started with an EFI festy, but this allowed me to build something a little different and breathe some new life into this nice little car. I was helping Clay (AZGTX) with one of his GTX's last week and we were joking around about how all this stuff somehow fits better in my Festivas than it does the 323, where it belongs. lol.

William, we all have those moments and it's what causes the hoarding disorder that a good portion of us have. lol. This car is a direct result of my hoarding condition. I need more room in my shed for more parts, so I decided to put some of my parts to good use.
That fuse box can be found in a whole bunch of late 80's to mid 90's Mazda cars. I actually like the 323 cover better, but right now all I have is the capri one. Russ (CapriTypeR) from RooSport found me a brand new intake flex boot from a 323 that worked perfectly. It's hard to get pictures of it, but the festiva hood is clearanced perfectly to clear the Capri intake pipe and airbox. It all looks like Mazda intended to put this setup in this car.

[william]

Looks awesome I wish I would have saved the air box and fuse box off the capri that I used for my engine swap 4 years ago... live and learn I guess.
Looks great Charlie!