Pedro the Festiva's build thread.

[Advancedynamix]

I also made a bracket to hold the ECU up behind the heater inlet tube. I'm routing most of the fuel injection wires through the passenger side fender hole. I'm using the capri rubber harness bushing to do this, it's just like the festy one, but a mirror image. I'm routing the VAF wires and the PCV/VAC solenoid wires through the drivers side for a cleaner look in the engine bay. The car won't be a totally shaved bay, just cleaned up with a nice OEM look. For now it's a disaster of wires going everywhere. lol

[TominMO]

That is very interesting, putting the ECM on the pass. side. Way more accessible plus lets you customize wire routing.

[Advancedynamix]

yeah, I should be able to access it by just pulling the inlet air tube off. The Capri has it's ECM in the center on the tunnel behind the heater box and all the wires run basically the same way I'm running these. I have been able to shorten most of the wires going to the sensors, so (in theory) this system should work more efficiently than it did in the capri. It also allows me to remove the parts of the harness that have been eposed to years of heat and engine gunk, leaving a fresh harness. I am trying not to alter any sensitive signal wires more than 10% though, because resistance is typically calculated into the sensor calibration from the factory. There is usually a 10% window that the program compensates for though. We'll see. I'll be running my wide band o2 meter in the car while it's being tuned, and the car will be dyno tested.

[kumalaba]

waiting to see you @ madness charlie)

[Advancedynamix]

More progress made!

I finished the capri air box mounts. This is the b6d air box. I tried using a b6t one like I did with Tweak, but it won't fit with the stock radiator in the stock location. The b6d box fits nicely thought, once I got it in just the right spot. Unfortunately, this left a gap between the intake flex pipe and the Air Flow meter. I had the same issue with Tweak, so I made a little adapter flange dohicky thing.




Problem solved! Now onto the next issue.
The clutch cable. fuel filter and Miata brake booster all want to fight for the same spot, so I had to get creative. I think the routing of the cable on the Carbureted festiva is different than the F.I. or something. My fuel filter/evap canister bracket came from an 89 auto that didn't have a clutch cable to worry about.
Here is how I fixed the issue.

I drilled and tapped two new holes down on the lower part of the bracket.

Then I loc-tite'd 2 m6 bolts into the bracket.

And now the fuel filter clamp bolts down below and over a bit. This now allows for the bigger Miata brake booster and doesn't interfere with my clutch cable.

A valve cover chrome acorn bolt works nicely in the filter clamp!


I put a new Carter (Federal Mogul) fuel pump in. This is the pump for a 323 GTX. It fits perfectly in the 89 auto sender assembly. The 89 auto came with the big pump and the same plug style as the capri, so it made this a very simple process.

I primed the fuel system and checked for leaks. All the fuel hoses have been replaced with Gates green shield high pressure fuel hose. This will allow me to run e85 down the road without worrying about my fuel lines swelling.

This is a milestone for Pedro. This is the first time high pressure fuel has flown through a fuel rail in this car. I get sentimental about this stuff. haha.

[Advancedynamix]

The axles were in great shape on Pedro, but the outer boots were torn, so I rebuilt them with new B/A boots and fresh grease.


I also made a mold to fill my engine mount with 60A durometer Polyurethane. 60A is really soft, so this mount should still absorb a lot of the engine harmonics and vibration, but it will support the engine a little better.

This is an experimental mount. i have 80A and 92A poly as well if I need more support.

[David88]

Great progress. Its hard to tell but looks like the Festy vacuum advance distributor in the pictures.

[sketchman]

It's great how OEM you always make stuff look.

Great work as always.

[350freak]

all you mod guys fascinate me. I think of upgrade I think one day i'll pull the B3 and drop in a B8 SOHC good economy and a bit more power. lol

[bhearts]

all you mod guys fascinate me. I think of upgrade I think one day i'll pull the B3 and drop in a B8 SOHC good economy and a bit more power. lol

This isn't your typical mod build thread

[sketchman]

Nope. Charlie is a wizard.

[william]

Great progress. Its hard to tell but looks like the Festy vacuum advance distributor in the pictures.

That's a b6d disty. Looks like the car by disty some what.

[blake4591]

Charlie,

While I was looking at the pictures of the axles it reminded me of the fact the E series axles are significantly unequal lengths. This normally gets blamed for torque steer, do you think this will be a problem at all with this car?

My car with BP and E series has a fair amount of torque steer but it also needs all the sway bar bushings replaced. I'm just not sure how much of the torque steer is due to the E series axle lengths. I know the BP/E series is about worst case for torque steer but I'd like to get it at least a little more consistent and would like to know what your thoughts on it are.

[Advancedynamix]

Great progress. Its hard to tell but looks like the Festy vacuum advance distributor in the pictures.

It's great how OEM you always make stuff look.

Great work as always.

all you mod guys fascinate me. I think of upgrade I think one day i'll pull the B3 and drop in a B8 SOHC good economy and a bit more power. lol

Charlie,

While I was looking at the pictures of the axles it reminded me of the fact the E series axles are significantly unequal lengths. This normally gets blamed for torque steer, do you think this will be a problem at all with this car?

My car with BP and E series has a fair amount of torque steer but it also needs all the sway bar bushings replaced. I'm just not sure how much of the torque steer is due to the E series axle lengths. I know the BP/E series is about worst case for torque steer but I'd like to get it at least a little more consistent and would like to know what your thoughts on it are.

That question is a huge reason why I am keeping the stock e series in this car. I am using this as a baseline to document the differences in chassis setups and mods. My b6T car had no noticeable TQ steer and only spun the tires when heavily provoked to do so. Eventually this car will have a stronger transmission, a reinforced front support and a well dialed suspension system. For now, it will start out as close to stock as possible while having enough power to really highlight the weak links. I expect it to TQ steer and misbehave.

[Advancedynamix]

Thanks for all the compliments guys!

The dizzy is from a 94 Capri non turbo. It is very similar to the dizzy on the 98 F.I. Festy and pretty close to the carby unit. I was originally going to use the 89 auto fuel injection, but after comparing the ECU plugs I decided against it. The 89 Festiva ECU is a unique box that doesn't share the common denso 3 plug pattern. I wanted to have tuning options with this car so I'm using the NA Capri system.