Freddie the Festiva

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So I've been spending a bunch of time on this forum learning how to fix up my '91 5-speed since I bought it back in November. I took some photos and just wanted to share with you all a before, during, and (mostly) after pictorial of my beloved Festiva.

I had been looking for a 5-speed with minimal rust for a while, which is about impossible near the Great Salt Lake. I found Freddie in Nephi, UT and brought him home for $700 plus a battery.

This first photo is from the night I got him home. For some reason, I'd been listening to Queen's greatest hits on repeat in my truck for about a week and I named him Freddie in honor of Mr. Mercury.

Note the trailer hitch, and if you squint you can see the bullet hole in the hood.

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Rough interior.

I'm pretty sure my friend that dropped me off when buying Freddie thought I was crazy, but I actually learned how to drive on a Festiva, so I didn't care too much. Also, I may be slightly crazy. Here's a few shots of the rough state of the interior when I got him home.

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I'm still sorting out how to post- please forgive my newness!

Here's a bonus interior shot of the seat belt strap that had been tied in a knot. Ya know, for safety.

The rest of the interior was in pretty bad shape too:

[monkeykiller1996]

that is one big hitch for such a small car

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Stock engine was pretty sound. Replaced the valve cover gasket to stop the oil leak. New battery, fuel filter, air filter, spark plugs and wires, fluids topped off, and a good cleaning were all I did in the engine bay. Motor only had 149,800 miles on it.

The electrical part was......educational. And one of the most time consuming parts of my project. This next pic is of me about to install the new stereo. Apparently, the previous owner thought the best way to remove his deck was to just snip the wiring harness. So that was fun. I probably pulled out 50 feet of wire that wasn't actually connected to anything before wiring the new speakers. image.jpg

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Alas, the hitch and raiders sticker were the first things to be removed.


Here, I've started making progress:image.jpg
I have the door panels off to install the power windows and locks. I needed up running a power lock to the cargo hatch as well. The door panels were in such sorry shape, I got a donor for the right side at the junk yard and recovered both with vinyl and a staple gun. But the interior is clean!
image.jpg Sanitary, even.
image.jpg The first cleaning/detailing took me a solid six hours and the industrial size armor all wipes.

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Here's the recovered door panels with the power windows and locks installed. I just got some inexpensive kits on eBay. The auto seat belts are finally working after tons of electrical troubleshooting, too. image.jpg

I also got some snazzy seat covers and good rubber floor mats and a steering wheel cover to spruce up the interior: image.jpg

I sewed a parking brake cover and replaced the shifter knob since I couldn't get the old one clean enough to satisfy my germaphobia. I also rigged up some cup holders. They work pretty well! image.jpg

[Team Lightning]

Those door panels are nice!!

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I just bought the little aftermarket motor kits on eBay and wired them up. I can find the link for you if you like.

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Did I mention my seat covers? Ha, I think they turned out really nicely. Here's the back seat now: image.jpg

Here's a pic once it became my daily commuter. There's a towel on the dog's seat to keep her dirty paws off the seat, which is funny because the towel was there before, but it was to keep her from getting dirty.image.jpg

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Fast forward two months- I moved houses and managed to break my toes dropping a 16' board while making some stairs. Since I couldn't drive it for about a month (because of the clutch), I took the opportunity to get the exterior prepped for paint. After about a gazillion hours of sanding and about 30 lbs. of bondo, I sent Freddie off to the painters to work their magic. image.jpg

Turns out I'm not a professional car sander. Go figure. Anyway, the painters did the best they could with the canvas they were presented. image.jpg

I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out though! image.jpg. There's still a few little things I'd like to do, but it's pretty much done except for regular maintenance. I painted the windshield trim after those photos, so that already looks a bit nicer. And, I'll sand and paint the wheels with some black rattle can this weekend.

Thanks for reading all my posts about Freddie! I really appreciated this site as a resource and I'm happy to answer any questions about my car that I can. -Sarah

[sactnato]

Freddie turned out real nice, great job!

[nonamekid]

Wow! You really turned the car around. That looks really nice, good job!

[radi8u]

Good job on the car

[radi8u]

Damn, I hate typing on a laptop. Just wanted to add that I enjoyed your narrative, your turn of phrase is much appreciated. ty1