'89 Festiva build...

[ryanprins13]

I blasted the bases of the spindles today, going to clean the spindle up best I can, but I don't have access to a lathe to polish them in.

Thanks for the kind words!


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Ok! What are you painting/coating them with?
If you google or look on youtube for homemade lathe i bet youll have a plan real quick. I presume you have a drill press at least- without looking up homemade lathes my first thought would be to take a plate of something, drill a hole through it the size of the hole through the spindle. Make or buy a plastic washer with an id about that size. Put a rod into the hole in the spindle, put some grease on the plastic washer and slide it on, then stick the rod through the plate. Stick the plate on the drill press, find something like what i used to put in the chuck of the drill press. Tighten it up real good, clamp the plate down and spin the spindle at a slow speed.

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[Zman86]

I blasted the bases of the spindles today, going to clean the spindle up best I can, but I don't have access to a lathe to polish them in.

Thanks for the kind words!


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[ryanprins13]

My custom made rear suspension perches arrived in the mail this week. Very impressed with the quality!

Thanks!
I noticed your spindles are looking a little rough and everything else about your car looks amazing. have you considered cleaning them up? I cleaned mine with solvent to get all the grease off, stuck it in a lathe to spin it and very lightly used 800 and then 1000 grit sandpaper where the bearings run. Not much at all, just enough to smooth it out again. I used a nail file on the rust where the grease seal runs, then the sandpaper over that. The spot that really stands out to me on yours is where the inner bearings rub here

Mine weren't that bad but I used the nail file, 600, 800 and 1000grit to smooth that out. Then I used metal polish on it to remove the 1000grit scratches and it came out real nice.

I read your first post about getting this car, and then later commented about the wheel bearings but I haven't been following your thread. I just read the whole thing and everything is amazing! your going to have an awesome car when your done! When is the motor getting put in? Best of luck- you have all the good stuff going into this car, you really went all out. If it was me I would be scared to drive it on the road, lol.

[bravekozak]

Is this what you are looking for?

[Zman86]

My custom made rear suspension perches arrived in the mail this week. Very impressed with the quality! A Festiva forum member who works in a rubber moulding facility designed these from scratch, using clay to make a mould of the rear strut tower all the way to the finished product. He was nice enough to do a run of them for forum members. The black material is polyurethane and the clear is a very hard plastic.





Picked up my stuff from the machinist this morning.



Stayed after work to press the studs in, however you may notice a drum is missing. That is because I'm an idiot, and supported the drum the wrong way in the press and cracked it...



Pretty discouraged about it, the parts store is having trouble finding another drum, then I have to return to the machinist and have it drilled out and reliefs cut again for the studs. Ugh...




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[Zman86]

Drop me a line whenever you're in town! I'm almost done parts collecting, hoping to start the suspension build this month or in May.


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[bravekozak]

O.K. Just don't say that again until you can't see your breath in the sunlight every day.
I will check out your build when I visit my uncle in Stoney Creek.

[Zman86]

I apologize!


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[bravekozak]

Spring has sprung and the salt is off the roads

You just jinxed us. There will be two days this coming week where we will get a rain/snow mix or freezing rain.
Hello salt.
Can you say "well below normal"?
I intend to leave my Festiva on the blocks.

[Zman86]

'89 Festiva build...

Spring has sprung and the salt is off the roads, so the Festiva came out for a drive today. Got to meet its new stablemate as well. Hoping to get started on it soon, still waiting on the machine shop. Going to call them tomorrow.




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[Zman86]

Tap that ended up working was a Goliath brand tap. Too bad I tapped the holes crooked. Currently at machine shop being repaired.


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[skeeters_keeper]

Looking great!

The rear spindles are forged, but I have tapped 5 sets with one tap. Getting them straight by hand is a little tricky though. IIRC I used an accupro "borrowed" from the shop. It's a spiral point plug tap (pushes the chips out in front of it and you can just run it straight through without backing up to break a chip like with a hand tap).

https://www.amazon.com/ACCUPRO-Spiral-Point-Plug-16-20/dp/B0779N6R64

[Zman86]

Some Festiva updates...

Everything that needed to be done at the machine shop has been dropped off, I'm just waiting for the phone call that it's done. I, despite my best efforts and after borrowing some good taps off a machinist friend of my fathers, managed to tap the holes crooked in the axles. They are at the machine shop being drilled and helicoiled straight.

My ARP wheel studs arrived, drums and hubs are being drilled out so I can install them.



Pressed the Super Pro poly bushings into the new front lower control arms.







The wheel bearing spacer selection tool arrived from Portland, Oregon. A guy out there from the forum was nice enough to loan me one for the cost of shipping. Just waiting on the machine shop to finish my hubs so I can assemble the knuckles. I don't have a pic of the complete tool, just this picture I sent to a machines that is going to make a copy of the tool for me for future use.



And some more exciting news, my wife surprised me with another car! My MK4 TDI daily was getting very tired, and was at the point of needing a bunch of money dumped into it or replacement. Knowing full well I'd never buy myself a newer car, she went out and found this 2014 Fiesta SE in Green Envy (my absolute favorite colour) and bought it without me knowing. Here's the stock photos from the dealer.





And delivery.



I must say that I certainly love this car! At 6'3", 250lbs, it is surprisingly roomy inside for myself, drives nice and smooth and handles quite well for a econobox commuter car. And the colour, it's probably my favorite car colour in existence. Should look quite good in the garage beside the Festiva.


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[Zman86]

My new tap showed up, and it lasted long enough to get one stub axle done.



One pass on one hole in the second stub axle rendered it useless. Borrowing one from a friend of my dads who is a longtime machinist, he tells me it should do the trick.



Some more packages showed up!

New wheel cylinders, NOS Ford rear brake shoes, a set of Porterfield R4-S compound brake pads. Not pictured are the new front control arm/balljoint combo and rear brake hardware kit.




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[bravekozak]

I am watching this operation. I have the bushings and camber plates but just haven't done anything with them yet.