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Frito Festiva--Ben's '93 GL (LX Clone) Build Thread

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  • Frito Festiva--Ben's '93 GL (LX Clone) Build Thread

    When it came to abandon ship on my last Festiva, my dear brother, Axlander98, had already found me a replacement. It was a '93 GL--white (my favorite Festiva color) with A/C, cargo cover, map pockets, rear wiper & defrost, spoiler, tach cluster, and a recent manual swap with only 118k on the clock. I couldn't say no. Alex bought it, a week later lil-red delivered it to Billings, MT. I bought a flight for six weeks later and waited in gleeful anticipation as the pictures rolled in:

    And there we have it--a clean white GL with all the rare options one could want. In the meantime I procured some 4x114.3 6" Enkei 92's. I then developed this photoshop rendering of my plans for the exterior of the car:
    Last edited by ThisVelologist; 04-14-2016, 11:40 PM.
    Ben Rogers, Admin of the
    Facebook Group


    '93 Festiva GL "Frito" (Travelled in 36 US States & 4 Canadian Provinces)

    '91 Festiva L "Barry Bluejeans"
    '95 Dickmeyer Aspire SE "Dortmund" (SOLD to jbibb1)
    '91 Festiva L "Fermina" (SOLD to Hulspowered)
    '93 Festiva L "Tallsmallcar" (SOLD to Stretch and Skeeters_Keeper)

    Watch "It's a Festiva", my short film!


    It's better to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.


  • #2
    In the mean time, Alex set about making the car ready for the 25 hour drive. That entailed replacing the rear brakes and rear bearings, timing belt, and other mechanical necessaries. I flew out, met the car and was absolutely impressed with it's mechanical condition. It drove like a brand new car compared to my last Festiva. The exterior was a little rougher than I expected but present an exciting challenge for me--I like making them look good. We had a good deal of fun driving the Festivas around and taking pictures:



    Before I left, we swapped some 88-89 smoothie tail lights in to begin the trend I was starting with it's overall design. Sadly it came time to part. Alex saw me into Sheridan, Wyoming and I continued on my way:

    I stopped in Casper, Wyoming to meet up with Brian (lil-red), the former owner, who had done so much to un-knowingly build my dream Festiva:

    And then stayed in Denver for the night, encountering some (what I think is) impressive street parking:

    And then I set about driving the rest of the way back to Kentucky, getting 38.9 MPG's and just having a blast all the way home:


    Ben Rogers, Admin of the
    Facebook Group


    '93 Festiva GL "Frito" (Travelled in 36 US States & 4 Canadian Provinces)

    '91 Festiva L "Barry Bluejeans"
    '95 Dickmeyer Aspire SE "Dortmund" (SOLD to jbibb1)
    '91 Festiva L "Fermina" (SOLD to Hulspowered)
    '93 Festiva L "Tallsmallcar" (SOLD to Stretch and Skeeters_Keeper)

    Watch "It's a Festiva", my short film!


    It's better to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.

    Comment


    • #3
      Frito made it back to Kentucky without incident--well almost. The plug wire connecting the distributor to the coil pack jumped out an hour away from home. A quick call to my brother and the problem was remedied. As soon as I got Frito home, the projects began. First order of business was a good wash:

      Then I set about Plastidipping the bumpers and side trim. I went with half of the bumpers to give it a nice Mazda 121/ Euro look:


      And then came mounting the Hella 500 driving lights from my last Festiva. Last time I bolted a length of angle iron through the bumper cover. It was flimsy, but it worked. This time I drilled straight through the bumper support and mounted them with 6" inch carriage bolts and adding a 88-89 grille that I prepared earlier:




      From there I wired up a Escort Wagon cargo light with an extra ajar switch and strung the hatch cover:


      Then I set about mounting studs and hub-centric rings for the Enkeis:


      With this whole black and white motif going, it was time to remove the decrepit navy blue pinstripe. I did so with rubbing alcohol and a straight razor:



      Once that was done the look really started to come together. It looked like the dream car I had rendered in photoshop weeks ago. I was falling deeply in love:


      I then put in the LX front seats from my last Festiva and replaced the ripped and knotted passenger shoulder belt with a pristine one:

      And, most recently did the horizontal wiper parking mod with an Escort Wagon wiper motor gear:

      I'm over the moon with Frito--a mechanically sound and great looking Festiva already in under two weeks of ownership, I'm stoked for what is next--stay tuned!
      Ben Rogers, Admin of the
      Facebook Group


      '93 Festiva GL "Frito" (Travelled in 36 US States & 4 Canadian Provinces)

      '91 Festiva L "Barry Bluejeans"
      '95 Dickmeyer Aspire SE "Dortmund" (SOLD to jbibb1)
      '91 Festiva L "Fermina" (SOLD to Hulspowered)
      '93 Festiva L "Tallsmallcar" (SOLD to Stretch and Skeeters_Keeper)

      Watch "It's a Festiva", my short film!


      It's better to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.

      Comment


      • #4
        Sweet ride, Frito, like the corn chip?

        Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

        Comment


        • #5
          Thanks! The car was dubbed Frtio by my brother after Frito Pandejo from the film "Idiocracy". The car received its name after my brother found a bag of Frito's in the car whilst cleaning it out. In the film, Luke Wilson drives a white Festiva GL during a monster truck rally for "community service":
          Ben Rogers, Admin of the
          Facebook Group


          '93 Festiva GL "Frito" (Travelled in 36 US States & 4 Canadian Provinces)

          '91 Festiva L "Barry Bluejeans"
          '95 Dickmeyer Aspire SE "Dortmund" (SOLD to jbibb1)
          '91 Festiva L "Fermina" (SOLD to Hulspowered)
          '93 Festiva L "Tallsmallcar" (SOLD to Stretch and Skeeters_Keeper)

          Watch "It's a Festiva", my short film!


          It's better to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.

          Comment


          • #6
            Ben I would would really hate for you to swap a b8 into this. It's so mechanically sound.
            Tommy

            WannaBimmer Build in Progress:
            http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/sh...-Festiva-Build

            Comment


            • #7
              Enjoyed the write up and looks like a great car. In the future if you ever need to remove pinstiping, go to your local auto paint store and get a decal eraser wheel. You stick it in a drill and it takes the pinstripe or any decals off fast without any damage as long as the car was painted correctly.
              Rick
              1993 Ford Festiva
              1986 AMC Eagle Wagon 4.2L/4.0L head, AW4,NP242, Chrysler 8.25" rear. SOLD
              1981 AMC Eagle Wagon-As Seen on TV Lost In Transmission
              2000 Ford E350

              Comment


              • #8
                Thanks for posting this up Ben. What an awesome car, and great story to kick it off! I'm looking forward to some festiva camping, parked next to Frito.
                Driving for me is neither a right nor a privilege. Driving is my passion, as it was for the people who invented the automobile, the people who paved the first roads and the people who continue to improve the automobile. Please respect this passion.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Who's this Axlander98 guy?
                  Axlander9289, brother of ThisVelologist

                  Festivas past:
                  Aqua '92 Festiva L - Sold "Dale"
                  White '89 Festiva L Plus - RIP "Dudley"
                  White '93 Festiva GL - Sold to thisvelologist "Frito"
                  Red '91 Festiva L - Sold to Louieisawesome "Geraldo"

                  Current Fleet:
                  Aqua '93 Festiva L with Aspire brakes "Dale Jr."
                  Black and White '93 Festiva GL Sport (White alloys and spoiler are long gone) "Blues-tiva"
                  White '15 Ford Transit Connect

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Hi Frito!

                    come visit sometime!
                    ~Nate

                    the keeper of a wonderful lil car, Skeeter.

                    Current cars:
                    91L "Skeeter" 170k, Aspire brakes, G15, BP, Advancedynamics coil overs, etc. My first love.
                    1990 Kawasaki Ninja 250 - my gas saver, 60+mpg - 40k
                    2004 MotoGuzzi Breva - my "longer range" bike - 17k

                    FOTY 2008 winner!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Haha. All of your screen names kind of run together for me.
                      Ben Rogers, Admin of the
                      Facebook Group


                      '93 Festiva GL "Frito" (Travelled in 36 US States & 4 Canadian Provinces)

                      '91 Festiva L "Barry Bluejeans"
                      '95 Dickmeyer Aspire SE "Dortmund" (SOLD to jbibb1)
                      '91 Festiva L "Fermina" (SOLD to Hulspowered)
                      '93 Festiva L "Tallsmallcar" (SOLD to Stretch and Skeeters_Keeper)

                      Watch "It's a Festiva", my short film!


                      It's better to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        We most definitely will!
                        Ben Rogers, Admin of the
                        Facebook Group


                        '93 Festiva GL "Frito" (Travelled in 36 US States & 4 Canadian Provinces)

                        '91 Festiva L "Barry Bluejeans"
                        '95 Dickmeyer Aspire SE "Dortmund" (SOLD to jbibb1)
                        '91 Festiva L "Fermina" (SOLD to Hulspowered)
                        '93 Festiva L "Tallsmallcar" (SOLD to Stretch and Skeeters_Keeper)

                        Watch "It's a Festiva", my short film!


                        It's better to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          I like the photos. All of them.
                          You need to order this knob.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Cool story.....tell me about the rims and tires.....I like the look. Thanks.
                            92 GL, 98k
                            77 Chevy shortbed

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by avitsefdrof View Post
                              Cool story.....tell me about the rims and tires.....I like the look. Thanks.
                              They are Enkei 92's 13x6 in the stock bolt pattern--pretty rare. Tires are 175/70. They're +15 offset with tall tires so they rub in hard cornering but otherwise are an excellent improvement.
                              Ben Rogers, Admin of the
                              Facebook Group


                              '93 Festiva GL "Frito" (Travelled in 36 US States & 4 Canadian Provinces)

                              '91 Festiva L "Barry Bluejeans"
                              '95 Dickmeyer Aspire SE "Dortmund" (SOLD to jbibb1)
                              '91 Festiva L "Fermina" (SOLD to Hulspowered)
                              '93 Festiva L "Tallsmallcar" (SOLD to Stretch and Skeeters_Keeper)

                              Watch "It's a Festiva", my short film!


                              It's better to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow.

                              Comment

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