Lemons build: Help a FNG out please!

[Nubchuck]

Hello, I hope I am in the right place to post this topic.
I have a few Ford Escorts and have always wanted to build a 24 hours of Lemons race car.
Possible local Autocross as well.
I came across a 1989 Festiva Auto. with 54K miles on it and couldn't pass up.
Some rust under drivers side door, and the rear suspension mounting area.

I am looking for some advice on motor swap, roll-cage, and the rust issues.
Looks like the Escort GT Mazda BP motor is popular as well as the B6T Mercury Capri for swaps.

Most swap guides assume Manual Trans. I am looking to weigh the pros and cons of a switch to manual trans.

This will probably take me over a year, but before I start, I wanted to at least have a plan so I can start looking for donor cars, etc. to keep costs as low as possible.

Thanks in advance for your input.

PS: Let me know if anyone wants any of the low mileage parts (like the motor, interior, etc.) that I will be removing.

Adam.

[TominMO]

First thing I would do is make sure you can repair that rear suspension area rust, before I would think about doing anything else with this body.

If you're talking about the top of the rear strut mount, that should be fairly easily addressable. But if you also have extensive rust where the rear beam bolts to the unibody, I would consider this a parts car.

[william]

I would go b6t with a 89 auto. Its a strange efi system unlike the 90+ it only came in the 89 auto the 88 and 89 manual was carbed.
The b6t is easy because you use the capri harness. And the car already has the efi tank and lines. Also the 89 auto has the easiest setup for putting in a walbro 255 fuel pump intank. .
As for manual swap the auto will handle the power no problem but if you go manual use the g series out of the capri xr2 or convert an egt g series to cable.

[fitsbain]

There have been a few 24hr festys. At least one was built on here. lots of mods to that one.

I'm doing the same. Got an 88 carby, and a 91 capri xr2. Soon to be mated.

Go for it.

[Nubchuck]

I will inspect more this weekend. My heart sunk a little when I saw the rust where the beam bolts to the unibody. The car is so clean other than that. Strut towers are like new. Maybe I can clean it up and weld reinforcement metal.
It runs so well I was considering putting it on the road for a while.

[Nubchuck]

So use the auto out of the capri as well or use the festiva auto?
If the auto will hold up, I'll keep it until is doesn't.
Thanks for the info., I appreciate it.
What years and versions of the capri am I looking for?

[Nubchuck]

I am going to look at a 91' Capri XR2 auto. tomorrow not too far from my home.

[Nubchuck]

Can someone point me in the right direction to a 89' festiva automatic B6t swap build post?

[fitsbain]

I think you can use the festy auto and it will hold the b6t. So unblot your engine, bolt the b6t in and make 1 mount for the engine to chassis. Then deal with the ecu from the capri and your up and running. Wiring is the hardest.

[Advancedynamix]

Yup, festy auto. Capri XR2 automatic is mega rare. I've got a b6t festiva LeMons car, it's very competitive.

Welcome to the forum!

[Nubchuck]

Thanks,
Do automatic XR2's exist?
Wikipedia: Both the base model and the XR2 had a 5-speed manual transmission standard; a 4-speed automatic was optional only for the base model.
I thought the auto XR2 was needed more for the ECU and related brackets, intake, etc.
I am guessing your Lemons car is a manual.?.
I don't mind waiting and looking for a XR2 auto, but if they don't exist, well.

[Nubchuck]

I went to look at an XR2 over the weekend but thought is had to be an auto if I was keeping it an auto. No?
The guy told me twice it was an automatic but when I got there it was a 5spd.
To tell you the truth, as I was looking at the car, I couldn't help think. WTF am I doing? Why not just race this thing as is?
I have to ask, do you really get that much of a better car with the engine swap? I'm just asking?
If you have don LeMons already, I would love to talk to you if you have a chance.
Thanks for the reply, take care.

Adam.

[Advancedynamix]

The Capri XR2 has won many LeMons races. Team Crapi was a force to be reckoned with a few years back iirc. They had a 91 xr2 that was gutted.
In my opinion, the Festiva is a more competitive car, but it's also a harder car to be competitive with in LeMons. The Festiva has a tiny fuel tank and it needs fill ups often when you run the stock tank and way more hp than stock. Fuel stops will end your hopes of being a front runner in a 24 hour race.
Our car has a 22 gallon fuel cell. That solved the fuel stop issue, but the car is really hard to drive with a full tank of fuel. With all that weight in the back it wants to spin around in circles. I was able to put down top 5 fastest laps consistently in our Festiva, and I was only driving about 7/10 of my full race pace. Most of our other drivers struggled to keep the car on the track.
One of the biggest issues with these cars is that they feel incredibly slow. Even when your blowing past V8 cars, you still feel like your just putting along. When a driver isn't used to driving a car like that, they can get into trouble in a hurry. My driving background is mostly behind the wheel of Porsche cars and FWD Volkswagen. Both those cars also suffer from the "feels slow when going fast" issue, but the Festiva takes it to a whole new level because it looks so innocent and slow.
We weren't competitive because we missed 4 hours of the race due to wiring issues. When we did get on the track, our drivers were trying to make up lost time and they had no experience in the car. It was a recipe for black flags. We picked up more black flags in 2 hours than any other team did all weekend. We had to let the head official drive our car for an hour to get back on the track. Lol. We did have fun though, and the official couldn't believe how fast our little car was. He also put down some record lap times in it.

Our car is a manual. It's a direct swap from a Capri I bought for 200 bucks into a festiva that we made money off from selling parts we didn't use. The labor was the expensive part of the build. I sacrificed close to 10k dollars of my time building the car, and I had some great help from some very valuable team members.
We will put our car back out on the track next season. It was a lot of fun, but I've gotta catch up on the work I put aside to build the car.

[bhazard]

Thanks,
Do automatic XR2's exist?
Wikipedia: Both the base model and the XR2 had a 5-speed manual transmission standard; a 4-speed automatic was optional only for the base model.
I thought the auto XR2 was needed more for the ECU and related brackets, intake, etc.
I am guessing your Lemons car is a manual.?.
I don't mind waiting and looking for a XR2 auto, but if they don't exist, well.

I think Charlie was mistaken in his post. There is no automatic XR2. Automatic base Capri's are fairly rare but not mega rare.
There was rumor of a one-off automatic XR2 built for a Ford execs wife or something. I highly doubt it was true as there would be some engineering involved, not worth it for one car. And that automatic trans is known for being fairly weak. Lots of automatic escort GT's with blown transmissions.

[Nubchuck]

Bhazard: thanks, just to be clear: are you telling me to that Manual XR2 engine into auto Festy = not a good idea; and to try for an Escort GT auto with the 1.8 BP motor?
I get most of my cars via Copart, most cars from Washington DC and south seem to be rust free.
The Festy was from here I believe but with 54K miles, I had to take a chance.
I bought a mazda 626 Gt 5-door hatch. from Virginia but once it got delivered I knew it was way too nice to make into a Lemons car.
Actually I have a 93' mercury tracer wagon with suspension upgrades and a blown headgasket that could be a possibility.
Too many decisions, I have to get to work. Thanks for the info.! I really appreciate it.