Aussie Festiva/Aspire build

[lenlen91]

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I'm from Australia and here is my little avocado sh*tbox.

I picked it up for $200 off the side of the road... Bit of a bargain considering it's only done 175,000kms.
It's a little beat up on the outside but the driveline is in great condition. Only things I had to replace to get it registered and on the road was a LH driveshaft and an O-ring on the distributor.

My plan for the car is to turn it into a reliable daily and maybe go to the occasional hill climb or track day.

Here's a rough build plan (subject to change or failures):

Suspension/Brakes/Wheels:

-Coilovers using Golf parts as suggested on this forum
-Slotted Rotors (haven't researched this yet)
-Bendix Pads (already installed)
-Some 14 or 15 inch old school jap wheels with a bit less offset for better track width

Engine/Driveline

-NA BP engine from Ford Laser, Protege/323 or Kia Sehpia + Timing belt, waterpump & full gasket/seal kit
-Complete engine harness + ECU from donor vehicle
-6mm Steel plate for fabbing mounts
-F-series cable-clutch tranny from B5 Aspire/Festiva, 80's 323 or 80's Ford Laser
-Flywheel + Starter to suit
-New HD clutch
-Driveshafts to suit... I think I need non-turbo capri or auto aspire axles.
-Kia rio radiator hoses
-Maybe a bigger radiator... auto aspire has a thicker core, might be an option.
-2.5 inch exhaust with suitable muffler
-Don't know if this is necessary but perhaps and upgraded fuel pump

Interior/Aesthetics

-Weight reduction... goodbye rear seats, belts, spare tyre, tools etc. (done)
-Better seats.. stock ones are terrible. Probably try to fit some OEM seats from a honda, golf gti or WRX etc...
-Tacho
-Some better speakers
-Pull some dints out of the doors
-Repaint some faded plastics
-Better headlight globes... this car has the worst stock headlights ever.

That's basically it.

I'll probably start with the things that'll make this car a bit more bearable to drive on a daily basis... seats, headlights, suspension, wheels and tyres. If I can get this mouldy green egg to look half decent I'll be less likely to give up haha

If anyone in Australia can help me out with cheap parts let me know

[lenlen91]

Not much progress so far, apart from installing a new gear shifter. But I did buy a set of wheels online

They are 13x6.5 BMW alpina style wheels... just waiting for them to arrive. Should look great with a polish and paint.

rims.JPG

[Festiver]

Those wheels are awesome great buy for seats Id suggest second hand recaro or other name brand seats

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[lenlen91]

Those wheels are awesome great buy for seats Id suggest second hand recaro or other name brand seats

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Can't wait to get some rubber fitted to them and get the suspension sorted.

Some recaros would be great, but they can be pretty pricey. I'll probably just go for some OEM seats from something small and sporty.

[lenlen91]

While waiting for my new rims to arrive I've tinkered with a few things.

I've cut 1.5 coils out of the rear springs to get the car level instead of the drag car stance.
Seems to have a bit less body roll now.

I replaced the spark plugs with some plantinum Bosch plugs and changed the oil and filter... it was long overdue by the looks of it. Engine feels a little smoother now too, but still sounds like a diesel due to the lifter tick

And lastly I've installed some camber bolts to try and achieve a bit of negative camber... seems to have worked a little but I think I would be better off slotting the strut tops.

I've only had this car for a few months but it is a gem to work on... everything has been so easy so far except for replacing the driveshaft which required a lot of brute force and swearing haha

[lenlen91]

Next on the cards will be a wheel alignment and put my 13x6.5s on when they arrive... hopefully get some pics soon too

[wd62vette]

Nice, what year is the avocado sh*tbox? Maybe a 1996 or 1997? RHD also is cool.

[likeJIF]

Nice, excited for you on this build, anxiously anticipating what seats you get and some pictures of the work in progress.

[lenlen91]

Nice, what year is the avocado sh*tbox? Maybe a 1996 or 1997? RHD also is cool.

Its a 2000 festiva trio... I'm from Australia hence the RHD

[lenlen91]

Did my wheel alignment today and fine tuned the toe to about 1mm toe out. Had a bit of an issue with the camber bolts only working on one side. Turned out to be the right strut top was around the wrong way causing the top of the strut to be positioned away from the engine causing terrible positive camber. So I flipped it around, Reset my camber bolts and adjusted the toe.

Drives great now!

[lenlen91]

Got my wheels!!!

But there are 2 problems:

-They are 4x95.25 stud pattern NOT the 4x100 they were advertised as. :banghead:
-They don't have a raised center on the backside to allow the wheel to clear the front brakes.

About the only way I could get them to fit is with some wheel adapters, but then I would need to get some lug bolts with low profile hex heads on them so the wheel could sit flush against the adapters....

What a headache!!!

[dliverance]

Wow. That's an odd lug pattern.

[fastivaca]

-They are 4x95.25 stud pattern

The only car I could find with that bolt pattern is a Rover. That's according to this site

[lenlen91]

The only car I could find with that bolt pattern is a Rover. That's according to this site

They also fit a Triumph Spitfire as seen below. These may be my actual wheels considering how rare this stud pattern is and also the style of the wheel.

[FastOrBust]

Maybe wobble bolts will help with the stud pattern and a small spacer. Something like these -> http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/1220439...&ul_noapp=true