JDMSTIVA V2 Build Thread

[w4rkry]

Would you please give me some information about this spoiler. Thank you.

Which spoiler? If you look at the bottom right corner of a post, there is an option to quote it in your reply. That will make it easy to reference which post you are referring to!

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[w4rkry]

So here is another little piece of the project that I have been working on: A B6T!

I bought this from Chris (damnkid) all the way from Canada. It originally lived in a 323 GT, which we didn't get in the states.

It's the full kit: ECU, Engine, Trans, Axles, everything is there. and everything is CRUSTY. This engine may have once been used as an anchor in the Atlantic. But no matter! I will clean it up and rebuild it into a lovely swap. That is the big project for the next few months. I have already begun the work, But I will probably only be updating this thread a few pictures at a time.

Here is the engine after a quick powerwash, fresh off the boat so to speak.

[Zman86]

JDMSTIVA V2 Build Thread

Nice, I bought a B6T off him as well. Difference is I live 20 minutes away from him!

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[w4rkry]

Nice, I bought a B6T off him as well. Difference is I live 20 minutes away from him!

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Yea, I saw that! I think yours is even a bit cleaner haha.

[firebush357]

What are your plans for Brakes? I just pulled some Capri fronts from the Junkyard the other day because it was an all you can carry day.

I didn't have a socket big enough for the Axle nuts so the CVs were pulled as well after a few attempts to pull without them... Tried cutting them and found out that they are super hard and my blade would barely even scratch the surface and then cut one of the boots and try to pull the axle apart and that didn't work either... Basically just needs a new boot and its good to go.

[w4rkry]

What are your plans for Brakes? I just pulled some Capri fronts from the Junkyard the other day because it was an all you can carry day.

I didn't have a socket big enough for the Axle nuts so the CVs were pulled as well after a few attempts to pull without them... Tried cutting them and found out that they are super hard and my blade would barely even scratch the surface and then cut one of the boots and try to pull the axle apart and that didn't work either... Basically just needs a new boot and its good to go.

V2 has Aspire brakes all the way around, with an Aspire rear beam and Aspire swap bars. I plan on getting a Festiva sway bar put back on, and then chopping the stiffening rod out of the Aspire beam.

Cutting hard metal sucks lol

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[ricko1966]

A backyard trick for removing axle nuts and other tight,stuck or big stuff with out the right tools take a dull chisel and a bfh and drive it counter clockwise, super common old school way of remove VW rear axle nuts and flywheel gland nuts.

What are your plans for Brakes? I just pulled some Capri fronts from the Junkyard the other day because it was an all you can carry day.

I didn't have a socket big enough for the Axle nuts so the CVs were pulled as well after a few attempts to pull without them... Tried cutting them and found out that they are super hard and my blade would barely even scratch the surface and then cut one of the boots and try to pull the axle apart and that didn't work either... Basically just needs a new boot and its good to go.

[w4rkry]

Alright, I need to whip myself back into shape here and finally update my build thread.

A lot has started to happen to since 2017, and parts continue to roll in.

I figured I would get the long, terrible story of my Paintjob out of the way first and foremost.

The Paintjob

It all started in March of 2017. I had V2 fully stripped and fully sanded, awaiting paint. I was getting quotes between 2500-4000 for a complete job, with 1k being a common quote for materials alone.
This is for a full paint job, jambs and interior. That was pretty far out of the budget, So I figured I would have to paint it myself.
But, as luck would have it, my friend sent me an ad from facebook from a fairly local bodyshop:

"Tax season special! Full color change for only $1,000!"

I immediately got in touch to see what the catch was.

He said there was no catch, just trying to drum up some business. He said the materials were around 800 per vehicle, and he was just barely charging labor.
The 1,000 was a base price for a color change. I asked him for a quote to do the interior as well, since I already had it stripped. He said that, along with some filling work (as the cart wasn't perfectly straight, like most festivas) he could do for 1,250 out the door. I agreed, and brought my car down sometime in April.

I picked out a color : Bright red, with some metallic flake to be added in. I paid him half upfront, with the second half to be paid when I picked it at completion.

To make a long story short, the car was not done until September of 2017. When I went to pick it up, the color was much darker than I expected, almost maroon. I had heard metallic darkens it, but this seemed a little extreme. Overall, it seemed ok, so I paid the second half and took it home.

When I inspected it harder, they were a multitude of little flaws that I hadn't noticed before. Bubble and divots in the roof from the Bondo not drying properly. Clear damage from the doors and hatch touching the car while it was still wet. I brought these up with the painter, and he agreed that it wasn't good. He agreed to take the car back and fix these spots no problem.

I sent the car back sometime in October. During it's second stay in the shop, I learned that my car was Painted "Inferno Red Crystal Pearl" : A factory Chrysler color. (ಠ_ಠ)
That means he completely ignored the color card I had chosen and just went with what I assume was the closest Metallic Red he had on hand.

At least it is unique, I told myself.

Another long pause here as I messaged him back and forth for MONTHS asking when the car will be done.
He finally says I can pick it up. This is sometime in Jan of 2018 at this point. My car has been in the paint shop for nearly a Year, which means not much work can be done.

I go to get it, and I see the roof has not been touched. In the 3 months, he had patched 2 small spots in the inside, and ignored almost everything else.

"I am moving to a new shop soon, and I wanted to fix the roof there instead. I will message you when the move is complete and we can finish it then"

At this point, I am pretty much done with this guy. I take V2 back home and decide I will just deal with the paint some other time. I can't afford to wait another 9+ months for this guy to have my car sit unattended in his open parking lot.


I plan on getting some parts of the paint re-done the right way, So I don't have any beauty shots that really show off the paint.

However, just to bring back a little positivity into this post, I will post these 2 teaser pics.

[Thebrandonbeezy]

I can see why he was trying "drum up some business" well you know what color he used, I'd go elsewhere honestly.

[w4rkry]

Yea, I am hopefully getting that worked out. I will know more closer to summer.

[Thebrandonbeezy]

On a side note, i like the color. Bronze rims would look cool!

[Festiver]

Wow that's a horrible experience I think a different painter is the best route it's a shame to lose the 1250 though


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[w4rkry]

Interior time!

After moving out of my parents, and having my own place with a garage, it was time to start putting some interior in.

I wanted to start with sound deadener, so I bought some Peel-n-Seal from Lowes. This is nearly Identical to stuff like Dynomat (except possibly asphalt based instead of Butyl. I would recommend buying it from Home Depot to be sure you get Butyl)

My Wife Michelle and I laid it all out on the floor. I used a heat gun to help it wrap it around some of the curvier areas. I also stuck some in the doors to help reduce some of the rattles.





After that, it was time to install carpet.

I got some brand new Black carpet from ACC that is hot molded to fit Festivas. The particular version I got also included a mass backer, which is 1/2" of extra heavy padding glued to the entire backside of the carpet.

I WOULD NOT recommend this in the future!

While it really helps cut down on sound, the backing made it very difficult to cut and work with. It appears that they add it post hot-moulding, so many of the bends were too tight, and fitting it in and making cutouts was a nightmare. This was like a 5 day project just for the front area, when it should have been much easier.

After getting it close, I trimmed the outside edges and added the seat brackets to help force the carpet into place, getting it to stretch into position a little bit.

Quick tip, I used an old soldering iron and went below the car. I poked it through the holes from underneath, which let me melt holes into the carpet to get perfect locations for complete hole cutting.

I also cut a perfect hole around the shifter, instead of a large hole like factory. This was for my custom short shifter and shift boot (More info in a future post). You can probably spot it in a few of the following pictures, as I am actually way behind in this thread. I still need to paint and re-cover the Gray plastics, but the carpet is finally mostly in up front and looking good.

[w4rkry]

I also got the seats from V1 transferred over, and manual seatbelt for the passenger side installed.

For anyone that may have missed the post in V1s build thread:

These seats are from a Mitsubishi 3000 GT / Dodge Stealth.

I got them for $10 at the local JY. The driver seat is fully manually adjustable. Slider, Recline, Cushion height Front & Rear, and Lumbar, all adjustable with levers and knobs.

I cut the factory feet off the rails, then used some scrap sheet metal brackets to adapt them to fit the Festiva holes. They were basically small pieces of Angle Iron that I unbent to match the angle of the stock mounts. These were then welded to the factory rails on the 3KGT seat. This kept the seats mounted fairly low, which is what I wanted.

The rear outside mount was unmodified, it fit pretty well as is. The rear inside mount is just another angle iron bolted on flat, with a notch cut out for the slider.





These are pictures from V1.

When I transferred the seats to V2, I hit the mounts and welds with a wire wheel and some black paint, to stop the surface rust that had built up over the couple years of them being uncoated.

I went ahead and did the same to the brackets and bolts. The autobelt parts were removed from the bracketry to clean it up and save weight.





Here is a pic of them installed into V1, for reference.




Next I did the seatbelts.

I run an Red SFI Certified 3" Camlock harness for the driver seat. It's not installed quite properly yet, so more information there is yet to come.

I wanted to have manual belts for the passenger side, but finding a decent set from an 88/9 Festiva was not easy for me.

Back in late 2017, I found a solution: Dark Grey manual belts from a Goe/Chevy Tracker.

An entire seperate write-up for that can be found here.

However, I wanted them to be Red to match the Harness on the opposite side. After searching around for custom seatbelts, I found a service that restores Seat belts after accidents and such, and they even offer custom colors! (Safteyrestore.com)

I sent in my tracker belt and they sent me back sweet Red belts 3 days later!

I ordered Red, but they ended up being Dark Red. Since my paint was messed up and also Dark red, it ended up matching almost perfectly. What are the odds? How many times will I get Maroon instead of Red!?

So, here is a photo of the Seats and Belt installed together in V2, along with a pic with the door closed, really showing off the Metallic Pearl in the sunlight.

And wouldn't you know it, the Festiva, Tracker, and 3KGT all use the same style of buckle receiver, so I was able to use the buckle that was integrated into the seats.

[Rick the Quick]

Looking good Will!