JDMSTIVA V2 Build Thread

[w4rkry]

Wheel Time!

Since this car was already aspire swapped, I began the hunt for some wheels. I need 4x100, and preferably 14's between 5-6" wide. I got a lucky break when some friends where moving out of town after graduating college, and had a collection of old wheels they were giving away. I picked them up and took them home. The collection included:
3x VW GTI "Snowflakes", made in 1983. 14x6 and 4x100.
2x BMW E30 "Bottlecaps", late 80s, 14x6, 4x100
1 BMW E30 "Basketweave", late 80s, 14x6.5, 43x100

All were in pretty rough shape, with curb rash, spraypiant, chipped clear coat, etc. None had good rubber. But hey, they were Free! Here is all of them the day I got them.



After looking around at some pics online, I decided to go with the VW Snowflakes. My friend said they should have the 4th one laying around somewhere that would turn up when they finished packing up the garage.
After about 2 weeks and lots of searching,, it was determined the Civic they bought with the wheels on it originally only had 3, and the 4th never existed. I again went on a hunt, now searching for just 1 decent condition snowflake.

3 weeks into my search, I came across a guy on Facebook selling 3 Snowflakes for $60 bucks, about 4 hours away. I jumped on it and drove out to meet him. This was the car that greeted me, super sweet Jetta!



And here are the 3 wheels I went home with:

[Advancedynamix]

This is going to be a really nice car. Looking forward to the finished product.

[w4rkry]

Can't wait for updates!!

They are coming, I'm just slow haha

[Festivaranch]

Can't wait for updates!!

[festyfreak39]

nice start bro

[w4rkry]

Here are a few pictures of it after getting stripped down:

[w4rkry]

Here is the only picture I took of the car before stripping it down to prepare for paint:

[w4rkry]

I went searching for a new shell in Summer of 2015.

I had the JDMSTIVA for about 4 months at the time. I knew it was pretty rusty, but at that point, with money pretty tight, getting a rust free project car was a long ways off.
Then, one day, I cam home from work to find a big dent in the side of the car, right in the middle of the driver side rear quarter on the gas lid. My mom had backed into it while I was at work. See offered to pay for the damage. However, she was expecting a bill of around $200 - $500.
When I got a quote from a local shop north of 1,200 due to rust and time, she quickly changed her tune. I mentioned to her that it would likely be cheaper to find a non-running rust free shell, and just swap the parts over myself. She agreed to pay for half of a new shell, up to $500.
So off I went in search.

In about 3 weeks time, I cam across an ad here on the Forums from member HTC.

Here is a copy of the AD:

Up for sale is my 1993 Festiva L. I've been wanting a truck lately, so when the motor went out I decided it'll go as is before I do another swap just to sell anyway. It'll start, but sounds awful. Probably enough left in it to drive onto a trailer.

220,xxx miles on the chassis, give or take. I swapped the dash and lost an accurate reading.
Pretty clean exterior, no rust, small dent by passenger door handle, the roof has some dents and the clear coat is fading
Driver's seat is split at seam, headliner was removed to try and fix roof dents (never replaced but is included), rear interior plastics pretty rough
Aspire swap with original shocks/struts.
Tach cluster (needs one blinker light replaced, but it's included in the spare parts)
Escort master cylinder
Passenger's side mirror
Fusible links replaced with fuses, spare fuses included
Comes with all the "in the glovebox stuff" (Owners manual, spare key card, VIN Warranty card (probably expired)
Needs a new set of tires

Misc parts include:
old blown motor (kept for parts/overhauling)
Orignial Festiva trailing arm
Extra set of pads, springs and retainers for all four brakes
Well used Haynes manual
3 aspire wheels (no tires)
original dash cluster
spare dash bulbs, fuses, misc engine gaskets, and extra wheel bearings

I'll cut my losses and start at $1500 negotiable. Text # REDACTED, Located in MO

He was asking $1500 at first when I saw it however, so I moved on.
Just 2 days later, he lowered the price to $1000. A great price I thought, so I got in contact with him. He was 5 hours away from me in MO.
I went to look at it a week later. We talked for awhile. The engine still turned over, But oil was absolutely everywhere. It wouldn't start, we assumed due to low fuel. The headliner was removed after he had attempted some DIY dent removal. There were a lot of leaves and dirt in the car, as well as a lot of Dog hair. I think his may have been using the rear and passenger seat as a bed. No matter though, as I could fix or swap all of that pretty easily. We negotiated for a bit, then agreed on a price of $850.
I drove back home and came back 2 weeks later with a truck and trailer, and took her home!

[ThisVelologist]

WOW

[w4rkry]

It is now Official! I will soon be switching from my current rusted out shell to an all-new, rust free shell!

I bought it over a year ago and it has been sitting in my garage ever since. Many of my recent mods have been made in preparation for this shell to get painted and then put on the road.

I have decided to make a new thread to keep it all organized. Some things will be coming off of my current car and being put on this one, so I will be copy & pasting any relevant mods from V1 over to this thread.

I will begin by listing all the info on the new shell, as a starting point.