"The Car from Jalopnik" Build

[chrisofna]

I'm glad to see this car get the love it deserves. I was the "original" owner in 2010, when most of the work was done. I sold it in 2012, and then bought it back in 2016. That's when the distributor was replaced along with some other things to get it running again. The shape it was in then was pretty sad, but I was able to get it running/driving again before selling it in June of 2017. I probably would have held on to it, but I have a 1963 Scout project I'm working on now. That amp you found under the seat -was- wired in and functioning back in 2012! That intake used to run all the way over to the passenger side. The car has quite a history by now, and it's fair share of PO nightmares it seems.

Anyway, I'm happy that the car has finally found a good home, and good luck on the progress.

Glad to finally meet the original builder! I haven't really updated the thread too much but it's because I haven't done too much with it, after the clutch change and wheel bearing change I've just been driving it.

[jamesmc]

Glad to finally meet the original builder! I haven't really updated the thread too much but it's because I haven't done too much with it, after the clutch change and wheel bearing change I've just been driving it.

I hope it's still as fun now as it was. And if you ever get bored with it, let me know!

[chrisofna]

It's still just as fun, especially without a slipping clutch! It's got a date with a welding shop to put in a 4 point roll bar soon. I also want to get a spare motor to bolt my G-series to so I can swap everything in one swoop.

[chrisofna]

Sorry for very little sharing lately. Honestly I've just been driving the car. I got the clutch in, and it seems to drive pretty well! Here are some pictures I got for it from last night:






Started working on the new rack and pinion for it. It's a rack out of the Kia Rio. One of the things I never liked about the Festiva was the amount of turns lock to lock it took so this one should definitely remedy some issues I have.



The next major purchase I'm going to have to make are seats. Per the rules of the race class I want to be in I need a 4 point Roll bar which requires me to have my head 2" below it so I need to get some seats in and mounted before building the cage so I know where everything is sitting.

[loudrango]

great progress!!jalopnik festy rises again!

[chrisofna]

I got the rack and pinion in and I would highly recommend doing that to anyone's car. the steering feel is awesome now, no more driving like I'm in an American movie.

Ordered the seats! Waiting for them to come in. Also fixed a transmission seal leak when I did the rack and pinion. It's a good runner now.

Current list of things I want to do:

1. Clean up Wiring
2. Move Intake
3. Move battery (replace battery with ETX14)
4. Install my rear camber kit
5. Get the car aligned
6. Get roll bar welded in
7. Eventually, swap in G-series transmission
8. Fix rust on floor boards
9. Mount seats
10. Get harnesses
11. Fix exhaust (it's a cat and straight pipe)

A bunch of my friends want me to turbocharge this car but I'm hoping to race it next year so I'm trying to keep it simple.

[chrisofna]

Racing seats for the racing car! One step closer to being able to run a track with it.

[chrisofna]

Had a bit of a set-back - the transmission died. Having Mike Moulino build me a set of engine/transmission mounts for my Capri G-series so I'll feel comfortable beating the crap out of the car. Going to pull the engine out, fix some leaks, pressure wash it, and hopefully throw it back in with no issues.

[chrisofna]

Monthly update!


First: Got my camber plates from KAI! They are so pimp! Can't wait to install them and drive on them!


Finished up pulling the top end of the engine bay apart for engine removal. All wiring, fuel lines, radiator, hoses, etc removed. Found a few crummy taped wires which I'm going to make proper with some heat shrink and solder.


Then went to the bottom of the car. Got the transmission mounts unbolted, shift linkages removed, heater core hoses off, transmission drained. Just gotta remove the axles, put my dummy axle stubs in, put the wheels back on, lower it, then pull the engine. Also found out my water pump is leaking so that's a thing, I was going to go an entire gasket kit anyway.

After the engine is pulled, I'm going to swap in a Festiva swaybar (the previous owner put an Aspire one), do all Superpro bushings, pressure wash the BP and G series transmission, and before installing the BP, take the car to my friend's house to take on the challenge of repairing the floor board from a little front rust.

[firebush357]

Making great progress!

[chrisofna]

Engine is out! That was a total pain with the exhaust manifold on. Next time I'm going to pull the exhaust manifold and install it after, or make the core support unboltable.




Got the engine on my stand. I wasn't aware that they called these BPs because they simulate the 2010 oil spill in the gulf. Buying a gasket kit and timing kit so I can get the leaks all fixed up.

[blake4591]

Wow, that thing is impressively oily. From my experience almost every B series engine has a valve cover leak that then proceeds to cover the whole engine in oil. At least the gaskets are cheap and real easy to replace with the engine out.

[chrisofna]

Wow, that thing is impressively oily. From my experience almost every B series engine has a valve cover leak that then proceeds to cover the whole engine in oil. At least the gaskets are cheap and real easy to replace with the engine out.

Yeah they definitely are. I actually bought the oil gasket kit last night so I'm going to do every gasket on the engine.

Just a small update: Pressure-washed the engine and now it looks almost as good as new! It's ready for the gasket swap which arrives on Wednesday.



Also I started pulling the seats and carpet out so my friend can replace the front of the floor boards. Also we are going to build super low seat mounting brackets:


This is an idea I found for mounting seat brackets. The idea is get it at low as possible so the center hoop for the cage is high enough above my head but still have seat sliders on the driver side:

[chrisofna]

Pulled the interior out for floorboard repairs. Also briefly looked at how to mount the seats in the car and picked up a couple of ideas. Waiting on my friend to be available so we can start doing some welding.

[Thebrandonbeezy]

This is somthing ive considered.
Whats stopping me right now is lazyness and less stopping me, needing to drop the steering column.
Im definitely interested in seeing this. Im 6 ft 2 and 230lbs. My hair touches the head liner..