Festive Car

[Seraj89]

I guess now is is a good time to do a garage post...? I guess. Here we go >_>

BUYING AND CLEANING

This is my 1991 Ford Festiva L. This was how i found the car


It was pretty much tucked in the corner of a backyard. The owner explains how he bought it garaged and drove it back home only for it to be put back here since he had other projects to worry about. It sat for about 8-9 months and I always saw it whenever I passed by. I knew what it was thanks to Regular Car Reviews.
This was the first picture I've taken of the car (weeks after owning it). The original mileage was 52,xxx


He only wanted 800 as he said he wanted his money back from replacing the thermostat and putting in the radio. I thought that was pretty low for a low mileage car but it did need a clutch, battery and the brakes were kinda sketchy but I wasn't complaining. I just got a great deal for a small low mileage car ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Since I was about 4 streets away from home at the time, I drove it home without the plate at night. The next morning was mainly taking pictures and cleaning it

[Flw Sock]

Nice score!!

[Seraj89]

FIXING THE PROBLEMS

One of the first things I noticed was tires which were dry rotted and were too big. They rubbed every time I turned and the rears seem to have this pattern on the inside. I realized this when I went to put air in the tire and ended up pulling out most of the valve stem


That's when I saw that the rear wheels had wheel spacers. I also noticed that there's a shiny spot on the shock showing where it rubbed. They've been there for a while. It must've been there for a while because it would just slowly fall apart every time I picked it up



So I had ordered tires (Achilles ATR-K Economist)

the groove I was talking about. I guess it was rubbing against the shock AND part of the trailing arm. I eventually got new spacers so I shouldn't have to worry about them any time soon


I had also went to the junkyard and grabbed an extra wheel and tire


That's when i noticed these blocky pieces stuck in the spring in the rear. Unfortunately, this still hasn't been taken care of as of 11/14/18 as i'm still stockpiling parts for the Ultimate Street Suspension.

[Seraj89]

AUDIO FIXES

I noticed some sound wasn't coming from the front speakers so I checked it out and.... Whoever set up the speakers had cut into the middle of the wire and wrapped the the speaker wire around it then covered it in electrical tape so I came up with a temporary solution until I find another wire with the same ends



Next was getting a subwoofer. I didn't want to sacrifice space and I didn't want to make it obvious that there was a sub in the back. Besides the one I found at Goodwill for $20 didn't even fit correctly.


I decided I was going to get an under seat. I'm currently looking for a decent sub I can put under the seat. A good month later, I got an engine from the junkyard. The belts holding the engine slipped off and fell in the trunk breaking one of the speaker grilles


Luckily, I bought kicker speakers and the seller threw in the left speaker grille at Festiva Madness

[Dragonhealer]

What an amazing buy! She should clean up well, and you will LOVE the Advanced suspension.

[w4rkry]

What a great Festiva! I'm really glad I got a chance to drive it at Madness 12!

Can't wait to see how your build progresses!

[Seraj89]

I almost forgot I had got horns from a Buick Roadmoaster (all 4 of them) and they were installed at Madness Central



Here's a comparison (1 Buick Roadmaster horn and the stock horn)



And here's all 4

[Seraj89]

First the end piece had to be grounded off followed by the whole bracket being flattened





Obviously the bumper had to be taken off in order to make this possible



[not pictured] The the original bracket that held the original horn was bent at a 90 and was placed in the vacant hole in the center of the radiator bracket. In conclusion, they're really loud and usually confuse people in traffic. No one expects to hear what's sounds like a train coming from a small car

[jbona1]

I would like to hear it work

Sent from my SM-T377V using Tapatalk

[TominMO]

Very nice thread Seraj, and welcome!

[Seraj89]

Went to a junkyard in Mt. Airy where I found 2 festivas





I got a fair share of bits and ends. I did come the next day I was supposed to get the orange radio for Will. I only managed to get these parts.







I installed the dome light I got from the Escort



I used the original wiring



Fits like a glove and looks factory



The remaining parts will be up for sale at NCstiva 2019

[Seraj89]

Finally get to update again!

I managed to find a Festiva GL around January and it had verything I wanted. half fold rear seats, GL front seats, trunk light, the whole GL deal. Unfortunately, I was low on cash so I only got the hatch cover
trunk lightDoor cards

Gauge cluster

and shift console
(BEFORE)

(AFTER)

[Seraj89]

I had also found a Mercury Capri XR2. Both the festiva and Capri were crushed the very next day. I rushed to the junkyard early in the morning find out it was crushed before they opened. Here are the only pics I got of it. Just about the same mileage as mine.

Long story short, I could've had a fully loaded Festiva wit a B6T, but I didn't have enough money or time. My friend wanted to take me here and I had just found these on a whim. Just my luck.