Accepting entries for February FOTM

[Damkid]

Post away!!!

[austyfrosty]

Austin
Archbold, OH
1990 Ford Festiva
Owned for 2 1/2 years
Mileage : 176,xxx Bought with 134,xxx
History of the car: I had a Festiva for about 6 months before it died and always wanted another one. Also i was driving a full size conversion van around and the gas prices were killing me so i started looking. A kid i knew had this one parked for about a year because he bought a new car so i started pestering him about it. He told me he would let it go for $120 but i wanted a test drive first. He told me a tie rod end was bad so it didnt drive right and pulled different directions. I ended up talking him down to a $100 and took delivery on the car about two weeks later. Once i got it i tore into it and found out that one of the sway bar to control arm bushings were gone on the passenger side which explained the problem. Also it leaked oil about a quart a week and i ended up changing the front crank seal. After that the next major problem was a cracked cylinder head(the crack almost went the length of the head and went through 3 of the cam guides) and i bought a rebuilt head off ebay to get her back on the road. Many off the other major problems included : bad master cylinder, brake rotor that broke in two, bad rear wheel bearings, rusted out brake line and many others.

Current Modifications
Apire brake swap
13" rims and tires
Brush guard
Lime green paint
CD player, speakers, and sub/amp (car was radio delete)
Seat Covers
New struts all around
Smooth tail lights
35% tint on rear 3 windows
Pedal covers
Passenger side mirror
Seat belt swap (non electric)
Tach cluster
CB and antenna
2" exhaust

Future Mods
Door pockets
Escort map light
Lower profile tires
Cupholders
Paint some interior pieces same as exterior
Powered coat valve cover and rims
Header
B6 swap
Whatever else i think needs done lol


The first ever picture i have of it leaving for when i was homecomng king

Freshly painted and original suspension before the aspire swap

Covered in mud

Front view with the wreath still on it

Passenger side with the aspire swap. all the rest have the swap on aswell

Passenger side including the whole cb antenna this time

Rear shot with the smooth tail lights

Another back shot

Drivers side

Exhaust exits out passenger side infront of rear tire

Full 2" exhaust from the downpipe back with no cat but has a cherry bomb

Interior shot

Tach cluster

Engine

Close up of front and of brush guard

[sasquatch]

nice car, i like the exhaust and how clean the engine bay is. and i love the brush gard and the gitRdun sticker, i have got to get one of those

[Maxtiva]

I like the exhaust. Nice car !!!

[austyfrosty]

the exhaust was all done by me and my brother and of course you cant go wrong with a git-r-dun sticker haha

[pinktiva]

Homecoming King? You must be pretty special!

[neanderpaul]

Special? Heck he's autofrosty AND he drives a festiva! He's automatically special. :thumbright: Good luck Austin!

[FB71]

special? like 'having to wear a helmet all the time' special?

[austyfrosty]

lol i guess you could say i am special. i was the first person ever to get voted homecoming king at my high school and be a full time student at the career center. so i never actually had any classes at my high school my junior or senior year but i was technically a student there.

special? like 'having to wear a helmet all the time' special?

haha no i dont wear a helmet all the time just when i ride the harley

[freshtiva]

i never actually had any classes at my high school my junior or senior year but i was technically a student there.

So you were popular if you you werent around ??? Do you have any pics of the homecoming queen ?

[austyfrosty]

ya i was popular with my group of friends and really was the guy who got along with everybody...i wasnt a jerk or a prick like most of the popular kids are. i should have some pics of the queen but ill have to look for them

[austyfrosty]

[freshtiva]

:thumbright:

[Safety Guy]

ALL HAIL THE KING AND QUEEN!!

And the Festiva, of course. 8)

Karl

[FB71]

The Long Way Home OR The Ballad Of Uncle Fester


Okey Dokey, here’s the story of Uncle Fester. Before UF, I did have a ’94 Aspire (Stimpy) that I had bought new and drove for three years, before I foolishly sold him. Later, I had bought a spotless silver ’88 LX, which I drove for three days before it was totaled. After that, I had a number of Thunderbirds and Mustangs, but always missed having a Festiva.

By this time, I was a Service Training Instructor for Ford Motor Company, working out of the Philadelphia Training Center, and living in Maryland. I was contemplating looking for another Festy for the fuel economy. This was the fall of 2004. I had seen one sitting for quite some time by my house, but it was gone by the time I decided I wanted another. Well, one day during break from class, I happened to mention to Terry, a friend of mine attending training, that I wouldn’t mind finding another Festiva. His response was, “you want a what?” I repeated that I wanted a Festiva. He told me to hold on, pulled out his cell phone, made a brief call, then hung up. He looked at me and said, “my sister-in-law has one. If you want it, pick it up by Sunday.” I asked how much she wanted for it, and he said “if you want it, go get it. It’s going to the scrap yard on Sunday if you don’t.” Well, that’s all the motivation I needed! Luckily, it was only about five miles from my dad’s shop. So me and the old man tossed a rope in his van and went down the road. When I saw it, I mentioned how much it looked like the one that had been down the street from for years, just sitting under an oak tree. Terry’s sister-in-law exclaimed that this was the car! She had just moved here, and didn’t have room to keep it! The poor thing had no brakes, the battery was dead, and it was covered with green and brown moss and tree funk. So we drug the little guy back to dad’s shop, where I resurrected him. The car’s dirty, worn white paint and mildew smell instantly brought to mind the character of Uncle Fester from the Addam’s Family, hence his name.

Well, Uncle Fester and I had many great adventures in the years to follow. One of the best was the first OhioStiva. Four years of sitting dormant, on top of obvious neglect by the previous owner, left Uncle Fester smoking like a freight train. The sunsequent cloud of smoke that followed Uncle Fester around made for very interesting conversation in the parking lot of Summit. We went to a nearby Wendy’s for lunch that time, and no one would follow me within a dozen car lengths! Uncle Fester proved his mettle many times after that, too. He’s hauled 1200lbs of top soil and mulch, and towed another Festiva on a dolly. He more than earned the engine rebuild he received shortly afterwards.

By early 2007, I had gone to teach at the Community College of Baltimore County, and was preparing to sell my house in Elkton (Delaware border) to move closer to Baltimore. My collection of old Fords had grown by one ’69 Falcon SportsCoupe, added to my ’64 ½ Mustang, as well as my 2004 Mustang coupe. Thinking I would no longer need Uncle Fester, I sold him to ‘MechanicalDJ’ here on ff.com. In July of ’07, my ’04 Mustang was totaled by a careless driver. I looked, in vain, for another newer vehicle to drive daily. Additionally, I couldn’t dismiss my longing for another Festiva. About that time, ‘qaking’ from ff.com offered me his ’90 L Plus, which I accepted. But that empty space left by Uncle Fester just wasn’t filled.

In the fall, ‘MechanicalDJ’ advertised here that the ubiquitous Uncle Fester was for sale, as he could not keep him any longer, due to space constraints. Mech resold Uncle Fester to me for what he had paid months before, $200. He now sits in a locked paddock at work, awaiting new tags, which he will receive shortly.

Uncle Fester is home again.

Submitted by Jim DeAngelis, ‘FB71’





OhioStiva 1