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And the winner is.....................
BigWheel!!! Congratulations!!!
Here's his entry again
BigWheel!!! Congratulations!!!
Here's his entry again
Originally posted by BigWheel
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Discouraged and feeling hopeless I had just about lost hope that I would find a Festiva again. I had already owned an 88 in my earlier days and so hated that I had ever sold it. Now, after months of looking, I figured my Festy days were long gone. Then one day while browsing through Craigslist I saw this bright, shiny red 1993Festiva GL needing a new home. As I read the description I began to get excited; 209k miles, runs great, no leaks, good interior, original owners manual…..$2,500.00. I just about wet my pants. I could buy five Festivas for that even with gas at $4 a gallon. So I called the guy. 
I had to try to talk him down and figure out why so much money. After a lengthy conversation I got him down to $2k but that was it and I hung up and began my search again. After a few days I get a phone call and the guy dropped his price to $1,800 and I politely hung up again. Side note here so that you know the scenario: My wife is driving a 4WD Excursion with a V-10 engine and I’m driving a F-150 with a 5.4. Together, at $4 a gallon, we are spending between $800 to $1,000 a month on gas alone so I’m in desperate need of some relief. Went to pay the bills and realized something had to give so I called the guy back and ran him all over the place trying to get him as low as possible. He finally got down to $1,500 and I blinked. Yep…too much still but after doing the math on gas mileage I could still come out to the good.
The next day I call him and plan my trip from Birmingham to a small town in Kentucky called Elkton. I made it very clear that this better be as advertised and he assured me all was good. That next morning I jump in my truck and drove to Elkton. After 6 hours of driving I turn the corner and there it sits just as clean as the photos indicated. After a quick walk around I got down to business of checking the car out. No rust, no interior problems, no oil spots, no apparent leaks on the engine, fluids all good including coolant, oil, trans & brake fluid. So took him out for a drive. Smooth shifting but slightly rough idle and really nothing that would indicate future problems. So I try talking him down again but no such luck (didn’t help that there was another guy there waiting on me to get through so he could check it out). I finally break, pay and load him up on a dolly for the ride home. Another Festy saved from a life of the unknown.
After getting home I spent a couple of days just cleaning it up. I get out on the road and all is good and I’m smiling from ear to ear loving every mile. All is good and I’m a Festiva owner again. Still not liking what I paid but, with gas prices on the rise and my behemoth rides in the garage, I figured I’d come out pretty good in about 5 months. Two weeks later I’m coming home from work when I notice an odd noise coming from the engine. After getting home and changing clothes I go down to the garage to take a look and there she sits in a bath of oil. In addition, upon checking the coolant, I notice a murky gray in the radiator and my heart sank.
Blown head gasket. DANG!!! So here is a list of everything replaced and/or repaired from that point forward:
• Head gasket
• Seals (cam/crank)
• Valve gasket
• PCV
• Hoses top to bottom
• Timing belt
• Idler pulley
• Fuel & air filters
• Plugs & wires
• Distributor cap/button
• Air intake tube
• TB gasket
• CTS & TBS
All is good again and I’m on the road. Then…oil in the driveway. I had a mechanic replace the HG because it was too involved for my novice skills. During the process he had pulled the head and sent it off to be reworked. During compression tests all seemed to be fine but there was a tiny crack in one of the plug bays. As the engine heated the hole would expand and oil would pool under the car. Here’s the good news….because they missed the crack and their work was under warranty I got a new head at no cost. Now we’re up, running and all is good. Some fine tuning on my part, fixing some issues the mechanics repaired and he’s running smooth and problem free.
Since the mechanics of the car are now good what’s been done since with the cosmetics?
• Cleaned inside and out
• Replaced the alloy rims with painted steel rims & tires I got from Sparky
• Added center caps I got from Lanemeyer14
• Installed a console that I again got from Sparky
• Painted the radio bazel, console, overhead door trims and shifter know to match the exterior
• Replaced the stock steering wheel with a Grant GT wheel
• Painted and fixed the wipers (wipers & rims are painted with a hammered charcoal gray paint that you can’t really see in pics but they look great)
• Repaired broken door locks
Future mods to come:
• Interior will be painted/dyed to charcoal gray & read (no more light gray)
• Seats are going to be recovered to match
• Carpet is in good shape but really needs cleaning so that will be done when the seats are recovered
• Will be putting sound insulation in the doors
• New Stereo system with multiple speakers front, back & sides
• Hood & grill will be painted eventually as both need some help
• Badges will be added
• Eventually will move to 13” or 14” tires
I absolutely love driving Hot Rod as it just makes me smile and apparently everyone else as well. Everyday I have people pulling up behind me smiling and literally taking pictures. It's so much fun.
Well, that’s just about it but one last thing. The name HOT ROD came as a result of me having fun with the guys at work. I often pull up next to them, race the engine and laugh. One day while out for lunch four of us were in the car together. I pulled up next to a true American muscle car and began racing the engine. When the light turned green he took
off and I had to crank my car again. :p
My Beautiful wife!!!
So this is my entry for FOTM!!
Finally....DONTLAF
I had to try to talk him down and figure out why so much money. After a lengthy conversation I got him down to $2k but that was it and I hung up and began my search again. After a few days I get a phone call and the guy dropped his price to $1,800 and I politely hung up again. Side note here so that you know the scenario: My wife is driving a 4WD Excursion with a V-10 engine and I’m driving a F-150 with a 5.4. Together, at $4 a gallon, we are spending between $800 to $1,000 a month on gas alone so I’m in desperate need of some relief. Went to pay the bills and realized something had to give so I called the guy back and ran him all over the place trying to get him as low as possible. He finally got down to $1,500 and I blinked. Yep…too much still but after doing the math on gas mileage I could still come out to the good. The next day I call him and plan my trip from Birmingham to a small town in Kentucky called Elkton. I made it very clear that this better be as advertised and he assured me all was good. That next morning I jump in my truck and drove to Elkton. After 6 hours of driving I turn the corner and there it sits just as clean as the photos indicated. After a quick walk around I got down to business of checking the car out. No rust, no interior problems, no oil spots, no apparent leaks on the engine, fluids all good including coolant, oil, trans & brake fluid. So took him out for a drive. Smooth shifting but slightly rough idle and really nothing that would indicate future problems. So I try talking him down again but no such luck (didn’t help that there was another guy there waiting on me to get through so he could check it out). I finally break, pay and load him up on a dolly for the ride home. Another Festy saved from a life of the unknown.
After getting home I spent a couple of days just cleaning it up. I get out on the road and all is good and I’m smiling from ear to ear loving every mile. All is good and I’m a Festiva owner again. Still not liking what I paid but, with gas prices on the rise and my behemoth rides in the garage, I figured I’d come out pretty good in about 5 months. Two weeks later I’m coming home from work when I notice an odd noise coming from the engine. After getting home and changing clothes I go down to the garage to take a look and there she sits in a bath of oil. In addition, upon checking the coolant, I notice a murky gray in the radiator and my heart sank.
Blown head gasket. DANG!!! So here is a list of everything replaced and/or repaired from that point forward:
• Head gasket
• Seals (cam/crank)
• Valve gasket
• PCV
• Hoses top to bottom
• Timing belt
• Idler pulley
• Fuel & air filters
• Plugs & wires
• Distributor cap/button
• Air intake tube
• TB gasket
• CTS & TBS
All is good again and I’m on the road. Then…oil in the driveway. I had a mechanic replace the HG because it was too involved for my novice skills. During the process he had pulled the head and sent it off to be reworked. During compression tests all seemed to be fine but there was a tiny crack in one of the plug bays. As the engine heated the hole would expand and oil would pool under the car. Here’s the good news….because they missed the crack and their work was under warranty I got a new head at no cost. Now we’re up, running and all is good. Some fine tuning on my part, fixing some issues the mechanics repaired and he’s running smooth and problem free.
Since the mechanics of the car are now good what’s been done since with the cosmetics?
• Cleaned inside and out
• Replaced the alloy rims with painted steel rims & tires I got from Sparky
• Added center caps I got from Lanemeyer14
• Installed a console that I again got from Sparky
• Painted the radio bazel, console, overhead door trims and shifter know to match the exterior
• Replaced the stock steering wheel with a Grant GT wheel
• Painted and fixed the wipers (wipers & rims are painted with a hammered charcoal gray paint that you can’t really see in pics but they look great)
• Repaired broken door locks
Future mods to come:
• Interior will be painted/dyed to charcoal gray & read (no more light gray)
• Seats are going to be recovered to match
• Carpet is in good shape but really needs cleaning so that will be done when the seats are recovered
• Will be putting sound insulation in the doors
• New Stereo system with multiple speakers front, back & sides
• Hood & grill will be painted eventually as both need some help
• Badges will be added
• Eventually will move to 13” or 14” tires
I absolutely love driving Hot Rod as it just makes me smile and apparently everyone else as well. Everyday I have people pulling up behind me smiling and literally taking pictures. It's so much fun.
Well, that’s just about it but one last thing. The name HOT ROD came as a result of me having fun with the guys at work. I often pull up next to them, race the engine and laugh. One day while out for lunch four of us were in the car together. I pulled up next to a true American muscle car and began racing the engine. When the light turned green he took
off and I had to crank my car again. :p
My Beautiful wife!!!
So this is my entry for FOTM!!
Finally....DONTLAF
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