Accepting Entries For July FOTM

[Damkid]

Lets see a lot of entries this month like we did last month!!!

[freshtiva]

The motor



Didnt have to break the factory air system or remove the cross member. Now to clean up the engine bay and add water pump, timing, manual tranny, new clutch set, etc. to the motor before installing.




trying to repair fire damage to the fire wall. Glad it wasnt a big fire. Removed stuff from the fire wall, degreased, sanded, taped and primed, paint tomorrow.






Aspire front steering knuckle rebuild and brake swap. All new steering and suspension components.





Found a new transaxle mount my other was busted.



Starting to come along



The far reach of the fire damage



About ready to drop the motor in.






Engine going in














Not a lot of room at the rear of the engine compartment after the swap, maybe 3/4 inch at the closest point.





Got the torsion beam in this morning





IT'S ALIVE!!!




Started putting the interior back in today. Was going to replace the plastic panels with some nice ones I have from an 89 festiva but found out that due to the switch from manual to auto belt the trim in a little different. I decide to try and paint the panels instead. Big improvement for a few dollars. Spruces it up, hides the stratches, and restores the faded grey.







Went to the upgrade table and selected an option package. At least its a start.












new mahogany spare tire cover.




Some shots with the interior back in.








My replacement grill arrived today, couldnt be happier. It was much better than I was expecting, like new.


The flames from the engine fire melted the corner of the old grill

[Wandalis]

My festiva

Hi, this is my '92- 5 speed Festiva. I moved from Puerto Rico to Orlando, FL. 3 months ago and i just have 1000 dollars to buy a running car. After i saw like a thousand of blow engines HONDAs i went to see the First Festiva in my hole life. I wasnt expecting anything from that car, but when i saw it in person i fall in love. But there was a problem, the body was crush on an accident and the cv joint was super bad, so i keep looking the classifieds for another festiva. It was hard but i find mine! go check it, drive it and fight for the price a little bit, the owner was asking 1,200 firm, without A/c and radio, and some dents (no rust) on the body, but everything else was just perfect, got new a lot of mechanical parts, clutch, cv joints, muffler, tires, even battery and the engine was shiny like new. So i offer him 850, and thats it! LOL
I start removing the uggly factory stickers and painting the bumpers and trims to black, then i removed the wheel covers and paint the rims to black and green. I went to a junkyard and find another festi and took out the hole A/c sistem, but the harmonic pulley. I had almost 2 months looking for it. Now im waiting for that part that is coming on mail, thanks to this forum. and theres a 13" new rims that i just find. And is comming soon a new paint job, and interior remodeling. Cant wait to see it finish just how i wan it.

[deathegg]

Well, I have been on this forum for many years, but never entered FOTM. I've decided to give it a go at least once!

I see that many FOTM entries are those with engine swaps, Aspire conversions, etc, which of course is all well and good. The story of my Festy however is more a story of survival, or at least, long-life. Unfortunately the pics I have are all fairly new, since all my old pictures are still in storage back in PA.

So, if the story is the thing, let the story begin........

August 25, 1988:
"Honey, I'm going to go look at cars, I'll be back soon". Hard to believe it was over 20 years ago when I spoke those words (or words scarily similar) to my then-wife Fran. I knew I wouldn't be gone long, since I knew exactly what car I wanted to see: the new 1988 Ford Festiva L+, white with red hockey stripe, sitting in the lot of John Coxon Ford, in Harmar, PA. I had seen it while driving by, and had read a Car & Driver article about it, and I knew it was the car for me. It was calling me to it!

We had gotten married earlier in the year, and decided that I wanted a new car to replace the (don't laugh) Renault LeCar I was driving (not a bad car really, I owned the only reliable LeCar ever made), to supplement the wife's Dodge Omni.
I took the test drive, and really loved it. Went home, talked to the refrigerator, um, I mean the wife, and I went back down and put a deposit on it, and told them to install the A/C.

September 1, 1988:
Is there a better feeling than taking delivery of not only a new car, but your FIRST new car? Well, sex is better, but not by much! LOL. I still remember the day I took delivery; the odometer with 000,002.9 miles on it, that new Festiva smell, showing it off to family and friends later in the day. I remember driving it and was surprised at how tight and fast it felt compared to the Renault!

September 2, 1988 (yes, the next day)
What better way to break in a new car than to take a trip to MD to visit friends and go to the Bug-Out VW show in VA?

Over the next several years, the new car freshness wore off and I no longer took to waxing the door jambs and the underside of the hood. But it ran flawlessly and I learned to really enjoy that about it. I took fairly good care of it, and normal things happened, like assorted parking lot dings, dents, etc.

My boss once asked if he could borrow my Festiva, since his wife had his car for the day. This was a man who always drove Mercedes, and other high end cars. I said sure, but you'll have to put some gas in it. After he came back, he had a huge smile on his face, and just kept talking about how he loved that little car!

I had a small fender bender in '90, but nothing serious. The serious wreck was the following year.

In late '91, I learned that in a boxing match between a tractor-trailer and a Festiva, the semi truck always wins. On a rainy day, a tractor trailer made an illegal left turn in front of me. I slammed on the brakes as hard as I could, but slid on the wet road. In an instant, there was that sickening sound of metal, glass, and plastic being artfully re-arranged by the front end of a semi truck. Going about 40 mph, the damage was severe; the entire right front of the car was smashed, the right door was jammed shut, the windshield shattered. The hit was hard enough to break the suspension and also the upper engine mount. Thank God I had my seat belt on! The damage if I recall was about $4600.00.. the insurance company totaled it.

However, the truck company was found to be in fault, (and admitted it!) and paid for the repairs, with some extra cash thrown in as well (bought a '65 VW with the extra). Oddly enough, the car felt better somehow after it was repaired. Afterwards, I got a personalized PA plate that said "IT LIVES"

I was always amazed at the durability of this car, or at least it's ability to survive my driving style at the time, which was to drive it hard. I went through many sets of tires and mufflers and brake pads over the next few years, but other than that, no problems at all other than having a dead battery several times (why didn't they include a "headlamps ON" warning light on these cars? )
I remember thinking in 1998, that I did not expect to keep the car this long, and was glad I choose the Festiva. (The other cars I was looking at in 1988 were a VW Fox and a Dodge Shadow. Ewwww.)

I had it undercoated when I first got it, but that really doesn't help in severe PA winters, and it started to rust here and there in the places we're all familiar with but rust on the frame rails started too. Also, it got to be sort of ratty looking; the side moulding started to fall off, so I ripped the rest of it off; hubcaps fell off, paint faded badly. The miles racked up, the years went by.

The car actually sat, virtually unused, for 5 years, while I sold cars for a living and had a demonstrator to drive. In 2004, I got out of sales, and had to get it back on the road again. This required lots of work, since sitting still does a car no good. I had to replace brakes, exhaust, do body work, get new tires, etc. Also the rust was getting bad, so I did some body work as well. It was then I decided to paint it to look like a mini-cooper, with blue body and white top and mirrors. Yes, I painted it with rattle cans, including a clear coat, and it turned out pretty well for $90.

I decided to update some things on it to make me happy, such as an updated dash and console, tach with custom mount, and some other goodies to keep my travels fun.

The biggest trip it's taken me on was three years ago, when I moved here to CA. Some people thought I crazy to take a trip that long in an old Festiva, but I knew it would make it. Even with it loaded up with all my belongings, and going 70-75 mph, it still got 44 mpg, and that's with it's original clutch! (which is still has!) I had neglected the timing belt and even though it had big chunks missing, it still held up long enough to get me to CA.

Lately I've added a few more things, like my Rx-7 wheel, sound insulation, and some door panel upgrades. Look on the hatch, and you'll see the custom "festiva" badge made from Scrabble letters.
Nowadays, It's starting to smoke every so slightly on startup, and the rear trans mount went recently, but it still goes and goes and goes. Another cross-country trip is hopefully soon, as I want to move back to Pittsburgh. Will it make it? Stay tuned.

I know it's been a long story, and I appreciate you readers sticking with me, but I haven't even started to tell you the tales of this car. Like how I once got 57 MPG! How I once lost ALL my brakes on a busy highway. How once, when driving along a narrow road in Pittsburgh, a 20 lb rock fell off a cliff next to the road, smashing the hood while I was driving! And of course, the many friends I've made with it.

My little DeathEgg. It has no b6t swap. Still rolls on 12" steelies. 206,000 miles. The original clutch and trans fluid! Definitely NOT a babe magnet, although the girls I date seem to think it's cute. Did I expect to keep her this long? No! But now, 20 years and 9 months after I bought it, I can honestly say this Festiva is, by far, the best car I've ever owned.



Sound insulation:


RX-7 wheel, painted dash:


Honda armrests, MPV map pockets:


Custom tach mount:

[JPT]

Hi, this is my '92- 5 speed Festiva. I moved from Puerto Rico to Orlando, FL. 3 months ago and i just have 1000 dollars to buy a running car. After i saw like a thousand of blow engines HONDAs i went to see the First Festiva in my hole life. I wasnt expecting anything from that car, but when i saw it in person i fall in love. But there was a problem, the body was crush on an accident and the cv joint was super bad, so i keep looking the classifieds for another festiva. It was hard but i find mine! go check it, drive it and fight for the price a little bit, the owner was asking 1,200 firm, without A/c and radio, and some dents (no rust) on the body, but everything else was just perfect, got new a lot of mechanical parts, clutch, cv joints, muffler, tires, even battery and the engine was shiny like new. So i offer him 850, and thats it! LOL
I start removing the uggly factory stickers and painting the bumpers and trims to black, then i removed the wheel covers and paint the rims to black and green. I went to a junkyard and find another festi and took out the hole A/c sistem, but the harmonic pulley. I had almost 2 months looking for it. Now im waiting for that part that is coming on mail, thanks to this forum. and theres a 13" new rims that i just find. And is comming soon a new paint job, and interior remodeling. Cant wait to see it finish just how i wan it.

Love the color. The rims too!

...and is that a Civic spoiler?

[Wandalis]

Thanks! i like the color too and no,i took it out the spoiler from a VW gti.

[mechanicaldj]

oh well, looks like i will try for next year, my story can be twice as long as above

[Biglay5150]

^^^ Start typing!!

[hofficergrover]

Wandalis what year was the vw? i like it

[Wandalis]

To be honest i dont have a clue, i went to a junkyard and saw it on a gti backdoor and i though it could fit on, and i was right LOL. I like it cause is not that big. Look really nice on it.

[JPT]

To be honest i dont have a clue, i went to a junkyard and saw it on a gti backdoor and i though it could fit on, and i was right LOL. I like it cause is not that big. Look really nice on it.

Try and find out what year please! I want one!!

Edit:

Did a google image search. Looks like 1993 - 1999

[hofficergrover]

93-99 ok hey thanks i might see if i can find me one

[Wandalis]

Yeah, the car looks like a Mk2 or Mk3 body, i was think on that years too. I saw one on craighlist i think is the same http://cnj.craigslist.org/pts/1210579918.html but remember you have to do some body work to fit it perfectly.

[batstiva]

Nice car, deathegg. Seems like you two have been through the ringer together. Be glad when I am done accumulating parts and can start putting mine back together.

[cubstiva1]

i think i'll wait till October to enter the Cubstiva, whats more baseball then October.... and by then, who knows, i might get the sympathy vote. :cwm10: