Accepting Entries For June FOTM

[Damkid]

Post away!!

[kartracer46]

This is my 1988 Festiva L. I purchased this little wonder on CL to build myself a fun little car that would be good on gas. I replied to the ad and the guy said come look at it and see what you think. I said Ok, I’ll be over this morning and take a look. Well to me it was love at first sight since I hadn’t driven a Festiva in almost 5 years. My wife on the other hand was mumbling something to the affect I had lost my mind. I will admit the poor little guy looked rough. It was missing a left corner and head light and the grill was shattered from where some one just ripped it out to get the light out. I love orphans so I adopted it for $300.00 that day. Long story short the guy told me the clutch was out, no biggie. Well I got it home and the trans was shot. I think the shift fork must have been completely busted for it wouldn’t shift into anything. But it pushed easy. So I decided to join FF.com and see if anyone might know where to locate a transmission. I joined and started posting. It was tough at first since I had no clue what codes were when posting, thank you guys! Anyhow I get this email from non other than “V8 Festiva” telling me to give him a call and he will help me out. I was then invited to come to an undisclosed location to meet with him and pull some parts. I called Dean and he told me he was getting ready to head down to Florida to meet with the bunch down there. I said Ok, I can’t make that trip but we can get together when you get back. He said sounds cool, we’ll pull some parts and then go over to another local yard he knew of to pull some Aspire swaps. Well that day never came because a great loss came before then. I felt like I had lost an old friend. So I set out to take everything Dean and I had discussed and follow through with a tribute in his memory. So here is my tribute to Dean “V8 Festiva” a good friend and fellow car guy.

Since that time I have met so many nice people and enjoyed posting on the FF.com board. This little car went from being a mode of transportation to a portal to a world of cool people, good friends and a future of meeting so many more along the way. I try to keep in mind that our common goal here is to keep as many of these little mechanical wonders running as we can so that maybe more people can find and enjoy these experiences.

In conclusion I basically took this primered up little 88L and poured my heart and soul into this project for the last few months to build a unique “tailored to my style” Festiva that I could call my own. There are still a lot of little things I want to do to this little whip.

Current upgrades are:
14” PCW style 258 wheels
89 LX “checker board” interior
early MAZDA RX-7 steering wheel
Tach cluster
Escort map/dome lights
Hyundai Tiberon rear wing with LED brake light in memory of Dean
Clear side repeaters (SAAB knock off style)
Painted dash bezels
5-speed Festiva transmission (was a 4-speed car)
JVC head unit with Reliance and Diamond Audio speakers

Future upgrades:
B6 Mazda SOHC engine
F-series 5-speed transmission
Coil over conversion like “Skeeter” has
Small Turbo (T3 or similar), SAAB also has a nice small Garrett too
Clear Corners
Clear Turns
Nicer set of wheels and tires.

Well I hope ya’ll like it and thank you for reading this! It has been a pleasure meeting some of you in person and I plan on trying to meet more of you as the year progresses.

Special thanks to: Dean “V8 Festiva”, “Smedley”, “Skeeters Keeper”, “Pu241”, “FestYboy” and several others for helping me along the way. Of coarse it’s still a WIP, but it should be a note worthy car when I get it finished completely.

This was when I brought it home:





Here are some current pictures:






Thank you again for looking and all of your advice and support along the way!
PS: I didn't post extralarge pics from CarDomain because they are huge. There are a few enlarged pics in my other post.http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=28789

[Motoxpress]

Very cool Jay! I can't wait to see it in person.
Will

[Wldfire]

Beautiful car!!! Love seeing these incredible cars each month! Helps feed my dream of owning a car worthy of being Festiva of the Month!

[RichardLSU]

^ Amen to that!

[92festie]

Ok I gotta question, Does the horn work on that Mazda steering wheel??

[kartracer46]

Ok I gotta question, Does the horn work on that Mazda steering wheel??

Yes, better than the old Festy buttons.

[92festie]

ok thats all i needed to kno thanks and good luck bro!!

[Claude]

nice paint job, what type of paint did you use for the radio bezel and cluster cover?

[rallytiva71]

Outstanding Work Kartracer46, Car Looks Awesome!!!

[eurotiva]

you need some competition. ?

[Damkid]

^^Competition is always needed

[Smedley]

Thanks Jay. I'm sure Dean loves what you did with the car as much as I do. (Of course, I don't think he ever met a Festiva he didn't like)

[kartracer46]

you need some competition. ?

Jump on in Greg!

[kartracer46]

nice paint job, what type of paint did you use for the radio bezel and cluster cover?

I used the Duplicolor trim primer and Duplicolor touch up paint and clear. It has a nice satin finish that won't hurt the old eye's when the sun glares in.