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The winner for July FOTM goes to...........................
snackman508!! Congratulations!!
Here is his entry again
First off I would like to say this is my fist Festiva and have not been in the Festiva game to long, but every day I drive it I realize how much of a tank they are. This past December my work truck would not pass PA state inspection so I decided it was time to retire it, instead of replacing the frame rails that had the patches rusting off. I was in need of a cheap car that could hold a lot of tools (I work construction) till I could find or build the truck I want. I asked Ghost if he knew of any Festivas or 323s for cheap and he directed me to festyboy who had one for $400 but.... had 210k mile, needed a new bumper, new head light and the front corner was smashed in.I must have been sitting for some time, because when I turned the vent on all kinds of crap came out and it smelled like mice bad. I jumped on the deal because all parts needed were included. Every thing was bolt on except the smashed in corner, so I took a chain and a truck and a few tugs later it was close to normal. You can see I still have a wrinkle in the frame.
Next it was time to gut the inside and put some shelves in, and turn it into a real Worksteva. Once all my tools were in it I was worried someone would see and steal them, so tint was a must. All it needed was a good radio and some speakers, I upgraded the head unit to a sweat alpine (with tape deck) and swapped some pioneer speakers in.
wanting to clean the looks up a little, I painted the top black to cover the flaking clear and give it a nice 2 tone look, also hit the wheels with some silver. I must put a shameless plug in here for rustoleum it turns out good if you spray when temps are low. O also I should say I Also sprayed foam in the holes by the wheels, not just to stop the water but to stiffen the body up a little.
The next big thing that happen was I blew a head gasket. I was driving to work beating the crap out of it like always and did not know the temp gauge reads low. It was at a little over half and steam was coming out of my hood. I had to get to work because my boss just yelled at me the day before for always being late. I drove it 10 more min and made it to work on time. It was a cold day high of 20, there must not have been any antifreeze in it, and froze up not circulating water in the motor (and the heater core I was cold to) thus over heating. I looked at it at lunch time, there was a frozen puddle under the car and what looked to be a slushy in the radiator. That night after work it would barely start do to all the ice in the water pump but some hot water in the rad cleared it right up, made it home to put some antifreeze. It ran for 2 weeks till the HG went out all together, I was driving across town and it just stopped running. When ever I would put any lode on it would die, it would idle and rev but die when it was in gear. I was feeling to lazy to replace the HG and they cost like $100 so I did the next best thing, no not RTV, an HG in a bottle.
To show you how cheap can bee I didnt get the $20 one with 20steps I got the $12 one with 2 steps. I wormed the motor up dumped it in, ran it for 15min with the heat on and let it cool over night. The next day started up and ran good as new, burn outs and every thing. That fixed the coolant from leaking but I was/is still loosing oil. Oil leak stop helped but some times if I dont check it for 3 or 4 weeks (this happens a lot) I would have to add 2-2.5 qts of oil. I may start putting used oil out of my other car in it, because im using it so fast. There is no other big problems with it other then little things like the brace under the motor rusting out. 2 bolts fixed that. Brake line rusting threw and losing all brakes, I made it to the auto parts store using the E brake and the 4sp.
Last mod was the fender stripes gives it a sporty no nonsense look.
I would have to say I didnt believe people when they said these motors are bullet proof. But this is one tuff motor.
snackman508!! Congratulations!!
Here is his entry again
Originally posted by snackman508
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First off I would like to say this is my fist Festiva and have not been in the Festiva game to long, but every day I drive it I realize how much of a tank they are. This past December my work truck would not pass PA state inspection so I decided it was time to retire it, instead of replacing the frame rails that had the patches rusting off. I was in need of a cheap car that could hold a lot of tools (I work construction) till I could find or build the truck I want. I asked Ghost if he knew of any Festivas or 323s for cheap and he directed me to festyboy who had one for $400 but.... had 210k mile, needed a new bumper, new head light and the front corner was smashed in.I must have been sitting for some time, because when I turned the vent on all kinds of crap came out and it smelled like mice bad. I jumped on the deal because all parts needed were included. Every thing was bolt on except the smashed in corner, so I took a chain and a truck and a few tugs later it was close to normal. You can see I still have a wrinkle in the frame.
Next it was time to gut the inside and put some shelves in, and turn it into a real Worksteva. Once all my tools were in it I was worried someone would see and steal them, so tint was a must. All it needed was a good radio and some speakers, I upgraded the head unit to a sweat alpine (with tape deck) and swapped some pioneer speakers in.
wanting to clean the looks up a little, I painted the top black to cover the flaking clear and give it a nice 2 tone look, also hit the wheels with some silver. I must put a shameless plug in here for rustoleum it turns out good if you spray when temps are low. O also I should say I Also sprayed foam in the holes by the wheels, not just to stop the water but to stiffen the body up a little.
The next big thing that happen was I blew a head gasket. I was driving to work beating the crap out of it like always and did not know the temp gauge reads low. It was at a little over half and steam was coming out of my hood. I had to get to work because my boss just yelled at me the day before for always being late. I drove it 10 more min and made it to work on time. It was a cold day high of 20, there must not have been any antifreeze in it, and froze up not circulating water in the motor (and the heater core I was cold to) thus over heating. I looked at it at lunch time, there was a frozen puddle under the car and what looked to be a slushy in the radiator. That night after work it would barely start do to all the ice in the water pump but some hot water in the rad cleared it right up, made it home to put some antifreeze. It ran for 2 weeks till the HG went out all together, I was driving across town and it just stopped running. When ever I would put any lode on it would die, it would idle and rev but die when it was in gear. I was feeling to lazy to replace the HG and they cost like $100 so I did the next best thing, no not RTV, an HG in a bottle.
To show you how cheap can bee I didnt get the $20 one with 20steps I got the $12 one with 2 steps. I wormed the motor up dumped it in, ran it for 15min with the heat on and let it cool over night. The next day started up and ran good as new, burn outs and every thing. That fixed the coolant from leaking but I was/is still loosing oil. Oil leak stop helped but some times if I dont check it for 3 or 4 weeks (this happens a lot) I would have to add 2-2.5 qts of oil. I may start putting used oil out of my other car in it, because im using it so fast. There is no other big problems with it other then little things like the brace under the motor rusting out. 2 bolts fixed that. Brake line rusting threw and losing all brakes, I made it to the auto parts store using the E brake and the 4sp.
Last mod was the fender stripes gives it a sporty no nonsense look.
I would have to say I didnt believe people when they said these motors are bullet proof. But this is one tuff motor.
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