Voting For December FOTM

[Damkid]

This month we have 4 entries to choose from and they are from.......

KingFish
MasterTec
jesteratc
jake88maro


Here are the entries again starting with KingFish's

Well here goes my entry...

I'm pleased to introduse to you all, Fido. He is a 1989 L.



Pleased to meet you all. I just moved from Excello Mo were I lived with a real good kid named Fred. He was a great guy, but I decided to go to the city to live with some nut case named KingFish. So we have know each other for a few weeks now, and already we have had some fun.
As soon as I showed up, I thought it would be a good idea to see if this yahoo knew what he was doing. So I spit up a few quarts of oil on the way to my new home. KingFish did alright though, he gave me a newer longblock he had from an old friend, Bruce. I run real good now with my HLA valve train and fresh gaskets.
We went on a little test drive the next day of about 800 miles, just to make sure everything was tight. On the way, my old shifter dropped right out of the floor!! King got me a new one today but has not gotten around to installing it yet.
I could tell King missed hos old buddy Bruce. I decided to let him spruce up my old door cards seen here



with some nice GL cards that have a map pocket we found at the PnP.



I finally slowed down long enuf for KingFish to get some work done. I have my new shoes a much cleaner driver side headlight and a pass side manual mirror now.



King was complaining about how sparse the cabin was, so we talked it out and decided on GL door cards, upper door finisher, and tach cluster and a LX shifter (it is for a 5 speed, but I won't tell if you don't), After a good scrubbing (an entire roll of paper towel and half a bottle of mean green) the dash looked pretty good too.



Here is a nice shot of the door with upper finishers, GL card and B2200 door handles installed.



But somthing was not right, the front looked great, but the hatch was lacking.



King fixed that up with some C-pillar finishers he fond on the same lost soul he got the cards from.



SO for now we are both happy with the cabin.

As I said before, when I first met King, I had to find out if he was any good. I spit up my engine to test him. I found out he could turn a wrench if necessary, but I also found out he had a temper. The SOB kicked me after I played a little joke and knocked for bit with the new engine.



I know he is sorry, and we have come to terms with it, but he did have a responsibly to correct the damage he had caused. We drove to the FestivaRanch to visit Freshtiva and got some stock springs my rims and paint matched fender off of a fallen comrade, Booger.



Sexy right?



That about does it for now. I hear talk of a new carb soon, but I will believe that when I see it.





Plans for the future include A/C; I have all the parts, just need assembled.
Escort carb swap, just need to finish the adapter plate.
I am also throwing around the idea of building my B6-E with a intake manifold adapter to go carbed.
Keep aan eye on this one folks, it's gonna be a good one.

[Damkid]

MasterTec's entry

Mine looks almost just like Kingfish's and I'm in Missouri too! Just on the other end of the state!

A little history on my Festy: My dad was an auto mechanic and worked on this car ('89 4 Speed L) since it was about two years old. A loyal customer of his who was a preacher bought it new and them moved here from Florida and my dad worked on it ever since. It eventually got handed down to his teenage son who drove it for a couple of months and then wanted something bigger and faster (and cooler I suppose) so he then sold it to my dad dirt cheap in 2002 (for $300!)

My dad drove it (mostly) trouble free and loving every minute of it for several years. In the fall of 2010 he hit a deer with it and kind of fell out of love with the car after that. We rigged on a cheap fog light I had laying around in place of the busted up headlight and that worked for the little bit of driving he was doing but then by the summer of 2011 he was getting too old and weak to handle the manual transmission any more. I traded him my '95 Ford Escort for the Festy and to him it was like upgrading to a Cadillac!

In the fall of 2011 my dad was diagnosed with Stage 4 Colon Cancer. This explains why he was so weak and sick all of the time! I still feel guilty because I used to give him trouble about acting like he was so old! I'd say things like "You're only 63.. not 100! If you'd get up off your ass and stay active you'll feel better!" Of course I'd do it in a joking manner but once he was diagnosed it all made sense. The Cancer finally got the best of him the last July. The poor guy never had a chance.

The good news is that this spring I got a Colonoscopy done (I'm only 36 but my insurance approved it because of my dad's diagnosis) and they found NINE POLYPS in me - eight of which were pre-cancerous. This means that if I had waited until the recommended age of 50 to get it done it would have been too late. A few days before my dad passed away he told me that his fight was all worth it knowing that it saved my life. He was a hell of a man that's for sure!

Anyway I've since straightened out the radiator support and driver's fender and installed a new grille, headlight and corner light. They are PROUD of those headlights aren't they! I've also replaced the sticky steering wheel with a Grant and the sticky shift knob with a chrome one. I also removed (and cleaned) the carpeting and sprayed three coats of undercoating on top of the floor. I was going to paint or replace the carpet but the old stuff cleaned up so well I just reinstalled it! I also sprayed a couple of coats of undercoating under the car... it's MUCH QUIETER now!

I had to fix the A/C by resealing the compressor and replace the shifter bushings (with brass-oil ones). I also treated her to new rear struts and Lower Control arms!

I've done the Weber mod, installing a Weber DGEV carb and getting rid of most of vacuum mess under the hood. Don't worry you tree huggers the Catalyst, EGR, PCV and Evap are all still intact!

I've also welded on a little turbo muffler and a chrome tip to give it a tiny bit of bling and make it sound a little throaty (but not ricey or obnoxious).

My dad had already installed 165/70R12 tires and a passenger side mirror so I was good there! He also did the timing belt and water pump just before he hit the deer and put on a new fuel pump about that same time. After I got the car I had to take the fuel pump back off and reseal the spacer as it was leaking oil but no biggie!

Future plans? Probably a new radio and speakers. Nothing crazy just something to replace the worn out factory stuff. Some replacement seats would be nice too and if/when the clutch goes out (still original at 143,000 miles!) I'll probable upgrade to a 5-speed!

I'll probably never get around to replacing the left front fender or the hood. They may not look pretty but they still function. Yeah it would be nice to completely restore the car but IMO the whole point is to have cheap dependable transportation and spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on body work kind of seems counterproductive. I'll probably drive it until the body rusts apart though as it has too much sentimental value to me!

Here's a picture to start off with. New pics coming soon!

[Damkid]

jesteratc's entry

Id like to enter this month.

My names Andrew

I bought this Festiva, my third one last September in 2011


Did a good cleaning


Upgraded the Stereo and Shift knob along with 4 new speakers.


Painted the rims Pink. "watermelon"


Used Back to Black on the Bumpers



Bought some suspension goodies.


Bought some Rim Goodies "Motegi MR7 14s"


Didn't like the original color of the rims, and they had gutter rash so fixed, and re-painted them


Put the new painted rims on the car.


Not low enough on new rims so did this.


Then put the new KYB-g2 Struts and FMS lowering sprigs on.



Future Mods Hopefully new seats. Currently trying to figure out what i want to spend my money on. Also looking at more rim options. Possible B6t swap. I have found one, just not sure if i want to pay for it as of yet.

Thanks for looking.

Andrew

[Damkid]

jake88maro's entry

Well here we go we had to do it since its christmas and me and my twin brother both have festivas a green and a red one ironically! Some info first off here is these are our fourth and fifth festivas that we have owned, we also own a 96 aspire. We are passionate enthusiasts of these cars and will be lifetime owners im sure of it.

-the green festiva is mine, jake, it bought it about a month ago, it has 92k miles on it and runs awesome i drive it 73 miles or more a day on my commute to school, work then home. its stock with a tune up all synthetic fluids ect.. this is my fourth festiva and i just love these cars.

-the red festiva is a project car that me and my bro picked up off of gmiller123 here on the forum. its just a weekend warrior/ rice killer lol. total sleeper around our area here!

just a few more pics with our festivas!

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[rallytiva71]

Great Job jesteratc, keep going buddy you're in the right track!!

Good luck!!