Now accepting entries for September 2013 FOTM

[GenevaDirt]

Lets get them in...we had a lot last month...only one can win though. So here is another chance to see if your can become FOTM....lol

[Powerstiva]

Ill try again!!!!

Back in June of 2012 I was working at a summer camp and on one of my weekends where I came back home my neighbor was selling it, I got him down to $1000 for it.
I bought it with a bad exhaust leak, but it was an easy fix since it just needed a new crush doughnut between the exhaust manifold and downpipe, but even still it turned out that I should of looked it over a little more beforehand but oh well cant do anything about it now! It's a 1992 Festiva GL with the passenger mirror! Since I got it my friends and I have put a lot of time and money into it. I've become obsessed with getting new parts for it!

The first thing that my friends and I did was swap in a 95' BP from an Escort GT with about 120k miles on it and a stock 5-speed E-series tranny. It somehow had a bent valve when I got the engine but my my friends dad was able to straighten it out with a screwdriver trick or something? I'm not sure what he actually did but it worked! It was our first time ever doing and engine swap and we got it done in about a month. That was how I spent the last month back home before I went to boot camp for the Marine Corps (3 months) The B3 was leaking quite a bit of oil, before the swap. Since then haven't had any engine related problems... Transmission problems however is a different story.

Like I said above at the same time of the engine swap we put in a 5-speed manual instead of the ol' 3-speed slushbox. I blew the clutch out after driving it for only 3 days, that happened because of a combination of it being the first manual car that Ive ever driven, as well as not putting in a new clutch right away and reusing an old one. This was a sort of bittersweet blessing, because it caused me to spend the rest of my short 10 days at home with family. After blowing the clutch she just sat around for about a month while I went to my combat training.

When I got back home this time it was only another 10 stop there this time we spent one night taking it apart and then had the flywheel resurfaced the next day and then on the third went to put it back together but couldn't get everything lined up right. After that I decided that it was taking up too much time away from my family and friends because this time it was around Christmas, so yet again I just let her sit =(

Fortunately I was able to talk one of my friends that helped with the engine swap into finishing putting her back together so I was able to drive her the next time when I was at home which wasn't until 6 months later. Throughout those 6 months I was able to purchase just about everything for my suspension swap that is very similar to AdvanceDynamic's because he helped me alot with putting it together.

Upon getting home this time I got 15 days to do stuff and most friends and family were busy because this time it wasn't around a holiday unlike the first two times (Thanksgiving and Christmas) With my time my dad, my buddy and I were able to swap the front suspension out with KYB VW MK2 Raceland shocks and 250Lbs springs which are WAY too stiff, and the front brakes swapped Aspire stuff and got her riding on 14"s in the front. We also pulled out the back seat at this time and attempted to install a new steering wheel but was unsuccessful with that because we couldn't get the new horn to work properly.

After this work I drove her around town and on the highway once. And then on about my 3rd to last day at home I was taking my sister to her summer school classes and I started noticing that the clutch was slipping and eventually it wouldn't hold at all. So I was out another clutch at this point, I was right around the corner from an auto shop when it happened and due to the fact that I just didn't want to deal with replacing the clutch myself I went and found out how much it would cost for them to do it, and the quoted me around $700! I straight up told the guy that it could be done in like 3 hours but he wouldn't hear it so just turned around and walked out. So now she sits once again, but this time Im stationed over in Japan and wont be home for at least a year and that would only be about a 20 day visit. I should come home to the states for good in about 2 years though.

Before the swap I put on around 1,000 miles on it, since everything else I've put on about another 5,000.

Here is a listed of the things I've done since purchasing her:

BP engine from a 95 Escort GT with about 120k miles
5-speed festy transmission swap
Replaced cracked windshield

Upgrades and Changes:
Kenwood Headunit
4" MTX Dash Speakers
4" Walmart rear deck speakers
6.5" MTX door speakers
200 watt BOSS amp
12" Kenwood Sub
KYB VW MK2 front Raceland shocks
Aspire Calipers and Rotors
14"VW snowflake Rims
New steering wheel
Rear seat delete
NGK Sparkplug wires
Cone filter =D

Things still needing installed or fixed:
Tiedown the battery in the back
KYB Struts/Shocks for the rear
Rear aspire beam and brakes
Fix slight rust/possibly replace hood as well as hatch
Replace 400 watt amp with 1200 watt
2 more 12" kenwood subs
Orange tach cluster
Smoothie tailights
New Clutch (again...)
Protege center console
Escort map light
Festiva badges

My future plans for it are as follows:
Complete teardown and cleaning of the engine, new pistons, rods, crankshaft, valves, valve job and porting
New transmission its going to be a G-series
Upgraded clutch
LSD
New Fuel pump
Rear Aspire brake swap with KYB shocks
Rear-Mount turbo
Standalone Unit

I have been talking to someone thats going to help make the engine rebuild and tranny swap possible for me while Im gone

And last but not least the pictures!!
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[IMG][/IMG]

[kumalaba]

^ nice!

[Powerstiva]

Thanks!!

[russian]

We have just modified the exterior a bit so I think it's worth another try for us, too.

You might have seen this car as a red Lemons race car with the radiator in front of the bumper? Not any more. The front was modified so that the radiator is now where the original core support used to be, we have also installed some bigger headlights for our coming real 24 hours race, plus some styling parts from the local Craigslist and 3 cans of Rustoleum...

The front brakes are still dual piston 11.5", the rear brakes are still disk conversion and the clutch is still based on a door hinge.

[Zanzer]

Dang! Only 2 cars and it's already a tough decision!!

[kingstonpygmies]

I know it's white trash but that is all I know!

Sent from Kingston Ga from my hillbilly handheld

[TominMO]

Russian, what are those wheels and tires? Love 'em!

Also need interior/engine bay pics please.

[kumalaba]

^ kinda look like mb 7 spokes tom

[russian]

Russian, what are those wheels and tires? Love 'em!

Tires are Azenis RT615K, will get some engine bay & interior pics tomorrow

[kumalaba]

did you make those rear flares? they look great!

[russian]

did you make those rear flares? they look great!

This is above my own fab skills, it's a lawyer we know who did it. The fronts are pretty cool, too - they are made of two stock fenders.

[RhodeStiva]

Have been Addicted since 2001 when i got my first Festiva.( white GL with pink pin stripes lol)
Sold it to another high school kid. It was handed down from one student to the next for 10 or so years.
he crashed it 2 weeks later( i was devastated). I wanted Another but with no rust i looked for 5 years and found this blue one. from Huntsville Alabama a 8 hour drive and towed it home. Next day started working on it from basic aspire engine swap so i could drive it for the first year. I made it to FM6 and had the best experience ( my wife also).
So much she wanted an automatic when we got back. I found one and bought it (Aqua).
and started digging in the Blue one. Had bad luck at JY with a BP engine took it back got a 95 MIATA engine block and bought Head off a local escort gt enthusiast.Frankensteined it togeher and added my own touch. Before the engine installed i swap the front with 2001 Kia Rio brakes and tinted the wondows. The picture off the old looking one is the day i brought it home.

[kumalaba]

man this is going to be another tough month to choose!

[Festevil3]

man this is going to be another tough month to choose!

x2