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1989 Ford Festiva for 24 hours of Lemons

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  • 1989 Ford Festiva for 24 hours of Lemons

    Hey all, I am new to the forum, and new to the Festiva as well. A week or so ago, I started to gain an interest in the 24 hours of Lemons race and I was able to get some of my crew involved. We started to look around for a car that would fit our budget, and that could be a sleeper at the same time, and we came across a 1989 Festiva, which is why I am here now.

    The car will run if you put gas in the carburetor, but the fuel lines aren't hooked up at this time and the fuel pump doesn't seem to be working. I haven't confirmed if it is a wiring issue or if it is a pump issue yet, but I am leaning toward it being a wiring issue.

    Hopefully the fact that I will be using this in a lemons race doesn't get me shunned from this forum. After looking around at some other Festivas' that have been worked on, modified, or kept clean, they seem like a great car. I'm hoping for more of the same. I want to get it running good, clean it up, and get it race ready.

    All of that being said, does anyone have any suggestions for cheap ways to modify the car? The engine is the 1.3l carbureted engine, and I would like to stick with that engine if possible. What are some of my options for suspension? Brakes?

    I am not new to turning wrenches, I was a mechanic for 8 years and have done a lot as far as repairs and diagnosing goes, but my expertise was never in carbureted cars, or in modifying cars.
    Anything that y'all might have to offer would be greatly appreciated!

    Thanks guys and gals,
    Cal

    IMG_0835.JPG

  • #2
    Hey, welcome. I wouldnt worry about running in lemons you wont get shunned Ive come across many posts here about guys who have run in lemons.

    I cant speak from experience with the b3-(1.3L engine) didnt do anything with it before I took it out and started puting in a B6D,

    But there are exhaust headers available for the B3 on The Festiva Store which would be a good upgrade for the exhaust flow as well as if you could find some larger diameter pipe in decent shape from pick a part vehicles and piece together your own exhaust. Its what I did and I also found a Dynomax Superturbo muffler,
    I would say set up a sort of ram air intake/cold air intake for the caurburetor and paired with the exhaust that would be a vast improvement.

    weight reduction is always good too.. you can remove the back seats remove the spare tire, and also a couple cross beam bars inside the side doors that weigh about 20lbs each, havent checked those out myself yet

    for suspension best bet to find that out is to take a look at the "Ultimate Street Suspension" post in the custom suspension & drivetrain section. everything you need to know about suspension is there, and at not to much of a cost either
    Last edited by Tyler77; 03-03-2020, 11:08 PM.

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    • #3
      It's a mechanical fuel pump run off a cam in the engine. They are very reliable- You may have clogged lines- get lots and lots of carb cleaner to run through the whole system. I used to just pour it straight into the carb and let it sit for awhile before starting it up- like overnight- always seemed to work.

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      • #4
        Thanks guys, any suggestions on the carburetor? Is it reliable enough that I should go for a rebuild or would I be better off swapping in a different carburetor, like the Weber 32/36?

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        • #5
          Check the rubber fuel line leading into the filtre on the firewall from under teh body for strength. When the line gets old it can collapse under vacuum when the fuel pump is running and cut off the flow of fuel. Fix is to replace with new firm rubber line.
          Original owner of silver grey carburetted 1989 Festiva. 105k km as of June 2006. 140k km as of June 2021.

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          • #6
            I’ll take a look at that line and see if there is something going on there. I found a Weber 32/36 on Facebook for pretty cheap, so I’ve gone ahead and bought that. Hopefully this week I’ll be able to get that put on and get the car running.

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            • #7
              There are a handful of Festies that have/are running Lemons today. At least one is fairly competitive. None to my knowledge run the B3~

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              • #8
                Do an advanced search for my name and look in the "Custom engine and drivetrain" and "N/A Engine swaps". If you read all the posts in each subject I have posted to, you should get some ideas.
                You gonna race that thing?
                http://www.sdfcomputers.com/Festivaracing.htm

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