hello all..

[Pineapplegti]

Hi guys im a festiva noob. Ive always liked little cars and have been very jealous of the other countries that get cool econoboxes.. vw polo ,lupo, mk1 escort etc.. Anyways ive always kinda liked the festiva but never really knew that they just werent a ford econobox rather a rebadged mazda .. Anyways ive been keeping my eyes open and i think i found my first victim.. Im unsure of the year but i do know its white.. its manual and its super clean. I always see them in the yard (near perfect) so i have a great source of parts.
Anyways ive been reading your posts the last couple days and ive seen the b6 swap being the most popular. My question is what is really wrong with the b3 beyond being a tiny motor . I really have a soft spot for little motors and would love to tear into one balancing and and then turning the piss outta it
Does anyone make a hot cam for the b3 ? also will the carbed b3s run seperatly of the stock carb (meaning is the stock carb essential to making the dizzy run or anything like that.) Id really like to see what one would do on a set of mikuni bike carbs.. That leads me to suspension. I read that somone had used mk3 vw golf coilovers on thier car or was going to.. Me being a vw nut have access to these for reasonable price. Does anyone have any more info ?? Also i was looking at the lower arm of these things.. it looks like one could really make a neat billet control arm with a sphercial bearing pretty easy has this been done ? I plan to run the aspire brakes ( complete setup 150 at the yard ) and do plan to mod a set of rear gti discs for the back. The 4x100 is a must for me because i am a wheel whore..
My next question is has anyone sourced jdm or Australian front and rear bumpers.. There is a user on here who has a aussie 121 that has the perfect look with the tiny bumpers and i must have them
My overall plans for the car is kinda like a faux berg cup car.. high reving 4cyl.. expensive wheels super low. caged (just an autopower) and a really balanced suspension. Ive been canyon running for about 10 years

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWpYiu9gEmI&feature=related

. Anyways thanks for taking the time to read my ramblings.. here are a couple pics of my current projects to show u what im about..


These are the wheels i have planned for the festiva.. rota rb 13x8 et -4

And my vr6 jetta..

[neanderpaul]

Welcome. There is nothing wrong with the b3. They regularly go 300,000 miles. We just like more power. You can get a cam from festiva motorsport. The overseas bumpers are hard to get as a lot of folks here like them.

[elcamino1]

Welcome to the site,those are some nice cars you have there!!!

[Sparky]

Welcome to the Forum, PineappleGTI...and I can only really answer the first question you had. There is really nothing wrong at all with the stock B3 motor in the Festiva...in fact, they are almost bullet-proof. So is the B6, so when (or if!) the B3 goes away, why not put in a little extra power that will cost you almost no MPG? It sounds like your mechanical acumen far exceeds my own, so I will let the rest of the guys here handle the rest!

BTW...put your location in your profile. We Festy lovers like to get together occasionally, or maybe you might want some help souping up your new toy.

[91blufestiva]

Hello, welcome to the forums, you came to the right place to ask questions about festivas, because these guys know everything there is to know about them!

[fastivaca]

Welcome to the site. I can hardly wait to see what you do with a Festiva!

[Pineapplegti]

Im located in good ole sunny socal Does anyone know how hard a b3 will spin ? any specs on the aftermarket cam ? and how unbalanced are they stock.. they have to be pretty decent if they are running 300k..

[neanderpaul]

I know of 4 with over 500,000 miles.

[25Horseplay]

I have revved my B3 to 7500 RPM's! And its stock! Festivamotorsport.com carrys some Hipo parts for the B3, cams, lightened flywheels and headers. They did have ported heads too. The owner of Festiva Motorsport has a Weber carb on his car, so yes you can us other carbss on the carbed cars. If you look close at the bumpers you are refering to its just painted that way. The bumper is pretty much just like ours.

[Pineapplegti]

The bumper im looking at is nearly flush with the grille and the rear bump sits real close to the body as well.. i think it really sets the car off.. I have a guy that ships containers from Australia twice a year so it wont be an issue..Does anyone know the specs on the "race"cam they offer ?

[FB71]

I'll try to answer a few things for you. The B3 is very tough, with a stout cast crank and rods. Some say the rods are forged, but they look cast to me (of course I could be wrong). They're fairly well balanced stock, but could use some massaging.

I don't know what the specs on the Festiva Motor Sport cams are, and I don't think Roger (the guy who runs FMS) knows either. But, call him and talk with him, he's a pretty nice guy.

The bumpers you like are the ATH aftermarket body kit, originally produced in Germany. It's currently being reproduced by FMS, but be preparred to wait several months (I've been waiting over a year).

As for the carb/ignition; the ignition is completely stand-alone. There are two connections made to the ECU (tach signal, and high-altitude retard), but the dizzy works just fine without them. If you want a more aggressive advance curve, locate a dizzy from an '89 auto trans/EFI car. This is a one-year-only EFI system, leaving the ignition system to be run by the dizzy like the '88-'89 carbed 4 and 5spd cars. All 90-93 cars were full EFI, with ECM controlled advance.

The stock carb is a feedback type unit, with air bleeds and a fuel-cut solenoid controlled by the ECM, based on temp, altitude and O2 signal. Ditch the feedback carb for Mikuni VMs, TMs, maybe RSs or HS/HSRs, port and polish, balance and blueprint, FMS comp cam and header... look for 8k RPM peaks with 7k RPM shifts, probably making over 100whp at 7k... I like the TM flatslides, because they have an accel pump, better snap throttle response.

[FB71]

oh, and I've been to Barstow!! I think it's beautiful out there in the desert!!!

[Pineapplegti]

Me too... i grew up in the sanfernando valley (porn capital of the world) moved to palmdale for about 11 years then to barstow.. Im a desert rat. We have legendary roads out here so im gonna build this to terroize them heheh.. ill keep my eye open for a 89 auto dizzy and i think my grandfather might have some bike carbs that will work great. The car i had my eye on turned out not to be for sale.. and the guy was grouchy.. But i do know of a red one with a spoiler .. i guess there is always craigs list.. I may just start stocking up on parts before i get the car.. I can get everything powdercoated and cleaned up before i install.. Ive found 3 donor cars for the brakes so im gonna pick and choose the best parts from them all