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So a few days ago mxtwo50r came to pick up my car and the transaction went very well and I have no complaints. That said, it is perhaps the end of an era. Or at least a stage in my life. I got the car when I had plenty of time and no money. My vision was to take it to the Grassroots Motorsports Challenge and then make the ultimate in efficient daily transportation. However, shortly after purchasing the car I got very busy and althouhg I worked on it occasionally it would've taken years to complete at my pace. While this would be fine with me, my parents were not prepared to have the car in the garage that long.
But in the 6 months or so that I owned the car, I learned everything I could about Festivas and quite a bit about the Festiva community as well and I thought before I move on I'd like to share some of that knowledge.
1. The first and foremost thing I learned is that the Festiva's primary attribute is that it's a piece of crap and it was designed to be. Using the anti-roll bar as a suspension arm? That's some seriously sketchy cost saving right there! But being a piece of crap is also what gives the car its appeal to me. It takes away your inhibitions about doing something crazy and you don't freak out if you get something on the paint. It also provides plenty of material for jokes and good times with friends. With this said, it seems like many on this board take their Festivas WAY too seriously. These are fun little cars, and can occasionally be fast but they were and are simply the cheapest cars Ford could kick out during their production. Do you yourself a favor and have a sense of humor.
2. There are no Festivas in junkyards around me. 'Nuff said.
3. Festivas CAN be made to look cool, but not with those retarded FMS bumpers. You either need to do it Tim Deronne style like the first link or cut the bottom half of the stock bumper off and make a custom one out of sheet aluminum, like the second link below.
The wheels must also be done right. I'm not going to name names, but it seems like most Festiva owners just went down to the wheel shop or junkyard and just settled for the only thing that fit. There's really no reason to do this since quality used wheels in the correct sizes tend to be extremely inexpensive on the internet. The VWVortex has a great 4x100 wheels for sale forum. Miata forums are another source. Below are just two examples of the kind of deal that can be had on there.
Mesh wheels look good on Festivas (see link below). Minilite/Panasport style wheels also look good on Festivas. I was even thinking about doing some red steel wheels with whitewall tires. Options are really plentiful, but you have to have some sort As with any car, offset is a huge deal and the wheels must match the rest of the car. The ideal wheels would either be Volk TE37s, or my personal favorites, 13" Dymag cast magnesium wheels (HAWT!).
The car also needs to be low. These cars are tall enough without being set up like rally cars. Once again, Tim Deronne really shows how it's done with his H Production car and he was very helpful with giving me suspension advice. His e-mail address is tderonne at yahoo dot com.
The car does not need to be widened, but the thread below illustrates how awesome it has the potential to be.
4. If the car is ever to be raced in a straight line, I have to say turbo power is the way to go. If not, the B6 is a really fun engine and I would say tends to be more fun on the street.
5. I had a white car and wanted to do something that reflected Ford's small car racing heritage with the exterior. No cliche Mustang stripes for me. After extensive searching I was considering doing a Lotus Cortina-style stripe on the side of my car but I then discovered the Ford/Stewart F1 car. The stripe from that car would be the ultimate accent to what could be a very cool car.
6. You can use a spec-miata LSD with automatic Festiva halfshafts.
7. All you need for an adjustable anti-roll bar in the back is a piece of tube with several different mounting points to adjust the length.
8. Mk3 VW coilovers really look like the way to go for suspension.
9. It would be really cool to lay the engine down a little bit touring car style to lower the center of gravity. You have to make mounts, why not go all out?
It's been fun owning the Festiva even if I didn't get to work on it as much as I'd have liked to or get to actually even drive the thing. But it's time to move on and I hope this info helps someone.
But in the 6 months or so that I owned the car, I learned everything I could about Festivas and quite a bit about the Festiva community as well and I thought before I move on I'd like to share some of that knowledge.
1. The first and foremost thing I learned is that the Festiva's primary attribute is that it's a piece of crap and it was designed to be. Using the anti-roll bar as a suspension arm? That's some seriously sketchy cost saving right there! But being a piece of crap is also what gives the car its appeal to me. It takes away your inhibitions about doing something crazy and you don't freak out if you get something on the paint. It also provides plenty of material for jokes and good times with friends. With this said, it seems like many on this board take their Festivas WAY too seriously. These are fun little cars, and can occasionally be fast but they were and are simply the cheapest cars Ford could kick out during their production. Do you yourself a favor and have a sense of humor.
2. There are no Festivas in junkyards around me. 'Nuff said.
3. Festivas CAN be made to look cool, but not with those retarded FMS bumpers. You either need to do it Tim Deronne style like the first link or cut the bottom half of the stock bumper off and make a custom one out of sheet aluminum, like the second link below.
The wheels must also be done right. I'm not going to name names, but it seems like most Festiva owners just went down to the wheel shop or junkyard and just settled for the only thing that fit. There's really no reason to do this since quality used wheels in the correct sizes tend to be extremely inexpensive on the internet. The VWVortex has a great 4x100 wheels for sale forum. Miata forums are another source. Below are just two examples of the kind of deal that can be had on there.
Mesh wheels look good on Festivas (see link below). Minilite/Panasport style wheels also look good on Festivas. I was even thinking about doing some red steel wheels with whitewall tires. Options are really plentiful, but you have to have some sort As with any car, offset is a huge deal and the wheels must match the rest of the car. The ideal wheels would either be Volk TE37s, or my personal favorites, 13" Dymag cast magnesium wheels (HAWT!).
The car also needs to be low. These cars are tall enough without being set up like rally cars. Once again, Tim Deronne really shows how it's done with his H Production car and he was very helpful with giving me suspension advice. His e-mail address is tderonne at yahoo dot com.
The car does not need to be widened, but the thread below illustrates how awesome it has the potential to be.
4. If the car is ever to be raced in a straight line, I have to say turbo power is the way to go. If not, the B6 is a really fun engine and I would say tends to be more fun on the street.
5. I had a white car and wanted to do something that reflected Ford's small car racing heritage with the exterior. No cliche Mustang stripes for me. After extensive searching I was considering doing a Lotus Cortina-style stripe on the side of my car but I then discovered the Ford/Stewart F1 car. The stripe from that car would be the ultimate accent to what could be a very cool car.
6. You can use a spec-miata LSD with automatic Festiva halfshafts.
7. All you need for an adjustable anti-roll bar in the back is a piece of tube with several different mounting points to adjust the length.
8. Mk3 VW coilovers really look like the way to go for suspension.
9. It would be really cool to lay the engine down a little bit touring car style to lower the center of gravity. You have to make mounts, why not go all out?
It's been fun owning the Festiva even if I didn't get to work on it as much as I'd have liked to or get to actually even drive the thing. But it's time to move on and I hope this info helps someone.
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