What to look for in a project platform Festiva / 323? And other questions

[Dreamweasel]

Hey everyone!

Now that summer's here, and school's out, I've been pondering on what project car I want to have for the coming months, and winter as well. I wanted something original, and I brought this up with a few of my friends, and one of them jokingly suggested a Ford Festiva. I'm a huge Ford guy, and I like hatchbacks almost as much, so his joke got me thinking.

After a while of stumbling around the regular Ford forums that I peruse looking for Festiva tech info and whatnot, and coming up short, I said to hell with it, and just searched "festiva forums" on google. Guess what was #1? A porn site! No, just kidding, it was this place. I was suprised to find such a following for these little hatchbacks that could, and the work that some of you guys have done is astounding! It really got the creative juices flowing, and I'm really excited to start looking for a good project festiva / 323 platform to work with.

Which brings up my question, when looking for a new project car, what should I look for? With a Festiva, I know I won't be keeping the original 1.3L engine, and that if I do go the Tiva route, I'll care less about the engine, and more about the condition of the body and chassis. But with 'tivas, are there any preferable options, or years for basing a project off of?

And if I went with a 323, what would be preferable to look for in that? I have even less knowledge on the 323, than I do with the Festiva, I don't even know what engine(s) they came with stock.

And if I did get a Festiva, I'd definately be doing a (bear with me, I'm not too experienced with engine names) B6 or B8 swap. My question with these is, would I have to replace the entire wiring harness as well with the engine? I read here that the engines are similar enough, at least with the B6, that the sensors in the B3 (or w/e the stock Tiva engine is) are able to be interchanged with the B6 ones, allowing the stock wiring harness to be used (or something along the lines of that.) Is this true, with the B6, or even the B8?

Sorry for the long post, but I didn't want to make multiple topics and clutter up this board, which by the way, is FANTASTIC!

Thanks for reading.

[garylau]

A way to go might be to find a solid Festiva, then find a 323 parts car for a motor swap. I'm pretty new to these cars, but it sounds like both the b6 and b8 swap is fairly simple.

edit: Oh yeah, and welcome to the site!

[Festiva_Fred]

Try to get a 90-93' Festiva since they are FI, the 88-89's are Carbed.. unless you get a 89 auto. Check for rust in front of both rear wheels, thats a common rust spot on these cars. Welcome to the site!

[sasquatch]

welcome to ff.com 99.9% of the questions you have can be answerd with the search button

[gothguydante]

well if you want something a little more powerful try the bp swap there is a write up MattSwabb did and well it explains pretty much everything with pics.. and if you turbo it your looking at 200-230HP i think not really sure on the numbers but here is the link to the write up also we have write ups for auto to manual swaps to so it doesn't matter if you get a auto or not.. oh yeah and stronger tranny swaps to..

http://two.xthost.info/mattswabb/BP%20swap%20guide.pdf

[fattie]

welcome , im not to far from you. ive got 3 93's. festivas are pretty hard to find here in maine. especialy one with a decent body. but since im close i can help you if you ever need it, or any parts.

[festivaWES]

I my self would also stay with the FI models if you are wanting to swap engines anyways. Find a decent festiva L,GL, L-PLUS. Some come with painted bumpers, cargo covers, tilt steering, p/s, a/c, and so on. I have done both b6, b8, and bp swaps, so if you have any questions just ask.

Welcome to ff.com!

[hotfordcat]

Welcome to the board. I just finished a B6 swap in my 93GL. Easy, easy easy. Wire the B6 injectors into the Festiva harness, install the B3 dist. in the B6, and use the Festiva flywheel, pressure plate, disc, and throw-out bearing. Don't forget to install the 323 ECM, it's a direct plug-in, and you're done.

[Damkid]

Welcome to the site, the stock engine in the festiva is part of the "B" series engines from mazda, (yes the 1.3 festiva engine is a mazda) other B series engines include

B6 (1.6 SOHC) - Mazda 323's
B6D (1.6 DOHC) - Mazda MX-3
B6T (1.6 DOHC Turbo) - Mazda 323 GT/GTX, Capri XR2
B8 (1.8 SOHC) - Protege?
BP (1.8 DOHC) - Escort GT/ Mercury Tracer
BPT (1.8 DOHC Turbo) - JDM Mazda Familia, check any JDM importers to find these engines

Thats a quick list of engine choices you have to work with, I have swapped i BP and B6T into festivas and the BP is the best swap that requires very little wiring without going to a turbo, but if you don't mind wiring and your on a cheap budget, then a B6T would be a great choice as well, but if money and wiring is not an issue, then BPT all the way

Hopefully i gave some good info for you start researching with

[blkfordsedan]

If your in to Fords then stick with the Festiva. Less weight and this site has all the info you would ever want to guide you through any mod. I would look for one as close to rust free as possible. Don't worry as much about options, most Festivas were stripped versions anyway and you can virtually add any options you want from donor cars. You can also find some great deals on already modded cars and even some B6 turbo conversions right here in our "For Sale" forum. Welcome to the Festiva community!

[Dreamweasel]

welcome , im not to far from you. ive got 3 93's. festivas are pretty hard to find here in maine. especialy one with a decent body. but since im close i can help you if you ever need it, or any parts.

I was just thinking that. And I appreciate the offer for the help, I'll definately keep that in mind

I've been looking for over a week now and I haven't found one outside of Connecticut, and it was 1500 bucks.

I suppose I'll start looking around JY's... Even those are far and few between. There's one down the street from me, but they don't let you go out in the yard, you have to go up to the desk and tell them what you want, and even then 9.8 times out of 10 they'll just say "we don't have those." Scarboro Auto Parts, if you're curious, I live right down the street from Beech Ridge Speedway, which is pretty darn cool.

I know there's a JY up in freeport, but I don't know if its a u-pull-it or not.

Other than that, all I have to say is DANG. You guys are all helpful as all get-out. That's something I noticed here as opposed to the escort enthusiasts forum, 3/4 of the people there were either mildly mentally challenged or arrogant as hell.

That engine list is a lifesaver Damkid, you have no idea how much I appreciate it! The B6T pr the BP definately looks like they would be the best options in my position. Money's not too much of an issue, or at least it won't be in a few weeks, and I don't mind wiring, I was going to pretty much tear the car apart anyway.

[Damkid]

I was just thinking that. And I appreciate the offer for the help, I'll definately keep that in mind

I've been looking for over a week now and I haven't found one outside of Connecticut, and it was 1500 bucks.

I suppose I'll start looking around JY's... Even those are far and few between. There's one down the street from me, but they don't let you go out in the yard, you have to go up to the desk and tell them what you want, and even then 9.8 times out of 10 they'll just say "we don't have those." Scarboro Auto Parts, if you're curious, I live right down the street from Beech Ridge Speedway, which is pretty darn cool.

I know there's a JY up in freeport, but I don't know if its a u-pull-it or not.

Other than that, all I have to say is DANG. You guys are all helpful as all get-out. That's something I noticed here as opposed to the escort enthusiasts forum, 3/4 of the people there were either mildly mentally challenged or arrogant as hell.

That engine list is a lifesaver Damkid, you have no idea how much I appreciate it! The B6T pr the BP definately looks like they would be the best options in my position. Money's not too much of an issue, or at least it won't be in a few weeks, and I don't mind wiring, I was going to pretty much tear the car apart anyway.

well as i said if you don't mind some wiring find a Capri XR2 and swap over the engine, tranny and axles and the engine harness, i have yet to take my B6T festiva to the track but i`m hoping for mid 13`s to mid 14`s

[graywolf_14]

And please if you do a motor swap and get the whole parts car get one that is wrecked. I hate seeing a perfectly good car go to waste just to fix one that needs work.

[fattie]

good luck finding one in the junkyards around here. the pretty much just crush all festivas. i got lucky and got one of mine back in 07 for a 175 , one in 08 for free from a family member and one just a few weeks ago from my cousins boss for 250. all 93's. the one i got for free is all rotted out , but it runs and drives , i mean , it did lol. but ive stripped it. once in a blue moon there will be one in the uncle henrys , although last one i saw in there was in topsham and was rusty and the guy wanted 500 !!!! good luck though , if u need anything let me know.

I was just thinking that. And I appreciate the offer for the help, I'll definately keep that in mind

I've been looking for over a week now and I haven't found one outside of Connecticut, and it was 1500 bucks.

I suppose I'll start looking around JY's... Even those are far and few between. There's one down the street from me, but they don't let you go out in the yard, you have to go up to the desk and tell them what you want, and even then 9.8 times out of 10 they'll just say "we don't have those." Scarboro Auto Parts, if you're curious, I live right down the street from Beech Ridge Speedway, which is pretty darn cool.

I know there's a JY up in freeport, but I don't know if its a u-pull-it or not.

Other than that, all I have to say is DANG. You guys are all helpful as all get-out. That's something I noticed here as opposed to the escort enthusiasts forum, 3/4 of the people there were either mildly mentally challenged or arrogant as hell.

That engine list is a lifesaver Damkid, you have no idea how much I appreciate it! The B6T pr the BP definately looks like they would be the best options in my position. Money's not too much of an issue, or at least it won't be in a few weeks, and I don't mind wiring, I was going to pretty much tear the car apart anyway.

[JPT]

There's a nice one for sale in Randolph Mass. Don't know the year or if it's stick or auto, but it's $925.00. It's red

If you're interested, I might be able to swing by there and get some details for you.

It's on route 139, in Randolph.