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5-speed Festy to B8 a/t?(driving impressions?)

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  • 5-speed Festy to B8 a/t?(driving impressions?)

    I'm guessing there are at least a few technical discussions of a B8 motor and automatic tranny swap into a standard tran Festiva; but, I'm wondering if there are not only some leads anyone can give me to posts about such a swap at FF.com; but, also if anyone who may've driven such a vehicle might share their experiences.

    My impetus for such a radical(for me nearly like the first moon walk, even if Michael Jackson's!) technical attempt on my mechanical prowess is the arthritic condition in my left arm, shoulder and neck(only one neck folks, if you can imagine) which I first came under the shock assaults of the spring of '05.(really a bugger, but which seems to succumb to generous amounts of consistent fairly rigorous activity...just doing anything much other than laying in bed reading, writing or watching television/dvds all the time, and/or similar pursuits at the computer which is set up in nearly as reclined an attitude)

    The problem is not when using my car only on shorter drives of less than a few hundred miles or so, but when piloting non-stop from here to the bay area, or even worse when doing that via a detour through my old still recent stomping grounds of Eureka to look up various feminine interests of note.(and considerable charity...) That curvy stretch of highway from Grant's Pass("Granite Pants") to Cloverdale via US 199 & US 101 is the ultimate culprit for exacerbating the condition, which now is even beginning to penetrate my right elbow.

    I'd really thought I'd modified my whole routine adequately to not be so bothered for perhaps decades or at least quite awhile, but my first trip south since moving eight loads from Eureka to Bellingham over the winter and spring of '08 set the condition wildly aflame and was a real shocker which has the potential to be an emotional black hole of the worst sort if signaling the end of my access reasonably enough.(making another sticker wall on the back of some ignoble replacement would be unimaginable!)

    As well I'm imaging that with a reasonable B8 and the automatic transmission I'd have a rig well capable of towing a decent load given the Festiva Motor Sports springs and KYBs on all four corners.(next month the Aspire brake swap I've put off the front end part of over two years is finally scheduled definitely to take place; which should give credence to my still having a wrenching ability decent enough to tackle both obtaining the right B8 & tranny and installing same) One of my long-time secret Festiva wishes is to have a livable trailer home to drag around behind myself, to at least have some form of retaliation against reactionary land lords who seem to look upon my life and persona as the puck in their hockey game of draining spirit and consciousness out of any and all falling into their devious realms.(the scenario of anyone on public assistance income, most likely)
    Last edited by bobstad; 06-08-2009, 07:06 PM.
    '91 Festiva L/'73 Windsor Carrera Sport custom

    (aka "Jazz Bobstad," "The BobWhan," etc.)

    Art is the means whereby(a) society advances: Religion is the definition of the parameters of art. Poetry is the actualization of these...

  • #2
    I've been disappointed no one replied to this thread. I guess I was too philosophical and narrative.

    What the idea was supposed to be is does anyone have any familiarity with a swap from a five speed to an automatic in a Festiva; and also to a higher displacement motor since that would probably make the automatic much more drivable. I'm guessing that there is a more torquey version of the B8 which might be ideal.(and what are the available choices in trannys?)

    Doing a search to try to find out what I want is both difficult for me due to my own ineptitude at that, but also since my antique computer is really screwed up by a damaged operating system, thus incredibly slow at various functions.(probably not demonstrated at a web site necessarily, but frustrating enough generally I go nuts often every time I have to use the stupid thing)
    '91 Festiva L/'73 Windsor Carrera Sport custom

    (aka "Jazz Bobstad," "The BobWhan," etc.)

    Art is the means whereby(a) society advances: Religion is the definition of the parameters of art. Poetry is the actualization of these...

    Comment


    • #3
      I'll reply do a b8 16v sohc swap it is the easiest. But as far as an auto I haven't a clue.
      -Greg
      Euro-bprt...WORLDS FASTEST FESTIVA !!! 11.78@115.9
      BP, G trans, Megasquirt/ 550cc inj. t3/t3 (tbird) Garrett, REAR TURBO!!!! AND AC!!!!
      Redneck Engineer
      FOTY - '09
      5x Festiva Madness Attendee...FM 3,4,5,6,8
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpCZ7...9Pwqw-oe8s2OYQ
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU_eX...9Pwqw-oe8s2OYQ

      Comment


      • #4
        I personaly have never seen or heard of anyone changing to an atx trans from a stick. I sure you could look at the atx to stick swap threads and just do the opposite. Or just find a prelude auto abd take the eng and trans. Just make it fit like any other trans swap

        Comment


        • #5
          That combo would probably work really well in a Festiva.
          Festiva: Because even my dog can build a Honda.
          ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

          '90 L. B8ME/Kia Rio 5 speed. Rio/Aspire suspension swap. :-D
          '81 Mustang. Inline 6, Automatic.
          '95 Eagle Summit Wagon. 4G64 Powered.

          Comment


          • #6
            Seems like the b8 with a festiva automatic transmission would make for crappy fuel mileage? More displacement and shorter gears right? There has been limited discussion about using the 4spd automatic out of a 323 but I don't believe anyone has tried yet.

            Comment


            • #7
              I'm glad to be picking up some comments.

              Not only is an automatic interesting due to my just worsening problems from arthritis, but as someone who has never owned anything with an automatic transmission who is probably pretty competent with a manual transmission(there is an amazing callous on my left hand index finger I'd guess from grabbing the steering wheel when using the shift lever) I'm just now considering other people driving my car who don't know how to use a stick.(anyone who has seen the sequels to the movie KARATE' KID knows his old girlfriend from the first movie cracks up his totally cool '41 yellow, we'd guess three-on-the-tree, Mercury convertible his teacher Mr. Miagi gave him...even the Karate' Kid's Mom drives a pale green early '70s Malibu station wagon with a stick...probably one of a dozen or so of those Chevy made?)

              I'm a pretty basic amateur mechanic, with most of my skills from four VW air-cooled engine overhauls; and also probably at one time or another removing then returning every fastener on the '66 "square-back" sedan I'd had to do the motor overhauls for.(except in the trans-axle; though I did change that once working at night with just a flashlight and kerosene lamp for illumination I did in two nights while homeless August of '94 when the temperature was over a hundred during the day)

              I've also tried to do all my own mechanic work on every other vehicle I've owned, since invariably the cost of buying the necessary tools is less than paying anyone else to do the job.(though I regard the whole phenomena a form of right-wing reactionary torture of anyone too poor to afford any other means of access to reasonably adequate transportation and mobility)

              Engineering and accomplishing a functionally desirable swap such as I'm asking about here is likely an incredible challenge to think of trying to do on my own, especially with no decent place to do the work. Yet too, probably the only way to keep the continuity and expression the car represents.
              Last edited by bobstad; 06-16-2009, 09:25 AM.
              '91 Festiva L/'73 Windsor Carrera Sport custom

              (aka "Jazz Bobstad," "The BobWhan," etc.)

              Art is the means whereby(a) society advances: Religion is the definition of the parameters of art. Poetry is the actualization of these...

              Comment


              • #8
                post script: I remember doing a "mickey rebuild" on my $600 1/2 ton Chevy panel van I'd just gotten in Spokane in '94; camped in a tiny mountaineering tent hidden behind a bush in a vacant lot next to a friend's house with the van parked next to the sidewalk beside the lot my tent was in. I had to drop the oil pan on the motor to get at the rear engine seal when fixing leaks making the clutch chatter, so had the transmission out to do that and replaced all the seals on that then too; and with the oil pan off plasti-gauged one of the rod bearings which was .004 over so then decided to do all the rods and mains.

                Always after I'd been discouraged that the motor leaked oil around the oil pan, valve cover gasket and the push-rod cover, despite what I'd thought a remarkable effort to do a really good job with aviation Perma-tex to close everything up again.

                Doing a B8-A/T swap on my Festiva and ending up with anything short of factory new type results would be far beyond annoying; which guessing, even some pretty good professionals might find difficult?

                Oh, and I hate Hondas, from a former girl friend who'd had an '80s Civic wagon in '98 when the carburetion system was going to hell which is normal as the mileage gets pretty high.(whose cuteness factor and cheap price were irresistible-she'd named the thing like one might a beloved animal...I never get that urge for a mechanized means of conveyance!)(well, once; "Sasquatch TreeWoman" for a single-reed, conical bore, hand's breadth long woodwind with nine tone holes; made from the mouthpiece, barrel joint, bell and key-body tenons of a Bundy resonite Eb clarinet-due to some inadvertent art on the ligature made from wear and scratches the metal mouthpiece cap which protects the reed had done I'd noticed installing the sixth through ninth tone holes early in '96 near Concord, CA after doing the initial five the winter of '89-'90 in Spokane)

                They are supposed to be one of the most difficult to maintain once they've started to decline in function-ability, due to the incredible complexity to get the great fuel mileage their marque is known for.

                She found some really dishonest mechanic, some skinny, dopey, youthful, indigent type who'd looked like he'd maybe even been living and working out of his own car; who'd been milking her unmercifully while not accomplishing anything at all, who when we finally met seemed to regard me as his accomplice-which was profoundly infuriating I'd no way to respond to since she'd been so head strong about not in the least involving me in her car care problems.(Cynde Gehman, a local Arcata, CA performance artist as a songwriter/composer, who is my age and was inspired to learn the guitar by Jimi Hendrix when she was fifteen growing up in New Jersey I'd had an affair with the spring and summer of '98; then was homeless the whole following winter, which is what allowed me to save enough to buy the Festiva June of '99)
                Last edited by bobstad; 06-16-2009, 10:08 AM.
                '91 Festiva L/'73 Windsor Carrera Sport custom

                (aka "Jazz Bobstad," "The BobWhan," etc.)

                Art is the means whereby(a) society advances: Religion is the definition of the parameters of art. Poetry is the actualization of these...

                Comment


                • #9
                  Damn! Shot myself in the foot again with the last two posts. Who gives a damn about all the non-tech stuff. I need a consultant beside me to give some rationale to the process whereby I share what is generally interesting.

                  Tanx though.
                  '91 Festiva L/'73 Windsor Carrera Sport custom

                  (aka "Jazz Bobstad," "The BobWhan," etc.)

                  Art is the means whereby(a) society advances: Religion is the definition of the parameters of art. Poetry is the actualization of these...

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    A 323 four speed automatic? Sounds interesting since the 13" rims I have are from an '87 323.(except now the rear Aspire axle has a different bolt pattern so I'm using steel Aspire rims on the back and as soon as the brake swap is done on the front too those 323 rims will be history)
                    '91 Festiva L/'73 Windsor Carrera Sport custom

                    (aka "Jazz Bobstad," "The BobWhan," etc.)

                    Art is the means whereby(a) society advances: Religion is the definition of the parameters of art. Poetry is the actualization of these...

                    Comment

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