Say Hello to Muttstiva, Jr!

[Safety Guy]

Well, due to the nice weather, or maybe the color teal (aqua?), or some other combination of odd polarities, I've bought another baby!!

My poor '89L Muttstiva is quite rusted and unfortunately carbed and would take so much work to revive. However, I found a '91L in teal (or aqua) with a 5 speed, only 123K miles and the front end is in pretty good shape. The rear fender area is a bit more rusted out than I would like, but I think she can be welded, patched or glued up to last another five or six years at least. Like Muttstiva, she has only the driver's side mirror and just the basics. Her interior is a bit ratty, but with parts I have, especially from my beloved Mutt, "Muttstiva Jr." shall carry on!

Here is my original Muttstiva today:




So here is her (spiritual) replacement (not my picture):


I hope to have her home Wednesday, when I'll post more info. I plan to introduce her formally at OSX. Until then, I've created a lot of work for myself!

Karl

[Safety Guy]

Got her home yesterday. Here she is:



Here's the damage from hitting a guardrail in the winter:



The usual rust perforations just ahead of the rear wheel wells:





The seats are ripped and dirty. They will be replaced:





Cont'd...

[Safety Guy]

I paid $500 and she does have a nice running engine. Much peppier than Twinstiva's! (I bet I'm down at least 10 hp due to Twin's bad #2 cylinder.) She has just over 122K miles.

However, upon acceleration, "Aquamutt" veers to the left, and she veers back to the right when letting off the gas. The PO said it was "bad engine mounts." Could be, but I bet I'll find some ball joint and/or steering rack problems. Rack boots are ripped all up. Brakes worked okay on the ride home. The front wheels are 13" off another car (anyone know?), fit the centerbore perfectly, and have nice newer looking 175/70s. Rear tires are stock 12s with worn 155/80s. CVs looked good, with no clicking.

Some "not quite half-butt" repairs have been done, too. Look in the engine bay:



I'm holding the old return fuel line above. Just above that, you can barely see the ends of two unhooked brake lines! But she drove and braked fine! The PO had someone "fix" the car and they evidently didn't remove the old lines. Instead, the new fuel return line goes from the engine compartment all the way back to the tank! In the rust perforation pictures in my previous post you can see the line hanging under the car, held up with zip ties to the old hard lines! Not quite kosher, or safe, methinks!! Also, the brake splitter block is not even attached to the firewall! You can see it in the picture just above. L-A-M-E!

Here's another look at the pushed up hatch:



I'll be using the original Muttstiva's parts to help rehab AquaMutt: white hatch (with RWD!), rear bumper, white LF fender, blue grille and blue right door. That way the multicolor look will be carried on and I'll be adding more colors of primer and whatever other painterly palettes (in spray can form) strike my fancy. The interior will not be meant to match either. I won't need a rear seat for cargo purposes.

Oh yeah, AquaMutt is getting Mutt's nice smoothies, too.

Mutt's suspension (cut Aspire springs) will be used as necessary, along with '02 Kia Rio front strut bodies. In a way, she'll be a test bed for my better work when I transform Twinstiva to Speedstiva later on in the summer.

I'm keeping the B3 for now, since it's so nice and peppy, but I do have an extra B6 in the garage. (I think Twin will get a B8.)

More by this weekend, maybe. Weather should be good for a more thorough examination and maybe some work.

One more pic of the whole gang:



Karl

[kartracer46]

They all look happy to me Karl. Congrats on the find. I am sure Mutt Jr. will provide you with countless hours of enjoyment.

[Safety Guy]

Thank you!

But first, she'll be providing me with countless hours of WORK!

Karl

[JPT]

Congratulations! You are now officially a hoarder. :icon_smile:

I like the name "AquaMutt"

[Zanzer]

The front wheels are 13" off another car (anyone know?), fit the centerbore perfectly, and have nice newer looking 175/70s.


I'll be using the original Muttstiva's parts to help rehab AquaMutt: white hatch (with RWD!), rear bumper, white LF fender, blue grille and blue right door. That way the multicolor look will be carried on and I'll be adding more colors of primer and whatever other painterly palettes (in spray can form) strike my fancy. The interior will not be meant to match either.

Karl

The front rims look like Geo Metros. I have a pic of them installed on my car somewhere if you'd like me to post it up for comparison.

You should do every body panel a different color and go for the Harlequin theme


Looks like you've got a big list of small stuff to do...but it's always more fun than work on a Festy. Congrats on the purchase! :thumbright:

[91blufestiva]

ever figure out why it veered to the left and right? nice car btw, looks just like my aqua one

[Safety Guy]

I haven't really dug into her yet. I'm just getting my garage cleaned and organized and the Mutt is ready for her final disposition; had her last bath.

I'll probably be posting some updates in the next few days. I'm off work and will still be working hard!

Karl

[GenevaDirt]

However, upon acceleration, "Aquamutt" veers to the left, and she veers back to the right when letting off the gas.

sway bar bushings.....had the same thing happen to me.