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  • Enter: weh

    Hello everyone,

    As a new member of the site, I thought I'd take a thread out to introduce myself. My name is wehats, or weh for short. I live in Billings, Montana, and my dream car is..

    The 1988 Festiva L

    The L was my first car when I started driving. I got my original red one from my grandfather at 300K or so miles. I immediately fell in love with the car. After several years of young foolishness, the Festiva (which had become my trademark and a legendary car in my circle of friends) began to show signs of age. Towards the end, I was over 450K miles..

    Anyway, I lost the car. My dad took it after it broke down and I never saw it again. Presumably it's in a junkyard somewhere; I've looked all over, and no signs. One of my greatest regrets in life is not holding onto that car I apologize for this obvious heresy. I was young.

    In the last couple of days, I've had the good fortune of buying a new one though! A black 1988 L with 129K miles and purrs like a cat. I've been driving it non-stop in the last two days I've owned it and have begun making big plans. Which is where this fine community comes into play..

    I want to transform this little black Festiva into the piece of art it truly is. The problem is, I don't know anything about cars. I can change my own oil, but otherwise I am clueless. I have a million questions and I'm hoping you guys can be the help I need to make this classic car turn heads on the street. I took a couple of pictures today for your viewing pleasure:






    1. The driver's door handle (and mechanism, I think) are torn off. Also, the trunk latch mechanism is broken and the trunk won't close fully. I swept the junkyard and the Ford dealerships in town and they have nothing. Is there a place to get these things besides eBay, and what pieces do I need?

    2. The body is in pretty good shape except for the dents above the drivers door and in the rear of the passenger side. It looks like they are part of the main body of the car. How do I get those repaired? (welding or something?)

    3. After body work is complete, I'd like to get a fresh coat of paint. Any estimates or tips on that whole process?

    4. Finally, I'd like to eventually replace the interior, maybe get new seats, and install a sound system. I'm going to read all the articles on the forum, but do you have any specific advice on these operations?

    Thanks for everything in advance. I look forward to making this car beautiful with your help.

    weh
    Alpha, RSB, and FESTIVA

  • #2
    bondo....lots of bondo. if you hear any funny sounds, turn up the radio!
    In the 90's we had Clinton in office. We also had Bob Hope and Johnny Cash. Now we have Obama in office and we have no Hope and no Cash.
    God grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change, strength to change what I cannot accept, and wisdom to hide the bodies of those who piss me off!:-)
    This is NOT an abandoned vehicle

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Lil-Red View Post
      bondo....lots of bondo. if you hear any funny sounds, turn up the radio!
      haha! Now that you mention it, whenever people are riding in the back and I hit a small pump, theres a scraping sound that comes from that tear in the rear passenger side..
      Alpha, RSB, and FESTIVA

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      • #4
        the door handles are swappable, left and right are the same part, just move the clip that holds the rod if you get one off of the passenger side. the hatch might not be positioned right due to the massive damage, but if the latch is broke its a real easy replacement. there are a lot of write ups on swapping new seats from other cars (escort, escort GT, etc..) paint is a real easy one, there is also a write up on a "$50 paint job" using rustoleum non spray paint, or you can do spray paint in small layers, and just take your time, dont get in a hurry with it. rustoleum spray paint is a good choice for more than one reason. the dents and gouges are gonna be tough but maybe if you can hammer them out to your best ability, then do some bondo as mentioned, or if you have access to a welder you could weld on some patches..

        welcome to the site! please add your location to the details section of your User CP

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        • #5
          you'll have to weld in a new right rear corner to get it even CLOSE to being right, and the section above the driver door can be cut and patched. do it soon before rot sets in. replace your rear struts and bearings if they havn't been done already. i would thoroughly inspect the RR corner for unibody damage before welding in that section (you may need a bigger piece than you think.)
          Trees aren't kind to me...

          currently: 2 88Ls (Scrappy and Jersey), 88LX, 90L(Pepe), 91L, 91GL (Skippy) 93 GL Sport (the Mighty Favakk), 94 (Bruce) & 95 Aspire SEs, 97 Aspire (The Joker),
          94 Justy 4WD, 87 Fiero GT, plus 2 parts cars. That's my fleet.

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          • #6
            A (big)welcome to you!Welcome!

            You have just joined the biggest, baddest Festiva forum in the land!
            Dan




            Red 1988 Festiva L - CUJO

            Black 1992 Festiva GL Sport - BLACK MAGIC

            I'm just...a little slow... sometimes:withstupid:

            R.I.P.
            Blue 1972 Chevelle SS-468 C.I.D. B'nM TH400-4:56 posi-Black racing stripes-Black vinyl top-Black int.
            Black on black 1976 Camaro LT-350 4 bolt main .060 over
            Silver 1988 Festiva L

            My Music!
            http://www.reverbnation.com/main/sea...t_songs/266647

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            • #7
              Welcome here and have fun with us !!!

              BPT, G5M-R, BP26 Exintake swap + Fidanza cam gear, NSRT4 FMIC + 2.5" piping, HKS SSQV BOV, Exedy clutch, 3" downpipe + 2" all the way back, Aspire brake swap, KYB GR-2 & FMS coil spring , FMS EURO body kit + Carbon fiber hood, Falcon RTX 15X6˝ + Toyo proxes T1R 195/45R15

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              • #8
                Welcome! You've got your work cut out for ya, but you seem ambitious enough.
                91 Festiva GL "Scrat"
                82 Honda Goldwing GL1100i
                85 BMW 535is "Brunhild"

                Comment


                • #9
                  Welcome. I make a trip to Billings twice a year. Was up there last month and bought a Pathfinder at the Subaru dealer.
                  Chuck
                  Life's a beach, then you marry one---- Shakespeare
                  If money will fix it, it's not broken
                  91 GL -Ol' Rusty
                  93 GL - Lil Red
                  91 L - Tweetystiva
                  http://www.fuelly.com/car/ford/festi...tfordcat/54176
                  http://www.fuelly.com/car/ford/festi...tfordcat/54596

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                  • #10
                    Welcome
                    -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

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                    • #11
                      Thanks, everybody!

                      Updates:

                      Fixed the trunk latch, works well
                      Swapped passenger door handle to drivers side, works well
                      Going to look at speakers and head units today; stock audio barely works

                      How much do you think that body work is going to cost me? I'm by no means a car-guy, so I doubt I'll be able to fix that myself.
                      Alpha, RSB, and FESTIVA

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                      • #12
                        welcome! billings... man thats a little ways out there!!

                        if you don't do it yourself, it'll cost more than you want to spend probably...
                        thats what we're here for! YOU CAN DO IT!!

                        -"Hairlipstiva" 1991 GL 5spd (swapped from an auto), rolling on Enkei 14x6 +38 with 195/45/14 Toyo's, Jensen MP5720 CD deck, tach install, LED strip in cluster, down position rear wiper, FMS springs, Gabriel shocks on 4 corners, Acura Integra short shifter
                        -Escort GT 91 donor car with BP, G5M-R tranny to be dropped in the little guy...
                        -Aspire brake swap COMPLETE!
                        https://www.wunderground.com/persona...?ID=KOKOWASS38

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                        • #13
                          Billings to Kananaskis is less than 11 hours... you coming to Westiva?
                          Ian
                          Calgary AB, Canada
                          93 L B6T: June 2016 FOTM
                          59 Austin Healey "Bugeye" Sprite

                          "It's infinitely better to fail with courage than to sit idle with fear...." Chip Gaines (pg 167 of Capital Gaines, Smart Things I Learned Doing Stupid Stuff)

                          Link to the "Road Trip Starting Points" page of my Econobox Café blog

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