Aspire/Festiva brake swap: master cylinder

[Bert]

I got the donor Aspire on to my buddy's hoist today and started stripping the car in anticipation of the brake and suspension swap with a Festiva. Loosed off an entire can of penetrating oil and have skinned my knuckles already. No one mentions anything about also swapping the master brake cylinder and yet I notice that the Aspire power brake booster is much larger than that of a Festiva. Can I retain the Festiva master brake cyl or is it prudent to switch to Aspire gear while swapping the brakes?
If anyone is looking for specific Aspire parts (97 5 door ABS auto, not crashed, and with a rad twice the size of a Festy rad) contact me at vaningen@sympatico.ca What I am finding is that shipping or mail is often worth more than the part no matter what it is.

[freshtiva]

Go with the aspire MC. It has a bigger bore.

[muscle_Car1]

i like using the stock festy master & booster. It gives more feeling to the brakes where others want max brakeing all the time.

On the 4 swaps I've done, I've never used the aspire stuff.

[Occhty]

The booster will bolt right in without any mods, I've done this swap many times.
Currently I have one swapped with the aspire booster and also have one swapped with the festy booster, I can't tell the difference between the two. In my opinion it's the master cylinder that makes the difference, so use the booster that's in the best shape. If your planning on swapping the engine to the b6,bp,turbo, than space may be an issue too

[Bert]

Appreciate the advice. Am not interested in performing more work than I have to. There is much more room in the manual trans Festiva engine bay than in the auto Aspire with oversize brake booster, ABS, power steering and a huge rad. I have spare boosters and M/Cs from other Festivas so I'll not bother with doing this swap. I was afraid I'd have no pedal, or, have to use both feet to stop the car once the Aspire brakes were on.

[Safety Guy]

I've done two Aspire brake/suspension swaps (finishing up my third now) and I've used the stock Festiva MC. They work fine. Also, if by "improving" the brakes folks mean making them "touchier" then I prefer the non-touchy-ness of the stock Festiva MC. A little power boost is enough for me!

Karl

[TominMO]

I have Capri XR2 front brakes with the Festy M/C and am happy with the setup. I thought about changing the M/C to an Aspire one, but this one is almost new.

[yelo festiva]

m/c setup

I've got aspire swap on yelo with stock festy booster and m/c. Works great. It's about a 30% improvment. Keep in mind there would be a minor plumbing change with aspire m/c. brake lines. Good luck with the change out.

[Bert]

Aspire torsion bar, Aspire B3,

You folks provide a wealth of 'been there, done that' experience. The only advice I can offer up in eastern Canada is on how to keep Festivas from salt-accelerated oxidization. There is a derelict but pretty pair of 15 in. Enkei mag rims at my buddy's shop. They fit right on Aspire rigging (100mm and correct hub dia) but the offset is greater by about 1/2 inch. I read that low profile tires are curb and pothole-damage prone. Any advice there? Also, should I also be swapping the Aspire front torsion bar into a Festiva; it is considerably more robust looking.
Festivas have to count amongst the last of the 'highway go karts' that only require mechanical intuition, a screwdriver and 10 mm wrench to almost entirely disassemble; that GD parts Aspire is fraught with concealed fasteners and other frustrating stuff.
I'm going to swap the low-mile B3 from it into a Festiva and notice the intake air plumbing is quite different. Am I to understand that Aspire B3s have a little more 'umpf' than FI Festiva B3s or is that wishful thinking?
Happy New Year everybody!