carbed v. fuel injection/'88 v. '91

[bravekozak]

biased

I am biased. Carbed cars don't need computer control. Read the thread on the Weber conversion.

[FestYboy]

The 88-89 models had 4 sp tranny's, Final drive of the 4 sp is 3.85 Final drive, the 5 sp is 3.77, which drops engine rpm, about 500 RPM @ hiway speeds, thus the 5 sp will give better gas mileage.

Dan you need to check your facts there bud... the 4 and 5 speed use the SAME final drive and SAME gear set in the first 4 gears. the 4 speed you're refering to is the very rare '88L low serial number california ONLY trans that were in for the first 5-6 months of production.
also, i've not YET seen a differance in milage between a 4 and 5 speed trans on a carb engine. i can get 45mpg from my '88lx and 45 in the '89L.

[1988festivazoom]

if u have a trailer i have a festy with a b6 swap (bad engine) and f series tranny aspire swap and miata wheels, 550$ come get it! its biglay5150's old car.

[Charlie1717]

You ought to contact the guy with the LX and just ask if you can buy any of the goodies.
Maybe trade mirros + cash, Spoiler?, underseat tray, etc. Just ask if you could buy any of those things. Then make your L a 91 lx or sell the stuff

[FestYboy]

no spoilers for LX's... that didn't happen till the GL came on the scene.

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

Matt,

I see you're also from Seattle. Good luck finding a decent carb shop around here. I paid the so-called carb experts in Kirkland (just outside Seattle) big bucks a few years ago for a supposedly-rebuild carb and everything else they insisted I needed (whole new ignition system, etc.) to cure a bad "lurching" problem and horrible mpg (about 25 highway). I've still got both problems, despite several trips back to the shop. The car runs so poorly that it's only useful as a backup.

If you do buy the carb'd one and stumble across a decent carb shop, please make a post. Otherwise, my pristine Seattle 88LX is on my "ToDo" list to be converted to FI from one of the donors sitting in my back yard.

BTW, I have a plain-jane 88 in Anchorage to which I've never done a tuneup in 8 years, and let it get buried in snow every winter. It still gets 39 city even with jackrabbit starts at every light.

[drddan]

Dan you need to check your facts there bud... the 4 and 5 speed use the SAME final drive and SAME gear set in the first 4 gears. the 4 speed you're refering to is the very rare '88L low serial number california ONLY trans

Not according to this - post #9 Where do you think I got what I posted? Thats called ....research! :p

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=11540

I have an 88L non california Festy, its a 4 sp. I did, however, forget about the LX's having 5 sp tx. Duh!

[FestYboy]

yeah, and if you'll remember, we (the forum) discussed those numbers and came to the conclusion that the 4 speed mentioned in that post is the Cali model. if you were to reasearch this you'd find that the late '88 and '89 model year 4 speed has the same ratios as the 90-93 5 speeds minus the 5th gear. that's why you can make a 4 speed trans a 5 speed without touching the diff.

[drddan]

Matt,

I see you're also from Seattle. Good luck finding a decent carb shop around here. I paid the so-called carb experts in Kirkland (just outside Seattle) big bucks a few years ago for a supposedly-rebuild carb and everything else they insisted I needed (whole new ignition system, etc.) to cure a bad "lurching" problem and horrible mpg (about 25 highway). I've still got both problems, despite several trips back to the shop. The car runs so poorly that it's only useful as a backup.

If you do buy the carb'd one and stumble across a decent carb shop, please make a post. Otherwise, my pristine Seattle 88LX is on my "ToDo" list to be converted to FI from one of the donors sitting in my back yard.

BTW, I have a plain-jane 88 in Anchorage to which I've never done a tuneup in 8 years, and let it get buried in snow every winter. It still gets 39 city even with jackrabbit starts at every light.

But, that might just be me. I'm biased. (bravekozak's fault!)
I would do a Weber carb conversion, before I would try to have a stock carb re-built. Your Festiva will run better, stronger, and generally, both you and the Festy will be happier.

All the money spent to expensive mechanics, and trying to get a build kit, just to get it to run decent, not to mention all those vacumm lines. They can disappear for the Weber.

But, that just might be me. I'm biased. (bravekozak's fault!)

[Festiva Time]

I would go with the '88 if you can get away with installing a Weber carb conversion. In Arizona, we can't mess with the carb.

[drddan]

yeah, and if you'll remember, we (the forum) discussed those numbers and came to the conclusion that the 4 speed mentioned in that post is the Cali model. if you were to reasearch this you'd find that the late '88 and '89 model year 4 speed has the same ratios as the 90-93 5 speeds minus the 5th gear. that's why you can make a 4 speed trans a 5 speed without touching the diff.

Hmmm... musta missed that conversation. So what you are saying, is that this sticky, has incorrect information in it?
And why has it not been corrected? So that I, and others, trying to do good research, do not get incorrect info. Or at least noted about the cali models.
I still question this, though. My 4 sp runs 3600-3800 rpm's at hiway speeds.
I hear of 5 sps running around 3100 rpms. So, what gives?

[FestYboy]

3000 rpm in Scrappy (5spd) is 74mph and the same MPH in my 89 is 3550ish which is the same as running Scrappy in 4th at said MPH.

besides, to fix the info, you'd have to alter the picture in the thread. and unlock the thread to make a clareification, not impossible, but no one has taken the time to do it.

i see you have an 88LX and an 88L, so do an experament and run your LX at a given speed in 4th and then run the L at the same speed in 4th and show the results...

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

I didn't know I had an alternative carb choice when I paid the carb shop to "Fix it!" Would that really have met emissions test requirements, though, if you say you can yank all the plumbing?