Aspire's Salvage Potential

[georgeb]

There might be some disagreement on the "upgrade is always better" mentality.

[91mcnasty]

its weird that you say the trannies are weak, because when i bought mine( for the brake swap ) about the third time i "speed shifted" lol the trans started binding up like it lost a bearing or something(fluid level was good) so i....... dumped the clutch and got her going again i figured ill get as close to home as possible before she blows!!!! i was NOT NOT NOT being excessively hard on it either, i realize no matter how fast you shift a 60 HP car its still gonna be a slow. the festy has taken 60X the abuse the aspire got, and the aspire only had 95K!!!!!

EDIT: PAUL DONT MESS AROUND WHEN YOU DOWNGRADE A FESTY!!!!!

[HondaSlayer]

I love the description Paul just gave. It is perfect. I'm not a big fan of aspires either. I got a good laugh out of reading that.

[neanderpaul]

The aspire is a heavy, slug, ugly, GIRL car. It's is a rolling brake swap waiting to happen. They took a perfect thing and broke it in many ways. The only reason we use parts from it is because the brakes and suspension turn the festiva into a go kart. They are literally high performance because of the weight difference. So you buy a brake swap.. Ehem, aspire with a bad transmission because they are not as strong as a festivas and use the only good parts - brakes, suspension. And keep the engine. But you still have to remove the more restrictive exhaust manifold from the aspire b3. I now know of 11 500k festivas, 2 600k festivas, and 1 750k festiva. Yet I only know of 2 400k aspires. The interior is encroached and ruined in the aspire as well. The seats don't fold out of the way like a festiva's does. So leaving the festivas brakes stock poses no problem for dd use. Using the aspire for a performance brake swap is for having fun. When I've parted out aspires the transmissions created a feeding frenzy because they break. Did I mention it's a girl car? The festiva has angles and fender bulges. It straight looks masculine. The aspire is soft and round like a short plump girl.

[zoom zoom]

Lol, no need for mad bro's, it's just the facts.. if festivas were better, I'd be pulling parts to swap onto my Aspire from them, but I haven't found a worthy component yet! You guys upgrade for Aspire stuff all the time!

[neanderpaul]

I wouldn't go there - NP is gonna get you for that.

I was about to pull the trigger. :angry1:

[loknlode]

Psh, I'd spend the money fixing the spire instead of putting stuff in the festy. Unless the spire has more rust where it counts. Who wants to settle for 1st gen, second is always better, if it wasn't they wouldn't 'upgrade' right?

I wouldn't go there - NP is gonna get you for that.

[Safety Guy]

My understanding is that you use whatever mounts your car came with. Use those mounts on the transaxle you install in place of their original mounts.

Karl

[htc]

There are so many threads to search... I think I find more information on something when I look to learn about another. The search function just kills me, I either get no results or too many pages to possibly read through.

Useful parts:
good motor and clutch
transmission
brake swap (with master cylinder)
front seat swap
gas tank (if a two-door)
radio? struts/springs?

BTW, I've read about issues with swapping trannies from aspires as far as mounts and crossmembers go. Can anyone shed some light on the compatibility or possibly share a link to some specs?

[Safety Guy]

Aspires are about 400 pounds heavier than Festivas, In order to move that weight they also have lower final drive ratios. Both factors tend to work against Aspire performance and fuel economy, though the Aspire looks like it has better aerodynamics.

The Aspire's better brakes and 4 X 100mm bolt pattern are certainly "improvements," but they are even better when installed as Festiva upgrades.

Aspires may have a bit more room inside, they come with airbags and manual seatbelts, and you may find one with antilock brakes, so if those qualities are important to you, you may prefer an Aspire. Same thing if you need a four door.

Karl

[htc]

Psh, I'd spend the money fixing the spire instead of putting stuff in the festy. Unless the spire has more rust where it counts. Who wants to settle for 1st gen, second is always better, if it wasn't they wouldn't 'upgrade' right?

I just can't stand the bubbly look of the aspire. Not that I'm driving an italian sports car anyway, but when it comes down to it I choose the 'stiva.

And don't Festiva's typically get better gas mileage? Granted I've never tested an Aspire myself, but I see consistently higher numbers from the festy in sale ads and on the forum.

[Safety Guy]

If you choose the 'yard route, go a day or two early and apply liberal doses of PB Blaster to all connections, especially the brake lines. Tap them all a bit and return later after they've soaked for a few days. Use some more PBB upon your return, tour the rest of the 'yard to see if anything is new, then get to work taking your Aspire parts off. They should not be as difficult as they would have been if you tried all at one time.

As for a used Aspire parts car, consider the following:

-Do you have room to keep it awhile?
-How many mods are you interested in?
-Got anyone you know who may need some of the parts?
-Do you have good fabbing skills so you can use some of the extra sheet metal as a more "raw" resource? For example, you might be able to use the Aspire's spare tire well to replace a rusted out Festiva well (I haven't looked at this so it might not work too well).

As Tom pointed out, the two doors may be more useful than the four doors if you want an FI gas tank. The rubber "stoppers" in the spare tire well should fit the same holes as in the Festiva (so do Kia Rio rubber stoppers, which are a lot fresher!). I also like to "harvest" the light blue hard line brackets under the left middle of the body. They are exact duplicates of the old, brown grungy Festiva brackets that can get bent up while working to replace hard lines. Heck, for that matter, harvest some of the old brake line connecting pieces if you plan on doing some brake line replacement work. They should be newer and less rusty than Festiva connectors and could save you from buying new ones. You might also find some newer rubber hoses on your parts Aspire, as well as other newer parts the last owner may have put on.

Karl

[TominMO]

I'm interested in doing an aspire brake swap in the near future, but I'm trying to decide whether to go to a junk yard and spend the day cursing rusted fasteners while I work frantically with minimal tools... Or would it be worth my while to look into a parts Aspire? Granted the Aspire would cost more, but could that investment be offset by other salvageable goodies?

My question is what is an Aspire worth to a Festiva?
-Brakes/Suspension
-Wheels/Tires
-Engine (unsure of OBD-I/OBD-II configuration)

94 and 95 Aspire are OBD-I, 96 and 97 are OBD-II. Gas tanks for Aspire two-doors are the same as EFI Festy gas tanks BTW.

[Glow_Mouse]

im with zoomie. id build a spire. Mercury cougar seat swap or the mazda atenza seat swap. Mazda protege 323 brake swap and escort GT engine swap.

Best bang for buck.

[zoom zoom]

Psh, I'd spend the money fixing the spire instead of putting stuff in the festy. Unless the spire has more rust where it counts. Who wants to settle for 1st gen, second is always better, if it wasn't they wouldn't 'upgrade' right?