what strange mod are you doing to your festy?

[evyj]

Well let me tell you a lil about myself. I'm currently the owner of my 4th Festiva. The first two were just totally shot and were no way ever gonna be able to see the road again. Given that I took them and made a good ,well halfway good, demo car. I reinforced it as mush as I could and ran two figure 8 races an oval track race and finally a full on demo. I ended up not doing anything in the races due to stupid issues but got 4th in the demo. The 3rd Festiva I got was just a shell with no title so I took what parts I might be able to use down the road and someone bought it. Got my fourth one and drove it 2 days and it just died. Not sure what happened everything we tried didn't work. Finally I changed the motor with one of the 3 I had and its going again. Not going to lie it has some rough spots on the body I will have to aggress along with a little front end damage from a deer hit from the previous owner.
My next full out project for my next Festiva is going to cost and take some ingenuity. I'm going to put a Festiva body on top of an old cj jeep frame. I also plan on having a 350 Chevy and turbo 350 tranny. All hooked up to a ford 9in rear end. I'm going to lift it and have a fully functional 4x4 festiva. What are your thoughts and strange mods.

[Bert]

Somewhere on this forum there are already photos around of a mod just like that. As to how you hide a 350 in there and still have room to sit, and also be able to work on the engine, is going to be curious. Maybe a 'cab over' type arrangement to articulate the Festy shell?
Good luck and where do you hail from? Obviously not Australia where even a B6 transplant is verboten without gov't authorization and engineering certification.

[evyj]

I live in USA in Illinois. I don't know what steps I'll have to take to get it street legal either.

[blkfordsedan]

It can done. The frame will probably be a little big. You may have to shorten it. I always figured an old Suzuki Samauri chassis would be great for a Festiva. They're short and narrow, yet still pretty tough. They also have a divorced transfer case, which would make a motor/trans swap easier. You'll have to check with your local State laws. The proper way here is to apply for an "assembled vehicle title". Insurance may be an issue however.

I still have a 74 Mustang II hatchback mounted on a 67 Bronco chassis that I built in Highschool. I drove it for years (almost 100k miles) and just had in licensed and insured as a Mustang. I got pulled over all the time, but never got a ticket. I did get a warning for tires sticking out past the wheel wells once....The track width is actually narrower on the old Bronco, but I had 32x11.50 Ground Hawg tires so they stuck out about 4" past the wheelwells. I cut and reshaped the floor pan do the body sat right down on top of the frame. It looks great, since you cant see the frame under the car at all. I don't know what issues I would have had if I ever got into an accident. Back in the '80s it was no big deal, but insurance companies now look for any excuse to deny a claim. It's been sitting in storage for 20 years for that very reason.

[GenevaDirt]

been done....last post has pic plus a few before it have links

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?41259-Looking-for-4x4-Festiva-Picture&highlight=plow+festiva

[evyj]

I will b building one. I plan on having it plated to drive in Illinois or I'll plate it in Iowa since there lift laws are more lax. But then I will also take it off reading in the mud at a local mudding club.

[gorgonheimer]

I'm working on a gunrack for behind the seat to hold a mossberg and a fire ax...

[bobbyspider]

Im still kicking around the idea of putting a dodge 2.2t motor in one of mine. Can anyone say light torque monster!