Proud new owner of a 1991 Ford Festiva 5spd! GL!

[Bert]

Welcome!
Front brakes are problematic on these cars in that to replace a solid disc rotor you have to remove the entire hub to do so. This means releasing the driveaxles, undoing ball joints etc etc which is a lot of work. Next generation Aspires have a much better/simpler and more modern front brake system with "floating" (held in place by the rim and wheel nuts) ventilated discs that can be serviced or replaced in 10 minutes, and they're larger and with a more universal wheel bolt pattern (4 x 100mm), and they swap-in direct to a Festy. Many Festy diehards have swapped-in Aspire suspensions (rear beam and brakes are also a direct fit) for this and numerous good reasons.
Drive, enjoy and become familiar with your car for awhile first. It's nice to be able to thumb your nose at gas guzzlers at the pumps and to be nimble in traffic and parking lots.

[Larry Hampton]

..............as I gaze into my crystal ball.................. I see a Escort rear wiper mod in your future........

[bravekozak]

Larry, you should add Escort dome lamp.

Cold, are you going to park it for the winter?

[getnpsi]

Fest-off, the ultimate makeover edtion. All fom winners post their ideas in 2 paragraphs or less what they would do over the winter to this car if they didnt own any festivas anymore.

[ColdFlame53]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone! Uhmm where do i begin?! Well Larry Hampton my Festiva came stock with a rear wiper blade, in response to bravekozak i am not going to park it over the winter the previous owner supplied with 5 all new snow tires (: plus before this I was riding a Beachcruiser style bicylce with a 2stroke motor mounted to it too and from work lol, and the next "mod" after i get used to having no tach and a manual trans is deff a 10inch sub with amp the brakes and struts all around are brand new so i do not think im going to upgrade to the aspire till they are shot, and also in response to redspire i am from a smaller town near Allentown/Bethelehem if you are familiar with those areas?

[ColdFlame53]

In response to getnpsi, im no veteran trolling (: I'm 21, a novice mechanic working at a quick lube, and the proud new owner of an awesome Festiva! I'm going to do a "photoshoot" tommorow!

[redspire]

Cold you're about an hour from a couple of us Lancaster guys. Any questions, don't ask me lol, Festyboy aka Arty is your go to guy. Hes seriously the best. We should have a mini meet sometime with us eastern pa guys

[ColdFlame53]

I am soo down for a mini meet! I've got the festiva madness !!

[TominMO]

I am soo down for a mini meet! I've got the festiva madness !!

Hahahahahaha! Abandon all hope, ye who enter here......Festys will take over your life!

[Larry Hampton]

ColdFlame53, the rear wiper mod is a mod to change the stopped position of the rear wiper blade from an over-vertical position to a horizontal position. You go to the junkyard and find a '96 and older body style Escort wagon and open up the rear wiper gearbox and remove the gear and arm. Then you do the same to your gearbox and the wiper will stop in the horizontal position.

[eurotiva]

Coldflame, congrats on your new car, they are great from mpg, too fast as a Corvette. You'll have lots of fun with it. Go meet Arty when you get a chance

[Advancedynamix]

Welcome to the site, and to festiva ownership. These cars are about as easy as you can get to work on, and there are few cars which can come even close to how cheap they are to maintain and modify. The best part though is the other people you'll meet with that little car.

[eurotiva]

X2 ^

I don't know of any other car that would bring so many people so many miles to look at festivas.

[1chrisapple]

In response to getnpsi, im no veteran trolling (: I'm 21, a novice mechanic working at a quick lube, and the proud new owner of an awesome Festiva! I'm going to do a "photoshoot" tommorow!

I think he was joking

[1990new]

Welcome....get ready to have a lot of fun with your Festiva.
My first impression is that you got a terrific deal on it at $2000.... and I'm with you on the suspension modifications. Hold off until you get
some wear on those new parts, study up on the Festiva, meet other owner, and learn all you can about all the pitfalls so you don't
make the same mistakes that we have already made doing simple maintenance (like breaking the housing when you change the thermostat).
One of the first things I would suggest is to swap out you instrument cluster for one with a tach and you will get the bonus of the buzzer which remind you that you left you light on.