I've been thinking about buying a Festiva....

[LN323]

So, I'm mostly on the clubprotege website because I own a Mazda 323 GT. But.... I've been thinking about buying a Festiva because I might have an engine that I could dump into it for the fun of it. It's a rebuilt (slightly built up) B6 SOHC from the 86 - 89 323. I turbocharged it.

I would prefer to stick it in a Festiva FI since I'm hoping that the wiring harness would work on it instead of having to find a 323 wiring harness. At least, that's what I'm thinking.... don't know if that's accurate. That's where I'm hoping some of you could help me figure this thing out. The FI Festy narrows my market. In other words, I've found a couple of carbed Festivas, but I hesitated because to two main reasons.... the lack of the right wiring harness is one of those reasons.

The other reason is that I'm wondeirng if the Festiva 5-speed is the same or different from the Mazda 323 5-speed? If it's the same, that makes things a lot easier/nicer. If it's different, I want to know what's different before I buy a car.

So, can anyone help me out with new knowledge for me so that I know what to look for with confidence?

[Safety Guy]

Welcome! You've come to the right place. I'll answer a couple of your questions, but you'll need more detailed info from someone who has done the B6T swap, plus, if you're serious, you should do a lot of reading and use the "search" function first before asking too many questions. All of that info is here.

The Festiva uses a smaller transaxle (E series, IIRC) than the 323 (F series for standard, G series for B6T). The stock transaxle can be used with an upgraded clutch, but too much power too soon, especially with too sticky tires, will destroy it. Hard use will require the GM25R or equivalent.

Wiring a B6T into an FI Festiva is not that hard, I understand. I've only done two B6 swaps; one auto and one stock manual. The B6T swap would involve at least three or four splices, installing the B6T ECU, and maybe some more wiring on the engine harness. Not sure. All FI engines will be easier swaps into FI harness and gas tank Festivas. (Yes, the gas tank is different between carbed and FI, and fuel lines are larger on the FI, though that may not be too important for installing smaller FI engines like another B3 or the B6. Larger, thirstier engines may need the larger lines.) I'm not sure if you need parts of a 323 harness for the B6T install or not. I'd guess you do need a bit.

However, our cars are getting quite old at this point. The last one I did I rebuilt about 85%, including all hard lines under the car. I'm especially concerned with rust in brake lines. There are a few of us who have had rusted lines "pop" while driving. Not something you'd want slowing down from 100mph! So if you were to find a nice carbed car, and didn't mind replacing all hard lines (brakes, fuel, fuel return, and vapor) and the gas tank, then you'd probably need an FI harness as well. Lots of work I guess.

Keep in mind some of the great things about Festivas are the relatively low costs, great fuel economy, light weight and low profile. You will save a lot of money if you just drop that B6T in and don't flog it until you can upgrade your transaxle and other things. Aspire/Rio brake and front suspension swap comes to mind here.

Lots of possibilities with these cars. Including buying more than one!

Not that I have a problem with that.

Oh, here's my build thread for my last one, including B6 SOHC and Aspire/Rio suspension and brake upgrades:

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?31934-AquaMutt-build-thread&highlight=aquamutt

Karl

[Gomez]

He has a B6 SOHC to which added a turbo, not a B6T. So wiring into an FI car would be super simple. The stock Festiva E-series tranny will bolt up but will probably fail at some point depending on how you drive. Maybe not. Use the B6 ecu and vaf. Not sure about the 323 tranny.

[LN323]

He has a B6 SOHC to which added a turbo, not a B6T. So wiring into an FI car would be super simple. The stock Festiva E-series tranny will bolt up but will probably fail at some point depending on how you drive. Maybe not. Use the B6 ecu and vaf. Not sure about the 323 tranny.

True. I have a custom B6 that I've added a turbo to. My 323 GT, of course, has the B6T which I'm very familiar with as I have messed around with it to the point that I'm running 15 lbs. of boost safely (can go to 18 lbs. with my modded ECU) and I think I would dyno around 190 - 200 WHP. Fun stuff.

I'm currently playing around with making myself a different, high mileage daily driver that has some zip. Not a race car. Not trying to make another sleeper giant killer. Just something that gets great gas mileage (as long as I'm easy on the throttle) but I don't need to downshift when going through the mountain passes in my area (Washington state). I probably won't try to run much boost.... 5 lbs or maybe 7 lbs at most as my design currently only relies on a mechanical variable pressure regulated fuel set-up. I think it should be sufficient such that I won't run lean and burn valves considering that I'm not running gobs of boost. I would also possibly look at different injectors to help reduce that chance if bigger injectors existed for the B6.

I estimate that I may push about 100 - 110 WHP max with my set-up.... More than enough to make the 1700 lbs Festiva be rather sippy - zippy.

That's my goal anyway. I am just trying to make sure I'm ready for any big hurdles that may need to be overcome. I sure wish that a standard 323 5-speed would work somehow. Do you think the stock Festiva 5-speed would be good enough? I'm not planning on racing the darn thing. It's going to be a grocery getter. A lowered, window-tinted, Fiat killer..... LOL.

[Safety Guy]

If you're not doing burnouts and drag racing, I think the stock 5 speed would work fine. Make sure it's in good shape and use an upgraded clutch.

I've thought about just a turbo on a B3 or B6 for a good balance of power with fuel economy. No intercooler and 3 to 6 pounds of boost. I think it's a good idea, obviously.

Karl

[LN323]

Okay.... so a Festiva with auto popped up for sale in my area. Don't know much about these. How good is the auto? Is it 3-speed or 4-speed? Was a 4-speed auto (3-speed with overdrive) ever made? Would my motor bolt up to it? Is it "glass"? What kind of RPMs does it run at 70mph?

[LN323]

Wow.... already sold. That went fast....

[Damkid]

I've been thinking about buying a Festiva....

Wow that didn't last long lol

But to answer your question, all festy autos were 3 speeds, no 4 speeds although I'm sure the 4 speed autos that came in some BF 323's can easily be adapted.... The stock autos are probably around the same strength as a G series

[bhazard]

No overdrive. They are wound out pretty bad at 70...kinda like the carby 4 speeds. Generally average 32-36 mpg.

They are well overbuilt for the festiva. They were originally for bigger cars like the 323.

[LN323]

Good to know. Thx. I wonder if it would be easier/better to get a 323 4-speed auto and modify it to fit the Festy or to try and get the parts of the Mazda 323 auto and modify the Festy auto? I wonder if there's a difference? Anybody ever try either?

[zoom zoom]

I'm running 15 lbs. of boost safely (can go to 18 lbs. with my modded ECU) and I think I would dyno around 190 - 200 WHP. Fun stuff



I just want to point out that the sohc b6 is a 80hp engine, and you added a turbo so it isnt going to be the same fuel maps. I dont know either way wether b6 ecu can or cant handle the power but it might be worth going ahead and treating it like a b6(d)t swap and using the xr2 wiring harness and ecu/vaf. There was a guy on here (iceracerdude) who had a sohc b6 amd turbo'd it in an aspire but he always complained about 'tip-in' and said it gave the car driveability issues that made it more of a race only car. He had to do things to trick the ecu, so all I'm saying is that maybe to avoid quirks like that it might be better to use electronics designed for a turbo engine, and the b6t ecu might be able to be modified if rocketman still does it. You would have to ask him but iirc he told me the b6 323/tracer ecus were like festiva and aspire ecus and had the chip integrated into the board so he couldn't modify it. You can probably pick up the wiring harness and things here in a wtb ad for a fairly decent price.

Check out the turbo engine swaps forum and the first sticky. It shouldnt be that hard to upgrade a festiva to the b6t electronics.

[LN323]

More project cars have popped up on CL lately in my area..... Getting an itchy trigger finger here. One of them is an auto. I am interested in knowing if anybody has swapped in the Mazda 323 4-speed? Can it be done? If so, I'll shoot for getting this auto and start looking for the 323 auto tranny next.

As for the fuel situation with the B6.... I think my set-up will be good. I've already reduced the compression ration. I'm only planning on running 5 lbs (maybe 7 lbs) of boost max. I'm going with bigger injectors and a variable fuel pressure regulator. I think the stock B6 ECU should be okay.

[Damkid]

Yes it is possible to swap in a BF 4 speed auto... Eurotiva owned a festiva that had the 4 speed auto in it, although he didn't do the swap himself (as far as I know) but he'd be a good one to ask at least

[litesong]

More project cars have popped up on CL lately in my area..... Getting an itchy trigger finger here. One of them is an auto. I am interested in knowing if anybody has swapped in the Mazda 323 4-speed? Can it be done? If so, I'll shoot for getting this auto and start looking for the 323 auto tranny next.

As for the fuel situation with the B6.... I think my set-up will be good. I've already reduced the compression ration. I'm only planning on running 5 lbs (maybe 7 lbs) of boost max. I'm going with bigger injectors and a variable fuel pressure regulator. I think the stock B6 ECU should be okay.

Hi...... I'm near Monroe. Had my 88 Festiva 4speed, since 1990, with only a few miles on it. I love my Festiva & love 100% gasoline in it, which gives 8% to 5% more mpg. You can find 100% gasoline over at the marina in Kenmore.

[kumalaba]

dont get a carbed festy get the fi one for ease in swapping, 2nd the auto (to me is very boring) id go with the 5 speed for fun factor & mpg. the b6 will bolt up to the stock tranny & the b6 ecu, injectors, and vaf will work fine.

if adding turbo just use a fmu & you will have an easy 110 h.p. running 6-8lbs of boost. also get a little stronger clutch & if you dont powershift the stock tranny should hold. there are a few members running the 125h.p. bp dohc with the stock tranny & they hold up pretty good. welcome to the site!