First time Festiva owner!

[NaturalSelection]

Hello all!

Two days ago I never would have thought that I would be the owner of a Ford vehicle! Then I saw it. A 1989 Festiva L. Only $900 on craigslist. Posted mere hours ago! I just had to call and sure enough it was still available. Whats more, the seller agreed to hold it for me until I was able to get out of work 5 hours later!

As soon as I saw her I knew she was the car for me. A flawless white body and tiny 12' wheels with on 167,000 miles, she has certainly been around the block, but doesn't show it! I know she still has a lot of miles left in her.

After overcoming my initial head-over-heels reaction, my eye became a little more discerning. I noticed that the drivers side cv joint boot was torn and the passenger boot missing entirely! The passenger side windshield wiper does not work and it kind of smells like cats. The idle is a little sporadic and going over 65 mph seems a little...well...nervous. All things considered the hour drive home was great, but I didn't want to push it to hard. Visibility was amazing. Four gears was a little odd as I felt that the car could go 'one higher'.

Overall, I am satisfied with my purchase, even though I know that I will probably have to pony up some cash for the eventual repairs such as clutch, front axle, timing belt, water pump, ect...

So I guess I am just posting to say hi, and asking any general advice for a first time Festiva owner.

Here's looking at another 100,000 miles!

[dalebwilson]

welcomsign

Before you drive it much, jack the front end of the car up and check the front end for looseness such as wheel bearings, ball joints, tie rod ends, lower control arm bushings and sway bar. You will have to do this anyway when you replace that CV joint. When you replace the timing belt, replace the crankshaft, camshaft seals, water pump and tensioner at the same time. When you replace the clutch, dont forget to replace the rear main seal. Sporadic idle could be a vacuum leak, TPS or malfunctioning idle air control valve. Add your location and let us know whether your car is carbed or EFI.

[bhearts]

There's always a chance, but by chance is your Google account name natural selection?

[M3NTAL]

Welcome :fofd:ttiwwp

[scitzz]

Welcome!

[NaturalSelection]

Thanks for the replies, and thanks Dale for the advice! Here are some pictures of my new Festy! I am in the Portland area.

IMAG0957.jpg IMAG0953.jpg IMAG0954.jpg IMAG0956.jpg

[n5554t]

Looks great. You'll develop a special love affair with "her".

[TorqueEffect]

Gorgeous

[M3NTAL]

LOVE white Festys

Nice Ride !

[TominMO]

Thanks for the replies, and thanks Dale for the advice! Here are some pictures of my new Festy! I am in the Portland area.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]16338[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]16339[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]16340[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]16341[/ATTACH]

Welcome. That's a beauty. I'm glad you have a carby manual (IIRC all 89 manuals are carbies, or at least most of them); the '89 autos had an EFI system that was unique to that year, and some parts would be harder to source. Plus the MPGs on these 3-speed autos is nothing special.

There's a ton of things you can do to these cars to make them whatever you need/want them to be. First purchase should be a Haynes manual, for the procedures, pics, and specific stats and details like torque values, etc.

Tie rod ends and LCA ball joints are very important to replace, for safety. Having good ones and an alignment (which you can do yourself for free, with a friend helping), will go a long way to fix that shaking at hwy speeds. Alignment is by the tape-measure method; helpful to have friend hold one end, but possible by yourself.

The cheapest way to get better-quality, more-available tires is to go to 13" Metro steelies from the JY. They just bolt right on. Keep a good full-size 12" tire as your spare, not the donut thingy. The slightly-taller 13s will lower your hwy RPMs a little, for a slight improvement in MPG. But of course the right foot is the main determinant. The 5-speed tranny is a direct swap-in, in case you were wondering.

These are great cars to learn wrenching on, if you are not an experienced shadetree guy already. Most procedures are pretty simple and access is quite good, but there are some curve balls--often related to rust, so hopefully you will avoid a lot of that since you are in the PNW (no road salt). Others are design issues, like replacing front brake rotors.

Get top-quality parts, esp. for suspension/steering parts!

I lived in Cannon Beach for three years, BTW, from '99-'02.

[festyxfi]

Welcome! I have a soft spot for a carbie. The first festy I had was an 89L, blue, 4 spd I bought for $150 bucks in Idaho with no title (amazing how easy it is to swap the VIN off the dash with a rusty parts car) I drove that bugger 150K, then passed it on to a friend who drove it another 50K until he finally killed it (or gave up on a simple fix)

You'll love that car.

FX

[An Amish Woman]

Welcome to the forum!

[eurotiva]

Welcome

[n5554t]

NaturalSelection, over the last several decades I've had the pleasure (some not so) of owning drag race cars, hot rods, foreign performance cars, muscle cars from the 60's and 70's, C3 thru C5 Corvettes...BUT there is something very special about my first Festy. I've put too much money and time in it but I'll continue to just that. It's a special car for me and I can only hope yours is for you too.
Good luck and hang in there, even when you feel like quiting the "tinkering". It's therapeutic.