Second life of "S.o.L.".

[Spike]

No.. it's short for "Stroke of Luck". This little car came into my life a few days ago by one of the greatest guys on this forum. He (the car) is a '93 5-speed L, 105k miles, and ready for his new lease on life.

This car sat since 2008 before being given to another forum member, who then sold it to me in my time of need (stolen daily driver). All he did to get it running before I bought it was put in new engine fuses, a battery, and pads and shoes (and some very nice Protege front seats!). It started right up on a full tank of old fuel!
Having sat in the sun for quite a while, he's a little sun-baked but I hope to put a fresh coat of paint on top, and undercoat down low at some point soon.

Put in 3.5 gallons of premium and ran through what was in the tank. Came out to 38.4MPG running on pretty much.. varnish. Truly amazing.

My work so far:

New exhaust from cat back
New/used 13" wheels (Geo Metro... and one that wasn't for a Metro [the green wheel.. oops])
New 175/70-13 GT Radial tires (the stock 155R12s were USA-made.. tells you how old they were)
Tune-up so far.. PCV valve, plug wires and in-tank fuel pump. Needs a lot of PB Blaster before it goes further.

Also when I bought the wheels, they had a recently-wrecked Festiva with power mirrors and mudflaps! They tossed them in free with the wheels!! Also got a stock jack and handle, thermostat housing, and some shiny door pulls.

So the story shall continue. So far, he runs like a top.

Thanks again, Charlie.

Joe

Also, no pictures of the full interior as I just made my junkyard run.. it's a little dirty and old tires filled up the hatch.

[Damkid]

Looks like it's in decent shape body wise!! Glad to hear you weren't without a festy for long

[Spike]

Looks like it's in decent shape body wise!! Glad to hear you weren't without a festy for long

It's in really good shape, only a little tiny bit of rust starting under driver and passenger floorboad, and a dollar-sized hole under driver's rear wheel well area. A little bit of work and it should last a long time!

So far, my list of future repairs include:

Windshield sprayer in-op
Power belts in-op
Install driver's taillight (included with car )
Paint wheels, new wheel covers until then
Install new passenger headlight (luckily I have a spare)

[drddan]

That looks like a great fix'er upper! Nice what the peeps on here can do!

[bravekozak]

only a little tiny bit of rust starting under driver and passenger floorboad, and a dollar-sized hole under driver's rear wheel well area.

Check for a perforation above the main wiring harness, on the inner firewall.
Water may be running down onto the drivers floorboard.

[william]

Good looking car . Charlie hooked you up!
Fairly low miles too!

[Charlie1717]

Joe left out the best part of the story

There may have been some cash left in the car from before 2003!

Joe's Mom found it in the manual, in the glove box. I cleaned out the car top to bottom, including the glove box. I even flipped through the manual. When Joe got home and his mom found it, Joe gave me a call... "Hey Charlie... did you happen to lose any money?" me, "nope!" Joe, "well there is $3,000 dollars in $100 bills in here...

WHAT!?

End of the day, I split the cash with Joe. Joe basically got a free Festiva and $1,000 and I got $2,000 for giving Joe a Festiva! One of the best days ever!

I'm just glad the car is with someone who is going to enjoy and fix the car up. It is a solid running car and has a lot of life left.

[Spike]

Joe left out the best part of the story

There may have been some cash left in the car from before 2003!

Joe's Mom found it in the manual, in the glove box. I cleaned out the car top to bottom, including the glove box. I even flipped through the manual. When Joe got home and his mom found it, Joe gave me a call... "Hey Charlie... did you happen to lose any money?" me, "nope!" Joe, "well there is $3,000 dollars in $100 bills in here...

WHAT!?

End of the day, I split the cash with Joe. Joe basically got a free Festiva and $1,000 and I got $2,000 for giving Joe a Festiva! One of the best days ever!

I'm just glad the car is with someone who is going to enjoy and fix the car up. It is a solid running car and has a lot of life left.

I wasn't sure if you wanted to tell that part or not! Loved me a free awesome little car.

Reasoning for "Stroke Of Luck". Otherwise no updates aside from a SeaFoam treatment and oil change. Haven't been home to work on it, and when I have, it's been too darn cold. :p