93 Barn Find

[old yellow]

it's kinda like when dad bought his second festiva (but not really).... woman died and man hoards it for at least 12 years and guy (second owener) buys it from state with about 30,000 mi when the hoarder dies and cleans it up to sell for $2,000 where we now have it with about 52,000 miles (since we bought it)

[Barn_Find]

All good 411 on the parts. Thx

[Barn_Find]

I'm gonna need seat covers. The Arizona sun did a number on the original fabric. It actually would have been better stored in barn instead of under a trailer park carport in CA and AZ.

[Advancedynamix]

Seat covers and foam from other Mazda/Ford cars like Escorts, tracers, 323, protege will fit on the Festiva frames. You'll want to use the seat backs from whatever seat you choose. This is a very common mod. I have Tracer seats in my 88 festy. More comfortable and nicer looking than stock.

[Dragonhealer]

Barn_Find, you got a serious score that you obviously deserved!
Guess I'll line up behind Charlie if you ever need to sell!

[Bert]

And one of the good parts of this story is it doesn't have auto tranny. Seems to me usually that's what they are in the context of used-only-on-Sundays-by-little-old lady circumstances

[1990new]

Charlie mentioned the Trace seats earlier. Here is a link to some photos of my Tracer seats switch in Trixie.
http://s1222.photobucket.com/user/19...2089%20Festiva

They are soooo much more comfortable.

[sc72]

I did a seat swap from a 91/94 Mazda Protégé, they are quite comfortable, good luck

[drddan]

I did a seat swap from a 1999 Pontiac Montana, they are quite comfortable, good luck

(just had to throw that out there, Karl)

small captain's seats, with armrests! Ha!

[Barn_Find]

Thanks everyone, all great 411. Update to the Barn Find (Trailer Park). Had to have the CV joints replaced. Found new ones not refurbished for 100 each and had them installed by a shop around corner. Without calling me they added some freon to the non factory installed AC system to see if there were leaks or other issues, and none were found and the AC now works for free, no charge. When I went to pick up the car they were all gathered around to tell me how much they love the car. The original smart car for a fraction of what a smart car actually costs with the same mileage. I took it out last night for a cruise and it kind of "shimmys" at 65mph. At 55mph its great but highway speed I think I need to head down to discount tire and have them check out balance, alignment, etc. One thing is for sure, turning on ac is like punching it in the gut.

[Eaglefreek]

I took it out last night for a cruise and it kind of "shimmys" at 65mph. At 55mph its great but highway speed I think I need to head down to discount tire and have them check out balance, alignment, etc. One thing is for sure, turning on ac is like punching it in the gut.

That's the typical 12" tire shimmy. It's hard to get rid of.

[Advancedynamix]

We are all working on solving the problem of the mystery shake. Sometimes it comes and goes, some roads worse than others, it's almost always 55-65mph and smoothes out after 70 except on extreme cases.
I believe it's caused by the fact that modern cheap tires aren't round anymore. Newer cars are nearly twice the weight of a Festiva. Even the little fiat 500 outweighs a Festiva by over 1000 lbs. The tire runout isn't noticeable on heavy cars, but it is on our ultra light little gas sippers.
I think that when the dissimilarity of the tires a aligns itself just right, the car will ride smooth, but when the tires are clocked 180 degrees opposite of this "smooth spot" the car will shake as the tires wobble opposite each other.
There are several options to fix this;
Option 1: Deal with it, and don't drive 65 (insert Sammy Hagar if you desire)
Option 2: Buy expensive name brand tires. You won't find quality tires in 12" diameter in this country, so prepare to upgrade to at least a 13" wheel.
Option3: get your tires shaved round. ( This is a theory, but it's what they did in the days when cars were light and tires weren't round)
Option4: put a heavier engine further forward in the car. This worked on my b6t car that has nearly 200 more pounds on the front tires and only shook with cold bias ply slicks that were loaded with track slag.

[J Daniel Santos]

Just finished reading the whole thread and WOW WHAT A SWEET Deal congrats! and yeah more pics when ya can

[bravekozak]

Time to prepare for an EMP explosion. Since you already have an electric fuel pump + fuel return line, you only need to bolt on a set of carbs and throw away your computer.

[Barn_Find]

Thanks bro