Opinions please!

[Sleeper]

Hi guys,

As some know i've been looking for a clean festiva in ontario canada for awhile now. It's almost impossible to find a rust free festiva up here anymore, just yesterday I posted a thread on importing a festiva from out west ( Alberta/B.C )

Today I found a festiva for sale about 3 hrs away from me and its a rust free festiva that was imported from palm springs florida.

Price is good $600, has a broken spring, but he has a replacement. The only catch is it's an 88 and its Carbed. He said in the ad that it does not want to idle sometimes.

Here is the Ad : http://www.kijiji.ca/v-cars-trucks/k...ationFlag=true

My plan is to eventually swap a b6d or b6t and do full brake and suspension upgrades.

My first concern is that I would be using it as a daily driver until i gather all of the parts for an engine swap, and i use my car for my work, so it being reliable is a must. i have owned many festiva's but only one was a carb model and it never ran right and i never got it on the road ( same issue, would'nt idle )... so can the festiva carb be rebuilt and how hard is it to tune?

Also if I buy this car I wont be keeping it carbed. From what i gather to swap to efi i will have to strip the interior and swap the harness from an efi festiva front to back and also swap in an efi fuel tank.... any input on how crazy ... or stuipd that idea is??

If i lived in an area with rust free festiva's i would'nt even bother with this car, but the price is good, and so is the body.... I don't know if I should just pay $2500-3000 to import a rust free car to my door, or go with this car... i'm not sure which option is best

Honest opinions please!

[nutoofestiva]

I had an 88 carbed festiva that I converted to fuel injection. I only had to swap in the engine harness and related fuel injection parts. It was fairly easy and made the car way better. Also if the car is rust free 600 is a decent deal. But make sure you check it over pretty well.

[Sleeper]

Thanks for the input nutoofestiva, if i go and look at it I will be looking it over pretty good and especially the underside of the car.

It looks like there are carb rebuild kits for next to nothing on rockauto and ebay, I'm wondering A: how hard is it to rebuild the carb? and B: Will I have problems starting it in the cold months? and C: again.... is this the smart thing to do?

[Festiver]

Thanks for the input nutoofestiva, if i go and look at it I will be looking it over pretty good and especially the underside of the car.

It looks like there are carb rebuild kits for next to nothing on rockauto and ebay, I'm wondering A: how hard is it to rebuild the carb? and B: Will I have problems starting it in the cold months? and C: again.... is this the smart thing to do?

Carbs are very easy to rebuild just have a nice open table lay a white towel down even set up a video camera as you take it apart that way you can watch it if you forget anything and if you were going to b6t swap you'd want to do a full harness swap anyway there's a small amount more work but all and all i wouldn't be discouraged because of the carb

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[FestYboy]

Why rebuild? Remove the offending piece and replace with an escort carb with appropriate adapter. Instant daily driver and tuning is MUCH easier. Yes there's more initial investment, but then there's no question about it running especially since winter is upon us. And also once you swap over to EFI, you can sell the carb swap.

[Advancedynamix]

For me, the most frustrating part of the carb to efi swap was the fuel lines. Most of the assembly of a Festiva is well thought and simple, except the fuel lines. I found it easiest to remove the steering rack and rear suspension to get to them good enough to install them cleanly. They are quite the puzzle. You can buy a brand new tank fairly cheap, and you'll need a sending unit from an efi car.

[Sleeper]

Thanks for the input guys, I talked to the owner and have arranged to go and look at it soon. It was imported to canada in 1993 and either sat in heated storage or was hauled down to florida behind an RV and used as a get around car in florida. It sat the last 7 years unused in heated storage until the current owner bought it from an estate sale. He was driving it when i called him on the phone, so it is mobile... It is a 4 speed manual. interior will need some work, the seats have tears in them. But thankfully the dash doesn't have any cracks in it. It will probably need some brake work... but it sounds promising.

[sc72]

Good luck with your purchase, the car does look good, now about the dash, you would be hard pressed to find a Festiva with a cracked dash--It just does not happen.

[AlaskaFestivaGuy]

A rust-free car from South Florida, right next to the ocean?

I worked in Miami winter 08-09 and tried to buy a Festy (instead of driving/shipping one from Seattle), but found only rust. I ended up buying a late-model 70hp Geo Metro automatic (which did 0 to 60 in about a minute and a half).

I would be concerned about salt particles deposited deep in the car just from the ocean breeze.

[bravekozak]

I love carbed cars. My 93 was fuel injected, which I converted to twin carbs. I needed the F.I. fuel return line and the electric fuel pump and gas tank because there was no room for a mechanical pump.
I also installed an 89 carb harness in my 93.
You want to go the opposite way. Good luck.
It's a lot of work.
If you decide not to buy the carby Festy.
Let me know. My son is looking for one.

[Sleeper]

Well when you consider the amout of time and also money spent to get carb model to efi.... i'm thinking it would be easier to just import a rust free car from out west.

Bravekozak: i will pm you shortly with all the contact info for the owner of that festy. And i will let him know you will be in contact with him. Can you pm me your first name and ill let him know to expect a call from you... i want to see it go to a good home :^)