Just joined the Festiva club

[Dex~]

So I just bought a 91 Festiva from an old roommate of mine who's moving to Vegas and needed something bigger to haul her stuff across country

It's got 145.k on the clock, ticks like a sewing machine, and burns oil (I've already ordered new lifters and a valve cover gasket) I'm hoping the head gasket is solid, the oil doesn't look milky and the coolant is nice and green, although I've already found a few old dry-rotted coolant hoses I'll need to replace

Good news is it comes with all new front suspension, a new rack and pinion, new tires up front, and a brand new battery (I had to cut the terminals off the 10 year old battery that was in there before)

Rides pretty smooth and the five speed is a blast, it's a really odd switch coming from a big block suburban 2500 though.

Any tips and tricks for keeping these things on the road, and are there any problems I should look out for going forward?

[JManley]

Bought a '94 about a year and a half ago. Only 30,000 miles on the motor. Still has the original factory spark plug wires. Ran like a champ! Took it on a 4 hour drive to visit friends and blew the valve cover gasket... Check the rubber parts!! Even with low mileage, like I had, my original parts are 24 years old.

[Studebaker]

be sure to replace the little u shape hose on the engine block by the radiator.

[Dex~]

Will do, I'm heading to my local pull it yourself yard tomorrow morning to pick up some interior trim the suburban and try and find another wheel, our lovely Michigan roads ate one of them last winter and how they managed to make a donut spare for a car with 12 inch rims still astounds me, a handle to close the sunroof, a third brake light, and a few other odds and ends.

Surprisingly, all the other lights work and the lenses are in good shape, it's also the lowest mileage vehicle I own now lol, the 4 banger Dakota is at 209.k, Suburban is at 245.k, and the Horizon is at 389.k

I'll try and push her up to 200 by the end of next year =]

[radi8u]

Welcome to the forum!!! These cars are great! I had a couple of them back in the '90s and got another one a few years ago. Can't think of anything specific to keep an eye on but I'm sure someone will chime in with some great tips, there's a lot of brainpower available on this board. Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day!!

[ryanprins13]

So I just bought a 91 Festiva from an old roommate of mine who's moving to Vegas and needed something bigger to haul her stuff across country

It's got 145.k on the clock, ticks like a sewing machine, and burns oil (I've already ordered new lifters and a valve cover gasket) I'm hoping the head gasket is solid, the oil doesn't look milky and the coolant is nice and green, although I've already found a few old dry-rotted coolant hoses I'll need to replace

Good news is it comes with all new front suspension, a new rack and pinion, new tires up front, and a brand new battery (I had to cut the terminals off the 10 year old battery that was in there before)

Rides pretty smooth and the five speed is a blast, it's a really odd switch coming from a big block suburban 2500 though.

Any tips and tricks for keeping these things on the road, and are there any problems I should look out for going forward?

Welcome! Sounds like you found a great car. Have any photos you want to share?
Replacing the hydraulic lash adjusters should fix the tick.
A lot of us order parts from an online store. www.rockauto.com
They have a lot of festiva stuff pretty cheap and shipping is pretty quick. Rad hoses are cheap there.
If the rad fan keeps working and you never blow a coolant hose the head gasket shouldnt be an issue. Ive had my temp gauge get into the red a few times when i forgot to manually turn the fan on and mine is still fine.
A good and easy oil seal to replace is the distributor o-ring. They tend to leak oil down into the starter and clutch area. $2 locally for the seal and you just pull the distributor out to replace it. Make sure to mark where the distributor was very well so you dont change the ignition timing if you do it.
Have you replaced the fuseable links with modern cartrage style? Photo below of mine.
We all enjoy driving these, ive driven stock festivas for 11yrs and love it. Even towed with them, but power upgrades are cheap and easy if you want to.

Tips and tricks:

-Read this and the comments, lots of good info there: https://m.facebook.com/groups/187474...50971241739959

-dont over or under tighten the rear wheel bearings, one side is a left hand thread nut, dont strip it.

- when your working on it go gentle on any captive nuts. Its a lot more of a pain when the captive nut breaks free.

- the rear struts- jack the back end off the ground, undo the lower mounting bolt and completely slather it in anti seize compound where it goes through the steel bushing on the strut. They tend to rust/sieze togeather and give you a terrible time removing later.

-other than that just enjoy driving it! I commute in mine so a bluetooth radio with hands free calling is nice, i also have a/c. Tinted windows help a lot in the summer heat.

- have a look around the forum!



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[Dex~]

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Few pics of the new to me Festiva, my other $400 hatchback, the Event Horizon, and my Suburban

17499155_1908022479211773_1908232406462135467_n.jpg21751653_2249361955077822_6458596251121561372_n.jpg

Going from a truck the could literally hold a Festiva in the cargo area to this is uh, interesting, much easier to park though

[RobotKarate]

Ahh.. so you're Batman's old roomate lol. I love it!

[w4rkry]

Ah yes, the Batman Festiva

[Dex~]

On one hand it looks sketchy AF, but on the other hand it turns heads, it's surprisingly solid for Michigan car too, just a little bit of rust in the wheel wells and the floor (excuse to put flares on it later)

[eurotiva]

Dukes old car, I met him when he lived here in Florida

[bhazard]

Yeah I've seen this car posted on the woodward group more than once. Always thought it looked surprisingly clean for the area. Too bad it was treated like it was but nothing a cheap spraybomb couldn't fix.

What's the plan? Cheap transportation or something more exciting?

My advice is to not drive it in the winter here. Or if you have to, invest in rustproofing and oil it down.

There's several of us in the area btw

[Dex~]

Something to drive that gets better than the single digit fuel economy my Suburban does and a backup if I break the Horizon in half at the gambler this year.

I'm just trying to get everything in nice working order for now to have a fun / reliable daily, I'll probably start adding fun goes fast parts later but the Omnimax is going to be my first racecar project, 80% of the floor/frame in that turd is already rusted out so it'll be an easy tube frame build.

Once i get the mechanical and quality of life issues dealt with (no radio, broken sunroof latch, the sewing machine lifters, oil leaks, sloppy shifter etc) I'll take a look underneath an try and nip any cancer going on in the bud

[Dex~]

I basically live at work (70+ hours 6 days a week on average) but I plan on going through it on sunday if this weather holds up and figuring out everything that I need to patch up or replace.

Getting 2 new tires for the rear tomorrow to match the fronts, if anyone has a latch to open and close the sunroof (or the part number for it) or a factory cassette deck I'd love to free up some space for you =]

[bhazard]

Sunroof parts are probably gonna be hard to find. Do you know if its a factory roof or dealer add-on, or just straight up aftermarket?