Buying my first Festy

[wearethebucs]

I'm going to check out what seems to be a pretty good deal on a 89' Festy. It's a 4 speed I believe. The guy said it had a miss and he fiddled with the carb and now it won't take any gas. He said it'll start up and idle perfect, but when you give it a little gas it stalls. I think he just got something out of adjustment. What could this be besides the carb? Fuel filter, coil, plugs and wires? Also is there anything in specific I should look at or check (common problems, rusting spots) before buying. The guy wants $450 for it as is.

[Festiva_Fred]

Check for rust right in front of the rear wheels on both sides, thats the most common place for them to rust at.... Good luck!

[lasvegascop]

First where are you? Second...because its a carb it doesnt mean its dumb. The carb/fuel delivery IS controlled by the ECU believe it or not...and there are tons of vacuum hoses. For $450 is a great deal if its not rusted and the interrior is good.

Just in case, I can sell ya the whole intake w/ carb n all for almost nothing....I just did a swap to BP so my whole engine is just sitting there.

Let me know buddy

[gdawgs]

I've never owned a carbed Festiva, but for the most part, the engines and transmissions are about as reliable as any car. They are easily capable of going several hundred thousand miles without any major repairs.

In the case of the car you are looking at, could he have missed a vacuum line? Probably something simple. If you do buy it, just do the normal routine stuff - spark plugs, wires, distributor, air and fuel filters, etc. and it will probably make a big difference.

I think about the biggest problems with Festivas are; 1) the parking brake quits working because the linkages lock up. 2) they go through mufflers pretty quickly. 3) "why don't I get any heat out of the front vents" (you won't, silly design). 4) We are starting to see stabilizer bushings go out due to age, easy fix though.

They don't really have any major issues if you take reasonable care of them. Very reliable cars. I've logged over 300,000 miles between the two that I've owned and have never had any major issues.

Anything major I'm missing guys?

[lasvegascop]

I would check the darn bearings and you covered it well....

[wearethebucs]

I'm in central WV. I'm very familiar with carbs on early jeeps and trucks. but the computer controlled carbs never really struck me as a great idea. The guy really doesn't know a lot about cars and I figure he just started messing with stuff and got some lines or something on wrong. He said its just got one little patch of surface rust on the rear hatch.

[Futurefesty90]

my carbed 4spd rocks. except that its currently a 4spd

[wearethebucs]

Ok, I know you guys are gonna laugh a lot when I say this cause I see most of you all are trying to go faster instead of being more capable which is definately a good thing.....BUT I'm looking to get this thing (if I get it) as off-road capable as possible. I figure you could cut out the fenderwells for some bigger tires. Then maybe a B6 to turn those bigger tires. Any other ideas? I'm still thinking about wether to go with the "little indestructable kinda off-roadin' hell-raiser" or the "mini gas-miser go fast hatchback". Any and all opinions welcome here!

[Festiva_Fred]

Ok, I know you guys are gonna laugh a lot when I say this cause I see most of you all are trying to go faster instead of being more capable which is definately a good thing.....BUT I'm looking to get this thing (if I get it) as off-road capable as possible. I figure you could cut out the fenderwells for some bigger tires. Then maybe a B6 to turn those bigger tires. Any other ideas? I'm still thinking about wether to go with the "little indestructable kinda off-roadin' hell-raiser" or the "mini gas-miser go fast hatchback". Any and all opinions welcome here!

Please don't cut up and trash a clean festiva just to have some "Fun"

[wearethebucs]

I guess I worded my previous post wrong. I just wanted to try to make it halfway capable off-road. Probably not anything more than gas well roads and such. On a different note would a 4x115mm wheel fit on this car? I know the Festies use 3x114.3mm, but 0.7mm difference might be able to go on with the right amount of persuasion.

[collegeboi]

The timing could be off. It sounds exact same as my problem and timing was off.

[shawnw]

I guess I worded my previous post wrong. I just wanted to try to make it halfway capable off-road. Probably not anything more than gas well roads and such. On a different note would a 4x115mm wheel fit on this car? I know the Festies use 3x114.3mm, but 0.7mm difference might be able to go on with the right amount of persuasion.

If you are just looking to get down bad potholed/rutted/washed out roads you'd be suprised at how well they do stock. I've taken mine down its share of horrible logging roads/ doubletrack and its handled them great. They are small enough you can pick your way around most stuff and the short overhangs are handy if the road is really rough. And they are light enough that if you get stuck its pretty easy to get them out.

Bigger tires or a inch or two of extra ride height would be nice but most of the time they are good to go.

[wearethebucs]

That's basically what I was wanting to do with it. I haven't looked at the suspension setup on them but it seems like it wouldn't be too hard to fab up some kind of 1-2" lift.

[neanderpaul]

Man a stock festy with 12's will climb 4 wheeler trails. They go awesome off road. I have awed many 4x4 folks with mine.

[wearethebucs]

If I could find some 4 wheeler tires that I felt that would hold the weight I'd get a set at least on the front. That should really help in the traction area. I found some 23x8-12's which is about a 205/70-12. I doubt those would fit without rubbing...