Aspire/Festiva Head Swap

[DetroitDon]

My daughter overheated my 93 Festiva, and ever since it runs like CRAP! I believed she warped the head and/or blew the head gasket. I checked the compression and I have two good cylinders, (150 and 160 PSI), and two bad cylinders, (30 and 60 PSI). I got a head off Ebay from an Aspire. Is it a simple parts swap to replace? I believe it is, just want to be sure there isn't some hidden gremlin in the project....

Thanks,

Don

[Tim]

Should be pretty straightforward.

Make sure the block isn't warped as well.


Regards,

Tim

[blueLX]

I have a rebuilt Aspire head that I bought on ebay at the time I was having some trouble with my Festiva. I ended up replacing one of the hydraulic valve lash adjusters ('lifters?') and it's been OK since so I haven't put the Aspire head on. I was wondering whether this swap does have any hidden pitfalls, and whether the roller setup of the Aspire head gives any noticeable performance advantage? It is a 90 LX Festiva MPFI, don't know anything about the replacement head except that it fits an Aspire and is a roller-cam/lifter type. Would it be worth swapping it over for 'fun' some day, in other words...??

[DetroitDon]

I finished my Aspire head installation on my 93 Festiva a couple weeks ago now. I was VERY lucky that there was no warpage of the block. The job wasn't too bad, and I installed the intake and exhaust manifolds from the old head onto the Aspire head. It was basically just a direct swap. The engine started right back up, and has never run as smooth as it does now. I've had the car about 4 1/2 years and got it with around 60,000 miles on it. It now has 105,000 on it and it's just runs unbelievable! There must have been some problems with the old head and the head gasket for awhile. It hasn't leaked or burned a drop of oil either since the head swap, and I've put almost 800 mile on her in the past couple weeks.

Don

[studdyhalllooser]

i know how you feel....my injectors stoped up on me last week so i decided to do some much need tlc to the car. fixed all the oil leaks and put the head in the machine shop for new valve seals. clened up my injectors with a couple bottles of carb cleaner and put it all back togather. wile my problem was more injectors than the head as in your case, like yours, mine runs better than i ever had it before. i share your joy.

[aithanmier]

i noticed a slight improvement when i switched to the aspire roller rockers, but i dunno if i would do it just for fun.

[blueLX]

Thanks for the responses. I'll probably leave well enough alone for a while longer- I'm interested to see how long the original stuff will hold up without a major refurb. Pete