New 1992 Ford Festiva L

[TominMO]

First things I'm buying:
CD Player, just a radio sucks!
Automatic car starter.
Little car heater, cause the winter's here suck!

That's all for now, then I'm gonna do some interior work, so I'll post pictures of once I do that

CAI:
Save money on the CAI by drilling about two dozen holes in the bottom airbox piece. This will give you better breathing at higher RPMs, which is all a CAI will do. I do this simple mod on all my cars, and they do respond well to it. I suspect that the stock air filter will flow all the air the motor can handle; the real restriction is the tiny hole letting air into the airbox.
Heater:
First make sure you have a 195 degree thermostat, not a 180. Might as well put a new one in anyway since you've got the housing off. Also flush the radiator and heater core a lot. Use cardboard or something to block off the rad on really cold days, if needed. And on the coldest days, warm up the car before you drive it. But I suspect you know most or all of this stuff anyway if you live in Canada.
Those little electric car heaters draw a lot of amps, and Festy alternators are marginal. And I don't think they do much for heating anyway.

[oliveskate]

Soooo long time no post. I'm a young little lad, but I finally got my license today! BOOYA! Next paycheck I'll be installing an RPM Gage, and some fog lights. Will post pictures soon once all done. The guy I bought it off gave me 2 more spare tires, so now I got 3 . Man I got to say I'm surprised this little 1.3 litre engine has some pow to it. I thought it would be a wimp haha. Loving the Festiva and will post more pics soon!

[DriverOne]

Welcome! I wouldn't go with the tach, especially since you're running an auto, and tach clusters are a frequent item on the FS/WTB forum. Also, the seats in the back (in the case of the bed) fold forward twice and tuck into the footwell behind the front seats. Gives about as much room as an SUV!

[Tex Law]

Never really seen a bad picture of a Festy ....some better than others ....but never a bad one.

[bhazard]

Yeah, dont bother with the tach, chances are youre thinking of getting one of those gaudy 6" tachs. Check all the junkyards around, chances are theres a festiva with the tach cluster in it. Much better looking.

Dont bother with the open element air intake, aka "cold" air intake. Chances are youll just have the filter in the engine bay pulling in hot air. Another myth is that CAI's are good for mpg. They simply are not. Open up the bottom of the airbox for more airflow, and delete that silencer laying on the valve cover.

Dont bother with a big loud exhaust either. Unless you want a loud obnoxious econobox. The B3 is not "fast". You can make it peppy with some serious mods. You'll prolly lose mpg with the loud exhaust anyway.

Just tune it up real good, if you want some more pep, advance the ignition timing and run higher octane. If you want to go faster than 0-60 in 10-11 seconds, swap engines. Your auto trans will handle any engine swap available to you.

[oliveskate]

Thanks a bunch guys. Car won't start now :S. I know I need a new gas filter, so I'm gonna go to ford tomorrow and get one, and also need a new battery i'm thinking and should start.
Just installed some cup holders which is needed, since I don't got any.

I don't think I'm going to put a cold air intake in their, and all that stuff. I did some research and saw what I needed too help my car. Just going to put an exhaust tip at the end, so it look's a little better .
Going to get my heating fixed on it, might bring it into ford and see what's wrong with it. Cause the winters here are BRUTAL!

I think I'm going to make it into a little sleeper. Any other cheap mods, that I could do to make her little faster?
Thanks!

[oliveskate]

So supposedly the engine fludded. Don't pump a lot of gas with a fuel injected car. (Learn something new everyday) lol. So I got some help from my mom's bf, and fixed that issue. Checked spark plugs and damn they were nasty. So got new one's. Did an oil change, cause oil and gas was mixed together. It was not good haha. An put a new oil filter on as well. She also needed a new gas filter, so I'm going to do that soon, once I have the right tool for that.
Here's a picture of her jacked up.

[fastivaca]

Your heat issue probably can be fixed with a replacement thermostat but don't use the ones you get at Napa, Canadian Tire, Auto Value etc. Use the Mazda one which is dual stage. Check out post #28 on this page http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/sh...rmostat&page=3 for all the info you need.

[crazyrog17]

everyone says not to use the ones from parts stores, but i got a dual stage thermostat with bypass valve from oreilly's for my girlfriend's 1.6L 323 (for $12, btw). wouldn't hurt to ask to see one from the parts store before you go pay the ~$30 for a mazda one.

[stevewl1164]

Is that green?

[BP-Festiva]

not sure if you know but on festivas you only get heat through the defrost vents or the floor vents, heat doesnt come out of the dash vents.

[oliveskate]

Thanks guys! I'll take a look at it and yes it's Green

[wybnrml]

When you get a Fuel Filter, get one that is metal. Don't get one of the plastic ones because they will ballon up then pop.

[oliveskate]

When you get a Fuel Filter, get one that is metal. Don't get one of the plastic ones because they will ballon up then pop.

I got a metal one already . THanks for letting me know!

[oliveskate]

Installed new speakers. My friend took them out of his 1992 Eagle Talon. Only 20W, but their better then the stock 25w one's. Also we can't find the wires in the back to install the rear speakers. Any help on that? Thanks