It finally happened...

[defprun]

While I was doing rio struts up front is when mine did the same thing, good timing I guess!

[zoom zoom]

yea the rio struts are nice, I've had them on a couple cars. I'm about done buying junk yard struts though, and the hassle of removing the top mount in the junk yard just isn't as appealing to me anymore.

When I do coilovers (hopefully before summer is out) I'll probably go with new rio struts and hats. Today I just want to make it move again and try out these knuckles since they're my first set of Festiva knuckles I've rebuilt. They're a little trickier than aspire knuckles, I've rebuilt several sets (close to 10) of those, but these I had to do differently due to the new rotors and I want to make sure they work right before I sell them.

[jason_]

Working on this little by little....I hit the junk yard today trying to get a steering column and front knuckles. The rotors are warped really bad and it's just getting worse. 98 protege knuckles don't work, I figured as much or everybody would be doing it?! But I did get some good stuff.. Thread ||here|| on the protege knuckles.

The steering column was a bust too, it may or may not work yet, but I had it confused, the Kia Optima I was looking at had cruise control and intermittent wipers but the ignition switch is in the dash instead of on the column. The protege multifunction switch supposedly had intermittent wipers but the knob on the end didn't turn so it was just a dud for looks like the Rio one I had awhile back... the bright side, I grabbed a pristine bucket seat out of a 03 Mitsubishi Spyder looks similar to this but all black (even the bottom plastic.) If it goes in without too much hassle I'll get the passenger side too. Hopefully I can fab a way to keep the stock seatbelt but if not I'll figure something else out. I'm going to gut this cars interior and redo it like I did Peaspire.

http://www.carcoverplanet.com/2003-m...FcNaMgodTWYAtQ

What about kia Rio knuckles on aspire control arm? Off topic. I know. But I'm in a situation where my one knuckle is worn and new ball joint stubs are not fixing the problem.

Sent from my rooted HTC Supersonic using Tapatalk 2 Pro

[zoom zoom]

Yea Jason, they will work, I replied to your questions a little more in depth on the aspire forum.

[zoom zoom]

Yea you guys talked me into it, I didn't get what I was after at the jy and I needed a win, so as a last ditch resort to have a win I went after 01 Rio struts at another yard that closes an hour later than the first. When I walked in the guy looked at me funny and said " you got 25 minutes to get what you need and get out.." 14 minutes later I was in the vehicle headed home WITH some new struts.

Maybe I can drive my car again today?

[crazyrog17]

^ awesome.

[zoom zoom]

Got everything back together. took it for a spin, bearings feel great, brakes feel amazing, and I gots negative camber with uncut Rio struts!!! They're 1/2-possibly 3/4" taller than stock Festiva struts. I reamed out the strut mount holes to do it. The car does sit higher than ever though, ill have to fix that when I swap back to aspire knuckles. Anyway..pics of alignment and stuff.

[blackhandbeagles]

Cool, keep the pics coming.

[zoom zoom]

Haha, yessir! This car is about to undergo some major restorationing. Nothing too major just basic stuff that should be tended to after a couple hundred k...seats and interior fixing..new dash is going in along with some suspension work, stay tuned!

I got a cold air mounted with the BP Cai stuff I won in the raffle at Ohiosteva! Had to cut and reweld the adapter and deburr/shave off excess metal but it turned out ok I think. It really cleans up the clutter without the stock piping and junk resonator thing. Even if I had to stick the corroplast in there to keep the filter from getting banged up.

[kumalaba]

nice! that extra height would be handy this winter.

[zoom zoom]

Haha, yea but its gonna be taken out of there very soon. What I have in mind right now is to put the Rio springs on the Festiva struts and make a washer to retain the Rio top mount. The Rio strut is between 1/2 and 7/8" taller than a Festiva strut is. I can't say for sure because the Festiva top mount has that offset to adjust 1.5*(IIRC) of camber. Anyway the Rio struts are taller and my Festiva struts are nice looking almost new monroes, I can knock the bottom knuckle mount loose and slide it up the shaft to lower the car without loosing dampening charachteristics, I think. I'll toss some chopped front springs on the rear so it will hopefully come out 175/125 lb front/rear and sit nice and low. The only concern after that is the bump stops but I'll have to put them on and see how much she squats before I know what length to cut them to.

I'm on the lookout for 13/14/15" dual pattern wheels, ideally I'd like extremely high offset 15" wheels with 195/50/15's but we'll see what I can find. If I have to I can order some spacer/adapters for the rear to go to a 4x100 pattern and clearance for the spring perches.

Here's a pictar of one of the sweet decals bobbyspider made for me. It turned out nice IMO and I'm probably gonna be getting more when I figure out what I want! Heck he does shirts and stuff too so I'm thinking about photochopping a little colage of all my cars Haha..

Anyway, Fionas new tramp stamp!

[zoom zoom]

well, I got my new rims today! Aaaand I'm unveiling my latest project...from the guy that brought you such things as the infamous "Tissue Wheel"...the ever awesome 929 626 intermittent wiper switch......the (stolen idea but I still did it) camshaft shift knobs......(another stolen idea but still original design) Class II bumper hitch.......the sweet as hell kickbutt spare tire well 12" sub.....and other such things like the front sway bar->radiator support bushing kit adapter plate and grill mounted in the hitch receiver....



A one of a kind Ford Festiva brush gaurd!!! (yea I know it's been done but not like this and definitely not as light haha this thing weighs like 5 lbs?)

It's not done yet...I'm adding one more cross section in the middle, but it's frickin hot out today and I've been hard at it since 6am...


There's a pic of the camshaft shift knobs I made out of one camshaft, 4 of them were sold/raffled/given away at Ohiosteva this year, one is still in my car.
There were a couple issues with this first batch, nothing major, but the next ones I make I will know better and they'll be perfect...no worn down cam lobes haha hope everybody that got one enjoys them!!

[zoom zoom]

here's a couple more pics of the car now haha...I really do LOVE the look!!! It might even be going higher when I get different tires! 175/90/13's haha, do they make those or is 80 series the biggest I can get? the 175's look awesome stretched on these 7" wide rims! I wouldn't be opposed to trying out some 205's though if I could find them in 13's

I have issues with torque steer...major issues, if I'm easy on the throttle it doesn't jerk left and right and stuff...mostly pulls hard right. I don't know if it's a bad axle, bad steering component, bad lca bushings, or if it's all because I don't have hubcentric spacers. I don't know what the centerbore is I forgot to measure one, but I definately need some hub rings.


The wheels work with stock lug bolts, but I lose 3/8" of thread with them, I don't know if I should get studs or just leave that be?...questions decisions more questions....need answers!



Also, I'm gonna be putting a hitch in this bumper it's almost rust free from what I can see from below, so should I upgrade to some 150lb rear springs and raise the rear 1.5" higher than it is now +/- or should I just stick with some 125lb rear springs?!? hmmmmm.... either way the rear is only going up higher..I gotta message Just Charlie from team ADX 3000 and get his opinion.

[zoom zoom]

oh...yea and sorry about the trash, it's trash day today and I mow grass at two places+I trimmed the bushes out front and I toss all that in the trash lol... better than on my sidewalk!

[Safety Guy]

Torque steer? No way!! I think a more powerful engine will solve that little problem.

Matt, you're creating a monster. And yes, 175/80s would be the tallest, unless you can find some 185/80s!

Now get to work on your fender flares. And add a proper Safari Roof Rack to carry another 500 pounds of stuff. With a wider stance you can afford to lift your CoG to approximately shoulder level!! You'll also need "Festy Rover" stickers for poor Fiona. And a Daktari Zebra stripe paint job:

http://www.bamfords-auctions.co.uk/buying/auctions/Collectors-Sale-November-2011/lot-102-Corgi-Toys-Gift-Set-7/

Karl