Fatsteeve - My '91 Festiva L

[Team Lightning]

Looking Good!!

[burundon]

OK, I know there's some good diy coilover threads here. But I need something a little different. I commonly drive with over 700 lbs of "cargo" (me and my giant kids) so I guess I'm looking for stiffer springs, without lifting the car too much and completely sacrificing ride quality. All while remaining on a cheap skate budget, and minimal fabrication. I know I'm asking too much, bit there it is.

[burundon]

I'm considering taking a buddy to the local JY and yanking a 1.6 from a miata. I'm sure I need to do my research and make a parts list, but how does that work typically at a junk yard. Are they gonna charge me for all the bits and pieces. Or does the engine price include a certain amount of accessories?

[Movin]

It is kind of like a yard sale, things are usually negotiable but now and then you run into somebody that has to stick to what he was told or just simply doesn't want to make a deal. If you feel like you are being taken for a ride you probably are lol walk away.

Are you thinking about 2 150lb springs on the rear shocks ?

[burundon]

Respect your elders!

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[Dragonhealer]

OK, I know there's some good diy coilover threads here. But I need something a little different. I commonly drive with over 700 lbs of "cargo" (me and my giant kids) so I guess I'm looking for stiffer springs, without lifting the car too much and completely sacrificing ride quality. All while remaining on a cheap skate budget, and minimal fabrication. I know I'm asking too much, bit there it is.

Best bang for the buck, and no fabrication on a stock height Festiva, is to fit rear springs from a 90-93 Miata ( U-pull-it )and rear bump stops from 05 Jetta ( 1J0 512 131B ,from Rockauto).
This will lift the rear about an 1 1/2 when empty. This is my hauling/tow setup.

[Dragonhealer]

OK, I know there's some good diy coilover threads here. But I need something a little different. I commonly drive with over 700 lbs of "cargo" (me and my giant kids) so I guess I'm looking for stiffer springs, without lifting the car too much and completely sacrificing ride quality. All while remaining on a cheap skate budget, and minimal fabrication. I know I'm asking too much, bit there it is.

Best bang for the buck, and no fabrication on a stock height Festiva, is to fit rear springs from a 90-93 Miata ( U-pull-it )and rear bump stops from 05 Jetta ( 1J0 512 131B ,from Rockauto).
Stock front springs with bump stops 357 412 303F ,also from Rockauto.
This will lift the rear about an 1 1/2 when empty. This is my hauling/tow setup, ride quality is good.

[Advancedynamix]

Respect your elders!

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Great photo!
To keep a stock ride height, but stiffen things up, you may try
rear shocks for a 1993 VW cabriolet with the Miata springs that dragonhealer suggested. The bottom mounts will need to be narrowed slightly to fit the Festiva. This setup is untested, just an educated guess. TominMo may have some advice on this as well because he has run these VW shocks with stock springs of different lengths.
Keep up the good work, you've got a great looking ride there!

[burundon]

http://sanantonio.craigslist.org/cto/5145118099.html

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[burundon]

Zero rust, south Texas car, 1200 if you bring your own wheels n tires.

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[TominMO]

Great photo!
To keep a stock ride height, but stiffen things up, you may try rear shocks for a 1993 VW cabriolet with the Miata springs that dragonhealer suggested. The bottom mounts will need to be narrowed slightly to fit the Festiva. This setup is untested, just an educated guess.

TominMo may have some advice on this as well because he has run these VW shocks with stock springs of different lengths.

Just to chime in, I am using the VW KYB shocks Charlie mentioned, with stock uncut Aspire rear springs (on my Aspire). On my Festy, it's the same deal, stock uncut Festy rear springs but with Bilstein struts. I highly recommend the VW KYBs as the best bang-for-buck; the 4X-more-expensive Bilsteins on the Festy are great, but certainly not 4X better.

In both cases, there is about a 2" drop from stock height due to the differences between the Festy and VW struts. See my writeup here. Start with post #56 for the Bilstein install; post #75 for the KYBs.

[burundon]

http://m.ebay.com/itm/93-94-95-MAZDA-MPV-LX-LXE-FRONT-GRILLE-GRILL-ASSEMBLY-NEW-REPLACEMENT-VAN-PARTS-/150969087125

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[unclepossum]

* TRANSFORMERS* BumbleBee's little sister HoneyBee.

[burundon]

Temptation, 93 protege DX at the JY. Do I want to do a B8 swap?

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[burundon]

Garage is clean and empty, tools are organized.

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