'88 F*rd Festiva Autocross/Track/Daily Driver Build

[theastronaut]

Got a bit more done to the new red '91. The AC wasn't working when I got it, a tube on the condenser had broken, and one on the txv was also split. Since this was an aftermarket AC system I had to figure out each component myself, no part numbers to go by.




I pulled the evaporator box from under the dash and cleaned/flushed the evaporator and cleaned up the tubes and connections to ensure a better seal at the orings. Also removed the old foam and glued new foam in place.














Cleaned what I could reach while the evap housing was out.






I used a new universal 12x24" parallel flow condenser, drier, txv, tensioner bearing, belt, and all new o-rings to get the system back together. The used components were flushed so I could use PAG oil and R134a. The tvx and thermostat in the evap housing need adjusting to get the temps a bit lower but its working fine other than kicking off when vent temps get down to about 46 degrees.




I pulled the Sport seats out of storage to begin detailing them.










The vinyl cleaned up great with a magic eraser and 303 Protectant. I soaked the fabric with cleaner, scrubbed it, then used a wet/dry vac to pull the stains out. A couple of rounds of that had the fabric looking nearly new. The plastic side trim was cleaned and sprayed with SM Arnold plastic/vinyl dye.

[theastronaut]

The water pump on the white '89 started squealing and since it's getting the new engine soon I went ahead and pulled the engine and trans. I wanted to graph the FMS cam to see what it's specs were in case they were decent enough to use it in the new engine.




Signs of cavitation behind the impeller in the water pump. I may have to use underdrive pullies with the new engine; this was with the old engine only revving to 7k, the new build should go to around 8500.




I set up a degree wheel and dial indicator, then made notes of the lift at 5 degree intervals.






Pretty terrible duration and overlap numbers, and there isn't enough material on factory lobes to do any better with a regrind. I'm looking into having a stock cam welded up and reground to my own specs to really make use of the new intake, port work, and the 4-1 header I'll build. The cam is the current hold up, I need it to check piston to valve clearance.




More cylinder head work. I had opened up the chamber around the intake valve on the practice head, so I used tape as a template and opened up the good head to match.

[theastronaut]

I never was able to find a steering hub adapter to fit the Capri column, so I dug through the scrap bin and found an old hub leftover from helping a friend install new hubs. It had the correct ID to fit the steel insert from the Capri wheel. I bought a $8 hub for a Miata on ebay to get the plastic trim piece.










I still need to make a trim piece to cover between the hub and column. And swap in a better dash pad, and windshield, and door panel...




We always close the shop on the week of the 4th so I used that time to clear out the back stall the Capri was stuck in so I could paint the stall and install new led lights.






I finished prepping the bolt on parts by wetsanding them with 500 after a covering them with dry guide coat.








I went ahead and pulled the trunk and convetible top storage lid off so I could prep the jambs better, and to make masking easier. I'll probably pull the doors off as well since the jambs have blue overspray.

[theastronaut]

Not much going on with the Festiva at the moment... I wanted to get more aggressive with the intake ports so I straightened the wall and flattened the floor to make a much straighter shot at the valve, but that broke into a water jacket. I have the test head at a fab shop to see if they can weld it up, and if so I'll shape the good head that way and have them weld it as well. I've sent a cam to Delta Cam to have it welded up and reground, I settled on 290 duration and 111 lobe center with around .460 lift at the valve.







I finished prepping the Capri and painted it, and have been detailing/reassembling some of the parts that were in good enough shape to reuse.












I pulled a windshield out of a parts car to replace the broken glass and had to polish out a ton of wiper scratches. New windshields are NLA so I'll have to live with the pitting it has.










And I finally found an Aspire to use for a front brake upgrade. These replaced the Festiva in '94 and are mostly identical/similar underneath but since they were heavier they had bigger vented brake rotors, and are 4x100 instead of 4x114.3. Now I'll be able to use some of the 4x100 wheels I've been hoarding, but no 4x100 cars to mount them on.

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

Becaureful of reducing the pump speed due to cavitation. As a reduction of water flow. Combined with a hotter motor can lead to overheating when your playing with it on the track.

I ran into this problem with a standard size sbc water pump when driving high speeds for 30+ minutes going to Vegas. Where as my alternator could give me issues on the street if it was to stop, and go. When it never had the issue before.

I have played with items like wetter water in the past, and like them. So I would suggest you give it a look, and ask someone more knowledgeable on pumps.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by Ziegelsteinfaust

Becaureful of reducing the pump speed due to cavitation. As a reduction of water flow. Combined with a hotter motor can lead to overheating when your playing with it on the track.

I ran into this problem with a standard size sbc water pump when driving high speeds for 30+ minutes going to Vegas. Where as my alternator could give me issues on the street if it was to stop, and go. When it never had the issue before.

I have played with items like wetter water in the past, and like them. So I would suggest you give it a look, and ask someone more knowledgeable on pumps.

The little b3 engines have a hard time getting up to full temp already, a lot of guys up north completely block off the radiator in the winter to get decent heat out of the heater. The chamber is so small (71mm bore) that there isn't much area for heat to be absorbed into the water jackets so overheating isn't a problems unless something is really wrong with the radiator/water pump/etc. I've talked to a couple of guys that road race with the 1.6 DOHC version of the engine (same basic water pump) and they're avoiding cavitation by using a pump with a cast iron impeller and slowing the pump down. One is spinning his engine to 9k with no problems, and he ocsasionally drives it on the street.


I've mentioned my friend Charlie a few times in the thread, this is him and his Festiva at the recent Gridlife Alpine time attack event in Colorado.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGi8jLE8yjY

[nitroracer]

The video on the Grid Life Festiva was really neat! In all the years I've been playing with Miata's I've never heard about the Z6 cylinder head swap - I'd love to know more about it. These old Mazdas really lend themselves to Frankenstein engine builds if you can connect all the dots.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by nitroracer

The video on the Grid Life Festiva was really neat! In all the years I've been playing with Miata's I've never heard about the Z6 cylinder head swap - I'd love to know more about it. These old Mazdas really lend themselves to Frankenstein engine builds if you can connect all the dots.

Charlie is pretty slick with Mazda engines, his last street car had a b6t he built that could go forever without darkening the oil or filling up the catch can, and he had tens of thousands of track miles on it on top of street miles. I can ask for more details on the cylinder head swap. His next engine will possibly be an 11k rpm ~700hp destroked/big bore/long rod BP based engine left over from a land speed car, hes trying to get the rpm up to keep tq low with more hp up top to minimize traction issues.

[theastronaut]

Not much to update on the Festiva side of things. I got the cam back from Delta, they could only do a 272 grind with .503 lift at the valve, the ~290/.460 I was hoping for wasn't possible with the master lobes they have. After mocking it up in a head it looks like the base circle will be too small and lifter pad isn't making the correct contact patch on the closing ramp of the lobe, so I'm waiting to hear back from another cam company to see what they can come up with.


The Capri is a little farther along now, I had it out of the shop a few weeks ago to drive around and make sure that it's still running good. The new LEDs and clear windshield make a huge difference in seeing better at night.








Before with the old scratched windshield.




I've been wetsanding runs...




Marking areas that need more sanding to be 100% flat.




The Tokico struts and H&R drop springs didn't get the car as low as I wanted but nothing else is available. I knew that MK2/3 Golf/Jetta coilovers would work up front but the rear struts have a unique mounting flange. Just cutting the stock spring seat off and adding threaded sleeves for height adjustment wouldn't work since the struts were out of compression travel at the ride height I want. So, I cut up a stock strut and the Golf coilover to make my own shorter threaded strut housing.




Stock strut and a cut apart rear Golf coilover, along with a front strut insert from a MK1 Rabbit. I'll use the shorter Rabbit insert in the coilover body.






The strut and coilovers cut down to the correct length for the Rabbit insert, ready to be tacked together for test fitting.




I machined the gland nut into a taper to center the insert in the housing, it originally had a step for the twin tube cartridge it had before.




Plenty of compression travel travel, the top of the tire is touching the wheel well with more shock travel available.






Not enough droop travel, so I'll try again with another Capri strut bottom and not cut it so short. I can use the same insert by adding a spacer under it.




I pulled a pair of bumpers off a parts car and stripped them with 180 grit on a DA, then shot them with a few coats of SPI epoxy. 180 was too rough and left a lot of texture. I purposely used 80 grit around the tag bracket holes since I wanted to fill them in, and I figured the more surface area the better for filler to hold to. These bumpers will only be temporary.






Blocked smooth with 150 grit.




Reprimed, ready for wetsanding and paint.




I never liked how bulky the stock bumpers are, so I found a first gen Eclipse bumper to graft in place of the stock bumpers. The initial test fit looks good, the overall shape and size is a really good fit. I'll make an inner structure out of lightweight tubing to hold it in place.






A guy I had sold parts to last year sent me a message saying that there were two '94 Capris in the Columbia SC Pull-A-Part so I went a couple weekends ago to pull anything worth saving. I got 3 of the 4 front lenses I needed and a lot rare '94 only parts to resell.








There was also an Aspire in the yard. I need to go back and get the front knuckles and calipers since they're an upgrade for the Festiva.




91-93 vs 94 lenses. The original '92 lenses weren't in the best of shape so I was really glad to find the better looking '94 lenses.




I used foil tape to renew the reflectors, and had to replace a couple of bulb holders.






I modified a steering wheel adapter to use as a spacer since the hub I made was too short and the wheel was too close to the turn signal stalk.








Cruise and windshield washer deleted to drop weight.




Of course no update would be complete without the purchase of another car.
I was on marketplace and the ad for this '95 Miata had only been posted for four minutes when I saw it and replied, so I was the first to message the owner about it. The asking price was only about double what hard tops are selling for so I was up at 5 the next morning to go pick it up. I'll list it on ebay once I'm finished detailing it.

[theastronaut]

Can't believe it's been over a year since I updated this. I flipped the Miata for nearly enough to buy a '66 C10 I found back in January, I posted a build thread for it in the 60-66 section. The C10 pretty much stalled progress on the Capri, the C10 is way cooler.






I finally got a cam ground for the white '89 Festiva that should work, the first company's cam wasn't compatible with the rocker pad diameter. That took about six months to work through and find another cam grinder with a compatible master lobe to make a usable cam. That let me check mock up and check piston to valve clearance, then set up and notch the intake side deeper. Also settled on a final port design that doesn't interfere with the water jackets.










I bought another Capri parts car and a solid '89 Festiva shell last December.






And last week I flew out to Las Vegas to pick up a keeper- an '88 L Plus with low miles, then drove it back over the next three days. It was originally from Phoenix and was always garaged so it's super well preserved, all of the ink stamps, inspection marks, stickers, etc are still present. The fenderwells even look 95% new after spending 5 min cleaning them.












After getting it home and doing a quick wash.

[mongocanfly]

Wow...that blue car is clean...

[ccreddell]

So, Ive located a 90 "L" model with only 81K on it. New tires. Owned by a little old lady and clean as a whistle. West coast car. Only kicker, is they want $5800 for it. Oh, tach dash, and no AC.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by ccreddell

So, Ive located a 90 "L" model with only 81K on it. New tires. Owned by a little old lady and clean as a whistle. West coast car. Only kicker, is they want $5800 for it. Oh, tach dash, and no AC.

The L is the base model and they really got a lot more stingy on the L's from 90-93, but if it has a tach it might be the L Plus which are really nicely trimmed compared to the 90-93 L. Easiest way to tell is L has thin side trim, about 1.25", and in 1990 only the LX and L Plus carried over the wider trim from 88-89 that is about 3" wide. The L/L Plus/LX decals are usually all gone by now on the 90-93 models so you have to decode what trim options it has to really tell what it is. PM me a few pics and I can tell you what it is for sure.

$5800 is fairly steep, that's pretty much top of the market if its an L, but they're not getting any cheaper, and if it's L Plus 5 speed it's one of the most desirable trim levels. An extremely nice 69k '93 L 5 speed with AC sold on eBay for $7000 about 18 months ago, and I paid $5700 plus trip expenses to buy the blue '88 in my last post. A super nice '90 L Plus 5 speed with AC with around 120k miles was posted earlier this year for $3500 on the Festiva Forum which was a really good deal for the condition and trim level, and it sold pretty quickly.

You can definitely find them a lot cheaper if you keep your eyes peeled and open up your search area, but really clean ones don't pop up often since nobody really took care of entry level economy cars that were only worth $800 until the last few years. Paint and interior work to make a $1500 Festiva into a really nice Festiva will cost more than just buying one that's already nice. AC systems are super easy to swap in (the dash doesn't have to come out) and can be bought for around $300 but they don't pop up often. Mechanical parts are stupid cheap so if you find one with a really clean body and engine problems it'll be cheap to fix.

[ccreddell]

It sold before I could get my money together. Guess it wasnt meant to be.....

[LT7A]

This thread is fascinating to me. To start with a car that you were only willing to put up with as basic transportation to flying two thirds of the way across the country to buy one and drive it home. Very cool to see all that you've done. Got some more updates? It's funny how they can get it so right in an entry-level car and so few people realize it. Being a mostly GM guy I never gave those cars a second look, just maybe a chuckle. Recently I decided I wanted to get something that was as light as possible and still had some usability and bought a 94 Swift. There are many similarities, but I think your setup has a much broader parts availability and swap ability.

I'd like to continue to hear about what you're working on with this but I need to say that I am impressed with your matter of fact approach to working on things. You don't get caught up in the frustration even when a frickin tree falls on your car. I've enjoyed laughing as you buy a car every three posts or so. Maybe more, haha. You have a enviable set of tools and a very good set of skills. I'm not somebody who blows smoke, but after reading the pages of this thread it's only fair to call out the truth. Thanks for taking the time to post this stuff.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by LT7A

This thread is fascinating to me. To start with a car that you were only willing to put up with as basic transportation to flying two thirds of the way across the country to buy one and drive it home. Very cool to see all that you've done. Got some more updates? It's funny how they can get it so right in an entry-level car and so few people realize it. Being a mostly GM guy I never gave those cars a second look, just maybe a chuckle. Recently I decided I wanted to get something that was as light as possible and still had some usability and bought a 94 Swift. There are many similarities, but I think your setup has a much broader parts availability and swap ability.

I'd like to continue to hear about what you're working on with this but I need to say that I am impressed with your matter of fact approach to working on things. You don't get caught up in the frustration even when a frickin tree falls on your car. I've enjoyed laughing as you buy a car every three posts or so. Maybe more, haha. You have a enviable set of tools and a very good set of skills. I'm not somebody who blows smoke, but after reading the pages of this thread it's only fair to call out the truth. Thanks for taking the time to post this stuff.

Yeah I never expected to get sucked into these, never paid them any attention at all. My only memory of a Festiva before my first one was that an employee at the oil change station beside our shop had one back when I was driving my '64 VW daily, and he caught me at a red light one night and wanted to race... he probably thought I had the slowest car in town (40hp vw vs 58hp festiva) so he finally had a chance to win a light to light race, except the bug wasn't stock and I totally left him in the dust

Appreciate the kind words! I've got a lot of catching up to do with the thread, its been way too long since I've updated it.

[theastronaut]

Since the last update I bought a few more Festivas and Capris. Capris have gotten hard to find, and they're not $150-$300 anymore but still fairly cheap, I only paid $500 each for these two.

This one is a '91 non-turbo that had 63k miles when it was wrecked. Engine was still good but it had been sitting for ~13 years. I've pulled the engine and am currently resealing it so I can swap it into a clean '89 Festiva I picked up last November.




Fairly clean XR2 that I bought about three weeks ago. I'll pull the drivetrain/ecu/harness and stash it away. Already have a couple Capri guys interested in the body.




Rust free but fairly beat up '93 I picked up in early '23 for cheap, I ended up pulling the AC system and selling the shell.




'88 or '89 parts car/hoard acquisition. This one came with a ton of new parts, a NA Capri engine, two Festiva engines, and a Festiva 5 speed trans. Sold the shell to a guy in Missouri that is swapping in a sohc 1.8.




Semi-clean '90 L+ model with factory AC, one of my favorite trim levels (lots of one year only L+ parts) and it has the rarer Sandalwood tan interior. I might eventually throw a NA Capri engine in it and flip it.




$275 '89 L+ that is rust free but the engine is locked up. Couldn't pass it up and I have a friend thats wanting it to copy my original NA Capri engine swap with sidedraft carbs.




And the best for last, an '89 L+ automatic with factory AC and zero rust. It had a blown head gasket but still ran and drove. The interior has cleaned up really nicely, and I have all the parts needed to 5 speed swap it. I have that 63k NA Capri engine resealed and almost ready to swap into it, and I've collected almost everything to redo the suspension and brakes. I'll make a separate post with the details on it.

[theastronaut]

Couple more pics of the '89. The story the PO told was that their kid was driving it to high school, and hit a bear one night which smashed the bumper and punctured the condensor and radiator. They kept driving and it overheated and blew the head gasket, so they listed it on marketplace for cheap, I got it for $275 with a clean title. I pulled the head and it was super warped- over .015" inch bow across the length, bad enough that the cam locked up once the head was unbolted from the block. I started collecting parts and now have almost everything needed to swap in a Capri engine (DOHC 1.6), 5 speed swap it, rebuild the brakes, and do a few mild suspension upgrades. My plan for this one is to build a long term daily driver that is still as comfortable as stock (these have surprisingly good ride quality) but to add a bit of power and take out some of the body roll.


As found, I already pulled the rad support and replaced the busted grill in this pic, and I have a bumper to swap on. I'll most likely have to replace the lower rad support but thats a common thing to upgrade anyway.






First line of defense against body roll/sway- I widened a set of factory LX 4.5" wheels by welding in a 1.5" wide 1/8" steel band. I was able to keep runnout under .025". L and L+ wheels were only 4", so these will widen the track width by 4" overall, and slightly stretch the sidewall for less tire flex/sway which will also increase steering feel/response. Keeping the stock tall sidewall should preserve ride quality over bumps.






The silver thing in the above pic is a camber spacer for the rear axle. 3.5* and 5* spacers are readily available but I didn't want to go that extreme with this one for better tire wear, so I machined my own 2* version. I'll setup the front with 2.5* for more grip and stability. They're slotted so I can tilt them to adjust the toe angle and notched for a spanner to fit in for easier adjustment.










Some of the parts hoard. Notice the yellow bump stops- they're for the rear of a '99 New Beetle and the tapered shape makes them progressive rate so they're great to use to increase spring rate as the body rolls but they're still soft enough to comply/compress over bumps. I'll trim them so they have about 1" of travel in the rear before they contact and begin stiffening the car up, so the first inch of travel will still be as soft as stock. I'll shorten the rear shock shafts 3" to limit droop travel so the inside wheel stops pushing the inside of the car up on hard corners (this is why you see a lot of fwd cars cornering on three wheels). I'll slightly trim the stock spring for about a 1.5" drop.




I've already pulled the lower end apart to reseal the oil pump housing, rear seal housing, and oil pan and installed a new water pump. I'm waiting on a Lisle tool to show up so I can swap in new valve stem seals.




I bought all the stuff to start powdercoating small parts so I redid a valve cover for it.

[theastronaut]

The engine for the white '89 L autocross car (the one I took to Arizona a couple of times) is mostly together now, but I threw it together with the old cylinder head (ported head was stuck at the machine shop) to try to make it to some events last year. So I need to get it in the shop and swap the head out, and build an appropriate header/exhaust system to compliment the new cam timing and maximize scavenging. The local autocross events are done for until the fall so I'd like to get it back together with the ported/shaved head and RX1 carb setup by then.










I was able to track down quite a bit of NOS parts for the build- all bearings, pistons, rings, head gasket, rockers, oil pump, thermostat, timing covers, plug wires, and rebuild kit for the old Escort two barrel carb that was on it. The rarest find by far was the NOS AC compressor with a serpentine clutch pulley, those only came on Festivas that were ordered with optional power steering which was insanely uncommon. The Kia crank/damper I used uses a serpentine belt, so I used a new OEM Kia alternator and a Kia/Aspire/Miata AC belt tensioner to complete the serpentine conversion using all OEM parts.

[Russell Ashley]

Just saw this and thought of you. https://delaware.craigslist.org/cto/...758591349.html