It is ALIVE!!!

In fact, it RIPS! That thing is like a pocket sized 'Stang, I'm going to do another shake down run tomorrow with a camera in the car, but for tonight I was running out of time.

A new friend from the www.fordfestiva.com forums who lives just down the way in Millington came over and we did a step by step process of elimination on the car today (I owe the guy $45 now for parts he advanced so that I wouldn't have to wait until Friday) and what we found was a definite cause of the no-start situation. I was stunned that a guy like the previous owner could have missed it, but then I dunno what kind of shape the guy was in towards the end.

Here's the video:

 

Stage II
Streetability and Pre-registration checks
*I also have to get the tires swapped today

 

Wheels and tire change pointed out some rubbing issues - notably with the battery mount the PO fabricated. I'm thinking it through

 

Retro'd the 175/45R15's to the front after cleaning the rims up. There's just enough tread to last until I can get the registration and a set of 175/60R15's for it. I found a good deal on them online, they'll run me about $60 each, and I may only get two for now.

The next (major) stage for the car will be to kit the hubs over to Aspire hubs/brakes/rim&tire size, which will mean new rims because the bolt pattern is different. 108mm versus 100mm bolt circle. That can be a ways down the road - I have a registration to work through, and I mean to collect at least one, probably two more of these cars because I want an unmodified backup car, and there is another one I can grab for $150 that has the original engine and transmission already removed. The reason for the one without an engine is that I can do a ground-up build trip on it.

 

Good job on re-claiming Dutch.

I was pursuing our local Craigslist and thought of you when I saw this GEO. Not a Ford but, I think I recall you had a previous interest in them.

https://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/cto/5544037256.html

.

 

The GEO Tracker uses a Suzuki engine that is worth grabbing (SUZUKI is the parent company) and could be an excellent transplant, driveline and all.

What I found in all this, the MAZDA "B" series of engines is wide. The only thing you can realistically STUFF into a small front drive is a four cylinder - but the power range and compactness of those engine packages is fairly wide.

You want to look mainly at 4V per cylinder engines, tuned right they act turbo charged at the right RPM range. Most people junk the cars not having any idea what is in them. The Ford probe and Aspire have advanced engine and driveline sets that can be 'fitted' into a thing much smaller, and the attraction of Ford Festiva and similar is that IT DOESN'T GET MUCH SMALLER THAN THAT.

The curb weight is 2650 pounds. If you add a turbo to a 1600 it can pull as hard as a small V8 - which I can certify is exciting if you have never experienced it!

2014 Mustangs weigh in at mid 3600 pound range, 3640 to 3650 or so with the V6 package. All of it is about power to weight ratio, and for a long time I have been staring at the numbers...

"How small a car will accept how big a power plant?"

There is a trade-off that is unfavorable to cast iron V8 machines... Iron adds weight.

Handling is also affected. A light car (within reason) can be flicked around corners like a flea...

I also had cause lately to look at compression ratios, because I wanted to know what constituted a "SICK ENGINE", and the benchmark for a new engine running well was 204PSI, and that meant (204 divided by 15PSI at sea level) the compression ratio was 13:1 - totally unheard of with the crap gas we have now, I wondered how that could be true.....

And this bastard has a turbo. I also looked at the sticker on the PCM and it said it was programmed for 16PSI of boost...

 

Minor electrical notes. I now have a rear window wiper, a clue on the rear window defogger, and the automatic shoulder belts are working.
Just for fun I stuck a few switches in the blank holes in the dash that I robbed out of an RV drivers control panel, as good place markers as any:

 

Festiva #2 has been collected and brought home - and this video is of the test ride:


See if you can spot the things I thought were the most concerning...

 

I might as well group both Festiva's into this same thread. I go back and forth tinkering with them anyway. The big thing right now is to start cleaning up the body and paint on the 1990 (Car#2) because it's going to be the daily driver.



~ And yeah, it was pretty gross looking.

Compared to the first look at it, this thing is going to make primer grey look sweet

 

Second session, later in the day.

1) The wrong way to repair dents
2) Bondo Removal

 

Things went well so far today - most of the bondo is off the area I'm working on thanks to a cold chisel, and I finally figured out where I laid down my dinging mallet the last time I was using it. I also have a far more serious tool for grinding off bondo- think of it as a drill mounted wire wheel on steroids!

 

I've decided to "STREET" the white 1990 car, because it isn't nearly as bad as I thought, and because it has an A/C unit that I think I can work with. I think right now it needs a charge so that I can evaluate it. It also has a much tighter shift linkage, the bushings are shot in the linkage for the turbo car. As I progress, the bugs and downers are gradually vanishing.

The big deal is still the body and paint - but as you can see I'm making tracks in a hurry. Both of these videos were of stuff I got done just today:

Metal Work phase-II


Results of Primer Shoot #1, done mostly to reveal bad spots

 

Breaking news: 1 June 2016

THIS car is now registered and titled, and I plan to do a "Maiden Voyage" video tomorrow on a dirt road along the Mississippi River. It's a road I have been down before that is so picturesque of this area that it just begs to be filmed. At "the other place" I shot a pic of Steve price (Bricks) in his truck on it, when he dropped by on the way back from the MIDLANT one year. But that was before I was "Video Capable"

This time, I want to do that road justice....

 

I dunno if I still have this on my clipboard - but here we go




Okay - good.

The sound level reduction was about 65 to 80 percent. The front wheels will be next.

At around 45 miles an hour I can hear a whine, letting off and getting on it. More about that later...

This is a very old car, and stuff like that can be expected. You have that in trucks too - but with heavier bearings you might not notice it as much. It's something to think about


* I have never set up wheel bearings this way before. It's - different using the inch pound wrench like this, and I think it's a lot more accurate

** This entire setup is about to be "STRENGTHENED" by modifying it to Ford Aspire brakes

 

Dash ripout and interior clean-up. I want everything from the firewall to the front seats de-bugged and 100% by the first of July.