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

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Looks like a nice trip....did you win the long haul award?haha...

Nah, there were a few that drove farther and even a guy from Austrailia!

Originally Posted by rusty76

Awesome trip. Looks like you had tons of fun.

It's the most fun I've ever had!

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

I followed along on facespace. In July 2018 my wife and I flew to AZ, drove to the grand canyon, spent 2.5 days all around the park and walking the rim trails, then went to hoover dam, vegas, and socal for the 4th. Epic trip. I don't know if I could have driven all the way out and back... that's a looooooooooooong drive!

Sounds like yall had a great trip! I enjoy driving so it wasn't bad at all.

[theastronaut]

I went to another Clemson autocross a couple weekends ago and did better than expected. The new Nankang AR-1 tires did really well even with the cooler temps. I ended up placing fifth overall out of 46 cars, and only 8 tenths behind second place. First was a modified Z06 and with an experienced driver and he was way ahead of anyone else. Second place was a supercharged Miata setup for autocross and was very well driven. I'm usually a 2-3 seconds behind the guy with the Miata so the new tires definitely helped.




Click the link for full resoultion results.

https://imgur.com/mNRJE9q

[mongocanfly]

Your just having to much fun with this....

[ShortHaul]

really not sure why i even clicked on "'88 Ford Festiva" thread... but an hour later and I'm DAMN sure glad I did! It's gotta feel amazing showing up guys with 10x the horsepower you have well done, and thread subscribed...

Ps. There's a killer '61 Impala in one of the pics a few pages back, what's the story on that car?

[mongocanfly]

Shorthaul... if you've got 4-5 days to kill..read thru his build threads...lots of great work in there..

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Your just having to much fun with this....

Definitely!

Originally Posted by ShortHaul

really not sure why i even clicked on "'88 Ford Festiva" thread... but an hour later and I'm DAMN sure glad I did! It's gotta feel amazing showing up guys with 10x the horsepower you have well done, and thread subscribed...

Ps. There's a killer '61 Impala in one of the pics a few pages back, what's the story on that car?

Thanks! I completely understand, I thought it was just going to be a stupid temporary car when I first bought it but things have changed a bit since then! The Impala was a customer's car, had a 409 and four speed if I remember correctly.

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Shorthaul... if you've got 4-5 days to kill..read thru his build threads...lots of great work in there..

Thanks Greg!


Not much to update, still haven't found a good big nose crankshaft to use in the red car. The trans broke in the white car this week so I'll be swapping it out tomorrow. Also found another Capri donor.

[joedoh]

this is an outstanding project thread!

[rusty76]

Agree. One of my favorite threads

[theastronaut]

I'm still amazed at the interest this car gets


I had the first major problem out of the car a few weeks ago. The trans got really crunchy souding about two miles from our shop, something inside must have come apart. I didn't have an extra known-good five speed so I swapped in the old four speed.




I also bought another Festiva to possibly eventually build into a track monster. Since it's been bumped in the front I'm thinking of cutting off everything from the firewall forward and build a tube front clip that's removable from the main inner cage. Use Honda K drivetrain with Festiva suspension so it still handles the same but has ~250hp n/a at the wheels. The rear suspension would be cut out and raised to lower the body without disturbing the geometry, the spare tire area cut out to allow a flat floor with a diffuser for aero improvement, top chopped for less aero drag, fenders stretched 2-3" to fit 8 or 9" wheels...

[mongocanfly]

ahhhh !!!!!!!....the sickness never ends!!!!

[rusty76]

Awesome keep us posted.

[67ChevyRedneck]

I'd say you have a slight problem (but in a good way!)

[theastronaut]

I went to the Michelin autocross in the white car again and placed third overall out of 41 car, definitely wasn't expecting to to that well.







Link to full resolution results:

https://imgur.com/d7XRaOy



I also finally found and bought a big-nose engine for the red car. This will let me run a Fluidampr harmonic balance so it'll last longer when revving it higher than normal.

[67ChevyRedneck]

That's so awesome. There's some fast cars on that list and I hope they were all wondering how in the hell you smoked them all

[dug224]

You are definitely out of control. Like you, I'm surprised at the interest in these cars you have. Whatever it is, keep doing it. Very entertaining.

[jhrusk]

Congrats. I bet u left a lot of people shaking their head. 😂😂

[mongocanfly]

i saw that motor in the back and for a split second i thought you had built a mid-engine festiva...haha

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by dug224

You are definitely out of control. Like you, I'm surprised at the interest in these cars you have. Whatever it is, keep doing it. Very entertaining.

They're the dumbest cars I've ever owned and also the most fun lol.

Originally Posted by jhrusk

Congrats. I bet u left a lot of people shaking their head. 😂😂

Myself included, still hard to believe it did that well!

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

i saw that motor in the back and for a split second i thought you had built a mid-engine festiva...haha

I get a ridiculous amount of comments saying I should rear engine swap it like the Shoguns were "so it would be faster". Yet no one with a real or replica Shogun or even any sort of mid/rear engine swapped Festiva will take up the offer of a free track day if they can outrun a mildly prepped Festiva around a road course lol.

[mongocanfly]

("Myself included, still hard to believe it did that well! ")
fast car dont make a fast driver...skill is a lot of it and it looks like you have some skills...

[supercheyenne]

Originally Posted by theastronaut

Myself included, still hard to believe it did that well!

I figured out where your username comes from. I'm sure it's been discussed before. I'm slow like that.

Sweet car, but honestly the journey is why I keep up with this thread.

[sparkydog]

In case you don't already know about this:
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...3263467825645/

5 Festivas for sale $1200 Decatur, TN.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by sparkydog

In case you don't already know about this:
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace...3263467825645/

5 Festivas for sale $1200 Decatur, TN.

Don't tempt me!!! I really don't need anymore, I have a bunch of parts cars and the blue shell that'll eventually be a track car with the turbo 1.6 from the last Capri I parted out.

But it would be hard to say no to a dirt cheap parts car or a really clean daily if the price was right.

[mongocanfly]

Awe come-on John...you cant ever have to many....can you?

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Awe come-on John...you cant ever have to many....can you?

Originally Posted by theastronaut

But it would be hard to say no to a dirt cheap parts car or a really clean daily if the price was right.

[mongocanfly]

Haha...I knew you could get at least 1 more