DJ's Technostiva

DJ's Technostiva

This is my first Festiva. It's the one that started it all. It may say FORD, But it's Mazda Through and through. This car got me so addicted to Festivas, I now have 5 and own the FordFestiva.Com website. The largest most active Ford Festiva Fan site in the world.

This is a project that is ongoing, there are a few rough spots and a few things I have to re-align etc.. I still have lots of cosmetics to do and wire hiding. It had 4 different audio systems, 2 different computer systems, 3 colors of paint since I bought it in 1999. But by no means is this car finished.

This car is a playtoy something to take to meets and outings. It's more an oddity than a racer.. But with a B6T it shouldn't have a problem keeping up. :-)

The list of goodies in "Techno" is extensive, but I'll give it a shot.

These power mirrors are hard to find they were only on the 1990 LX model and far nicer than all the other styles in my opinion.

The grille was modified by me. I used 2 early style Festiva grilles and removed the Ford oval from the center.

The body kit is from Festiva Motorsport.

The clear corner lights are from FMS. The signal lights are from a early B series Mazda Pickup, and the fog lights are KC.

The tail lights above are from Germany (Mazda 121 DA), I have since used them on another car, so below are the older "Smoothie" style Festiva tail lights. The side marker lights are aftermarket.

The hood is Fiberglas and is also from Festiva Motorsport. It's a replica of a Japanese Festiva GTX hood. The real hoods are very rare, even in Japan. The hoodpins are Mr.Gasket.

Rear spoiler is from Germany. (KIA Pride/Mazda 121 are also Festivas, but just have a different badge) These are also very hard to come by (only 2 in the US that I know of)

LED 3rd Brake light is aftermarket (Can't remember what brand)

Dealer mirror tinted windows. After a nasty ticket for the limo tint.

Wheels are Konig Reign 13 x 5.5 4 x 114.3 since this one still has the Festiva hubs. Tires are Falken Ziex 175/60/13.

Steering and Suspension consists of all poly bushings (Moog and ES), HD strut mounts, FMS sport springs, KYB GR-2 Struts, Custom helper springs in the back to support the weight of all the goodies inside, FMS strut tower bar, new steering rack, control arms, ball joints, and sway bar from FMS. I had the CV shafts customized so they wouldn't pop out when cornering at high speeds. This car corners like it's riding on rails.. a bit stiff though.. :-)

The original 1.3 L SOHC engine was replaced with a '89 Mazda 1.6 L SOHC NOS engine. A Genie header and custom intake were installed. 2.25" exhaust from the the flex joint back to the Arvin stainless performance muffler. Stock manual 5 speed transaxle with a Pacesetter short throw shifter. Psssttt.. If I drove it nice, I still got 40mpg.. ;-)

This engine is now D.O.A. After 2 years of thrashing and some serious miles.. 2 trips from Houston to Detroit and back and 1 trip from Houston to Phoenix and back, the thrust bearing went away at about 80 mph. It wasn't pretty. All the more reason to install my shiny B6T!!

The B6T is a Mazda 1.6 DOHC Turbo engine found in the Mercury Capri XR-2 and the Mazda 323 GTX. I will also be swapping in a G25M-R Transaxle. I just need to fab up some mounts and install it all. I'd say at least high 14s. Even with all the weight of the system.

Anyone that has ever driven a Festiva knows the speedometer only goes to 85 mph. After that it's anyone's guess.. I have been clocked at 105 before with the speedo buried. I found an instrument cluster with the tach from a 1998 Mazda 121 from the UK (Thanks, Tim) This speedo goes to 110 mph but it wasn't plug and play. It required the sacrifice of a white faced tach cluster. These aren't that easy to find either.

The steering wheel is an APC.. But APC is a known "rice" brand, so I installed a Grant horn button. ;-)

I installed a 2 gauge A pillar pod. (99 Mazda Miata) Auto Meter Phantom Oil Pressure and Air Fuel meters.

The dash is custom made using fiberglass and parts from another Festiva dash. The intermittent wiper switch is also from a 1990 LX Festiva but had to be shortened and angled for steering wheel clearance.

The rocker switch behind the light stalk is a 2 way momentary switch that raises and lowers the rear 15" LCD display.

The one beside it controls the neons under the dash and behind the sub amps. Oh, btw, that's my USB 2 portable harddrive next to the A/F meter

Here's a look at the passenger side of the dash. As you can see the glove box has been removed. At the top there is a panel covering the pc. The round hole in the back if for the cpu fan. The other hole closer is a Thermaltake high volume quiet fan. The PC is a Mini ITX w/ 1ghz and 1gb of DDR memory. LAN, dual VGA, SATA, 4 USB 2 ports, audio in/out, mic in. etc.. etc.. To the right is the Delorme GPS receiver. Since the photo, it has been traded up to a Microsoft receiver.

On the front of the dash you have a keyed Master switch that controls a series of power relays for all of the components. The momentary switch next to it turns on the PC. Below that is the 16x DVD burner. At it's right is a 4" high resolution LCD display.

Below the DVD and display we have 2 pull out drive bays. Left is the Primary 120gb SATA and right is the storage drive 320gb SATA. I also have one of these drive bays installed in my home PC so my MP3 and Video Library can easily be updated and used on both systems without having to manage a redundant library.

I added a chrome Festiva logo so you remember what you're riding in.. ;-)

First.. what you do see..

At the top next to my "grandpa" specs there is a 7.2" LCD display. Since the windows in the back are tinted pretty dark, and I have side mirrors, I really didn't need the rearview mirror. Custom made spring steel clamps hold it up when not in use and a swivel hinge allows it to face either the passenger or driver's side. Below that display on the dash are 2 USB and 2 Firewire ports. In the photo you see I have my portable and my jump drive plugged in.

Below my USB ports is a FH DVD/TV tuner with aux inputs remote etc. Below that is a 12" Military spec Anti-glare touch screen display.

Now what you don't see.

All the RCA patch cables going to the 4 in 4 out a/v switcher. This box allow me to display the PC, TV, Rearview Camera, PS2 on any of the 4 displays or any combination. There are 3 switches on the bottom of the center console for the 3 displays in the front and one next to the 7.2" display in the back.

The display in the center console died soon after these photos. The red switch on the driver's side turns on the pull down display above. The red switch on the right turns on the sub amps. the 2 rocker switches behind the wiper stalk turn on the 12" and 4" displays.

You can see the Kicker 6" Mid bass speakers in the door and the 4" Kicker 2 ways in the dash. (more wire hiding to do)

There are 2 Kole 3 farad Caps feeding 2 Rockford Fosgate 1501 BD mono amps. These caps are powered by 2 Optima industrial yellow top dry cell batteries hidden behind the seats. On each side of the caps is an AudioPipe 12" competition sub 750w rms ea.

Those 2 Optima yellow tops had to be fed with something besides the puny 50a stock Festiva alternator..

So.. A 2nd alternator on a separate circuit was the plan..

And that plan worked out beautifully!! 160a 1 wire Ford alternator installed where the stock A/C compressor would be. Using the A/C bracket and a couple of fabbed steel brackets to attach the alternator, then adding the stock adjustable idler pulley, it was a snap.

Caps lit up..

With the side panel removed you can get a small peek at one of the RF 1501 amps below the sub box.

My seats are from a 323 GTX.

Here is a shot of the 15" LCD display fully raised. You can also see my tweeters on the doors.

Here is another shot of the back with the 15" display raised full and showing the GPS. 2 more Audiopipe 12" subs. The Playstation 2 has it's own little spot between the subs and on the right is a 7.2" display. The video selector switch is the gray button at it's upper left.

I can't wait to see how clean it will look once a professional upholsterer has had their way with it.

The Kicker 6 x 9s on each corner are fed by an Alpine 200w 2ch amp mounted on the left of the keyboard.

I bet you've noticed the 120v receptacle there.. Yes it is what you think. There is a 1500w inverter hidden away. This powers the PS2, the 15" display and that receptacle. The small 80w Alpine amp feeds the tweeters on the doors. The 200w 4ch Alpine on the right feeds the 4 Kicker 2 ways on the dash. Everything is ran through the Boss 3way active crossover. The 2 Kicker Mid Base speakers are fed by a RF 501s that is also hidden away. I made the bench seat just big enough to get the spare tire out without tearing up wires etc. Oh yea... look real close... the rearview camera is on the right. Right beside the 6 x 9 speaker. I even left room to keep a 50a battery charger handy.

I know some of the photos a bit blurry, but I'm no photographer.

Installed some lighting so I can see what I'm doing back there.

Zippy My BP 1.8 L DOHC swapped Automatic posing with Techno

My newest is this 92 GL.. 1.8 DOHC BP swap, Ford Aspire suspension ,14" Miata wheels on Falken 60s.

The engine has been beefed pretty well. This car is barely streetable with the 4 puck clutch. It has a customized FMS GTX hood that I made for zippy a while back. This car screams.. Haven't taken it to the track yet for fear that the puny Festiva transaxle will blow apart. :-(

Dj