Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

May FOTM Winner

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • May FOTM Winner

    And the winner is.....................



























































    BigWheel!!! Congratulations!!!

    Here's his entry again

    Originally posted by BigWheel View Post
    Discouraged and feeling hopeless I had just about lost hope that I would find a Festiva again. I had already owned an 88 in my earlier days and so hated that I had ever sold it. Now, after months of looking, I figured my Festy days were long gone. Then one day while browsing through Craigslist I saw this bright, shiny red 1993Festiva GL needing a new home. As I read the description I began to get excited; 209k miles, runs great, no leaks, good interior, original owners manual…..$2,500.00. I just about wet my pants. I could buy five Festivas for that even with gas at $4 a gallon. So I called the guy. I had to try to talk him down and figure out why so much money. After a lengthy conversation I got him down to $2k but that was it and I hung up and began my search again. After a few days I get a phone call and the guy dropped his price to $1,800 and I politely hung up again. Side note here so that you know the scenario: My wife is driving a 4WD Excursion with a V-10 engine and I’m driving a F-150 with a 5.4. Together, at $4 a gallon, we are spending between $800 to $1,000 a month on gas alone so I’m in desperate need of some relief. Went to pay the bills and realized something had to give so I called the guy back and ran him all over the place trying to get him as low as possible. He finally got down to $1,500 and I blinked. Yep…too much still but after doing the math on gas mileage I could still come out to the good.

    The next day I call him and plan my trip from Birmingham to a small town in Kentucky called Elkton. I made it very clear that this better be as advertised and he assured me all was good. That next morning I jump in my truck and drove to Elkton. After 6 hours of driving I turn the corner and there it sits just as clean as the photos indicated. After a quick walk around I got down to business of checking the car out. No rust, no interior problems, no oil spots, no apparent leaks on the engine, fluids all good including coolant, oil, trans & brake fluid. So took him out for a drive. Smooth shifting but slightly rough idle and really nothing that would indicate future problems. So I try talking him down again but no such luck (didn’t help that there was another guy there waiting on me to get through so he could check it out). I finally break, pay and load him up on a dolly for the ride home. Another Festy saved from a life of the unknown.

    After getting home I spent a couple of days just cleaning it up. I get out on the road and all is good and I’m smiling from ear to ear loving every mile. All is good and I’m a Festiva owner again. Still not liking what I paid but, with gas prices on the rise and my behemoth rides in the garage, I figured I’d come out pretty good in about 5 months. Two weeks later I’m coming home from work when I notice an odd noise coming from the engine. After getting home and changing clothes I go down to the garage to take a look and there she sits in a bath of oil. In addition, upon checking the coolant, I notice a murky gray in the radiator and my heart sank.

    Blown head gasket. DANG!!! So here is a list of everything replaced and/or repaired from that point forward:
    • Head gasket
    • Seals (cam/crank)
    • Valve gasket
    • PCV
    • Hoses top to bottom
    • Timing belt
    • Idler pulley
    • Fuel & air filters
    • Plugs & wires
    • Distributor cap/button
    • Air intake tube
    • TB gasket
    • CTS & TBS
    All is good again and I’m on the road. Then…oil in the driveway. I had a mechanic replace the HG because it was too involved for my novice skills. During the process he had pulled the head and sent it off to be reworked. During compression tests all seemed to be fine but there was a tiny crack in one of the plug bays. As the engine heated the hole would expand and oil would pool under the car. Here’s the good news….because they missed the crack and their work was under warranty I got a new head at no cost. Now we’re up, running and all is good. Some fine tuning on my part, fixing some issues the mechanics repaired and he’s running smooth and problem free.

    Since the mechanics of the car are now good what’s been done since with the cosmetics?
    • Cleaned inside and out
    • Replaced the alloy rims with painted steel rims & tires I got from Sparky
    • Added center caps I got from Lanemeyer14
    • Installed a console that I again got from Sparky
    • Painted the radio bazel, console, overhead door trims and shifter know to match the exterior
    • Replaced the stock steering wheel with a Grant GT wheel
    • Painted and fixed the wipers (wipers & rims are painted with a hammered charcoal gray paint that you can’t really see in pics but they look great)
    • Repaired broken door locks

    Future mods to come:
    • Interior will be painted/dyed to charcoal gray & read (no more light gray)
    • Seats are going to be recovered to match
    • Carpet is in good shape but really needs cleaning so that will be done when the seats are recovered
    • Will be putting sound insulation in the doors
    • New Stereo system with multiple speakers front, back & sides
    • Hood & grill will be painted eventually as both need some help
    • Badges will be added
    • Eventually will move to 13” or 14” tires

    I absolutely love driving Hot Rod as it just makes me smile and apparently everyone else as well. Everyday I have people pulling up behind me smiling and literally taking pictures. It's so much fun.

    Well, that’s just about it but one last thing. The name HOT ROD came as a result of me having fun with the guys at work. I often pull up next to them, race the engine and laugh. One day while out for lunch four of us were in the car together. I pulled up next to a true American muscle car and began racing the engine. When the light turned green he took
    off and I had to crank my car again. :p






    My Beautiful wife!!!



    So this is my entry for FOTM!!

    Finally....DONTLAF

    1988 323 Station Wagon - KLG4 swapped
    1988 323 GT - B6T Powered
    2008 Ford Escape - Rollover Survivor

    1990 Festiva - First Ever Completed KLZE swap (SOLD)

    If no one from the future stops you from doing it, how bad of a decision can it really be?

  • #2
    congrats! Def worth the win.
    -Josh R

    Comment


    • #3
      CONGRATULATIONS BIG WHEEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!




      now fix the car.
      1989 Red L- The Baron
      www.letstalkbeatles.com
      Link to Baron Pics:
      http://s478.photobucket.com/albums/r...nmervap/Baron/
      1990 White GL- Chuck (for now)

      Comment


      • #4
        Renr002 & Thered56

        Thanks guys!!! This was a lot of fun to watch. Renr002 & Thered56 both had great entries. Great looking cars guys and very cool. I have to give credit where credit is due though. Sparky encouraged me on several occasions to throw Hot Rod in the mix and I finally listened. Thanks Sparky for the ecouragement. Hope to have Hot Rod back on the road soon.
        '93 Festiva GL / "HOT ROD"
        '02 F-150 Supercrew
        '02 Excursion 4x4
        '98 Jeep Cherokee Classic Limited

        Comment


        • #5
          congrats, good luck with the repair job!
          89 L, hopefully returning from the dead soon with a little more power... :twisted:
          http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/sh...77-my-89-build
          92 integra, daily driver, broke a clutch disc, sold
          New dd, 02 Nissan sentra, 1.8 5 spd

          Comment


          • #6
            This may be my fave topic on this board.....I get a lot of neat ideas here! All of the cars entered in this topic have been loved by someone enough to spend money without much hope of getting it back just BECAUSE. That's awesome!
            1989 Red L- The Baron
            www.letstalkbeatles.com
            Link to Baron Pics:
            http://s478.photobucket.com/albums/r...nmervap/Baron/
            1990 White GL- Chuck (for now)

            Comment


            • #7
              congrats on your festiva of the month, I wish my daily driver looked that good.
              money pit

              No spitters were I work, you swallow it all. The Company feels if you already have it in your mouth why waste it.

              Comment


              • #8
                Congrats !!!!
                Very nice looking car !!
                ------------------------------------------------
                The Trigger - Midwest Festiva Inc., Illinois Chapter
                Smart Passion white with H-D interior
                HD2500 Duramax Chevy
                Harley Davidson Ultra classic ..I am in love !!
                Pro Street S-10 http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2214968
                Diamond white Deville 27,000 mile cream puff
                Z28 LS1 power 500 +
                90 Festy L daily driver wants to be modded, OK
                It is being modded , a little at a time http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2214953


                Join me on Facebook !! ;http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...00000295094896

                Comment


                • #9
                  Congrats on the win, awesome ride man!
                  ---------------------------------------------------
                  The Jester - Midwest Festiva Inc., Missouri Chapter
                  ---------------------------------------------------
                  BUILD'EM CHEAP, RUN'EM HARD, REPAIR'EM DAILY!


                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Congratulations!!!!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Congrats BW! Well deserved!
                      Search Master - Honorary Member of Midwest Festiva Inc., Gulf Coast Chapter

                      Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.
                      - Unknown
                      I don't like superstitious people. They're bad luck. - Serge A. Storms

                      If at first you don't succeed, failure may be your style.
                      - Quentin Crisp

                      God, please save me from your followers!
                      - Bumper Sticker

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I WANT A RE-COUNT LOL!!!!

                        Congratz Big Wheel and great win for Hot Rod !!!!
                        :evil4: Live & Learn

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          congrats! excellent entry and car.

                          -"Hairlipstiva" 1991 GL 5spd (swapped from an auto), rolling on Enkei 14x6 +38 with 195/45/14 Toyo's, Jensen MP5720 CD deck, tach install, LED strip in cluster, down position rear wiper, FMS springs, Gabriel shocks on 4 corners, Acura Integra short shifter
                          -Escort GT 91 donor car with BP, G5M-R tranny to be dropped in the little guy...
                          -Aspire brake swap COMPLETE!
                          https://www.wunderground.com/persona...?ID=KOKOWASS38

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            very nice car, you got my vote. silver 88

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Hey,

                              Gratz! I love the interior work. looks like my kind of car clean and custom but not overdone. very nice
                              Jeremy.S
                              1988 black lx 5spd cancer victim
                              1989 red lx 5spd , cancer free lots o options,
                              1983 Subaru GL 4x4 wagon, It's a monster!

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X