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.
