There are four Festiva's running as Ice Racers in Alberta, on the left is a photo of Robin S. and his car leading a pack of Rabbits at the Lac La Biche Western Canadian Championships. This is not my car, but it is the target. The car should end up with a B6T, a G25mr tranny from a 323 GT donor car, Festiva Motorsports suspension bushings, new springs and shocks, a variety of other race mods, determined as we go along. Photos of the build follow.
Very special thanks go to Hiroki C. for the swap mount design and fab, as well as installation help on some really cold nights. Thanks also to Glen N of West Mountain Automotives, Edmonton, Steve M, Julian P, and Randy B of the U of Alberta.
A sneak preview of the final product from page 4 is shown on the right.
A roller with a dead tranny was bought in Calgary after Steve M checked it out for me, and brought home to Edmonton. Almost no rust on the body, though the brakes lines and rear axle are pretty crusty. New rear brakes and bearings went in already, but no excitement there.
But check out where the car is from originally. It should be a car afire!
No race car can be without a roll cage. This one was built for me by G & G Racing in Leduc, Alberta. Note the rear seat brace supports were cut off, with a combination of sawzall, tin snips and cursing. You might as well add a good solid rear strut tower brace while you're at it, eh!
The sound insulating "tar" on the floor pan was sure easy to chip off at -10 deg C. A hard bang on a chisel and large sheets came off intact. Beats removing it in the summer.
Things are always easier on entry to the car if the steering wheel can be removed. Here an Allstar Performance kit was installed by welding a hex nut to the steering column, allowing my favourite RX7 road race steering wheel to be attached.
And now for the donations. A shot of the donor car loosing its cherry, and the prize looking all dirty on the floor. Thanks to Steve M for his help on some cold winter days. Plus a look at the poor victim at Pic N Pull that donated spare body panels for the ice racer's future, as fender benders and worse are a near guarantee in ice racing, so you might as well be prepared.
The first major power train mod was to take apart the Mazda G25mr transaxle and weld the differential. While a Quaife or Mazdaspeed limited slip would be nice, they are rather pricey for an ice racer, so I went for the Lincoln locker. New bearings were put on the diff, but not the tranny, as the diff's had gone milky and will bear the greatest load, while the tranny bearings looked pretty good still. Tranny disassembly and assembly was accomplished with the help of the Capri manuals available at tech Capri, and with the patient advice of friend Glen N. at West Mountain Automotives, Edmonton, Alberta.
techcapri.com/Repair/Capri_Service_Manual.htm
The center pin that runs through the diff was spot welded on the outside. Hiroki's web-reading suggests these can experience a lot of force and pop out if not welded in.
My fellow racer, and excellent friend, Hiroki, did the diff weld. He also designed the mount for the G25 tranny and B6T in the Festiva, built a set of parts for himself, and then for me. He is planning to build kits that he can sell, most likely via the Festiva.com forum site. He raced his car Feb 10, 2007, and won the third ice race he entered it in. So the mount seems to work!
The cross member was lowered over an inch to clear the steering system and the driver's side frame rail. But a small amount of the rail was cut out to get complete clearance. Then a mount plate was welded to the top of the rail, to allow the fourth mount to be attached. Along with filling the empty spaces in the mounting pieces with polyurethane, this stiffens the mounting arrangement a lot, and the engine does not flex when you kick the throttle. Check out the shinny and clean tranny, compared to the shot when it was pulled from the donor. A ridiculous amount of time with a car wash, a wire brush on a drill, and a parts cleaner tray went into that.
