Project Festiva : Technical

So...here is my how-to for how to do this swap the right way, the first time, and for as little money as possible.

What you need from the Junkyard / Auto parts store

From Junkyard:

-Drivers hub/spindle assembly
-Passengers hub/spindle assembly
-Both Aspire calipers
-Both Aspire Tie-rod ends
-Both Aspire Rotors
-Aspire Trailing arm with Drums/Hub assembly attached and metal and rubber brakelines in place
-Aspire e-brake cables
-(4) 4x100mm 13" Wheels with tires from Aspire

From Parts Store:

-New Aspire brakepads: $13 for crappy, $40 for performance
-New Aspire shoes: $12 + $5 core for crappy, not sure about performance
-(Optional) New Aspire Brake Rotors, $40 each
-(Optional) New Aspire Tie-rod ends: $40 each
-(Optional) New Aspire Calipers: $60-80 each
-(Optional) but maybe necessary) New Wheel bearings w/seals: $25 for both sides.
-(Optional) New Aspire Drums: $50 each
-(Optional) New Aspire brake cables: $30 each

Optional Performance Parts you might as well add while your doing this swap:

-Performance Brakepads & Shoes of any kind
-Cross-drilled or slotted brake rotors
-Stainlesss Steel braided brakelines from Festiva Motorsports
-(4) 13-15" Wheels with performance tires (will make the biggest difference in EVERY performance aspect of your car, braking, acceleration, handling)
-Performance control-arm bushings from Festiva Motorsports
-Performance trailing-arm bushings from Festiva Motorsports

How to pull the Parts from an Aspire

Tools needed:
-Breaker bar, with 29mm socket
-Cheater Pipe of some kind, no longer than 1.5 feet.
-1/2"-3/8" Drive ratchet with 12mm, 14mm and 17mm sockets (preferably 6-point)
-Small philips head screwdriver
-Tie-Rod end puller (rent for free at autozone for $15 deposit)
-Regular hammer
-Rubber hammer
-Sledge hammer (optional)
-Stake of medium size
-Flat head screwdriver
-3-6" extension for whatever ratchet you are using
-14mm and 17mm open/closed end wrench
-Can of Rust-Eater

Procedure to remove the goods:

1: Locate a worthy Aspire. I personally was looking for a lower mileage, newer one. The best I found was a 95' model with 87k miles, the car was rust free

2:Before you jack it up, you want to loosen the lugnuts (16, 14mm) Use your cheater pipe to do this with whatever ratched you have.

3: Now unstake the axle nuts with the hammer and stake, and get the breaker bar out with the 29mm socket and break it loose. If the car is already jacked up, you can do this if you get a buddy to slam on the brakes while you loosen it. This nut will basically be the factor that will completely hinder you taking the front spindles off, so if you can't get it off, try another car until you get one

4: With the axle nut loosened, jack the car up and remove the wheels.

5: next remove the 2 strut bolts on the front (2x17mm) you'll need to use the 17mm open/closed end wrench to hold the other end while loosening. You'll most likely need to use Rust-Eater on there, and to hammer the bolts out with the philips screwdriver. If the bolts aren't fucked up, save them b/c these bolts LOVE to seize up all the time, requiring you to drill them out, so having spares is a good thing to have.

6: With those removed, you should be able to pull the axle out, but you don't have to do that yet. The next thing you do is seperate the hub from the balljoint. Using the 14mm wrench and socket loosen and remove the lower bolt. After that, hammer in the tie-rod end seperator and start to pry the hub off the balljoint. Using the cheater pipe might help do this.

7: with the hub seperated, now you can remove the tie-rod end. Use your flat head screwdriver to pry out the cotter-pin and then use your 17mm socket to loosen and remove the nut holding it to the hub. Using the sledge hammer, whack the tie rod end out of the hub.

8: Now all you need to do is remove the brakeline (1 x 12mm) and axle. You'll need to whack the retaining clip for the brakeline off the strut, this is easily done with the flathead screwdriver and hammer. Now you have the hub!

9: to remove the tie-rod end, you'll need to use the 17mm wrench to loosen the locknut and then spin the tie rod end off of the tie-rod. I personally couldn't even get the damn thing off, so i did'nt even bother to get it.

10: now for the axle beam. You'll need to remove the wheels in the back, of course. first step is to remove the lower strut bolts (2 x 14mm). After you do this, the beam should drop down completely

11: Now you have to remove the E-brake cable from the e-brake itself. You might have to get inside the car to do this, or get under the car to remove it properly

12: to remove the rubber brakelines, you'll need to whack the retaining clip off and turn the nut until they are free.

13: To remove the rest of the trailin arm, you'll have to remove the 2 17mm bolts that it pivots on. This is easier using the Rust-Eater and breaker bar, if you have a 17mm socket for it.

Optional steps:

14: If you don't want the rotors, or even the caliper, you can remove the caliper using a 14mm ratchet and removing the two bolts holding it on. After you remove the caliper, you can remove the rotor after drilling out, or unscrewing the two screws holding it in place. I found these screws to be absolutely impossible to just "unscrew" and I had to drill them out with my electric drill when I got home

My Junkyard charged me $12 for each caliper, $11 for each rotor, $16 for each spindle/hub, $12 for each drum/hub assembly, $8 for the axle beam, and $10 for the e-brake cable....total price: $120

Installing the Brakes on a Festiva

You'll need the same tools as you did for removal.

I'm not going too much into installing, since it is really the reverse of removal, but I'll offer a few pointers:

1: You will destroy the balljoint boot using the tie-rod end seperator to remove your old hub. You can buy urethane boots from most autoparts stores, which are made by Energy Suspension, for about $3 each. They are super durable, and can be used for both, your tie-rod ends, and balljoints.

2: Getting your old tie-rod end off is going to be a pain in the ass. To remove it properly, you'll need an adjustable wrench and a 17mm open end wrench. Turn the wrench clockwise from where you are facing to remove the locking nut. Mark where the nut was situated before putting on the new tie-rod end on. It is a good idea to get an alignment after doing this just to make sure the track is straight.

3: Replacing the brake pad procedure:

-Remove the caliper off the hub/spindle (2x14mm). You will have to whack it off with the rubber mallet.
-Remove the metal wire clip that is situated inside the two pin's holes.
-After you remove that clip, you can start pulling out the two pins which hold the pads in place...you might need to use pliers to turn them back and forth to get them out.
-After removing them, the middle clip, and pads w/shims should fall out of the caliper.
-Now you'll need a set of large pliers to press the piston all the way inside of the caliper.
-Another thing you should be sure to do, is to whack the two adjusters (things with rubber boots, that the two 14mm bolts went through) to make sure they freely move back and forth. If they are stiff, make sure you whack them as far towards teh piston as possible, since you'll need room for the new, thick pads to clear the rotor.
-Installing new pads is a bit tricky, but you basically just slip the pins in through their holes until they are in. Make sure you reuse the middle wire-clip and you MUST use the other wire-clip that goes through the holes on the retaining pins.

4: Replacing the shoes:

-You'll need to remove the metal cover first, using a screwdriver and hammer.
-After that, you should be able to pull out the bearings, and see the 21mm (or maybe its 19mm, i forgot). I believe this bolt is reverse threaded, so you'll want to turn it clockwise to loosen and remove it.
-The drum should come off easily now, exposing the shoes and springs inside the hub
-Removing the shoes is easier than installing them, just make sure you install them exactly how they look when you start. I don't really know the procedure for this since I didn't install new shoes (yet) since I couldn't find any from the parts store, but it isn't very difficult. While you have the shoe off, be sure to clean the brake dust build up off of the drum and hub assemblies as much as you can. Use brake cleaner or something similar.

5: Getting the axle beam on is somewhat of a challenge. You'll definitely need a friend to help you with it.

End Results?

Frickin' Amazing. This is seriously the best thing you can do to your Festiva for the money. I'd even say its better to do over a motor swap. Why?

Simple fact is, our wheels are so small and the tires that you can put on them are so limited (and shitty) that you can't really get any decent performance out of your car without upgrading the wheels. Not only does the Aspire brake upgrade increase your braking power 3-fold, you will be FORCED to upgrade the wheels and tires to wider, grippier ones, helping your handling, and acceleration and overall performance drastically.

On top of that, the axle beam has an integrated swaybar, that REALLY FRICKIN HELPS the car rotate...way more than i was expecting. I thought that a 1/2" bar wouldn't do much of anything, but i was dead wrong. The car still understeer's but it isn't nearly as horrible as it was before. It's about on par with my stock Protege in terms of how well it rotates.

Overall Amount of money I spent on all of this stuff: $380....less than my motor swap, and such a drastic change in the performance of the car, that I've had to recommend this over anything else!