Visited Rausch Creek over Easter Weekend with Steve and the gang… met a couple members from the JK Forum and had a great time. Visited a lot of blue trails, a few blue/blacks tossed in, and got to put the MetalCloak fenders to the test. Did a lot of rubbing with the 33′s and everything came out looking like it went in, less some paint. 
Pictures from the trip are in the Gallery here.
Recently installed MetalCloak tube fenders on the Jeep. The fronts are their Overline series with 6″ flare, which gives it a nice flat tube fender look (compared to their normal “arched” fenders). The rears include the corner guard and 6″ flares as well.
Pics of everything, including some install and then post-install shots are in the Gallery here.
Brian over at BearBumStudio.com hooked me up once again. This time, he created me a full out custom logo for the website. It is based off the basic shape of the Festiva and then “lettered” out for the URL.
I’ve gone through several different “logo designs” in the last 7 years, but nothing that has ever stuck… I have a feeling this is going to stick around.
Anyone looking for custom renderings, logo design, or whatever, please check out Brian’s website and check with him on your needs. And please let him know that Simon sent you. 
Stumbled upon an artist while searching for some Jeep renderings over the weekend. Brian over at http://www.bearbumstudio.com/ is great to deal with, prices are fair, and he’s great at keeping in touch with the process. Up next is a rendering of the bike!
If you’re looking to get a drawing done, check in with Brian… And let him know you found him from my site.
After an eventful day of wheeling at Rausch Creek, the group of us decided to hit “Lake Christy”… And since I sport a snorkel, I thought I could handle the water a little to the left of the route that everyone else took. Needless to say, I couldn’t.
The water measured 4 feet where I stopped moving. In addition to the wet interior, I also flooded the center console which had my Nikon D80 SLR, Nikon CoolPix 5200 point and shoot camera, JVC CD player, CB, and BlackBerry Storm…
After being saved from the middle of the lake, we pulled the plugs and cranked til the water was gone… It fired up and idled a little rough, but was able to make it back through the lake (this time staying to the side!) and back up the hill to make it back on the trails. It made it 20~ miles back home without a problem. Fluids changed (which came out looking similar to a McDonalds milkshake) and it seems to be running pretty well. Now hopefully the smell will be able to come out of the seats too.
The idea was to sell Casper, since I have my Jeep as my daily driver and winter support, and the bike would be my fun summer toy. I had it all lined up, a guy near St. Louis, MO was flying in to take Casper. At the same time, my dad found himself an 88 LX that’s in pretty decent shape, low miles, and what he wanted since selling his 89 LX, a manual transmission. He asked if I would be interested in having his 93 GL Sport edition, and jumped at the opportunity. It’s stock, it’s reliable, 37+ MPG, and for a price that I could beat.
So - Tom from St. Louis took Casper and I’ve got a stocker again. I’m thinking “Casper Jr.” in is order, since it’s nowhere near the potential as Casper. Plans will be pretty light. I want to keep the car fairly stock. Of course, I had to swap out the automatic belts from manual ones, added the tach cluster, and my JVC headunit… But, I’m still considered a few other ideas. Mainly, the Aspire brake swap (just for the extra braking features, built in rear sway bar, and functional e-brake), new wheel/tire combo, and possibly lowering it. Would an engine swap be out of the question? No… But I think it would be mild, like a simple B6 swap of sorts… But, that would be much further down the line.
Pictures to be posted shortly.
It’s been awhile since I’ve updated anything here… A lot of stuff has changed recently. I purchased a house with my girlfriend. So, we’ve been spending a lot of time doing some upgrades on the house, painting, moving stuff, etc. Being a homeowner is a great feeling.
The Festiva is sitting out behind the new house. The Tenzo seats were mounted a few months ago and they’re great! I can’t wait to see how they work for autoX. I ordered a new set of tires for the 13′s that I got from the Cabela’s meet. They’re 175/50′s and they are the same tire I ran on the Pimptiva when I had air suspension. Hopefully they’ll hold up to the abuse I’ve got in store for them.
The bike is torn apart for a few mods. I removed the airbox and put a cone filter on, rejetted the carb. I’m moving the battery into a bigger set of saddlebags, changing to a set of 10″ mini apes (I think), and a new straight pipe exhaust. It should open it up, be a little beefier, and it’s certainly louder.
Pics of all the new stuff to come!
We had a small meet at Cabela’s this past weekend. A total of 6 cars showed up and we got to hang out for quite a bit, grab something to eat, and raffle off a some car parts. After the meet, we went up 61 and hit Centralia! Pictures are in the gallery under Pimptiva #4 & My Trips.
I’ve added a few parts to my “install list”; a set of Tenzo racing seats and some 13″ wheels. I’ve decided that the Miata wheels that are currently on the car just won’t work, but that some light weight 13′s with some low profile tires will suffice what I want for the car. And for the price of free, I couldn’t argue.
Pictures to come soon.
Well, most of the parts from Casper have been sold off and I’m back to a stock LOOKING Festiva. The bodykit was picked up yesterday, and the hood went with it! The headlights and stuff shipped out last week, the wheels the week before. Thanks everyone.
Winter is fast approaching… So the hardtop went on the Jeep, and Casper was parked in the garage. Pictures coming shortly of all that.