Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs....

Posted By: J_BODY

Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/09/12 05:20 AM

My dad hauled his car down from sodak to my home in AZ. We planned on him running it at the March Meet and I had pre-entered him. Two weeks prior we destroyed the 340 while testing at Speedworld. We were going to go to Bakersfield either way, but with the entry already paid we decided to throw the Mirada in the trailer and just have as much fun as we could. The ole wore out j-bod did pretty good considering how long it had been sitting. I had run the valve at MaTS in 07 and changed the oil so it only had like 8 passes on it since parked. Fresh trans only had 16 passes, but the slicks are old as dirt, but it is what it is. Best pass to date for my junk. 9.93 and also ran a 9.98. The car does "look" the part with full cage, window net, etc... but that's about it. Had a blast and every pass all weekend had a 1.35 60ft time....except third round sunday where I redlit, but it wouldn't have mattered if I went perfect.....we blew the tires off it. Good times either way!

Posted By: J_BODY

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/09/12 05:23 AM

1st round.... just barely stabbed the brakes after catching my spot. WHEW! (i'm #279)

Posted By: J_BODY

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/09/12 05:26 AM

Round two.... I was the second car to the lanes and pulled aside for a possible byerun.... not to be, ended up racing a ranchero decorated with event win decals.... Left a little at the tree, but grabbed a fender early and he hit the brakes hard and I followed suit since i was out on him.

Posted By: Thumperdart

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/09/12 05:27 AM

That`s great.......great 60 foots too.

Posted By: J_BODY

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/09/12 05:28 AM

Hey NHRA!! I found all the people that didn't pop for Pomona tickets!!

Posted By: J_BODY

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/09/12 05:32 AM

the "been there got the picture" shot....

Posted By: J_BODY

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/09/12 05:34 AM

...and one more just because it's so damn cool! Famoso baby!!

Posted By: instigator

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/09/12 05:39 AM

BAD AZZZZ!.....I may have to pick your brain sometime on the front torsion bar sytem.....same thing in my Chrysler 5th AVE I picked up......throwing the ole turbo motor in that for a while!

A good friend and our company CPA has the Mirada in stock eliminator down here in NC...don't run nothing like that one does though....let's see sum motor pics..suspension pics!

Posted By: Jeepmon

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/09/12 05:50 AM

One day.. One day baby...

Posted By: J_BODY

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/09/12 06:03 AM

Quote:

BAD AZZZZ!.....I may have to pick your brain sometime on the front torsion bar sytem.....same thing in my Chrysler 5th AVE I picked up......throwing the ole turbo motor in that for a while!

Front suspension is stock. Shocks are worn out which gives it a little quicker extension. I did eliminate the K member isolators and replaced them with steel rectangular tube. Rear is a ladder bar set up. Lowering the car with the ladder set up only allows a 10.5 slick to fit. It's "mini tubbed" up to the frame rail and the outer fender lip inside is rolled up. Engine.... well it looks pretty! Bunch of old school junk that we've freshened at least four times throughout it's lifecycle. It's at the "n'th" of being worn out in all aspects. Ultradyne mech cam (the old NF-69 .640 lift), Mopar Stage VI heads (thanks Dwayne!), M1 intake, Carb Shop 1050 98 square jets. 34 degrees total timing. Stock crank welded and cut to 4.15 stroke, LY rods, light Ross pistons, stock main caps, ARP main studs, stock block. shift at 5700, trap at 6200. We've shifted higher and ran more gear than the current 4.10 in it..... didn't matter much.

Posted By: Al_Alguire

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/09/12 07:58 AM

Very nice...Glad to see ya back out there. Now you can drag it up here and Steven can put it to good use for you until you need it again in four years

Posted By: Chris'sBarracuda

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/09/12 08:03 AM

That sucker runs..

Chris..

Posted By: tboomer

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/09/12 01:27 PM

Nice!! What does that thing weigh?

Posted By: Keith Richards

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/09/12 03:15 PM

Congrats, saw you running the car on Bangshift. Great wall hanger you got there too, I have one from there with are '68 road runner from 2002 hanging in our stairwell, yeah, been that long since I last raced the March Meet hopefully in the next year or two we will again. Problem is they keep having points races same weekend at the track soon to be formerly known as Infineon.

Attached picture 7110408-SearsPoint005.jpg

Posted By: RodStRace

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/09/12 03:25 PM

Congrats!
Had a friend I was supposed to meet out there but I couldn't make it.
He has a Ranchero in HR, but it's not the one you ran, he went to third round too. Said there were another 4 rounds after that!

Posted By: 446acuda

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/09/12 03:57 PM

Quote:

Quote:

BAD AZZZZ!.....I may have to pick your brain sometime on the front torsion bar sytem.....same thing in my Chrysler 5th AVE I picked up......throwing the ole turbo motor in that for a while!

Front suspension is stock. Shocks are worn out which gives it a little quicker extension. I did eliminate the K member isolators and replaced them with steel rectangular tube. Rear is a ladder bar set up. Lowering the car with the ladder set up only allows a 10.5 slick to fit. It's "mini tubbed" up to the frame rail and the outer fender lip inside is rolled up. Engine.... well it looks pretty! Bunch of old school junk that we've freshened at least four times throughout it's lifecycle. It's at the "n'th" of being worn out in all aspects. Ultradyne mech cam (the old NF-69 .640 lift), Mopar Stage VI heads (thanks Dwayne!), M1 intake, Carb Shop 1050 98 square jets. 34 degrees total timing. Stock crank welded and cut to 4.15 stroke, LY rods, light Ross pistons, stock main caps, ARP main studs, stock block. shift at 5700, trap at 6200. We've shifted higher and ran more gear than the current 4.10 in it..... didn't matter much.

Cool! Didn't expect to see LY rods and a welded crank in that combo.

Posted By: J_BODY

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/09/12 07:21 PM

Quote:

Nice!! What does that thing weigh?

3180 with me in it Ted. Could still pull some weight out if I wanted. Love the power windows though...

Posted By: Chassisman

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/09/12 08:15 PM

J....glad you had a great time...now I have a partner to beat the March Meet drum with...NO ONE preps a track like the crew at Famoso...its a thing of beauty. EVERYONE who wants to have their best pass ever needs to make the trip out west sometime. The weather was awesome....the company was great....hope you and your dad become regulars to the EVENT.
BTW...Ranchero R755 is Eric "King of HOT ROD" Christianson...you beat a Famoso legend ....he just returned from a 2 year hiatus...way to go !

My Dart quarter panel and slick make an appearance in this awesome video.
http://bangshift.com/blog/awesome-march-...and-spills.html

Posted By: J_BODY

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/09/12 08:46 PM

Dang!! I feel like an azz not mentioning the great MM info and hospitality provided by you Ron! Answered all my questions and really helped me not jumping into this event blind. I'm so glad you stressed how important it was to stay at the track....with the crowds it would have been difficult to get back in. Just wish I had a camera handy when you were cruising the pimp-mo-kart through the vendor area with that load of hard "working" girls! ....yeah I know, they're "dancers"!

The Chassimans pit area is well equipped!

Posted By: Chassisman

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/09/12 08:52 PM

Quote:

Dang!! I feel like an azz not mentioning the great MM info and hospitality provided by you Ron! Answered all my questions and really helped me not jumping into this event blind. I'm so glad you stressed how important it was to stay at the track....with the crowds it would have been difficult to get back in. Just wish I had a camera handy when you were cruising the pimp-mo-kart through the vendor area with that load of hard "working" girls! ....yeah I know, they're "dancers"!
The Chassimans pit area is well equipped!

We'll find out soon how much DEJA VU Showgirls is sponsoring me for. Sounds like a nice tidy sum so far...but until the contract is signed we'll see.They want the car....golf cart...and trailer wrapped...plus they want me to race Calif..Vegas...and Az at every event possible.
Like I said...glad you enjoyed yourself and was glad that you felt at home and took advantage of our Bangshift HQ...LOL...hopefully you got plenty to eat Friday night....we served 145 plates.

Posted By: MRMOPAR

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/09/12 09:52 PM

Very cool Jay... I guess I have to get mine going again..

BTW - a new cam sensor fixed the problem we talked about. Its the 5th one in that car!!! And there is a single 5V supply to both the sensors (crank/cam). Thanks for the info on changing it!!

Posted By: MoparBilly

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/10/12 04:08 PM

Wow,
After all that abuse and neglect over the years, that ole stroker just continues to go faster!! Makes you wonder why we throw money at small-blocks!!!

A weekend with your Dad at the track is pretty hard to top.

Posted By: J_BODY

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/10/12 04:27 PM

After what I've seen you do with stock blocks, cranks, and LY rods I have little to worry about Billy! Thanks for the beta testing info!

....now if I can only get those little tires to hook on a hot track! That's one hurdle I seem to have issues with. I really need to have the car scaled...but I'm sure with the goofy torsion bar set up that the front weight is scary.

It was great attending the event with my dad...but would have been better with the Duster and him driving. With the other heads and the track conditions it probably would have gone 9.4's. BTW I think we've given up on the combo. Going to get out of the W5 power arena and go back to the low 11 360.

Posted By: clonestocker

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/10/12 05:19 PM

Jay,

Love the picture.I followed you all weekend on BangShift. The live video streams are cool. Car was running quick as ever. Your Dad is going to tame the Duster back down? I know where he's coming from. It's awful nice to just be able to passes on the car. One of these days I'll start working on mine again. later matt

Posted By: Wax

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/10/12 05:31 PM

Jay: You'll have to admit that 360 was a strong runner and made him few bucks here and there.
Wax

Posted By: moparmanjames

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/10/12 05:44 PM

Way to go Jay, good to see that Mirada still kicking azz!

Posted By: Lil Demon

Re: Mirada comes out of the box running hard after 4yrs.... - 03/12/12 03:54 PM

It was great seeing you guys and the car certainly ran hard. I have video of your 1st round win. I'm traveling for the next 3 weeks so I'll throw it on YouTube when I get home. I think I mahve video'd Ron and Dale's 1st round runs as well - can't remember if I got them or not. We'll know in a month.