Team MF Member #316 Posts: 13601
Joined: 11/18/2002 From: yep Status: offline
I wonder if this will be one of the most unusual cars in the nonner section.
It was my first car when i turned 16. This is how it looked when I bought it, and put some money into body work. It was in very poor shape when i got it but a friend of my dads who owns a custom shop got it looking nice, and it actually won some car show awards, mostly due to how clean and how rare it is.. this picture was taken in 1995 or 1996.
I started driving right after i turned 16, and i was into stereo nonsense and showing the car. But about 6 months after getting my license, i was at a drag strip/show event in ohio, and my dad told me to tech in and make a pass. the stock 140hp 318 ran an amazing 18.72. yeah, thats right...18.72. it had about 170,000 miles on the stock drivetrain, but we came across a cheap junkyard 340 from a cuda. what a find, huh? well, as you can see from this next picture (circa 1997) there was some body work involved to help the 340 breate, and i loved the black hood. when we first got the 340 in, it ran mid 14s. my dad and i always said that if it ran 14s, we would be happy, but it came so easily with ALL junkyard parts, we kept at it. new gears (3.91), new transmission (well, both junkyard pieces) and with those parts the car got into the high 13s.
the stock low performance heads were beginning to show their peak abailities, so we bought a slightly less-cheap head setup, new cam, roller top end...we added some nice light wheels, lightened up the interior, and got a bit less gawdy hood, and 4.10s...and the old girl got into the very low 13s. late in the season, while chasing that 12 second slip at norwalk, i ran a 13.000, and on the next run the transmission went away. so it would be until the following season before i got into the 12s, but it did so...here is a picture from around 2002 (youll notice a jump in time as i was paying my way through college)
2005 brought about some more lightweight goodies such as the fiberglass trunklid and aluminum rear bumper...some other items like a new carb, a freshened up convertor, and some 4.56 gears, the 3700lb track weight mirada went a best of 12.68, at around 105mph.
then we are to the most present picture. this was from 2006ish...and it was mostly trim work in the off season, and some more tuning...along with some seat time, the sled got into the 12.40s, but still was running lean on the front cylinders, and we found a leak in the intake manifold gasket, and the next night it went its best, 12.39 @ 107.86 with a short time of 1.653. sadly, i didnt get a slip for that run, but i did get the 12.40s slips...so i generally state my best as being 12.43...still, for a car that tips the scales right around 3700lbs, running on 87 octane, im pretty please. thats right, it runs on 87 octane, when the motor went together in 1996, i couldnt afford good pistons, so we bought the cheapest pistons that i could find, and those same pistons are still in the car. the bottom end saw something like 25,000 street miles and over 1100 runs before spinning a bearing and wiping out the crank in april of 2007.
here is a picture of the car in 2006, the day that she ran her best time...
and a picture taken at the track on the day that i tore up the bottom end this year...it still ran a 12.9-something coasting across the finish line at somewhere around 50mph...i had a 1.79 short time on that run and a 8.0 8th mile, although my 8th trap was low, so it was already failing at that point...but the car has made every run of its life with 87 octane in it.
there is a new bottom end kit in storage right now, but other projects have gotten in the way...mostly my 1971 dodge demon 340, which is nearing run time...more on that later..
Team MF Member #316 Posts: 13601
Joined: 11/18/2002 From: yep Status: offline
in the next few years, i plan on making a little more streetable, mostly by removing some of the decals...its street legal, but it draws too much attention to itself.
i like that the car is fairly unusual...even at the biggest mopar events, im usually the only mirada there, and the most that ive EVER seen at an event is 3...interestingly enough, the only mirada that ive seen in person that was quicker than mine (while others may exist) lives a few blocks from me.
Printable Version
My 1983 Pearl White 340 ci Dodge Mirada - 
