BOXY BRAWLER
This
fat-fendered '80 Mirada racer still gets
around coners with the best of
them.
Though the 1980 Dodge Mirada wasn't
really known as a fine-handling machine,
we found one that was built to turn and
burn. It's prepared especially for
corner killing, and it packs a mean
Mopar punch under the hood.
Gary
Stach of St. Petersburg, Fla., is the
current owner of this wild Mirada, which
once competed in the Kelly Girl
Challange, a series of road racing
events that was contested in 1982-83.
Documentation from Chrysler tells us
that the car was from a Chrysler kit car
and a bunch of round tubing. "It
finished third at the Detroit Grand Prix
and sat in the front row at Pocono in
'83," said Larry Henry of Chrysler
Corp.
Knowing that retired race
cars are no fun to just sit and look at,
Gary decided to keep this Mopar aive by
restoring it and actually racing it.
Gary compets with the Historical Stock
Car Racing Group, which is a home for
older stock cars that aren't run on the
NASCAR circuit anymore.
The base
of the Mirada is a complete NASCAR
chassis that incorporates a multi-point
roll cage for protection and stiffness.
The front suspension features custom
upper and lower A-arms with Afco
adjustable coil-over shocks. The shocks
can be set to raise or lower the ride
height, and the springs can be changed
for extra stiffness, if need be.
Under the ear bumper sits a 1978
Franklin rear with a quick-change
differential. Generally, a low
(numerical) gear would be selected for
large oval tracks and tall (numerically
high) gears would be installed for curvy
road courses. The Franklin is supported
by a heavy-duty Laundrum leaf spring
suspension with Carrera adjustable
shocks. The Mirada employs aspecial
shock that is mounted over the rear end
to control rear axle windup on the
track.
An important part of the
handling comes from the large
10-inch-wide Hoosier racing slicks that
are mounted at all four corners on
Bassett stock car wheels. Tese are
bolted to a set of Chrysler big car
spindles that carry lightweight Wilwood
brakes.
Horsepower in this type
of racing is just as important as
handling, and this Mopar doesn't
disappoint. Under the hood sits a
wicked 340 block that's been poked and
stroked to 355 cubic inches. The block
was prepped with a 4.030-inch bore and a
3.460-inch stroke. It packs a billet
crank, Carillo rods and 12.5:1 Wiseco
pistons. The bearings are from
Michigan, and the cam is a Cam Dynamics
grind measuring 290º/300º duration with
lots of lobe lift. Extra power is freed
up with a Weaver Brothers dry-sump
oiling system, but big ponies are pulled
from W-2 heads that have over 100 hours
of flow bench work put into them.
Fuel is drawn from a large cell by a
Carter electric pump and sent to the
worked NASCAR-style 650 Holley. The
intake is also a W-2 design, and the
entire combo was worked by Gary's friend
Chuck Galledge. Spark is timed by a
Chrysler mechanical advance distributor
with a modified curve and MSD coil.
Gary also uses Moroso wires and NGK
plugs.
A Quarter Master clutch
links the power to a beefed up Super
T-10 4-speed that features a Hurst
Speedway shfter that pops through the
floor and right into Gary's waiting
hand, and he is held tightly to the
Kirkey aluminum seat by his 5-way
Simpson racing harness. Other interior
goodies include an Auto Meter tach,
Longacre gauges and an emergency fire
exstinguishing system.
The body
of the Mirada began as stock sheetmetal,
but it's been acid dipped for lightness
and cut to fit around the large rubber.
Fender flares, spoilers and an air dam
were all added for a downforce at speed.
To catch the eye of spectators, the
Mirada was colored in Porsche red with
yellow wheels and numbers.
Gary
races the Mopar four or five times a
year, and he even won an award from 3M
Corporation for excellence in
restoration in 1994. The slick Dodge
usually racks up about 2,000 miles a
year, quite a lot for a vintage type
racer.
"We run in a class that
is dominated by late-model Winston Cup
cars, which makes this a very unique
entry," Gary said.
We think it
is tremendous that Gary is mixing it up
with all the other Brand X machinery and
that he's even run near the top at a few
events. It's nice to see a Dodge in the
world of road racing with a V8 and
rear-wheel drive. So look out, and root
for our favorite 1980 Dodge
Mirada.
Article
By
Evan
Smith
Photos
By
Jeff
Koch