a friend of mine has a demon with one of those 440 small blocks..he drives it to car shows, and it runs low 9s...[&:]
i also run about 50 degrees advance timing in the mirada...bat that one around a bit...
a few years ago, i ran out of gas on the return road, and coasted to the pits, and got a push from a guy i raced with..i was so angry i stopped the car next to the generator, and pulled the fuel feed line off, drained it into a gas can, and poured it into the car. the guy who pushed it said "you cant put that cheap gas on the mirada!" it ran like a 12.65 the next run.
it really is an odd combo, and i think that when i explain my setup to many people, they think that im full of it. the mirada will be slightly more wicked once its fixed. the new bottom end has 13 to 1 pistons and a different crank...although that would destroy my ability to run cheap gas...and that compression will cause more heat. my combo runs so cool, that on an 80 degree day, i can hot lap three runs without turning on the water pump or fans. we have thought about going with the small stroker kit that i already have, and keeping the low compression pistons.
someday i will get a nice set of aluminum heads, but for now, i like peoples reactions to "i run stock truck heads and run low 12s"...
out of the box, we would like the demon to run in the 13s, as we are running what i consider to be a pretty conservative setup.
i would really like to make a modern take on a mr norms GSS demon...that low compression 360 would probably eat up some forced induction...but for now, its a budget build. im keeping close track of what we spend, and im going to write about it...and it goes to show that you dont need 50 grand to have a nice, reliable muscle car.
here is a video that is a few years old, of me racing amanda...the weather was awful that weekend, and my setup just wasnt working, but a few weeks later, the truck got into the 14.80s, and the mirada got into the 12.50s, then later that season in cool weather, it ran 12.40s and one 12.39...it broke first run out of the box the following season.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=H1cxSQhLJX4
and an exhaust video with the aforementioned setup.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=uA1rYV2HA6Q