Fastmax's Mirage

[Fastmax32168]

I have been meaning to do a project journal since I got this car, Since it has been nearly 3 years I guess it is about time to git er done. The car has just sat around for a lot of that time however, as I was heavy into several other projects when I got her. When I found the car in South Carolina apparently it was already semi-famous having been for sale for so long it was nicknamed the Goose Creek Mirage. Here were the pics when I picked her up. Lots of spray painting under the hood, and uh...not much taping. Rust on the doors and the hatch stemming from a previous paint job where they sanded up the moldings and panels and then didnt get the paint all the way back under. She looked pretty rough on the surface, but having restored quite a few cars before, I was able to look deeper into it and see the shining star underneath. The shell itself appeared nearly rust free!








Getting home turned out to be its own adventure. The car had been in storage for nearly 20 years so my plan was tow it home on a dolly behind my Astro Van. So I loaded the car on backwards and proceeded to head south back to Daytona. I couldnt get over 40 MPH however and the whole rig would start weaving badly. No matter how I adjusted it I couldnt get rid of the weave. Seeing as how I was on I-95 and traffic was ripping by me at 80 plus this was not acceptable. I was going to die for sure. So we needed an alternate plan. I pulled off the next exit, unloaded the car, checked the oil, aired up the tires, jumped her off, and after nearly 20 years in storage proceeded to drive her 450 miles home without a hitch! The little car ran great.
After I got back I took a look underneath.
It looked pretty good but there was nearly as much spray paint underneath as there was in the engine compartment!

[Fastmax32168]

The interior was pretty decent, not faded too badly and had new carpet in it. I was going to spend the next 3 years chasing down NOS parts anyhow, so there was nothing there I couldnt deal with. Came with some spare parts in the hatch area.





Here is my shop she was headed for. I am pretty well equipped, everytime I need a tool, I go and buy it rather than borrow it.

[Fastmax32168]

Bodywork is underway. I threw away the old doors and hatch and bought rust free stuff out of Arizona. Pulled all the glass, sandblasted everything I could to make sure the rust was good and gone. I ended up finding two new NOS front fenders as well, for what I paid for them it wasnt worth fixing the old ones. Little did I know how much work it was going to be trying to get all the new stuff to line up properly. To say quality control was poor on these cars is a drastic understatement. I had gaps over 1/2 inch wide I was going to have to add metal for. Lots of welding and torchwork was in my future. The drivers door jamb latch was torn loose as well, Somebody was good enough to cut me a good one out of another car and I repaired it.

[Fastmax32168]

Now the little gal went to sleep in my other garage for a long long time.....while we redid a corvette for my wife...



While she was sleeping I scored a deal and got a little carried away on the motor. The first thing I made was some new fender emblems. It helps having a buddy with his own CNC machine.



400 CI....Bowtie block......AFR 210 heads.....Callies Dragonslayer Crank.....Oliver Rods.....Summer Bros Gear drive.....Solid Roller Camshaft.....Couldnt resist going dual quads after I saw my friends Z-28 with them....Custom made an air filter for the quads to match the Edelbrock Valve covers....Should make over 500 in both the HP and torque department

[Fastmax32168]

Well the car had to be solid it it was going to handle all of that HP. Check out these flooboards. Northern guys eat your hearts out.






I built my own frame connectors and driveshaft loop. I dint want it to hang down so I spent a lot of time fitting it up tight. No floor cutting involved. Welded it in good and solid. I also welded up most of the body seams.




Installed and painted

[Fastmax32168]

I had to make the engine compartment pretty to match the motor. I couldnt stand to paint over this wrinkly factory look, there is no way I could bring myself to leave it this way. I tried.



So I once again welded up all the seams, pounded and hammered the inner fenderwells flat, then filled and smoothed it and laid on some new paint.




I have been detailing out every item as I put it back in, treating each piece as a mini project of its own that I was getting ready to put on a shelf to display. Using all new hardware as well.

[Fastmax32168]

I did the 5 lug conversion on the front. Installed new poly bushings on the sway bar, new rubber ones on the A-arms, welded in S-10 ball joints and braced up the arms. I relocated the ball joints per info I found on H-body.org!




Which brings us up to today. I decided I was going to eliminate the Mirage panel bonding strips and bond the panels directly to the fenders. I became convinced by the fellow I buy my bodyshop supplies from that he could supply me with product that would insure they were never coming off again! The installation should be a lot cleaner than the factory one. I am not trying to mold them in to the fender, just not using any strips at the top.




Stay tuned, more to come!

[rm617]

WOW!!!

Looks fantastic so far.

[72 SS PNL]

:D WOW!!!

Looks fantastic so far.

x2 , i cant say it any better

[monzajer]

:D WOW!!!

Looks fantastic so far.

x2 , i cant say it any better

X3

[72vega5.3]

Very nice

[greg72]

I have seen Roy's Mirage and shop (as well as some of his other , completed projects) in person.

This Mirage will be SWEET when completed!

[Ishiftem]

Looks great! Nice clean car to start with too. Keep up the good work!

[jon72vega]

Excellent, Roy!

[NixVegaGT]

That rattle-can pimp job is totally priceless!!! LOL.

While she was sleeping I scored a deal and got a little carried away on the motor.

WOW. I feel ya on that one. LOL sounds too familiar. ha ha ha. I think bonding the panels is a great idea. I was talking this over with my body guy recently as well. The technology has really advanced on this front. I was considering fabricating some full fender bulge/flares to afford more rubber without sacrificing track width.

Thanks for the journal, Roy. Looking forward to the progress.