SUICIDE BLONDE  

                                                                                                                                 DRAG RACING

Ok, well now to the mods on the '69.  Last November we changed out the tranny for a wide ratio, which significantly improved my 60' time once I mastered the new shift point.  But before that happened we had a horrible bog off the line.  The new harder launches were causing the gas the in carburetor to slosh away from the pick ups and the car was running out of gas.  Patrick remedied the bog by putting extenders on the jets.  Then he decided he wanted to change out the front shocks to Lakewood 90\10s.  With these 3 simple changes, tranny, jet extensions, and shocks, the new fastest run is 12.46 @ 108 mph.

In November the TV show Pinks All Out from the SPEED channel taped one of their shows here in Tucson and though our buddies Will and Kelly McLearran (McLearran Racing) helped us change out our close ratio toploader tranny for a wide ratio one, I didn't have time to master the new shorter first gear before the qualifying for Pinks.  The sad part is that the E.T. range that the show picked to film would have been about what I would have run!  Patrick and I did get to go to Pinks as VIPs though and that really made the day for us, being right up front and being introduced to the cast of Pinks.  Now mind you, we've never seen the show, so meeting them didn't really mean much to us, but we took pictures anyway, as everyone we know knew the cast.

AND THEN THERE WERE TWO.....

Well, we've have the Mustang for two years and no problems to speak of. We made the mistake of going to the Shelby Factory in Las Vegas last year and now I want to convert it to our version of a CS6!  Check it out!  ShelbyAutos.com  For the exterior mods we have added a 3-bar pony emblem to the billet grille, a "Shelby" emblem across the back of the trunk, hood scoop and windshield banner. For the interior, pony emblems on the inside door panels and dash, billet "Mustang" door sills.  The most recent performance mods are new JBA headers and dual exhaust, and new rear bumper to accommodate the dual exhaust.  Also, new 18x9 Shelby Razor Wheels in gunmetal gray with Kumho tires.  A Paxton Supercharger made especially for the V6 by Paxton with the Shelby Performance Parts badging and new rear axle with 3.73 gears and T-lock.

The new Supercharger has now been installed on the car and we took it to the track just to see what the difference would be in E.T.s.  The car went from 16.4 to 14.7 without the new gearing.  First and second gears felt very slow and this new axle which we now have, should make all the difference in the the first two gears and hopefully take a few more tenths off the E.T.

Patrick bought the '69 Mustang at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale, Arizona in January, 2003.  The Mustang, though highly modified mechanically, outwardly looks like a nice, straight, completely restored, classic car and it weighs in like a classic car too at 3506 lbs. including the driver.  Don't ask how much of that is driver!

For those of you who know about cars, it has a 351 Cleveland motor with a 4-speed top loader transmission, 3:90 rear end, custom Competition Cam with a gross valve lift of .640, bore of 4.030 and compression ration of 13 to 1.  It runs on 114 octane "Trick" racing gas, nothing less...but maybe MORE.....huuummmmmm.....The car is set up for old fashioned racing.  This car was obviously set up to race (before Patrick bought it) and driving it on the street is difficult, though it is street legal.

After losing a rod bearing in 2003, the engine was rebuilt by: 

Larry's did an incredible job, tearing the entire engine down and rebuilding, tweaking, adding some things and the engine has not had so much as a hiccup since he did the work.  He's known for building bullet-proof motors, and I can attest to that!

Here's the specifics

Paint and body work on all of our cars has been and will be done by Formula One in Tucson, AZ.

We race at Southwestern International Dragway  near the intersection of Houghton and I-10, next to the fairgrounds, outside of Tucson, Arizona.  Come visit the track!

My family's history in racing started out when I was  grade school age.  My father, John Leamon has worked on, built and raced cars for as long as I can remember. 

The first car I remember was called the "Golden Rod" and was owned by Stormy McDonald, worked on and raced by my dad and his best friend, Mark Lowder.

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