KAMIKAZI
Run-Away
I built Kamikazi over the winter of 1989 and raced it from 1990 through the 1997. I then sold the car after buying the PowerBroker. Kamikazi was built on a 2"x3" mild steel chassis, Ford 9" rear-end, Dana-25 Front-end (that was powered by a custom made belt drive system) and weighed in at 2036 pounds.
The first time I an Kamikazi, it was powered by a 360 AMC. (at this point I had invested a grand total of $4200) The motor lasted a grand total of 2 passes before tossing a rod. I then decided that I should follow my instincts and build a small block Chevy. I put together a mild 355 with forged 10:1 TRW's, cast Chevy crank, GM "B" rods, a .568 lift hydraulic cam and pretty much everything else stock.
In this initial form Kamikazi ran in the 5.3's. Over the next few years we slowly kept stepping it up until we ended up with a full roller set-up, angle milled bow-tie heads (57 cc chambers, that bumped the compression to 11.25:1), a 4,000 stall Banks converter, ATI Trans-brake, etc. We ended up around 500 horse and ran very consistent 4.80's. Best pass was a 4.762 second run. The last year I ran the car I placed 4th or better in 11 of 12 races and finished 4th in points.
Kamikazi was recently racing in Ohio with EC4WDA as "Mud-Shark's Kamikazi"
Accomplishments:
Won NorthEast Fall Nationals 3 consecutive years
3rd Place, Big-Elim Hill Climb Gravel-rama
3rd Place, Monson Hill Climb
2nd Place New England 4x4 Jamboree
3rd Place points 1996
4th Place points 1997
Sponsors:
Shawnee Peak Ski Area
Trafford's RV
Featherlite Trailers
Route 5 Auto
David Riley Const.