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What would you do...racing MJ

88greenxj

NAXJA Forum User
Location
ocala florida
We're tossing around the idea of putting a 87(?) MJ on the local circle track. I 've raced there before in the v8"bomber" class (76 monte carlo) but we want to run a jeep. Mostly cause we're so into our xj's and we'd like to see how good we could make a jeep on the track. That being said...they're a bunch of cheatin' bastards out there...we want to run with them...(no way a "stock" vw rabbit is lifting the front left tire off the ground coming out of turn 1-2)

Its a asphalt 3/8 mile track...kinda egg shaped...

What would you do with our stock mj. 4cyl 4 speed TBI. Within these rules. We're going to the multiport set up ASAP so tell us what you'd do the way it is stock and with the MPI motor too... Remember it must APPEAR stock...
2. Body:

A. Car body must be strictly stock. No modifications or alterations of any kind except as outlined below.
B. Removal of interior parts which can be removed with hand tools okay. No cutting of any panels allowed. Any interior part that is flammable must be removed.
C. Left and right front passenger doors may be gutted for roll bars. Minimum of 4 bars on driver’s side. Three (3) bars on passenger side.
D. All exterior trim must be removed.
E. Hood must have hood pins.
F. Inner front fender panels may be removed.
G. Complete floor pan must be retained.
H. Aluminum seat is highly recommended.
I. Fenders may be trimmed for tire clearance.
J. Stock factory brake and clutch pedal must be mounted in original factory stock location. Must use after-market gas pedal with toe strap.
K. The window channel on the front doors of a sedan style body may be removed. All other window posts must remain as placed by manufacturer in original location.
L. Must have relatively stock appearing grill. All glass or plastic must be removed.
N. No side windows of any kind.
O. Minimum ground clearance of 4 inches (body and chassis). No side skirts.
P. No spoilers on, in, or under car unless factory rear spoiler.
Q. Stock brake and clutch pedals will be in their original mounted locations.
R. No holes in hood. Hood must close in original stock position and retain original stock configuration.

3. Chassis and Suspension:

A. Full unibody must be retained as produced by the manufacturer. No modifications of any kind.
B. OEM suspension: Front and Rear.
C. Minimum weight for Chevettes, VW’s, and Escorts is 2150 lbs. Minimum weight for all others is 2400 lbs.


4. Brakes:

A. Stock factory OEM 4 wheel working brakes only. No brake bias devices of any kind.

5. Drive Train:

A. Rear end must be strictly stock for make and model of car. Must not be locked.
B. Must have stock transmission for make and model of car with all gears working.
C. Engine location - in stock position for make and model in factory mounts.
D. Stock clutch and flywheel assembly for make and model. No lightening of any kind.
E. Scatter shield or belt mandatory.

6. Wheels and Tires:

A. Steel racing or reinforced wheels not to exceed 6" wide.
B. Large lug nuts and studs recommended.
C. Tires must be DOT Radial 70 series or smaller and all four must be same size.
D. Tires must not exceed 2" from fender wells.
E. No recaps.

7. Fuel:

A. Only track approved pump racing fuel allowed. No additives.
B. No nitrous oxide.
C. Maximum of 8 gallon fuel cell mandatory. Cutting the trunk for the fuel cell is permitted. Fuel cell must be in 12 gauge can. Maximum of 8 gallons.
D. Minimum ground clearance will be 8 inches.

8. Engine:

A. 4-cylinder engines only. No rotary engines.
B. Engines must remain strictly stock as produced by manufacturer. No modifications of any kind unless outlined herein.
C. Year of engine not interchangeable.
D. No high performance engine of any kind. No high performance parts of any kind. No turbo engines.
E. Engine components must have been available from the manufacturer in that model year.
F . No grinding on any part of engine or component.
G. May use fuel injection heads but adapt normal carburetor in an approved manner. Check with Tech. Two valves per cylinder. No 4-valve per cylinder heads.
H. Shimming of lifters is okay.
I. Electric fans are okay.
J. Electric fuel pumps okay if original equipment. Must have oil pressure safety switch.
K. Maximum over bore allowed is .030 + .010 for clearance.
L. OEM pulley.
M. Must pull a minimum of 17" of vacuum at 1000 RPM’s.
N. Carburetor - Stock unmodified Holley 2300 series Model #7448, 350 CFM 2 barrel carburetors only, or OEM carburetor or OEM fuel injection.

1. Choke plates may be removed.
2. Any jets.
3. Any power valve.
4. No other modifications allowed.
5. Maximum 1 inch adapter plate using single gaskets only.
6. Must pass gauges used at Ocala Speedway.


O. No air boxes
P. All internal components must have factory OEM markings and not exceed factory OEM
specs. It is your responsibility to provide factory data to back up specs.
Q. Exhaust:

1. Manifold - stock OEM manifold only.
2. Exhaust may exit through passenger side door at rear bottom. Where exhaust passes
through driver’s compartment, it must be covered and insulated to prevent excess gases
and unnecessary heat in car.

Right now we're thinking about:
TJ coil in the left front to drop that a bit.
Maybe a zj coil in the right front
XJ shackles to drop the rear.
Chop the front axle tube right next to the pass side knuckle and tweak it a bit to help the camber/caster get right for the track.
Maybe some xj leaves in the rear(or some stock looking long flat leaves to lower the rear a bit)
MPI change the throttle body to 4.0
TBI see what injector flows better???

What would you do??? What year head flows best? What year exhaust mainfold?
 
cool idea, couple things off the top of my head. and xj shackle wount lower the rear at all. you can just heat up the top of the axle tube to get it to pull the top of the kuncle in and you might want to do the bottom of the driverside to kick the top of the knucle out a little. get an electric fan. not sure if ther were anyreal changes over the years for manifolds. you could bore out the TBI(i'm working on one right now with a modifyed regulator. or springs you have a good strart in the front but the back you'll have to play with it a little maybe some thicker helper sprigs will get you down but not have a whole lot of axle hop(not that that is huge problem with a 2.5. Thats all i can think of right now but i'm sure more will come up.
 
tommy and bobby archer, archer brothers racing got their big start with chrysler in the scca mini truck division. They won 3 straight national championships with the MJ. check out their site and email them they might have some of their ol stuff still lying around or know where to get it
 
good luck on getting info from them. I tried a while ago and got no where, but heck give it a try. I may still have one of thier e-mail addys. PM if you need it.
 
88greenxj said:
We're tossing around the idea of putting a 87(?) MJ on the local circle track. I 've raced there before in the v8"bomber" class (76 monte carlo) but we want to run a jeep. Mostly cause we're so into our xj's and we'd like to see how good we could make a jeep on the track. That being said...they're a bunch of cheatin' bastards out there...we want to run with them...(no way a "stock" vw rabbit is lifting the front left tire off the ground coming out of turn 1-2)

Its a asphalt 3/8 mile track...kinda egg shaped...

What would you do with our stock mj. 4cyl 4 speed TBI. Within these rules. We're going to the multiport set up ASAP so tell us what you'd do the way it is stock and with the MPI motor too... Remember it must APPEAR stock...


Right now we're thinking about:
TJ coil in the left front to drop that a bit. they will work
Maybe a zj coil in the right front will raise it 2"
XJ shackles to drop the rear.yes and remember spring under blocks will dro it too
Chop the front axle tube right next to the pass side knuckle and tweak it a bit to help the camber/caster get right for the track. adjustable ball joints would be the ticket
Maybe some xj leaves in the rear(or some stock looking long flat leaves to lower the rear a bit) archers used to run the stock leave packs
MPI change the throttle body to 4.0 dont think it will fit also not allowed for class
TBI see what injector flows better???mpi will flow better than TBI but not stock for that year..might have problem

What would you do??? What year head flows best? What year exhaust mainfold?

MPI head flows best and all years of exhaust manifolds are simular except for o2 sensors

E. Engine components must have been available from the manufacturer in that model year.
 
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88greenxj said:
they're a bunch of cheatin' bastards out there...we want to run with them...(no way a "stock" vw rabbit is lifting the front left tire off the ground coming out of turn 1-2)
..... and with the MPI motor too... Remember it must APPEAR stock...


Right now we're thinking about:
TJ coil in the left front to drop that a bit.
Maybe a zj coil in the right front
XJ shackles to drop the rear.
Chop the front axle tube right next to the pass side knuckle and tweak it a bit to help the camber/caster get right for the track.
Maybe some xj leaves in the rear(or some stock looking long flat leaves to lower the rear a bit)
MPI change the throttle body to 4.0
TBI see what injector flows better???
on the motor, i'd put a mopar cam and 4.0?(go to the forbidden JU website and look up injector flow rates).
what are they gonna do? take a jeep motor apart and then look up the cam part#? i doubt that.
suspension: definately do <black>poly bushings all around. different springs on each side would make it handle like crap. then you would have to run diffrent shock rates on each side. i would use 4.0 grand coils, and then try to find some stock-looking bilsteins. you have to run different shocks. at least gas charged, like off a police xj.
 
xuv-this said:
on the motor, i'd put a mopar cam and 4.0?(go to the forbidden JU website and look up injector flow rates).
what are they gonna do? take a jeep motor apart and then look up the cam part#? i doubt that.
suspension: definately do <black>poly bushings all around. different springs on each side would make it handle like crap. then you would have to run diffrent shock rates on each side. i would use 4.0 grand coils, and then try to find some stock-looking bilsteins. you have to run different shocks. at least gas charged, like off a police xj.

read the rules...MPI was not allowed...was not a factory option on the 2.5 in 87

inside of motor cant exceed factory stock specs.....read the rules before you post boss.
 
xjnation said:
read the rules...MPI was not allowed...was not a factory option on the 2.5 in 87

inside of motor cant exceed factory stock specs.....read the rules before you post boss.
i did read them. he mentioned "bunch of cheatin' bastards" and changing to MPI and so i thought he was going to "bend them" anyway. that old 2.5 would need some "help" to run with most 4 bangers anyway. if that is not what he was asking for, then disregard my previous post.
 
xuv-this said:
i did read them. he mentioned "bunch of cheatin' bastards" and changing to MPI and so i thought he was going to "bend them" anyway. that old 2.5 would need some "help" to run with most 4 bangers anyway. if that is not what he was asking for, then disregard my previous post.

Thats BS too. the 2.5 is plenty peppy, I can smoke any of the listed cars without a problem. I spank older hondas on a daily basis
 
xjnation said:
Thats BS too. the 2.5 is plenty peppy, I can smoke any of the listed cars without a problem. I spank older hondas on a daily basis
is yours 2wd? what does it weigh? is it mpi? something does not compute for me. :wierd:
 
xjnation said:
read the rules...MPI was not allowed...was not a factory option on the 2.5 in 87

inside of motor cant exceed factory stock specs.....read the rules before you post boss.
thats ok we are gonna tell them its a 92
 
You forget the oldest trick of all.....




Balance and Blueprint the engine, port and polish the head. At least Extrude-hone it.
 
xjnation said:
well you better find a wrecked MJ with 92 vin because anyone can read the vin and tell the year of MFG. Why cheat beat em fair and square?

Why not just find a new vin # plate for the dash??
 
they'll be plenty cornfused by a mj being out there anyhow. Looks like we'll be using the tbi motor for a while....what fuel pump would be best???
 
yellowxj said:
they'll be plenty cornfused by a mj being out there anyhow. Looks like we'll be using the tbi motor for a while....what fuel pump would be best???
stock...like it says in teh rules....LOL you are way too funny
 
xjnation said:
well you better find a wrecked MJ with 92 vin because anyone can read the vin and tell the year of MFG. Why cheat beat em fair and square?
they dont need to see the vin which is a good thing they just want to know a year. And as far as us cheating there cheating to so i think what comes around goes around.i just cant wait to start driving it
 
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Well if your cheating and there cheating then obviously your all on fair ground
again. It becomes your knowhow and driving vs. theres thats what "stock" racing is. The reason for different coils on each side is because its an oval
track. You want the outside harder than the inside so the vehicle can turn easier and faster.
 
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