I have a cousin that has a 1980 Mirada with the 318...I think it puts out like 150hp...He calls it his muscle car which always makes me chuckle a bit...Heck Corvettes only had 200hp in those days..Buy anyways his car is a beautiful metallic blue with white interior and t tops..Only 35K original miles..He is ruining it as it has not been started in like 8 years..Nor moved an inch... Its garaged on concrete but its still needs to be driven obviously..He wont ever sell it cus he still has the money he got when he was baptized but I might make an effort to get it..

It would be ruined much faster though, if it sat outside on a nice grassy area, or gravely crappy driveway.. At least being indoors, the quarter extensions have a chance of survival.

what do you guys think of this car?

http://www.autotrader.ca/a/Dodge/Mirada/GORRIE/Ontario/5_11000995_ON20080310093132968/

My 1980 Cordoba LS weighed 3350 with a 360 and 3550 with a 440.

440 required a K car PB booster. The 727 swap and 1966/1967 B body 8 3/4 rear allowed the rear of a two piece driveshaft out of a late 1970s ClubCab longbox Dodge pickups to slide right in.
The gas tank straps can be loosened and the tank shifted one "indent" to the passenger's side to allow more clearance for dual exhaust.
I ran big block Hedman hedders with the rear tube on the driver's side rerouted.
Spool engine mounts from a big block car worked. So did a Moroso deep pan.

My 8 3/4" rear didn't just bolt in, I had to enlarge the rear locating holes in the pads, took about 5 minutes.

If I could find a local Cordoba LS in good shape I would snap it up! I love them!!

360



440

Post deleted by goldmember

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Any more info on this one????

Big or small block?
8&3/4" or Dana?
Aluminum wheels, intake or heads??

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360/904
8&3/4 rear 4.10 gears
aluminum intake with stock ported heads
Cheap 14" wheels from summit on the front...15" on the rear. 29x10.5 Hoosiers

I had an '80 Dodge Mirada I purchased in '84. I sold it in '91 (bought a Chrysler LeBaron GTS turbo)

I had the Slant Six which I converted to "Super Six" status within a year. I blew up the 7 1/4 rear - so avoid those. I also "modded" the trans to delay the torque converter engagement. That made an improvement in performance.

It was a comfortable, safe car. There were pretty dismal wiring and quality issues, though. Also, the rear "rubber bumpers" get destroyed in hot climates. I had to replace mine, but they were cheap back then.

It's a comfortable car, too, and I never heard complaints from the rear passengers. Another thing - with the Slant 6, I got pretty decent gas mileage even with the Super 6 2 barrel (I specified '68 318 carb)

What??? Mopar crowd recognizing a F/J/M body???

LOL

Alright...stop wielding your torque wrenches at me all you hard-core old-style Mopar guys...I like the old stuff to...hey, come to think of it, anything in the late '70s and early '80s is OLD stuff as well.

As others have mentioned, these cars share the same uni-body platform. If you want drag racing, you can make a nice stroker engine work well in these cars...change some suspension pieces (most get rid of the soft ISO rear leaf setups). If you want handling in a street car, well, you can go looking for some of the bigger/HD parts that used to come on the fleet cars (taxi, cop, etc). They are out there...

I am an M-body guy myself, but the J-body always looked good to me...sort of actually a 'mean' look to these things...mean, but meaning business...so a well done ride could really hold some promise!

does anyone else think they look like monte carlos?

I dunno, they had like a late seventies T bird look to them. The roofline maybe.

1982 was the year I bought my first and only new car. I was 23 yo. It is interesting back then that I never even considered a Mirada. I was focused on the new Firebird body style. Much more modern looking than the Mirada at that time.

But now I see the Mirada as a decent looking, light weight, car that you don't see a lot of (unlike the firebirds and camaros). It is also relatively inexpensive as collector cars go. Also I really want a t-top car.

I will be forced to sell my convertible project, and one of these might just be in my future..

Thanks for the input....

[IMGhttp://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y154/Remy-Z/DSC01282.jpg[/IMG]

Yeah, I like 'em ok.

I have a 1982 Mirada with 360 installed for sale. Very nice car lot of good work done A/C blows cold new compreser new condenser expansion valve dryer filter. Rebuilt steering box 8 1/4 rear Mickey Thompson tires Crager 500's

I tried to buy one new in '80. Every V8 car on the local lots had that terrible fake convertible top and all the ones that looked the way I liked were slant six cars. I was only 22, so the salesmen weren't taking me seriously. I wound up buying a '68 Barracuda convertible from a used car dealer instead. I quickly realized I liked the idea of owning a convertible a lot more than actually owning a convertible and wound up with an '80 LeBaron Medallion coupe. Still like the Miradas though.