Not mine etc, but how cool is that for a Challenge Starter?
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Feb. 8, 2011 10:14 a.m. pinchvalve SuperDork
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Feb. 8, 2011 10:56 a.m. DeadSkunk HalfDork
Not very common,either. Might not be a bad candidate for a DD with some suspension mods.
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Feb. 8, 2011 11:18 a.m. mndsm SuperDork
I rode in one of those as a kid once. It had some sort of idle surge issue, and it sounded like a race car revving. I didn't care if it was broken, it sounded cool. I dig the looks too.
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Feb. 8, 2011 12:13 p.m. spitfirebill Dork
130 HP from the standard 318. Needs moapowa. A 360 would be noice.
I guess they are the end of what was the Cordoba.
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Feb. 8, 2011 8:00 p.m. aussiesmg SuperDork
flagged
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Feb. 8, 2011 9:50 p.m. Nitroracer SuperDork
I can't seem to find the link right now but imagine a mirada with a new charger chassis/drivetrain/suspension underneath. Someone is working on this.
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Feb. 8, 2011 10:09 p.m. Moparman Reader
Easy to get more power Get rid of the lean burn setup. I think they had a weird transverse torsion bar setup. That could limit handling improvements
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Feb. 9, 2011 5:57 a.m. jrw1621 SuperDork
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Feb. 10, 2011 3:27 p.m. belteshazzar SuperDork
those seem like a car that's really cool, but only as much as it is rare. If there were a ton of them around they would just be bleh.
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Feb. 10, 2011 6:23 p.m. Rob_Mopar HalfDork
Nitroracer wrote:
I can't seem to find the link right now but imagine a mirada with a new charger chassis/drivetrain/suspension underneath. Someone is working on this.
Not anybody in their right mind.
I had one. Twice. Second time around I got so mad I was a can of accelerant away from making a Mirada bonfire. Gave it away instead, but I did keep the factory forged aluminum wheels.
They have some unique body/trim parts that are hard to come by, but mechanically they are a Diplomat/Gran Fury/5th Ave with the transverse torsion bar setup. A 360 4bbl swap would really wake that car up.
Dash was shared with the St. Regis so a police spec cluster could be swapped in. Dash panel has round pods just begging for some VDO Vision gauges.
Wheel wells are huge. I ran 255/60-15's at all 4 corners with room to spare.
This one doesn't have the fake convertible top either. That's fairly rare.
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Feb. 10, 2011 6:50 p.m. Moparman Reader
I hate transverse torsions bars. Are the Mirada's like the Aspen / Volare with the fuel tank offset to one side making dual exhaust a pain?
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Feb. 10, 2011 7:09 p.m. Rob_Mopar HalfDork
Moparman wrote:
I hate transverse torsions bars. Are the Mirada's like the Aspen / Volare with the fuel tank offset to one side making dual exhaust a pain?
Yep, but there's a little more room to move the tank over to clear true dual exhaust.
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Feb. 10, 2011 7:12 p.m. Moparman HalfDork
Why did Ma Mopar design cars that way? Why?
Imagine what the Mirada could have been if they took the Li'l Red Express approach?
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Feb. 10, 2011 8:10 p.m. DeadSkunk HalfDork
The 318 will perk right up with a set of 340 heads on it.But if you had the 340,just drop the whole thing in.
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Feb. 10, 2011 8:34 p.m. Moparman HalfDork
340 head on a 318 drops th compression to about 7.5:1 due to the larger combustion chambers. The 308 swirl port heads with a good porting and valve job (with 1.88 or 2.02 valves) is a better choice. Of course you can use the 340 heads if you go with taller custom pistons. 318 pistons sit a bit below the block deck at TDC.
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Feb. 11, 2011 7:21 a.m. DeadSkunk HalfDork
The engine we did it on had been modified somewhat,aside from the change in heads.I can't remember if the heads had been skimmed, or what. The 318 was from1969, I think. This all happened 30 years ago so memories aren't working at 100%.
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Feb. 11, 2011 4:32 p.m. Rob_Mopar HalfDork
The '69 318 would have had higher compression to begin with. The later cars not so. But there are some Keith Black hypereutectic off the shelf pistons available now to bring the 318 compression into performance ranges even with the bigger 340/360 chamber heads.
And as to why Ma Mopar went to the bent bar front end, it was to make a cushier ride. And probably made the assembly line process easier too.
