Cordoba LS vs. Mirada differences

[kkritsilas]

Hi,

To start getting my Mirada into shape, I am looking at picking up a Cordoba LS. The car is a 1981 model, and my Mirada is a 1982. Both are Nightwatch Blue, and both have blue interiors. The Cordoba has bucket seats and a console, my Mirada has a split bench seat and a column shift.

Questions are:

1. How hard would it be to replace the split bench seat with the bucket seats? I would like a console, and I don't think the split bench/console combination would fit together. My split bench seat is power operated, so I would end up losing that, but that is fairly minor, as I would like the bucket seats and console better.

2. Another consideration is my Mirada has had its steering column replaced by what I am told is an M body steering column, and is brown. If I use the steering column from the Cordoba LS, it doesn't have the shifter or the gear indicator. How hard is that swap, and would it be easier to try to repaint the steering column blue vs. replacing the front seats/console/steering column with the Cordoba LS pieces? I think the M body steering column was put in to get a tilt steering wheel which wasn't on my Mirada in the first place.

3. I have the option of getting the Cordoba with or without the 5 on 5 alloy wheels; my Mirada has the 10 spoke alloy wheels right now. I like the 5 on 5 alloy wheels a lot, but the current owner of the Cordoba LS will really discount the price if I don't take the wheels or the front end/grill assembly. What is the value of the 5 on 5 spoke wheels?

4. Did Cordoba LS's have anything mechanical that differs from the base Mirada? Did it for exmaple, come with a rear sway bar, or a different dash layout, or did the LS's all come with 318/4BBL vs. 318/2BBLs, or better/bigger disk brakes? I have started to investigate the Mirada, but don't know much about the various Cordoba models, and how they compare to the Miradas.

Kostas

 

[Diplomat_Wagon]

The seats will be the same mounting wise, the console will need the mounting brackets taken out of the donor and welding into your car. The power seat setup can be transferred to the buckets as the seat tracks are the same.

Steering columns are the same.

Wheels are the same. The 5 spoke wheels are quite desirable.

The brakes and engines will probably be the same. the only difference between a 2bbl and a 4bbl 318 car is the heads, intake and carb.

Other then cosmetic differences they are essentially the same car.

 

[CMX360]

Like Diplomat Wagon said the cars are damn near identical. The dash layout is almost the same. A console car will have no shift indicator under the fuel gauge because its on the console instead. Depending on the options level of the car there will be other changes to the gauges. A highly optioned car will have a washer bottle fluid level light in one of the pods and in 82 the high beam light was moved from the top of the speedo to a gauge pod. If you want to have a console I suggest you do change the column. Its very easy to do. Just make sure you block the car!! The car will come out of park when you drop the column. I learned that the hard way and lost a door. doh! Also despite what you would expect the LS Cordobas were meant to be cheapo alternatives to the regular Cordoba. Miradas and Cordobas are often much more highly optioned than LS's. So I doubt it has a rear sway bar and brakes were all the same size regardless. Because its a Doba the 5 on 5's likely have the Cordoba gold coin centers which would be silly on a Mirada (just my opinion). I love those wheels but if you use them you should try to hunt down the Mirada correct "Chrysler Corporation" centers (won't be easy). Do you know if the LS has a tuff wheel? That would be a great option to spice up your car with. Tuff wheels were very common in LS console cars.

 

[jasperjacko]

Is the LS a rusted junker? They are quite rare these days . I would fix it if possible. If not, don't forget all the shift linkage through the floor and special bracket on the transmission. Save as much as you can, people are starting to search for parts as these cars become more popular. I would get the wheels too. whether you use them or not....I have seen both centercaps on ebay several times. I was missing one on my car and bought 3 online for xtras

 

[kkritsilas]

I have spoken to the owner, but didn't ask about the Tuff Wheel. The current wheel (and steering column for that matter) just don't fit with the rest of the interior. I haven't seen the car yet in person, just spoke to the current owner. I am hoping to get a windshield that is less cracked than my Mirada's, a usable driver's side door panel, and if things are better than I expected, usable beltline moldings for both doors, and side windows (the ones just behind the front doors, not the large opera windows).

Anybody know if the console will fit with the 60/40 bench seat, or it just won't go?

I was always under the impression that the Cordoba was the "luxury" model, and the LS was the sporty version. I didn't know it was the cheapo model. Live and learn.

Did any of the J body cars ever have a factory installed tachometer? Seems to be a better use for the large opening where the gas gauge normally goes, and move the gas gauge to one of the other dash openings.

Kostas

 

[jasperjacko]

the LS is the sport version..as in luxury sport. It was going to be called the "300"

 

[Diplomat_Wagon]

The console is meant to go between the seats and since the 60/40 split bench is just that, a bench, there is no space for the console.

There were no F/M/J cars that received a factory installed tachometer that I know of.

I think the kit cars had one but they weren't factory.

 

[Bryan M.]

No FJM had a tach.

 

[CMX360]

The LS was the sporty version but seeing as how the engines could no longer match the looks and Chrysler had little interest in putting its dwindling money into large cars (K's were the future) just about all the LS's were very lightly optioned (there was no Plymouth version of the J to take the cheap spot). Most were high back bucket slant six cars with no power options. Thats part of the reason why the car didn't get the 300 name. It couldn't live up to it performance wise. Same goes for the Mirada. The Mirada was originally called a Magnum. And the 78-79 Magnum was a butched up Charger so Miradas could have just as easily been called Chargers as well if the Magnum hadn't out sold the Charger so much that Dodge dropped it mid 78 (they were supposed to sell side by side). These were dark years at Chrysler and some silly choices were made.

 

[kkritsilas]

I think the Magnum was one of the best looking Dodge cars after 1975. Too bad the Mirada never got the power operated clear headlight doors that the Magnum had. On the other hand, the Mirada is also a great looking car, and weighs a lot less, so it is a pretty decent performer even with a small block, and is better on gas.. I think the Magnum is really a big block car, but being a bigger car, will never get the gas mileage of the Mirada.

Kostas

 

[kkritsilas]

Also, the guy who has the blue Cordoba LS also has a black Cordoba LS. I think he will be restoring the black one, which is why he wants the wheels and front end of the blue LS.

As for the wheels, he is pretty stuck on them, so I'm not going to push that. I am actually thinking of going with the Motech 17" wheels eventually, and would use the current 10 spoke alloys for winter use, after cleaning them up and clear coating them of course.

Kostas

 

[Bryan M.]

Another reason (well, a rumor, as far as I know) is that when Iacocca went to ask for the money in '79, one of the deals was that RWD and for sure, performance RWD cars were effectively killed off for 25 years. They were allowed to recoup the money for the platforms, but if it didn't sell, it was to get axed. Reason why the Fs and Js were done by '83, yet the Ms sold well to fleets and the 5th sold pretty well in general, and lasted until '89.