1980 Mirada roof trim

[80 Lebaron Coupe]

Well according to this it is a base model.
And your right Capt. it is a Canadian built car.

VIN: 2B3BX62P1DR204613
Year: 1983
Make: Dodge
Model: Mirada
Style/Body: HARDTOP 2-DR
Engine: 5.2L V8 OHV 16V
Country of Assembly: CANADA
Trim: Base

 

[Jack Meoff]

Well according to this it is a base model.
And your right Capt. it is a Canadian built car.

VIN: 2B3BX62P1DR204613
Year: 1983
Make: Dodge
Model: Mirada
Style/Body: HARDTOP 2-DR
Engine: 5.2L V8 OHV 16V
Country of Assembly: CANADA
Trim: Base

Yes Sir. That's what I got too. Built in Windsor, Ontario I reckon

 

[marko]

hi kkritsilas
im not trying to be disagreeable either, no worries.
all my experience with miradas and mirada reference material (inc US and CDN sales brochures) only shows the matt silver dash bezel as being standard and no mention of woodgrain being an option for 80, 81.
however i did find mention of cordoba style woodgrain dash & door trim being available for 83, no mention if it was available in 82 but it must have been, so i guess we are both right.
ive had quite a few small body cordobas and friends with miradas.
my 81 t-top mirada has the silver dash bezel.
the one 82 mirada i know with woodgrain dash bezel had it installed by the owner -
i know because i was with him at the wrecker when he got it from a cordoba.....
im considering putting the woodgrain dash bezel into my mirada because i have put imperial door panels that have woodgrain on the window switch plates which are way larger than the mirada ones.......
im doing an interior colour change from faded light yellowish tan to red

happy new year
mark


Marko,
Not trying to be disagreeable, but my 1982 base Mirada has the fake woodgrain (now slowly fading to pink, and the cracked door tops to match). It is Nightwatch Blueexterior, blue interior with cloth splitbench seat. I have seen a few other Miradas with the fake wood, and a couple with the aluminum dash. Door tops on those with the aluminum dashare the same colour as the interior. I don't know for sure, but the fake wood may not be a specific option, but part of some option group, or it may be part of the split bench package. Just to be clear, this is the factory interior as far as I can tell, and the car is pretty much loaded.
My 1981 Mirada CMX has the painted sliver/aluminum dash. It is a bucket seat/console shift car in red, with the white vinyl fake convertible top.
My 1980 Cordoba has the wood dash. It is a cloth split bench car in cashmere (Chrysler's name for a light tan colour).

 

[kkritsilas]

Mark:

I think that the wood grain dash and door panel tops were part of some sort of interior package. I don't think you can get the wood grain as a separate individual option, or at least I don't see it as part of the options in any of my sales brochures.

I can see where somebody can change over the dash to wood grain if that is what they would have liked, but that still wouldn't do anything to the door panel tops, which on my 1982 Mirada are also the wood grain type (and cracked in multiple places as well). My 1982 was factory made with the woodgrain that I feel pretty certain about.

I wonder if the wood grain is related to the seat type, as in the bucket seat cars get the sliver dash/vinyl door tops, and the split bench seat cars get the wood grain. It would jive with my 1982 Mirada (split bench seat (power), wood grain) and my 1981 Mirada CMX (buckets (driver power) and console, silver dash/vinyl door tops). This is a very small sample size to go from, though, so this is simply speculation on my part until more data comes in.

To be honest, the wood grain dash/door panel tops, as time has gone on, are a major step backward in my mind. They may have looked fine when the cars were new, but right now, they look really bad. In my Mirada, the brown color of the wood grain has faded to s pinkish colour, and the door panel tops have cracked in multiple locations. The plastic what was used to make up the "featherwood" wood grain look has not stood up well to UV rays over time. In contrast, the sliver dash/vinyl door tops seem to be just fine. i am, in fact looking to change the 1982 Mirada back to the silver dash. My alternative is to have an interior shop create a wood or similar material dash surround, and cover it with some sort of wood veneer, and do the same with the door panel tops. The reverting back to the silver dash and vinyl door tops will be much cheaper, and I have the door tops already. Having the interior shop make the veneered dash and door tops will be expensive, but will look much better, as well as being closer to the factory look.

 

[80mirada]

Chrysler's management didn't care about J-body production at the time. There are so many mutations of the Mirada it makes your head spin. 1982 seems to be the year the wood grain shows up in Miradas, and they do seem to be split bench cars. The short rear side window trim is unique to base 1980 Miradas. The J-body was an unwanted stepchild at the Lee Iacoccca headed "New" Chrysler.

 

[marko]

heres what im doing with my interior colour change.
the imperial door panels are a much higher quality and are 1 piece.
ive never seen any that split or crack, but the door pull handle trim is weak where they attach.
im going to have to trim the ends of the rear seat side window molding where it meets the door.
i also will have to decide what to do with the pw switches and figure out how to make the door lock knob pulls work - you can see they at the outer end of the door panel.

mark

 

[kkritsilas]

in your pictures, the yellow door panels, picture 20141018_170355.jpg, the wood grained plastic at the top of the door panle is what I am talking about. My 1982 Mirada has that (colour of the wood grain is different, I don't know if it is due to sun fade, different wood grain pattern that is on imperials only, etc.). The UV damage is very much the same, and is the same type of damage that is seen in all J bodies (I can't say if it occurs on M bodies or F bodies, as I don't have any of those cars)/ Also note, that the same door panel has a Mirada emblem on it, which shows that the Miradas did indeed have the wood grain trim.

The color change that you are doing is close to what I am going to be doing with my base Mirada (the one with the wood grain). In my case, the door tops are going from the cracked woodgrain plastic to the solid colour yinyl tops. I won't have the door lock knob position issues, as the solid colour door tops are also from a Mirada.

 

[marko]

thats not woodgrained plastic on the door top, its nasty discoloured yellow tan plastic the same nasty colour as the rest of the interior !
i will prob start a post about the imperial door panel swap, but not until the car is out of winter storage......
mark

 

[kkritsilas]

Yes, it IS faded wood grained plastic. It is so faded that it may look yellow, but that is exactly what the faded wood grain door tops end up looking like. The vinyl or door panel colored tops don't crack like that (actually, from the two examples that I have, they don't crack at all), and they don't have that splotchy colour thing going on either. Above all of that, the door panel coloured door tops also don't have the flat 45 degree bevel that is seen here (dead give away). As verification, check the Mirada sales brochures that you have with pictures of the door tops, and then, if you have a Cordoba sales brochure, check the the pictures for what the Cordoba's wood grained door tops look like. You will see that the Mirada sales brochure has door tops that are smoothly rounded over, and the Cordoba brochure will show a bevel (like your picture does).