'80 Mirada 4 speed

Buck Atwater

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I thought I'd finally post some pics of my '80 Mirada I converted to a 4 speed and got back on the road after 5 years or so. I posted some progress pics in the old 'lets see them j bods' thread a few years ago but never really got around to posting much more other than when I went through the windshield debacle lol. I gotta take some more pics but I'm proud of how it turned out.
Used a '68 A body gearbox and shifter and F body parts for the pedals and hump. The automatic carpet even fit after I made a relief cut in by the seat. I can post more pics and detail if anyone is interested.

80Mirada1.jpg


80Mirada2.jpg


80Mirada3.jpg
 

jasperjacko

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Is this the car that rusted out or did you fix it, what's the story?
 

jasperjacko

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We need more details, like what clutch setup, crossmember mods, more, more, we need more! "I can post more pics if anyone is interested" Well Duh!
 

Jonnyuma

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THAT is AWESOME!
When my Lebaron looks just like it (black w cop car wheels/caps) everyone's gonna call me a copy-cat.
Don't care... it looks killer enough to BE copied.
Nice work.
 

4speedjim

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BRAVO!! Nice execution! I love everything you've done with your car. I have all the major components for my 4 speed swap. I have 18, 23 spline and OD Trans's, shifters, linkages, SB Bell, pedals. I still have decisions that depend on whether I go hydraulic or z-bar, BB or SB. Did you use your auto trans cross member or find a std trans cross member? Your interior picture answered most of my questions. But more pictures would be greatly appreciated. This is a very desirable but seldom completed, rarely documented swap. All the info you can provide could be the go to source for FMJ 4 speed swaps. I think that's very cool.
Jonnyuma
To be copied is the sincerest form of flattery
 

Jonnyuma

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To be copied is the sincerest form of flattery
It's been my plan for years (might have even mentioned it in my New Member post), I pretty much bought my 79 to do exactly that... but Buck DID it first, and that counts. And it looks wicked-cool.
I'll be second, no problem. I think we live in different countries so the chances of pulling up next to each other at a stoplight are slim
 

DCAspen

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Looks Factory,Great job,A nice red Tuff Wheel would look fantastic in your interior
 

Buck Atwater

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We need more details, like what clutch setup, crossmember mods, more, more, we need more! "I can post more pics if anyone is interested" Well Duh!

The clutch setup is all factory parts. A mix of A body and F body. The clutch rod and Z bar are F body, the hole is already in the firewall for the clutch rod, it just has a blank plug in it, but accepts the factory clutch rod boot. The bellhousing and throwout fork are 68-70 A body just stuff I got on ebay.
I didn't have to modify the crossmember at all, the factory automatic one and mount were fine, except I think I remember that the mount fit better when I turned it around. The A body shift linkage clears the crossmember fine.
Not a great pic but you can see some of the linkage here.

80Mirada5.jpg
 

Buck Atwater

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I posted in another thread a few years ago about the pedal assembly. But basically you can't use the F body pedal support bracket as is because it's shorter than the J body one, and doesn't reach the steering column support bracket. I don't have many pics but all you have to do is use the longer manual transmission brake pedal stud that supports the clutch pedal on the end. There is an extra reinforcement that goes on the end here to help support the clutch pedal. The holes for these bolts are dimpled in the firewall so you know where to drill, but you have to remove the brake booster to make room.
pedalsinside.jpg


These are those 2 bolts above from the outside, that's the booster on the left.

firewallbolt.jpg


In this pic the fuse box is hanging down because it interferes with the big clutch spring a little, I just had to move it over closer to the kick panel.
pedals.jpg


The end of the clutch pedal also wanted to touch the hi beam switch on the column, I just shave a little piece of the plastic off it to fit.
 

4speedjim

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Thanks Thanks Thanks!!! Everything that could slow progress is answered here. And the dirty little secrets are exposed! This is gold! Thanks again.
 
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Greg55_99

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Is that a Led Zeppelin 8-track sticking out of the dash? Very nice work!


Greg
 

Buck Atwater

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Is that a Led Zeppelin 8-track sticking out of the dash? Very nice work!


Greg

It's a best of Alice Cooper lol.
Thanks for the compliments guys. Another thing I forgot to mention was the Z bar mount on the frame. On an F body the z bar mount is extra piece welded into the frame pocket. Like this:
IMG00299-20110314-2020.jpg


The hole and cutout for the Z bar in the frame rail is already there. I figured I'd never find a factory mount like this so all I did was bolt a piece of flatbar to the outside of the frame rail in the fender well. The bottom 2 bolts are into 3 layers of metal on the frame pinch so I'm sure it would work fine. This did move the z bar stud out slightly but it's not enough that I think it's an issue. I was going to make a mount similar to the factory one but the car was painted by then and I didn't want to grind and weld.

framestud.jpg
 

Buck Atwater

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The floor hump came from a Volare 4 speed car I believe. I got it from a guy on Moparts years ago. It fit the floor perfectly I basically just cut the floor out about 1" inside the perimeter of hump, being careful to just cut the floor by the transmission crossmember and not the crossmember itself
mirada4.jpg
 

Buck Atwater

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I've had it on the road a little last year and have been driving it this year and it's been great so far. Other than a slight leak at the reverse switch, no problems with the gearbox and I didn't rebuild it. Lots more fun than the automatic even though the car was fun before.

Need to take some more pics I guess. My headers started rusting on me already even though I used the Eastwood stuff which I was told works great. I'll just touch them up for now.
80Mirada4.jpg
 
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