Let the mods begin (1981 Imperial)

[ruppster]

Since I have several things I want to do to my Imperial I thought I would start a thread for it and update it as I go. First thing on the list was new rims. While the snowflake rims aren't bad I wanted something with a little more of a deep dish look. And since my goal was to use factory parts I was initially thinking of using 16 inch rims from a Conquest. But after a few months I haven't had any luck finding any in the area that were in decent condition. Well, last week I came across a CraigsList ad that had some Cordoba/Mirada rims (a set of 5, came with tires but they are mostly worn out). Yesterday I was finally able to get away and go get them. Here's a pic with a couple of the tires leaned up against the side of the Imperial to see how they will look.

All I can say is wicked! That leads me to my next dilemma. Now I need to figure out what tires to put on the rims. :icon_smile: Current tires are 215 wide and 27 inches in diameter. My thought was to step up to a 235 width tire but they no longer make one with a 65% aspect ratio. That leaves me with an aspect ratio of 60 (at 26 inches in diameter) or 70 (28 inch diameter). If I go another step up in width (to a 245) I could get a tire that's 26.6 inches in diameter (i.e. very close to the stock 27 inch tires). After getting the rims home I noticed one was wider then the rest. Turned out to be a 245/60R15. Bingo! So Thursday I hope to put it on the rear of the Imperial and see how it looks.

My next mod is going to be a disk brake conversion on the rear axle. I saw a thread the other day about using parts from a Jeep Grand Cherokee Dana 35 or Chrysler 8.25 rear axle. Now I have some parts on order for this and plan on doing the brake swap at the same time I put on the new rims. And if Demon carbs gets back with me with an answer to a question I asked them via email I may be replacing the Edelbrock carb that's on it now with a Demon Street Demon carb.

On a different note when I was out on my road trip getting the rims I made another stop to pick up a 1981 Mirada parts car. Last year I acquired another Imperial that the seller was parting out. It has a messed up front end (under hood fire due to a fuel leak at the carb). After I got it home I noticed the back of the Imperial parts car was rust free and in great shape. After seeing a few Miradas that were hopped up I thought I would make use of the Imperial and put a Mirada front clip on it. The Mirada parts car has a good front end and interior but is a total rust bucket in the back. The icing on the cake is the Mirada parts car has bucket seats and a console shifter. So I plan on combining the two and making a hot rod out of it with a stroked out 400 big block. So that begs the question of what to call it. Will it be a Mirial or a Impada?

 

[NoCar340]

I actually have the '88-'89 Conquest SHP wheels for my Imperial, which is hopefully coming home soon. They're not a bolt-on, though, as the center register on the wheels is too small to fit flush against the hubs. Plus, decent-size tires are getting harder to find for them (I have 255/55R-16s for the rears and 235/60R-15s for the front). I had a set of wheels like the ones you got that I was going to use on my old LeBaron, but I sold them. Mine were the early forged wheels, which are lighter than the cast versions but the cast ones look much better to my eye, even though the difference is subtle.

The Imperiada Miradial?

 

[jasperjacko]

Sounds like a nice project. I have those same wheels on Modoba with 255/60/15 in the rear.

 

[kkritsilas]

Call it a Magnum R/T. This was the car that the Mirada replaced, and was longer than the Mirada, so the extra length of the Imperial sort of works there. The Mirada front end bears more than a passing resemblance to the Magum as well. And Dodge never made a Magnum R/T, just an XE and a GT. Final part is that the Magnum was available with a big block.

Does anybody know where to get centers for the 5 on 5 spoked alloy wheels, like the ones in the picture?

Kostas

 

[My imp]

I actually have the '88-'89 Conquest SHP wheels for my Imperial, which is hopefully coming home soon. They're not a bolt-on, though, as the center register on the wheels is too small to fit flush against the hubs. Plus, decent-size tires are getting harder to find for them (I have 255/55R-16s for the rears and 235/60R-15s for the front). I had a set of wheels like the ones you got that I was going to use on my old LeBaron, but I sold them. Mine were the early forged wheels, which are lighter than the cast versions but the cast ones look much better to my eye, even though the difference is subtle.

The Imperiada Miradial?

go to "My Imperial drawing". That has Mirada fenders on it. I prefer the hidden headlight look of the Imp myself. But mine will have T-Tops, side pipes, scoop, spoiler, & a slew of mods that could only be done in cutaway. I'm working on a drawing of putting an Imperial nose on a Mirada/Cordoba convertible. Been too busy to finish it.