ruppster
Member
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?
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?