The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Suggestions Needed for Non-Original Mirrors

Anyone have any cool suggestions?

I want to put mirrors on my '54 Chevy pickup but I don't like the repo's made for a number of reasons.

I'm wondering if I can get away with something like this and be able to see:
http://AlanHorvath.com/xxx.png

Has anyone done anything different with side view mirrors successfully?

Thanks.

Alan

I expect it would work fine on the driver's side.
But you might have trouble with sight lines on the passenger side.

regards,
Leon

They'd sure be ugly (out of place). That is for sure. What is the issue with original style mirrors? Let's get to the problem first, then maybe we can help with a solution.

I think I've see an AD truck that had west coast big truck style mirrors installed. It looked like they would work ok, but I didn't care much for the aesthetics. Kind of the ultimate triumph of function over form.

regards,
Leon

I kinda like the swing-away mirrors on my '84 B II;they look like the next bigger mirrors the Factory offered in the mid 60's-E. 70's GM pick ups,only a little smaller. I don't think they'd work on your truck though,the top arm would be too short. What about a set of Caddy remote mirrors off a '71 or so?
Speed

The main problem, for me, is poor quality ... especially the swivel point which turns into a rust bucket in no time. The arm is chrome and can be maintained ... the mirror housing is stainless, which is great! But then they ruin the whole thing by making the swivel joint out of garbage.

My truck isn't original ... it's a street rod. Also, it's just back from a total restoration on the body and, before I go drilling holes in the body for mirrors, I want to be sure about what I'm doing; I'm open to the idea of putting mirrors on it that will look cool and won't be of such poor quality as we always see on all these reproduction parts.

I'm gonna look into some mirrors from Harley Davidson. Now there's a company that knows how to put quality into their products!

Hmmm! There's a good idea! I've been thinking about having a video screen in the truck that allows me to view that way, but I have to do some research on it. I'm gonna be doing a *very* custom interior and have some cool ideas in my head.

I don't know anything about the 70's remote mirrors on a Caddy ... can you point me to any pics or info?

Thanks, Speed.

After-market, but original-looking, round mirrors are available in black and stainless (I'll be painting the stainless black) in 5", 6", 7.5", and 8.5" diameters and with flat or convex mirrors (I have been using 6" convex on both sides for several years). spot mirrors


See post below - I am using the 5" convex mirrors

Thanks, Tim.

At this point, I'm thinking a really nice Harley Davidson mirror will handle the driver side and a GPS/remote camera screen will handle the passenger side - it can't get any better than that.

Not sure why this thread is in the 'The crash box shop' Alan,but here's what I used.
I got a pair of these from Southern Rods in SC.

Realistically they are probably a tad small,but... IMO they look good.
They didn't cost a bunch either.

Jock,
I think I have the same ones, the drivers side is fine as you can adjust it to see pretty darn good the passenger side on the other hand is pretty much worthless to get a decent view out of.
I do like the look but they are not very functional out on the road.
Tim

Tim,I agree, the passenger side one will need a bit of 'tweaking' but at worst i've got the interior mirror and a back window.
I suppose you can see why the factory mounted the mirror to the cowl on a weird shaped arm in the first place!

Driving on the 'wrong' side of the road presents its own problems,but it's one I'm happy to live with.
I drove a LHD Porsche 914 here for 7 years without any major probs.
The biggest one was overtaking traffic on smaller roads,compounded by the fact it was lower than a snakes belly.
At least the truck has some 'altitude' to see over the Euroboxes!
I could just 'punt' them out the way!
They'd be like bugs on my bumper!

NICE!

I'm convinced a video screen with GPS and remote viewing will be really cool for the passenger side!

Hey Tim,

Will those convex mirrors fit the original style arms? They look like they will in the pictures.

Dale

Dale,

I had to ream out the hole in the regular arms (probably 1/32"-1/16" wider than the original post hole.)

It is a real treat having "wide-angle" rear views on both sides of the trucks.

Hey, Tim.

The thing that bugs me the *most* about the repo's is the joint between the arm and the mirror. The arm is chrome (nice) ... the mirror body is stainless (great) ... but that joint (on mine) rusted *really* bad!

Is it the same with the convex mirror you're talking about? If not, can you give a link to the convex?

Thanks, Brother.

Alan

Alan,

Convex CIPA HotSpots mirrors are shown at the link that I gave in the earlier post.

An Internet search will show many sources.

The posts on the black mirrors (48500) are stainless - I do not have a stainless body version (48502) but I would guess that their posts are also stainless. The socket in which the end of the post rotates in the back of the black mirror is also stainless.

PLEASE NOTE: upon inspection of my mirrors, I remembered that the stainless "posts" are not threaded posts - they are stainless "socket posts". A bolt threads into to them (a bolt that would go through the hole in the mirror arm). I now recall that I I used a short piece of stainless threaded rod and a stainless acorn cap to attach the mirror to the arm (I like to at least have the appearance of original, when possible).

ALSO NOTE (a correction to what I posted above): I have both 5" and 6" versions and went with the 5" because I found the view to be excellent and the 6" was noticeably larger than the original (44% increase in area).

I really like the Bronco II mirrors. I had one at one time. They were small and strong as hell. But not realy sure they would look good on the old truck. Unless its a farm truck.


http://img.thefind.com/images/cwA1y...V7RWR7nuh2G9W6U7T8dL2bTz1gF-?m=1&g=1

I LIKE those mirrors Jock, if I had it to do over.....

Hi Tim. I like your idea with convex mirrors. These mirrors are not extremely functional in todays world.

Thanks

Just remember (no joking) - Objects in mirror are closer than they appear - especially important to remember if you use the convex mirrors on both sides, as I do.

Thanks, Tim. This is really helpful information and I appreciate it much. The original style mirrors really are what works best of all and with a stainless post between the mirror and the arm, I'm a happy camper.

I'll put my repo mirror back on the driver side and I'm still gonna attempt the remote camera view for the passenger side -- *that* mirror looks really bizarre if you ask me!
:o)

Alan

Cool beans!! I just called them (CIPA) and ordered the stainless convex 5" mirror ... the swivel post *is* stainless, too.

Thanks a million, Tim!

Alan