My car is a LHD 70 2+2 and it has always had a left door mirror. I wanted a RH door mirror as I think it helps when passing , backing and parking. A few years ago I ordered one but did not put it on until I had completed my restoration. I placed it on the right door in about the same position as the left hand mirror had been placed.
I was disappointed with the result as the mirror was basically useless as has been mentioned more recently. The problem as I see it is that stem the mirror head fits into is angled towards the window and does not allow for enough adjustment of the mirror head. Of course by now I had holes in the door and moving the mirror base was not a good option.
I bought a new mirror from SNG, it had a convex mirror as is common on newer cars now, on the out side chance the ‘error’ with the base had been corrected. No chance.
I thought about making an adapter that would place the mirror head stud parallel with the car. I visited a small welding/fabrication shop and asked if they could make some pieces for me. As we talked I asked if he thought the arm on the mirror base could be ‘bent’ or would that break it. The more we talked he warmed to the idea especially when I told him if it broke I would not blame him, it was somewhat an extra piece, and lets go for it.
He made a holding jig out of wood and put it in a bending press and he was ready. His dad came by about that time and he wanted his dad to heat it some with the torch then he would use a wrench to bend it. Worked like a charm, he heated it a second time and applied a little more force to get it ‘just right’, by my eye. he let the part slow cool so as to not shock the metal.
There was some discoloration to the chrome which we expected. The discoloration was easily removed with chrome polish. There are a couple of small ‘nicks’ from the wrench end and the force bending but they are not too obvious .
Now the right side mirror is very useable. This technique may not work for everyone or every time but it did this time.
Great idea. I had the same problem for the same reason back when I had the 2+2. I thought about trying what your guys did but chickened out. Do you have any before and after pictures? What did they heat the stem with, a propane torch?rehss
I too ordered a new mirror. I think the PO ordered a left hand mirror for a right hand drive car. SNG had the same mirror base but left hand mirror for a left hand car. We’ll see if it works better when it gets here. If not, I’ll be trying your twist thing too.
And I too would like to know what they used to heat it up because I am hoping it’s something I can do at home with a propane torch.
Gentlemen;
I thought about pictures too late. I will take picture of my original mirror base and one of the modified base to show the difference, maybe this weekend.
They used their oxy-actelyene (sp?) torch to heat it. They worked carefully and slowly and as mentioned before let the base cool on it’s own, I am sure I would have dumped it in water to cool it. They know more about metal then I do.
I have not tried to mount the left door base on the right to see if it would work. Thinking about it i think it would put the mirror too low. Also my left hand door mirror requires three holes as the spring extends below the base where as the right side door mirror spring does not extend past the bottom of the base.
I will try and post photos soon.
I am not suggesting switching sides for the mirrors. What I am saying is that they have different versions of the left and right side mirrors depending on if it’s a left or right hand drive car.
IIRC, years ago you could buy the “proper” Tex brand mirror and then they stopped making that particular model. The difference is the stem near the mirror head now has a different bend, it points more down and toward the center of the car than the earlier version. Consequently you can’t adjust the mirror head up and out enough to see anything useful from the driver’s seat. So I’m assuming Joel’s guys applied heat to the stem portion where it’s thin and makes the bend near the socket for the mirror head.
John;
You are probably correct about years ago. In the mid 90’s I tried to order a Rt hand door mirror and was not able to.
Here are some photos of what is my ‘original new’ mirror and my ‘new new’ mirror after modification. The original base has the flat mirror and the new base has a convex mirror with a black vinyl gasket around the mirror. This shows the view with the original base, hardly helpful.
Hope these are helpful. I did not think to take pictures of the bending process. I originally was going to ask them to make me some pieces on the lathe so I could try to make an adaptor.
Peter;
The caption for each picture is above the picture and as I review them the caption’s are correct.
My command of the computer is not what it should be and I don’t see that changing in the near future but I will keep working on it.
My descriptions could probably have been better, maybe next time.
