Mirrors!

[billjackson54]

Standard fitment for Cabrio and Hunter mirrors has both sides fitted "portrait" to the windscreen frame, attached to the triangular support for the window guide. Other members have pointed out that a "landscape" mounted mirror is more in keeping with natural lateral eye-movement and also provide a wider field of view. I have tried VW beetle side mirrors, which have been almost satisfactory, except that on a windy day they blow in swivelling on the mounting....allowing me an excellent view of my own face, but no indication of a potential over-taker. I have not been able to tighten them up enough to prevent this lateral swivel, so I'm looking for an alternative. IF the door-mounting Caterham style mirrors sold by CBS were available in stainless steel with Convex glass....or even standard black (presumably paintable?) with convex glass, they would suit me, but I wonder if there is sufficient clearance inside the door between the outer skin and the window glass to accept a pair of riv-nuts to fix the mirrors to? I fitted a similar mirror to the n/s door of my Berlinetta a few years ago...but I'd really like to hear from anyone with a Hunter or Cabrio who's mounted their mirrors to the door in this way....or of any other solutions to this problem? I know Marlin have provided a suitable bracket to allow the standard mirrors to be fitted "landscape"(said to be quite expensive, even if still available) but I really want a somewhat larger mirror anyway. Any thoughts anyone?
Thanks.

[danny_nelson]

Re: Mirrors!

The mirrors mounted on all Hunters will fit on the door in the more traditional manner by using an MG Miget mounting plinth.

[kahawi]

Re: Mirrors!

Danny, any chance of a photo, (or reference to one in the 'gallery') of this 'mod', please?

I do feel very 'blind' with the portrait window mirrors, less of an issue with the lid off, of course!

Colin B

[lizbillings]

Re: Mirrors!

There are pictures of Hunters and Cabrios in the photo gallery on the website showing mirrors.

[cabrioman]

Re: Mirrors!

Danny, any chance of a photo, (or reference to one in the 'gallery') of this 'mod', please?

I do feel very 'blind' with the portrait window mirrors, less of an issue with the lid off, of course!

Colin B

This should give you the information you need, there are pictures of the plinth and the mirror fitted if you cycle through the pictures. The only down side is fitting the plinth is better done with the door glass out unless you are happy to live with just self tappers into the aluminium skin. I supose you could possibly use counter sunk rivnuts to avoid removing the glass.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/marlin_bmw_cabrio/1304373491/in/album-72157603830807646/

Hope it helps

John

[mike woodley]

Re: Mirrors!

Hi,
I fitted my mirrors "landscape" by using the method shown to me by the late Mark Matthews of Marlin.
The mirrors are:- Tex Door Mirror Right Hand M68990 Flat Glass, M68890 Convex Glass. Tex Door Mirror Left Hand M68991 Flat Glass, M68891 Convex Glass.
The mounting bracket is screwed to the window frame with self tappers. The mirror is mounted at right angles to the mount by means of a small fabricated 18mm square block of aluminium. It is drilled through at right angles and mounted using, from memory M4, stainless cap head bolts. The hole taking bolt 1 in diagram has to be re-drilled large enough to allow the head of bolt 1 to sit just below bolt 2. i.e. the bolt head of bolt 1, connecting the fabricated block to the mirror holder, has to be low enough in the block to allow the threaded part of bolt 2 to pass over it. see diagram. DO NOT drill too deep as it will make the mounting weak, just deep enough to allow bolt 2 to pass over it.
The bolt going into the mirror holder from the fabricated block, has a locknut inside the mirror holder, ie reversing the direction of the original bolt. This has to be tightened by trial & error to get the correct tension to allow the ball joint to operate against the fabricated block, prior to bolting the assembly to the mirror mounting bracket which should already be mounted to the door window upright, see photos.
Please excuse poor diagram, hope you can understand it.
Hope this helps.
Regards Mike.

[danny_nelson]

Re: Mirrors!

The ex Simon Gregory Cabrio is a good example of what I described. No need to remove glass and a good fixing with rivnuts. There is a website showing the complete build

[danny_nelson]

Re: Mirrors!

cabrio_simon flicker

[cabrioman]

Re: Mirrors!

The ex Simon Gregory Cabrio is a good example of what I described. No need to remove glass and a good fixing with rivnuts. There is a website showing the complete build

As Danny says the link I provided is to Simons Cabrio pics on flickr. If you go to the full flickr site there are pictures in the “final assembly” album showing the mirror mount from inside the door. As I said the plinths were bolted with the glass out but as Danny says the fixing should be fine with rivnuts, you would just have to be careful on the depth they and the mount bolt project into the door.

Flickr site is here. https://www.flickr.com/people/marlin_bmw_cabrio/


John

[geoff b]

Re: Mirrors!

When I bought my Cabrio I wasn't happy with the mirrors, and as well as wanting them to be convex and landscape, I got a bee in my bonnet about wanting them to be as far outboard as possible. After much pondering and looking at many cars and photographs, I ended up using sprung mirrors, intended for mounting on front wings. They need about 2 inches clearance under the base, and I used a short length of stainless tube to both accommodate the spring and provide an extension. Some might say the result looks rather eccentric, but they give a great feeling of confidence when driving in heavy traffic. There was a bit more work involved in fabricating the mounting, I can provide details if any one is interested.
I hope I have attached a picture - I've not posted before

[billjackson54]

Re: Mirrors!

Well, Geoff...eccentric or not, that really is a good neat solution to all the problems. I would be VERY interested to see whatever additional details you can provide. I'm still soldiering on with my VW door mirrors, but in today's particularly windy weather both blew out of adjustment making it very stressful overtaking both when pulling out and pulling back in. How about a write-up for Pitstop?

[geoff b]

Re: Mirrors!

I did start a write-up, and then life got in the way. You have encouraged me. I could send you more details if you wish - how do personal messages work?

[bryannewell]

Re: Mirrors!

Hi Bill
This may or may not be of interest, I fitted round wing mirrors at the front of the wings by the side lights using the mounting bolt holes for the wing stays so no extra holes required, these came from Car builder solutions https://www.carbuildersolutions.com/...ror-pair-106mm
I have left the originals in place on the doors and I find I now have a great field of view including one along the whole length of running boards which is great for reversing in and out of tight spaces
I think they look ok too!

[billjackson54]

Re: Mirrors!

Thanks, Bryan...another excellent solution. I've actually gone with Geoff b's method pictured above (as I have somethings to hide). I'll be sending the Editor some pictures once I've sorted out the right mirrors and got the adjustment properly organized.