Aftermarket door mirrors.

[Injebreck99]

I recently bought a pair of door mirrors from a well known auction site for my Dolomite, I am having difficulty fitting them securely as the grub screw that secures the mirror to the plastic base mounting keeps coming loose, the screw digs into the plastic base and doesn’t stay secure, also the height of the wedge shaped part that the screw goes in to isn’t tall enough, has anyone else had this problem, is there another way of fitting these mirrors, are they all mounted like these?[/img]

[ClassicFan]

You need to throw away the 'wedge' rubber and simply use the 'flat' rubber part which should have been supplied. I had the same issue last week until I figured it out as there were zero instructions with the ones I got (from MEV but look the same.)

[xvivalve]

You need to throw away the 'wedge' rubber and simply use the 'flat' rubber part which should have been supplied. I had the same issue last week until I figured it out as there were zero instructions with the ones I got (from MEV but look the same.)

Unfortunately the plastic wedge is an attempt to replace the gasket and the metal retainer with a single part. If he dispenses with that there will be nothing for the grub screw to engage with!

[ClassicFan]

Unfortunately the plastic wedge is an attempt to replace the gasket and the metal retainer with a single part. If he dispenses with that there will be nothing for the grub screw to engage with!

Have to agree to dissagree on this one, the 'flat' rubber has the requisite 2 rubbers on the rear to go into the bodywork holes and when the retaing 'wedge' and screws are fitted they tighten up and pull the end of the rubber into the hole making the back plate secure. Once fitted the mirror is nicely solid on the car.

I just took mine of to take a picture of the back plate on the drivers side. I had to drill 6.5mm holes on the (offside) passenger side to fit a mirror there for overtaking...

The 'wedge' may work, if it had longer screws, but I didn't try that.

[Carledo]

I know it makes the job a lot more complicated, but I find the "fit from outside" design of these mirrors pitiful as far as security and tightness is concerned. So I take the door cards off, shave the plastic sleeve down till flush with the inside of the doorskin and use a "spire nut" on the inside so the screw has something to tighten into that WON'T work loose over time! I also like to put a dab of sealer round the holes to stop any water getting in there.

Steve

[xvivalve]

Unfortunately the plastic wedge is an attempt to replace the gasket and the metal retainer with a single part. If he dispenses with that there will be nothing for the grub screw to engage with!

Have to agree to dissagree on this one, the 'flat' rubber has the requisite 2 rubbers on the rear to go into the bodywork holes and when the retaing 'wedge' and screws are fitted they tighten up and pull the end of the rubber into the hole making the back plate secure. Once fitted the mirror is nicely solid on the car.

I just took mine of to take a picture of the back plate on the drivers side. I had to drill 6.5mm holes on the (offside) passenger side to fit a mirror there for overtaking...

The 'wedge' may work, if it had longer screws, but I didn't try that.

There is no separate retaining wedge on the type Injebreck has, it is part of the integral plastic moulding; the two parts you have exposed by removing the mirror are a single part...see Injebreck's photograph.

[ClassicFan]

I know it makes the job a lot more complicated, but I find the "fit from outside" design of these mirrors pitiful as far as security and tightness is concerned. So I take the door cards off, shave the plastic sleeve down till flush with the inside of the doorskin and use a "spire nut" on the inside so the screw has something to tighten into that WON'T work loose over time! I also like to put a dab of sealer round the holes to stop any water getting in there.

Steve

I did consider removing the door card and fitting spire nuts but I 'think' the fit from the outside is meant as a 'safety' feature so if the mirror hits something i.e. a person, it would detach from the body causing less harm. I did apply paint then some Bilt-Hamber S-50 around the holes to try and reduce the possibility of 'tin worm'

There is no separate retaining wedge on the type Injebreck has, it is part of the integral plastic moulding; the two parts you have exposed by removing the mirror are a single part...see Injebreck's photograph

The fitting kit should come with several options, the wedge part being only 1 of them. I may have kept the other bits so will dig them out later and take a picture (out all day so may be tonight)
The picture I took of the fitting on the car is of 2 separate parts, not 1, both of which came in the fitting kit.

[xvivalve]

I’ll try once more: not all kits are…oh, forget it!

[ClassicFan]

So lets actually try and answer Injebreck99's initial post.....

So the mount that he has should look like 'A' on the reverse which is basically B & C combined. To fit that then he may need to remove the door card as suggested by Carledo and use a spire nut on the back to get the screws to tighten to make it secure. (Longer screws may be needed) Care needs to be not to overtighten though as the wedge part may deform (it did for me)

Then when fitting the mirror on the back plate you need to push down to ensure the grub screw goes low enough down to 'bite in', overtightening may cause it to ride over as shown in the initial image.

I found the 'wedge' to soft and had the same issue with the grub screw over riding the wedge so....... I opted to use 'D & E' (E should have the rubber plugs moulded on the reverse to fit the 6.5mm holes as per 'C') and simply fit from the outside of the car without removing the door card. My mirrors are nice and stable and can be adjusted by hand with no issues.

[Ralph]

So lets actually try and answer Injebreck99's initial post.....

So the mount that he has should look like 'A' on the reverse which is basically B & C combined. To fit that then he may need to remove the door card as suggested by Carledo and use a spire nut on the back to get the screws to tighten to make it secure. (Longer screws may be needed) Care needs to be not to overtighten though as the wedge part may deform (it did for me)

Then when fitting the mirror on the back plate you need to push down to ensure the grub screw goes low enough down to 'bite in', overtightening may cause it to ride over as shown in the initial image.

I found the 'wedge' to soft and had the same issue with the grub screw over riding the wedge so....... I opted to use 'D & E' (E should have the rubber plugs moulded on the reverse to fit the 6.5mm holes as per 'C') and simply fit from the outside of the car without removing the door card. My mirrors are nice and stable and can be adjusted by hand with no issues.

Thats fine if you get all those different parts, which it would seem are not in all the kits. If you don`t get D & E, how can you use them.
I would return the mirrors or question the seller and a lesson for anyone else buying these mirrors off an auction site to check what you are getting before you buy.
Ralph

[ClassicFan]

Thats fine if you get all those different parts, which it would seem are not in all the kits. If you don`t get D & E, how can you use them.
I would return the mirrors or question the seller and a lesson for anyone else buying these mirrors off an auction site to check what you are getting before you buy.
Ralph

Looking at the eBay listings nearly all show the mirrors with the full kit https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from ... r&_sacat=0 but there are listings for the actual kit as well if the relevant parts are 'missing' and the OP has no joy with the seller.

However given the quality of the items supplied it's probably down to overtightening of the wedge unit to get it feeling secure which is distorting it, pulling the centre down, so the mirror grub screw sits to high to bite lower down on the wedge when you try and fit the actual mirror to the base.

[bazyerma]

So lets actually try and answer Injebreck99's initial post.....

So the mount that he has should look like 'A' on the reverse which is basically B & C combined. To fit that then he may need to remove the door card as suggested by Carledo and use a spire nut on the back to get the screws to tighten to make it secure. (Longer screws may be needed) Care needs to be not to overtighten though as the wedge part may deform (it did for me)

Then when fitting the mirror on the back plate you need to push down to ensure the grub screw goes low enough down to 'bite in', overtightening may cause it to ride over as shown in the initial image.

I found the 'wedge' to soft and had the same issue with the grub screw over riding the wedge so....... I opted to use 'D & E' (E should have the rubber plugs moulded on the reverse to fit the 6.5mm holes as per 'C') and simply fit from the outside of the car without removing the door card. My mirrors are nice and stable and can be adjusted by hand with no issues.

Great info, thanks for sharing!

[Carledo]

I know it makes the job a lot more complicated, but I find the "fit from outside" design of these mirrors pitiful as far as security and tightness is concerned. So I take the door cards off, shave the plastic sleeve down till flush with the inside of the doorskin and use a "spire nut" on the inside so the screw has something to tighten into that WON'T work loose over time! I also like to put a dab of sealer round the holes to stop any water getting in there.

Steve

I did consider removing the door card and fitting spire nuts but I 'think' the fit from the outside is meant as a 'safety' feature so if the mirror hits something i.e. a person, it would detach from the body causing less harm. I did apply paint then some Bilt-Hamber S-50 around the holes to try and reduce the possibility of 'tin worm"

Well maybe, though at the time these mirrors were introduced (early 70s) this wasn't so much of a consideration. For example, all Fords of this period had mirrors secured by nuts inside the door on studs in the mirror itself. I think the safety aspect was taken care of by the mirror head parting company with the stem under the strain of impact (thus exposing the the unfortunate pedestrian to the sharper top of the stem FFS!) Or maybe the stem was supposed to part from the wedge, another weak point in the fitting!

My personal opinion is that the cars of 40+ years ago fail modern safety standards in so many other ways, this is trivial in comparison. Though i've chosen more modern and (possibly) safer aftermarket mirrors for my own cars. They aren't OE, as this type is, but then, neither are my cars!



Steve

[Ralph]

I am that used to using mirrors when reversing I sorely missed having one on the passenger door of my Dolly 1300, so I bought a black one from an ebay seller and fitted it the other day. I did not realise that both the original mirror, and the new one were flat glass, and although the drivers one gives a decent field of view, due no doubt to the proximity of the mirror to the driver, the passenger one is next to useless. Does anyone know if these mirrors were ever made with convex glass, or where such a mirror could be bought.
Ralph.

[ClassicFan]

I am that used to using mirrors when reversing I sorely missed having one on the passenger door of my Dolly 1300, so I bought a black one from an ebay seller and fitted it the other day. I did not realise that both the original mirror, and the new one were flat glass, and although the drivers one gives a decent field of view, due no doubt to the proximity of the mirror to the driver, the passenger one is next to useless. Does anyone know if these mirrors were ever made with convex glass, or where such a mirror could be bought.
Ralph.

I simply applied a cheap self adhesive 'blind spot' mirror in the corner of each miror for the same reason