Opinions on mirrors

[slammin]

I need to buy a pair of exterior mirrors. There are the ones that mount on the hinges and those that clamp to the door edge. Pro and cons please. BTW, I bought my first Model A yesterday! A 29 Tudor. Details and pics to follow.

[veggie]

Hello Slam
I have a 31 pickup and have them on the door hinge.They have been great and not moving for 25 years.

[Licensed to kill]

I have the hinge pin mirrors on my '31 pickup and the ones on the top of the door on my '28 sedan. My new '31 fordor has no mirrors and I am putting hinge pin mirrors on it.

[eagle]

I had the clamp on, chipped the paint and vibrated too much. Now have the hinge pin style, work great.

[SSsssteamer]

On our '29 Tudor, we have wind wings mounted on the doors. I wouldn't own a tudor without them. Consequently, the hinge mirror (which is my first choice for tudor), cannot fit also with the wind wings. So...we use the pinch mirror that pinches onto the wind wings. Excellent combination. We have owned and driven our tudor for 50 years now.

[NCRebel]

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I have the mirrors with the hinge pin. There are two set screws (Allen wrench head) that keep the mirror aligned.

[michael a]

Originally Posted by SSsssteamer

On our '29 Tudor, we have wind wings mounted on the doors. I wouldn't own a tudor without them. Consequently, the hinge mirror (which is my first choice for tudor), cannot fit also with the wind wings. So...we use the pinch mirror that pinches onto the wind wings. Excellent combination. We have owned and driven our tudor for 50 years now.

What do the Wind Wings do for you

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[Y-Blockhead]

I also have the hinge type. I know you didn't ask but I also have 5" mirror heads, helps when backing up.

[WHN]

Originally Posted by eagle

I had the clamp on, chipped the paint and vibrated too much. Now have the hinge pin style, work great.

I agree, go with the hinge. Enjoy

[TerryH]

Have had the hinge mirrors for 11 years on my Town Sedan; they work great! I also added the wide angle mirror on the right side....wouldn't change anything.

[nhusa]

This is a great thread because I have been looking at ways to put mirrors on my 31 Town Sedan and I was leaning toward the ones that mount on the hinges.

Mirrors with chrome brackets would not look good on my A because it is old and rusty so I was thinking about getting the black truck ones.
After reading this I ordered 2 black ones from Berts because they will go on either side.

[CHuDWah]

Originally Posted by eagle

I had the clamp on, chipped the paint and vibrated too much. Now have the hinge pin style, work great.

Yep. Had clamp ones on late-30s non-Ford - in addition to paint chips and vibration, set screws on the clamp wouldn't stay tight and I never could get the mirrors angled right to be of much good. Had hinge mirrors on 30 CCPU - no worries.

[CarlG]

I have the hinge pin mirrors, also they are 5" like Y-Blockhead has. I modified the right hand mirror by adding a threaded rod coupling behind the mirror head so that it can be adjusted correctly.

[KenCoupe]

I agree with everyone else. I had the hinge pin mirrors and like them very much. When I put the windwings on my coupe, the hinge mirrors wouldn't work so I now use the mirrors that clip on the windwings.

Ken

[JOHN CT]

I have the hinge pins ones. Had them on about 15 years now. They work great. And they still look brand new that's one of the things I got my money worth, on my A

[marty in Ohio]

I have the hinge pin mirrors AND wind wings on my '30 town sedan. I can't see any problem other I look through the wind wings to see the mirror. Been working fine for me for 24 years/
Marty

[burner31]

Sometimes when talking about my car I will toss in that it still has the original black and white mirrors, you know, since colored mirrors didn't come out until the mid 50's.
On occasion, I will catch some sneaking a peek...just to see.

I'd almost feel guilty if it wasn't so funny.

[SSsssteamer]

Originally Posted by michael a

What do the Wind Wings do for you

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We drive our Tudor year round. During the summer when the door windows are open, without wind wing windows, one will get a lot of wind in their face. The wind wing windows deflect the wind from your face and makes touring a lot more comfortable when the door window are open.

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by NCRebel

I have the mirrors with the hinge pin. There are two set screws (Allen wrench head) that keep the mirror aligned.

I have the same ones. It was the very first thing I bought when O bought my A. I took out the allens and replaced them with stainless straight head machine screws as I thought it looked better and did not want to take a change of the allens rusting in place.

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by burner31

Sometimes when talking about my car I will toss in that it still has the original black and white mirrors, you know, since colored mirrors didn't come out until the mid 50's.
On occasion, I will catch some sneaking a peek...just to see.

I'd almost feel guilty if it wasn't so funny.

In the mid 80's I was babysitting my cousin's 3 kids. We were watching an old black and white movie on TV, when 5 year old Nathan looked at me and said "you know Tom, if you were born in the old days you'd be black and white". That sure cracked me up.

[vern hodgson]

Originally Posted by eagle

I had the clamp on, chipped the paint and vibrated too much. Now have the hinge pin style, work great.

Did the mirror fit or did it require some modification? Mine is not wide enough, do I need to file it to fit or can it be bent to fit over the hinge?

[michael a]

Thank you so much for the reply I really wondered what they were for

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[desotoguy]

Can someone tell me the diameter of the pins for the mirrors? My hinges have the oversized .25" pins.

[tiger.1000]

I never like the idea of the hinge-pin mirror so decided to make one.

1) Find a piece of 16 gauge mild steel and shape it to copy the contour of the door hinge

2) Drill 2 x 3/16 holds in the 16g steel and use this as a template to drill 2 x tapping drills in the door hinge !!!!!!
tap the holes 3/16 UNC....slow going as I believe the hinges are forgings.

3) Get a length of 5/16 diameter mild steel bar and weld it to the 16g plate at the appropriate angle.

4) Buy a 4/5 inch diameter mirror head (I used a 4 inch)
and machine a fitting to take the adjusting screw for the
mirror head.

5) For aesthetics file a taper on the end of the 5/16 steel
bar and weld this to the fitting in section 4.

6) Give it all a test run and paint the lot black and then
attach to the door hinge with 2 x 3/16 round head screws

I know some of you are going to scream at the thought of drilling the hinges but the holes can always be filled in again
if needs be.

When the mirror is on the car with all of the welds filed and
polished it looks like Henry Ford and not a piece of after
market add-on

[vern hodgson]

[QUOTE=tiger.1000;1531606]
I never like the idea of the hinge-pin mirror so decided to make one.

1) Find a piece of 16 gauge mild steel and shape it to copy the contour of the door hinge

2) Drill 2 x 3/16 holds in the 16g steel and use this as a template to drill 2 x tapping drills in the door hinge !!!!!!
tap the holes 3/16 UNC....slow going as I believe the hinges are forgings.

3) Get a length of 5/16 diameter mild steel bar and weld it to the 16g plate at the appropriate angle.

4) Buy a 4/5 inch diameter mirror head (I used a 4 inch)
and machine a fitting to take the adjusting screw for the
mirror head.
[SIZE.

That is a nice looking mirror, did you use a bottoming tap?

[tiger.1000]

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Vern,

The thread is only 1/4" deep. To answer your question, I used all three taps; a taper to get the thread started, then number 2 followed by the "plug" or bottoming tap.

Close up photos available if anyone fancies having a go ?

As I said, slow going for fear of breaking the tap.