passenger side rear view mirror

[56sedandelivery]

Have a 56 Sedan Delivery. These did not have a passenger side rear view mirror. Being that there is no side glass it is impossible to see that side of the car. Has anyone added a passenger side mirror to these? And what is the best location for doing so. How the heck did folks navigate without hitting something on the passenger side.

[Daves55Sedan]

Yeah it is a disadvantage which I quickly corrected after getting my Courier on the road in 2000. I ordered a second mirror (same as the driver door mirror) and put it in the same place on the passenger side door. Then I got behind the wheel and noticed that having it there was completely in-effective due to windshield pillar blocking my view to it. I moved it to the fender, just behind my automatic radio antennae. You should be able to see it in this photo

[Daves55Sedan]

Years ago, I passed an old hillbilly driving a badly rusted out '56 Courier going down a two lane highway in Oklahoma. He had those great big tall rectangular shaped mirrors like you see on a Mac truck mounted on both sides of his car on the doors.

[56sedandelivery]

Thanks. At least I will have to only drill 2 holes instead of 4. Ascetically looking does it look okay with the offset mirrors, or would moving the drivers side to the same location be better? Or would there be a blockage at that point also? Guess I will have to tape and and move to find the best spot.

[LD-Ordie]

Mine already had a passenger mirror right in line with the wind wing. Not the best location, but I didn't want to add more holes. It's OK if I have it set just right, but not great!. So, the best scenario is to have a co-pilot. I never park by myself in an area which requires me to back up, if at all possible. I live in a very rural area, no freeways within 100 miles, just 2 lane state highways. But your right, visibility totally sucks!! So I found using the rectangular mirror gives a little more viewing area, so I have one on the drivers side, but there was not enough room on the passenger side in the current position. Would be OK if it was forward on the fender like on Dave's.

[Daves55Sedan]

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Originally Posted by 56sedandelivery

Thanks. At least I will have to only drill 2 holes instead of 4. Ascetically looking does it look okay with the offset mirrors, or would moving the drivers side to the same location be better? Or would there be a blockage at that point also? Guess I will have to tape and and move to find the best spot.

I hated having to move the passenger side mirror from the door to the fender. But there was no way I was gonna move my driver side mirror to the fender to match it. Many years prior to this, I had installed the mirror on my car (the one in the avatar) on the fender rather than on the door where it had been installed at the factory. But having it there when my car was parked in the driveway, the morning sunlight would bounce off the mirror, hit the vent window glass and burned the plastic part in the middle white, and caused bubbles in it. It was so bad, you couldn't see the mirror thru the vent window glass. I replaced the vent window glass and mounted the mirror on the fender, thinking, now there will be no more trouble with this. Little did I know that after everything was done, a couple years later, that mirror on the fender was now burning up the glass at the lower corner of the windshield. I wound up moving the mirror back to the door. The glass shops have the pattern for the flat window glass for all '55/56 Ford cars, but I dare you to find a windshield replacement. I'd actually love to get a new windshield. My car has been on the road consistently from 1972 up till 2017 when it underwent another major rust repair/painting project and door re-adjustment. That windshield looks like it has been sandblasted. If you are heading west in the afternoon in my car, you better have the best anti-glare sunglasses in the world, because each of the tiny potholes (every 1/16 of an inch) is like a miniature sun shining in your eyes.
It wouldn't help to back the car in the driveway, because in the afternoon, the sun is shining in the opposite direction, hitting the mirror from the west.

[bobss396]

I tried a door mirror on my passenger side, it was blocked from view by the vent window. I opted for a pair of peep mirrors and I'm happy with them.