| Peder D | -- 12-05-2016 @ 1:41 PM |
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Hi! Those of you who have 46-48 Mercs, what are the best mirrors for these cars? Have mounted relatively small mirrors on my 46, but they're more for show than blow...would like to find the most suitable mirrors...if they exist? Also ideas on the best 6v fog/driving lights for this car....thanks, Peder
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| len47merc | -- 12-06-2016 @ 6:13 PM |
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Peder - I gave up on a PASSENGER-side rear-view mirror on my '47 for two reasons: 1) Desire for (Rouge class) originality and 2) Never could find a mirror that was functional/viewable from the driver's seat. Regarding item 2 every mirror I tried that gave the minimal appearance of being 'period-correct' (which of course NO exterior mirror would be period correct) was completely unusable/unviewable/out-of-sight and hence, as you say, more for 'show than blow'. Those that were viewable could not be adequately adjusted to be functional and/or did not provide any useful degree of rear-view. The cowl mount passenger-side mirrors are completely useless (as are most all available passenger-side mirrors for '46-'48s) as it appears you already know. For me personally if something provides no functionality - particularly safety - then it should not be on the car. As well, over time, and to my eye, passenger-side mirrors have begun to have a '...it should not be there...' look to them regardless of the year of most of our V8s. For safety's sake I absolutely had to have a driver's side mirror and threw originality to the wind and ended up with a polished stainless round clamp-on to the door. These are readily available from the usual suppliers (DC, C&G, Drake, etc.) and have design attributes that resemble other features/items on the car. I did not like the placement of the driver's-side cowl-mount mirrors (couldn't see it well/too far away and hence small image/vent window frame partially blocked the view) and the clamp-on allowed for personal-preference placement optimization up and down the door. While not perfect it is adequate in size to be functional yet has a look, size and design to it that doesn't make it stand out as being out-of-place. In the end it comes down to what provides the maximum degree of safety yet still looks good and acceptable to your eye and needs. Wish I could provide some perspective on the fog lights but I've no experience there and given they were not an 'original' item from the factory for these years I have never pursued them. Perhaps others will weigh in with their thoughts - hope this helps in some way. Steve This message was edited by len47merc on 12-6-16 @ 6:21 PM
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| Peder D | -- 12-07-2016 @ 12:08 AM |
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Steve-thanks so much for your view on the outside mirrors. I also have the polished round clamp-on style on both doors. Passenger side is totally useless. I do have a view on the drivers side, but it's not good. Safety is top priority, but good looks are also "eye pleasing". My mirrors have relatively short arms, and I haven't been able to find ones with longer arms and more adjustability. Also the finish is very poor and signs of pitting are visible. So will most likely remove the passenger side and live with the driver side until hopefully something better is available? I too enjoy originality, but will sacrifice this for safety and necessary improvements/upgrades. Peder
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| TomO | -- 12-07-2016 @ 7:46 AM |
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Peder, Here is a link to an alternative to the common "peep" mirrors with their short arms. I cannot vouch for its usefulness as the clamp on style will not work on eith of my cars. https://www.amazon.com/Fit-System-1705-Clamp-Universal/dp/B001A0IT5C Good side view mirrors are difficult to find for any antique car. The current supply has poor plating and are designed for hot rods, not sedans or convertibles. Bob Drake's hot rod mirrors have better plating than most of the aftermarket ones here. He does have some clamp on mirrors also. I was lucky to find an original Ford mirror for my 40 and then Bob Drake started to reproduce them, so I bought a couple of the left side ones. I had to use one of them after my original one was damaged at a car show. The left side cowl mount works very well for me. I tried a door mount and it interfered with the vent window. I have not found a satisfactory right side mirror. Neither of my cars can use the clamp on mirrors, because the mounting surface is too thick. For fog lights, Unity makes the best reproductions and you may find some good used ones. Here is a linik to their site. http://www.unityusa.com/Vintage_c_20.html Tom
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| len47merc | -- 12-07-2016 @ 7:56 AM |
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Peder - one additional thing to consider is that the further off the side of the car your mirror is the more likely it is someone - even possibly you - will walk by the car and hit the mirror with your arm/shoulder. The chromed one that came on my car upon receipt, likely from the 50's - 60's and heavily pitted (hence why I changed it), did sit further off the side of the car but it did have a spring release in case someone hit it when walking by. I haven't seen any modern versions with a spring release and personally settled for a universal polished stainless edge-of-door peep mirror similar to an A-17741-UL. Some of the others I tried stuck out too far and I ended up accidentally smacking them myself when walking around the car and knew the same would likely happen at shows. Others the arms appeared to be too thin/fragile to survive a hit like this. Just something to consider - cheers. Steve
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| carcrazy | -- 12-07-2016 @ 11:13 AM |
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One thing you can do to improve rearward visibility with the right side round clamp-on mirror is install a wide angle mirror face on it. I found a 3 3/4" diameter wide angle stick-on mirror face that I applied to the right side external mirror on my sedan delivery which made lane changing in traffic possible.
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| Peder D | -- 12-07-2016 @ 12:59 PM |
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It's all good, guys....now have more options to work with....thanks... Peder
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