Side mirrors and drilling safety glass

The short answer is no, one cannot do so.

My friend Merkel wanted to add the X mirror to his 850 Spider and tried a wide variety of approaches which included assistance from a friend with some government contractor connections (think military aircraft purveyor with the ability to make nearly anything) to no avail.

Tempered safety glass cannot be drilled after the fact. If you drill a piece of annealed glass and then have it tempered it may take ten or so tries to get one that may work for a while in a non production environment.

Just get a complete assembly if it is something you want to add to your car, I am sure someone will have a set up you can acquire.
 
Try A RHD country... we have your passenger side as our drivers, so the RH mirrors and glass are not as uncommon...I don't have any for sale, but one of our UK members probably has.

SteveC
 
appropriate question, I just, two seconds ago, stepped in from the garage where I looked at my passenger quarterlight and debated whether or not to attack this today. I received a PS side quarterlight (with hole) in frame from a member here. I have the proper mirror in hand. Looking nice.
I ordered and received a new set of "fuzzies" from Midwest.
I do not yet have the "setting tape" though.
I liberated the glass from the old frame (it was black, my trim is chrome).
But to disassemble everything, renew the felt and get it all back together and aligned in my 15 degree garage.....I'm still on the fence.
I want a mirror there, quite badly it appears.
 
Gd works in misterious ways

A while back (3 years ago ?) Bob Brown donated a driver side door for my hit WhiteX.
Now I can return the favor.
I have that DS quarter window ('78). No mirror but the hole is there in one piece.
I will gladly give it to you, just cover the shipping cost.
I'll have to check if the glass can be removed from the frame, (any body knows???) as this will reduce shipping cost a lot. Can you use the glass only?
Let me know.

Enjoy -
 
Your driver's side is on the right? I assumed he wanted the right side glass. Yes glass comes out of frame. Remove rivot on black plastic corner piece and start tapping and gently prying, it's just press fit.
 
Saftey glass

You can probably get a hole in the glass but it would have to be done by a glass person who knows what they are doing. The hole would literally haft to start about the size of a molecule.
 
Darn it, Papa is right again

For some reason I understood Mark is looking for left side window. Maybe I was too eager to repay Bob's goodwill.

Sorry

Enjoy -
 
I've noticed that the two outside mirrors are not totally symmetrical. The right (NA passenger side) mirror has a slightly different angle to it. If you look at the car head on, from the front, the passenger side mirror will appear slightly shorter than the driver's side mirror. At first I thought this was a defect, but studying several mirrors up close, it became clear the different angles were deliberate. I'm guessing it allows a better view from the driver's seat with the adjustment controls more centered than they would be otherwise?

The reason I bring it up, is that if you have a LHD car, and get a driver's side mirror from a RHD country, it might actually be symmetrical to your existing driver's side mirror. Personally I think that would look good from the outside, but I wonder if the adjustment range is large enough so that it would work properly as a rear view mirror for the driver?
 
mark...if anyone says they CAN drill/cut tempered

glass, they are misunderstanding the question. All cutting, shaping, edging and drilling MUST be done before the glass is tempered. There are a few places here in PHX that can make that piece of glass for less than hundred bucks in any current tint available. If you have no othe options let me know and I'll get you an actual quote for your app.

I have a complete set of matching left and right assemblies with polished frames and reconditioned mirrors that look as good as new. I am debating using them because I don't like the way the mirror is partially blocked by the frame. $350.00 would take the set off of my hands and cement the decision to use porsche style flag mirrors as shown in this picture...

IMG_0948.jpg
 
You could always make it from ....

High grade plexi-glass. If it's good enough for Ferrari .....

I have both mirrors fitted to my Faran - no problem with angles and it 'balances' the cabin area, especially from the front as well as offering a view of the nearside which, as in the USA, is handy for slip road smokies and 'get outta-my-way traffic mergers on your right. Not to mention gauging distance to the kerb.
 
raillard said:
The reason I bring it up, is that if you have a LHD car, and get a driver's side mirror from a RHD country, it might actually be symmetrical to your existing driver's side mirror. Personally I think that would look good from the outside, but I wonder if the adjustment range is large enough so that it would work properly as a rear view mirror for the driver?
Click to expand...

Interesting point.
I'm having a hard time sourcing the "setting tape" locally. No one stocks it. Ugh.
 
Welp... Ifin' yur not a "purist"...

Why not use that "butyl"-silicone or black-silicone glue/sealer that they use to set windshields or seal them from leaks? I'm pretty sure you can just buy a tube of it and it oughtta work just "fine"...

Just let it set up well before installing.
 
Well... I actually TRY to be right...

... as my wife ridicules me for having to be right all the time... "Do you HAVE TO BE right ALL THE TIME???"

"WHAT?" I say... "I should TRY to come up with WRONG answers???" (Geez, now I even SOUND Jewish!) HA!

Texas Bix Bender is quoted as saying in his Cowboy's Guide to Life...

"Don't blame the other feller for bein' smarter than you!"

HA!

Hey... if ya wanna payback "Goodwill"... I accept Israeli "pesos" or whatever in my Paypal account... (HAHAHA!)
 
Ya know, I agree wholeheartedly with Tommy here...

... as I found the "thru the quarter window" side view mirrors to be somewhat lacking.

I like the FLAG STYLE mirrors (ala Porsche that Tommy posted) and found that local stores had some great "inexpensive" ones, usually destined for small Ford Trucks. I've bought two sets over the years for about 30 - 40 dollars a pair and they LOOK like the Vitalonis or the Porsche-style until you touch them.

Mine mount solid and have a LARGER clear view with no vibration and they are strong enough not to fold in with the wind or at speed.

You can also mount them further to the rear of the door so that there is no quarter-window obstruction... And...

You could replace the left side mirror and glass you have now... sell it off and probably pay for two sets of these flag mirrors... IF YOU CAN STILL FIND THEM!

I went to several sites and can only find the smaller turbo-styles (which are terrible and mount low...) and was disappointed. I betcha there are some to be found laying around at your local Pep Boys though...

Good luck with your decision...
 
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Arizonax19 said:
There are a few places here in PHX that can make that piece of glass for less than hundred bucks in any current tint available. If you have no othe options let me know and I'll get you an actual quote for your app.
Click to expand...

THIS is very interesting to know. I've been considering X style through-the-glass quarter window mirrors for my Scorpion as the later S2s had, but that quarter window glass is as rare as any oddball piece for the Scorp can be. Nice to know there's a real glass option.

John O.
 
Arizona

Thanks for the heads up on the glass.

Regarding the flag style mirror, I do not want a door mounted mirror for the simple fact that I do not want any more holes in the car, competing with rust holes and or promoting rust holes:wink2:

I guess my best option is to find a passenger side glass and replace it...will be a lot less expensive.
 
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