vent glass mirrors

carl

carl

True Classic
I'm thinking of converting my door mounted mirrors to vent glass mounted mirrors. In the process of mentioning this to a few of my local X buddies, one said they were functionally terrible and stick with door mounted mirrors.

The Vitalonis on my doors look great but they are functionally terrible for me.

Looking for comments on the vent window mirrors. I'll do what I want to do but curious on what those of you who have them think. Between the sport seats and FAZA snorkel, a passenger door mirror is extremely useful and more so if someone has not knocked it out of alignment.
 
carl,

Regarding the flag vs window mounted mirrors, I prefer the window mounted mirrors because there are less holes in the car. The passenger side window mounted mirror has the issue that the wing window frame is positioned about 1/4 of the way into the view. I have cars with both styles, there are pros and cons to each. I find both styles are subject to moving around and getting out of adjustment.

Example of pass side view:
IM001963.JPG



I can't remember if your X has a wide body kit ion it too. If so, you could take the mirrors out to the front fenders. It might even be a good spot without the wide fenders, but I am not sure if the angle achieved out there on the much narrower stock fender would be good or bad.

IMG_7168s.JPG
IMG_7163.JPG
 
This thread reminds me of Raul Julia's line in "The Gumball Rally" as he rips the mirror out of Michael Serrazin's Ferrari Daytona -
"What's behind me is not important."
LOL
 
Well there is that but the realities of urban driving is otherwise. What I need out of a passenger mirror is the ability to see the blindspot of a car next to or just behind the rear wheel so I can move from the left lane to the right one without causing a NASCAR style caution light incident.

Jim, I have front flares but no boxed fender. Besides, the further forward the mirror the less area you have presented.

My buddy and I have discussed that early Miata mirrors would make great after market mirrors, function wise they are fantastic.
 
I agree that mirror placement can make a big difference in its functionality. Sadly lots of production cars have less than ideal mirrors. I imagine production cost, aerodynamics, styling, etc, take precedence.

I've had both styles of X, with vent window and factory door mounted mirrors. I'm with @JimD, there are pros and cons to both. Furthermore I think there may be better solutions than either of them.

I just saw a article talking about some concept cars that never made production but should have. In the pictures there were a few concept examples that had the mirrors placed toward the top of the A-pillar, rather than down low like most cars. From a functionality perspective that seems like it might work. Unfortunately I did not save any of the pics, and a quick look on Google Image did not reveal much, but here's a couple examples just to illustrate the location:
audi-avus-quattro-concept-1991-1600-01-1556288180.jpg

440px-Mercedes-Benz_C112_1991_frontleft_2010-04-08_A.jpg


Another option might be to mount the mirror on a stalk that raises it or moves it further out, to get it into a better position. Some exotics had to do this to see around the wide, high rear quarters:
1997-Volkswagen-W12-Concept.jpg

Best-Concept-Cars-0-Hero.jpg

1995-Ford-GT90-Concept.jpg


Finding a better location for functionality I believe is the reason for the traditional Japanese fender placement, like @JimD showed:
ek20131119wha-870x489.jpg


Or you could always go to video cameras with inside displays. :D
 
Dr.Jeff said:
Another option might be to mount the mirror on a stalk that raises it or moves it further out, to get it into a better position. Some exotics had to do this to see around the wide, high rear quarters:
Click to expand...
That's part of the reason why I went this route. And they really work well. At least now I can actually see out of the passenger side!
Mirrors.jpg
 
Obviously a rear facing camera(s) would make the most sense. I'll probably follow through with the vent window mirrors just to see if they work for me.
 
I hate cars with no opposite side mirror, but for driving and aesthetics.

That being said, I don't mind the through window mirrors.
 
I'd love to add a passenger through the glass mirror, just haven't been able to find one. Lack of right mirror is annoying. My Datsun 2000 has small slightly convex round mirrors mounted up on the fenders, about a foot ahead of the windshield the view is surprisingly good.
 
Datsun Guy said:
I'd love to add a passenger through the glass mirror, just haven't been able to find one. Lack of right mirror is annoying. My Datsun 2000 has small slightly convex round mirrors mounted up on the fenders, about a foot ahead of the windshield the view is surprisingly good.
Click to expand...

Many of our vendors sell them. That's where I got mine for my 82.
 
I removed the third brake light from my car (early cars didn't have them) and can actually use the interior rearview mirror now - what a difference!
I have a strip of LEDs to sub for it, just haven't done it yet; hard to decide where to mount them.
Back to subject - As an '86, it came with thru-glass mirrors, but I still drive with my head on a swivel in traffic, I don't trust RH mirrors for that, even in my Volvo (that has a Wink inside too).
 
The third brake light delete was the first thing I did on this. Maybe I'll have a clear plexiglass FAZA snorkel made to replace my black one.
 
myronx19 said:
I wouldn't mind a monospecchio!

View attachment 46117
Click to expand...
This is a good example of what I said earlier about the placement of the mirror, to better see around the wide/high rear quarters. With the extended mounting arm the mirror is located where the viewing angle is better. Something like that can be done with the X's mirrors to get them in a good viewing location if needed.
 
I will agree with the holes, holes in glass are better than holes in metal. Are the little windows tempered? I assume that they are and can't be drilled.
 
Just did the wing window conversion on a '78. looking to maybe do these mirrors since I have decided to keep all the chrome polished on the car. Functionality on the passenger's side be damned. Only sticking point is the cost. If I had a lathe, I wouldn't think twice about fabbing these mounts to some vintage style mirrors.
download.jpg
images.jpg
 
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