Mirrors

54Hollywood

Good morning,

I would like to replace the door mounted mirrors on our '54 Hornet but I'm really not finding anything appropriate on my internet searches.  Any recommendations?  I know that Dale Cooper offers a mirror but there isn't a picture of it on his web site.  Can someone post a photo of it or suggest another vendor.  I don't want a clip-on style mount.  Thanks a lot.

Tim in WI.

RichardD

Good luck !!! Note the one that was on the Rt. side when car was bought. It wouldn't adjust {even tho straight on door} to where I could see so I had to stick on a convex tilted 3.5" Walmart thing so I could see. Thank goodness for it; wanted a larger diameter but couldn't find. Sure looks tacky tho.

SO, purpose of this: if you find the mirrors, check to see if you can adjust so you can see what you want to see BEFORE you mount,or take out of bag,or etc. so that you can return BOTH mirrors if you can't.

48rob

Tom,

My car had mirrors that look similar to Richard's when I bought the car.

Both were mounted on the front fenders. Neither were any good for seeing anything behind or beside the car.
The mirror head angle wouldn't adjust enough to be useful on either, and the one on the drivers side, though symmetrically "pretty" was placed behind the windshield post where it was useless.
I bought another set on E bay that have more head angle adjustment. The passenger side is much better, though could use even more head angle adjustment. The drivers side mirror I mounted on the door, where it should have been to start with.
A consideration is that because of the way the bodies "curve" unless you mount the mirrors more out-board than most, you will have to lean toward the window to see what is in the mirror.
My Hollywood door trim won't allow the use of a clip on mirror (I tried) If I could find one that would work, I would install them in a heartbeat! The option to use a post type mirror allows the mirror head to project out far enough that you can see what is behind you, without having to smack your head against the drivers window, or leaning half way across the front seat.
The Hudson engineers probably figured this out and may be why they didn't install mirrors?

Rob

RL Chilton

Paul Schuster sells side mirrors for the Step Downs.  

keithfullmeryahoocom

The "mirror" problem comes up often.

I have a 65 Rambler that didn't come with one either.   I'm trying to remember when it was that passenger side mirrors were finally put on cars from the factory or dealer.  Probably not until mid-70's though.   What in the world did we do?   Were we just more alert, with younger, flexible necks or did we just crash our cars up on that side?  Lol...k

StillOutThere

There have been right side mirrors as long as there have been side view mirrors.  A few aftermarket accessories in the '20s.   By the mid '30s the car companies had factory approved optional side mirrors.  Since all the '20s and '30s mirrors would fit either side of the cars, they were installed where desired.  In the '40s the bases had to start angling with the styles and some bases matched the stainless trim shapes.  In the early '50s mirrors started going out onto the front fenders and there continued to be lefts and rights.  

keithfullmeryahoocom

Guess most of my cars were just bare-bones cheepers.  Lol...k

duncan

Several years back there were posts about a original Hudson outside rear view mirror pictured I think by 51 Hornet of this original mirror from a factory picture. Would anybody have this picture. To refresh our memorys

on what to look for..  Hudsonly  Ray

SuperDave

I think this is the one

keithfullmeryahoocom

Bingo!  Looks like we can just order a set from our friendly dealer down the street.  Grrr, maybe not!

SuperDave

But they don't show where to mount it!

duncan

Super Dave perfect . I have been trying to find this picture. Now I know what to look for at the swap meets. 

duncan

I am wondering if any body could send me this picture to my email address.  Thanks  Hudsonly  Ray

SuperDave

Here is another one, but I think it's a Hash mirror.. not sure. Both of these were on the forum in the past.

RL Chilton

The one in the flyer is earlier step-down.  One in the photo is original '52 mirror.  

53jetman

The mirror on the black hardtop or convertible is definitely an AMC mirror.  Hudson used the one in the advertising piece above right up to the end of Detroit production

RL Chilton

And that's contrary to what I have been told.  I Believe the vast majority of the time, the cars didn't get mirrors on them till they hit the dealer anyway, so lots of different styles could be found on them.  

RonS

I have what I believe are the original mirrors on both sides. They look a lot like the profile of Paul Schusters. I have a spare set from Paul.   The difference is Pauls glass can't be removed. Mine can. The glass is held in place with a snap ring.  Behind the mirror glass is a spring that places light pressure on the  rear of the mirror against an aluminum backing disk & the snap ring. To remove the mirror, you push the mirror in and remover the snap ring. Now the mirror swivel assembly can be tightened and/or the glass be replaced. 23 years ago I went to a mirror shop and had them make a mildly convex piece of mirror in the same diameter as the original flat mirror for the passenger side. Also the original mirror assembly is mounted on the door about where the vent window channel is. Be sure to move the mounting point in a place where the vent window will not be restricted when opened. The whole assembly has only ONE chrome screw visible from the front of the base. It is turned horizontally into the base. There is an unusual mounting "post" that is mounted into the door sheet metal with 2 screws that are not visible when in operation.  Originally the flat glass mirror could be adjusted( to the max) inward to give  a fair view of anything on the right side, but, not enough to give depth perception due the curved body of the step down coupes. Paul claims that the mirror head will swivel inward enough to compensate for the "clamshell" taper of the Hornet rear fenders. Frankly, I never tried them to verify that. They are excellent quality. BTW, the part # from the Factory for the mirrors is HA220865. The dealers would use them is most cases. Owners would head to Western Auto Parts etc on their own to save money. Kinda like my AMC Concord stereo from Craig... The pride of Kmart at 1/3rd the price of the dealers unit. Ron

53jetman

Russ  -  What I was talking about was that the mirrors a dealer purchased from Hudson would have been like the one in the advertising flyer shown above.  Granted many dealers used accessories that were available from local sources at that time

Per

Tim,

     There are some side mirrors for sale: put "cipa 17000 mirror" in google.  Several variations are pictured. These are recently made replacement mirrors.  They look quite similar to the one shown in the Hudson ad.

Per

keithfullmeryahoocom

Talk about confusing!  I googled the 17000 cipa mirror as per Per.  Same mirror (or at least the same part number comes up in a lot of places.   Anywhere from $9.55 to 95 bucks!.

Also, just looking at the pictures, they look really cheap.  Tacky.  Not something I'd want to drill holes and install on my Commodore, the ultimate in class.   Anybody have experience?   Per?  Is this what you've used?...k

Per

Keith,

     No, I just took a look to see what could be found.  For the price, it is hard to think it will be high quality. However, if one needs a mirror for safety reasons, it could be a temporary expedient.  Hopefully then to get something better and use the same mounting holes!

                Per  

keithfullmeryahoocom

Thank you Sir.

Mine is sitting on a lift and it's not going anywhere soon.  I'm hoping I can get by with buying only one set.   Still looking.   Stay tuned mirror guys...k

54Hollywood

Hi fellas,

Thanks for the input.  Yes I've seen the CIPA 17000 and it is inexpensive probably because it's made from ABS plastic but I'm not finding anything else that even comes close in looks to what the "proper" mirror should be.  Again, has anyone seen or bought the mirror that Dale Cooper is selling?  He doesn't have a photo on his web site and I don't know anything about it other than the price.  So what are you guys using?  Thanks.

Tim in WI.