I am planning on getting new side view mirrors for my '68 including one for the passenger side which it never had before. I've been doing some reading on the forums about installing a mirror on the passenger side where there never was one.
One thing that I have seen come up several times is guys talking about fabricating and installing a reinforcing plate for the two passenger side mirror mounting screws like the one the factory put on the driver's side.
I had new door skins put on both doors and while the doors where apart, I saw no evidence of any kind of factory installed reinforcing plate on the driver's side. The two driver's side mirror mounting screws passed through two oversized holes in the door skin and then secured to the inner door structure in back of the door skin. There's nothing else there. No reinforcing plate attached to either the door skin or either side of the door inner structure in that area. The driver's side and passenger side are identical.
So my question is......was my driver's side door possibly missing this reinforcing plate?......If so, does anyone have a pic of what it looks like and how it is mounted?
I've attached pics of the mirror mounting areas on both my driver's and passenger side doors with the door skins off.
I have no idea what's going on with my posted pictures. I'm having the same problem with a post I made over on CRG. I can see the pictures when I pull up the post but no one else can see them.
These pictures are hosted right here at Team Camaro. I've posted many pictures to TC and CRG that are hosted here at TC and never had a problem until this past week.
Interestingly, I just pulled up both this site and CRG on my phone. I've never done that before. All my viewing and posting on these sites is done on my laptop. On both of my posts where no one else can see my pictures, the pictures are showing up on my phone.
I still can't see the pictures. I added a passenger mirror to mine (69) but no extra plate like you mentioned. Just drill and mount, it's just as sturdy as the other side. Post #991.
Roger, I don't know of any template but should be able to just use the mounting bracket
and gasket. On your 67 make sure the mirror clears the vent window.
Still no pics Dave.
I have made my pictures public and when I log out of the site and check my post as a non-member, the pictures are there!....so I have no idea why they are still not visible to anyone else.
What prompted me to post this question in the first place was that there are many threads here mentioning a factory reinforcing plate at the driver's side mirror mounting location and the possible necessity to fabricate a similar plate for the passenger side if you were going to install a passenger mirror. Check out this one out for example...
My car, as far as I can see, I never had any kind of factory reinforcing plate on the driver's side. I'd be more than happy to install my passenger side mirror without a reinforcing plate. I just want to be sure that's the way to go first.
I am going to attach the pictures here one more time and if they don't show....I'm stumped!
The problems ya"ll will have is you can't see the lane beside you and the mirrors won't stay adjusted.
I drilled 2 holes in the door and installed the bracket, has been on for 5 yrs.
Do a search on Clear Shot Mirrors.
I'd have liked to see the pics Dave to help jog my memory. I want to say there was a
reinforcement plate spot welded to the door skin but I'm not positive. I'll look through
my own pics to see if I have anything of importance.
I'm in the same boat...or car. 68 Camaro without passenger mirror. I did buy a pair of Morris's excellent mirrors and installed the driver side. There was no retaining plate.
Appears that the self tapping sheet metal screws are enough.
I just got my 68 convt out of the paint shop and had them replace the old mirrors with new ones. My car had both mirrors on it when I bought it years ago. I have never been able to adjust the passenger mirror in order to see the back of my car correctly. The outside of the mirror won't come in toward the car enough to be able to see the side of my car. I'll take a couple of pics tomorrow and post them, but I'm pretty sure there is a retaining plate on the driver's side but not the passenger side.
There is a plate spot welded to the door skin. This is on my 67. This helps spread the load
out so to speak. I'm planning on adding a mirror on the PS and will use something as a backer.
Most likely epoxied in place. No welding.
I installed a ps mirror on my ride. Not going to have a car with out it. Works just fine and clears the vent window. Never drops if the screw is tightened tight behind the glass. Remove glass to find this. Think I soaked it in lacquer thinner to get the glass off and then re glued with a silicone. Used the gasket for the template and went for it. It's tight with no backing added.
The mirrors that Alamocityss mentioned will adjust inward so you can see the lane beside you.
You can also adjust the tension on the ball & socket with the 2 recessed screws in the back of the mirror head.
I tried to put a passenger side mirror on my 67 but bailed on the project when I realized the mirror needed to be mounted at the front of the door just to be usable. Had someone hold it in place while I sat in the drivers seat to find the right mirror position, had to look through the passenger vent window just to see what would be the right lane.
One of the first things I did to my 68 was to buy and install the right side mirror.
First, if you go re-pop, get the American made one. Much netter quality and stays adjusted.
I too looked for installation in the AIM and didn't find it. I took measurements from the left side and went with that.
I removed the left side door interior panel and didn't find any reinforcement bracket, so I used the supplied sheet metal screws that came with the new mirror.
True you cant get the mirror adjusted to see an entire lane on the right so I got one of those small adjustable fish eye stick on's.
Works great and has been on my car for ten years.
I also have a '68 and essentially did what Ray did above. I got mine from Classic Industries and it works just fine. I was extremely careful about the measurements prior to drilling holes into my door, as I was a bit nervous about screwing something up. However, it looks and works just fine. You can do it.
The Corvette parts house, Paragon, has great reproduction mirrors. I have bought from them to replace the incorrect mirrors installed on my 69, and they can be date coded by them as well, which I had done. I think the passenger mirror is coded within the next month installed by the dealer. I'd recommend them to anyone needing them.
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