Blind spot mirror for LHD

[Bwuttonmoon]

Ok I have just been in the shed having a poke about with these mirrors, I wanted to use as much of original frames as I could I have 2 hagus with broken glass and a few 'repro' jobbies.
One of the repro mirrors had the best looking plastic frame around the glass, all the others were pretty no existant. I managed to remove it breaking the mirror in the process.

The plastic inner frame and hagus outer..

With gentle persuasion I managed to gently ease the new glass and frame into the mirror, was a bit scary as it took quite a bit of force but I'm happy with the results.

I've tried to show the difference between the 2 mirrors here...

Now does anyone know who sells the repro mirrors with GREY plastic surround as opposed to white? I cant remember where I got it from.

 

[Mike F]

Skill! Ta for sharing. With my mirror having cracked plastic I'll be looking for one at a show to do as you've done.

 

[choplee]

Good thread and great result on the mirror on the post ...

I'm deffo up for trying to replace my glass with the convex version ... 8)

 

[Bwuttonmoon]

Ok the mirror I used with grey surround is from GSF I bought another today to do drivers side. These rust within days so Im only using the plastic trim :roll:

 

[Trikky2]

Just did mine yesterday. The original mirror broke on trying to remove it. The original plastic trim was cooked but the part behind the mirror was still fine.

Using a scalpel I trimmed off all the hardned plastic edge and then made the backing part of the plastic trim a couple of mm thinner at the ends/corners, so the curved glass did not protrude beyond the metal housing in the middle of its curve. Next I cleaned the metal, plastic and glass with cellulose thinners.

At the local diy warehouse I found some grey silicone sealer in a range that was labeled as being neutral. Applied the silicone round the edge of the housing and pressed the plastic into it, then ran another bead round the plastic and pressed the mirror in, carefully ensuring the mirror was central to the housing. Allowed this to go off.

Next came the difficult bit. I cut and filed a small piece of thin aluminium to match the profile of the original exposed part of the trim, where it covers the edge of the glass and mirror housing. Then ran a generous bead of silicone round and used the shaped alloy to take off the excess.

The first time was rough and a cock up so I scraped this off. You have to do the whole sweep round in one smooth movement, you cant go back and correct any faults since this just makes things worse. The second effort was better and was allowed to go off overnight. Silicone is not like plaster and has an annoying habit of slightly moving or settling as it goes off hence the next moring it didnt look as good as when it was newly applied. So, did a second coat which was much thinner and which came out better.

Its still not as perfect looking as using a real plastic seal but it does work. It would be perfect if there were some way of smoothing/polishing silicone to get the final finish spot on. Had a look on the net but have not found any info on whether re-finishing is possible.

 

[naskeet]

This is what I use on the left-hand door, of my RHD 1972/73 VW Type 2 Westfalia Continental:

British manufactured, Britax-Wingard, Zanetti twin-lens mirror, with universal fitting (licenced from Zanetti GmbH in Switzerland).

This mirror, was grafted onto the stock OEM mirror, of my 1973 VW Type 2, Westfalia Continental campervan, during the mid-1970s, to minimise vision blindspots.

The outboard lens, is the normal, rear-view driving mirror, whilst the inboard lens, covers the rear-quarter blind-spot.

Zanetti GmbH, Autorückspiegel, Hochbühlweg 7, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.

Tel. +41 31 301 36 16
Fax. +41 31 302 22 01

These are right-hand & left-hand, Ford Transit Connect, factory-fitted, over-and-under, twin-lens door mirrors, which I think could possibly be adapted, for use on the 1968~79 VW Type 2 and similar post-1995 Brazilian built buses. The black, plastic mirror housing, is approximately 210 mm tall x 140 mm wide, so it's not much larger than the stock 1968~79 VW Type 2 mirror.

I envisage trimming the stock Ford mirror mounting and making an intermediate, GRP moulded adapter, with M16 x 1·5 mm bolt, to fix it to the moulded body section, just below the bottom of the cab window.

The bottom mirror lens, is the normal rear-view driving mirror, which is elecrically adjustable, by means of the usual electric servo motors and four-way switch.

The bottom mirror lens, is a fixed, highly convex, blindspot mirror, which enables one to see vehicles in the rear-quarter blindspot, such as those associated with freeway on-ramps (i.e. motorway slip-roads), or simply overtaking on the freeway, one-way street or roundabout, of which there are numerous in Great Britain.

 

[Foz]

I had exactly the same problem, the replacement convex mirror wouldnt fit inside the plastic edging, as it was cracked and split anyway i took the plunge and removed the lot, and stuck the new convex mirror in place with lots of sticky pads....mostly situated around the outter edge of the glass, as the convex of the mirror, and the converse of the mirror frame, make a large gap in the centre which could only be filled with a glue/sealant.

As long as you place the mirror centrally when sticking, so the gap around the frame looks even, it doesn't look bad at all!! 8)

I'd take pics, but the rain cover is over the bus at the min, and with the impending bad weather due, it wont be coming off till mid week at the earliest!! :roll:

 

[naskeet]

Now does anyone know who sells the repro mirrors with GREY plastic surround as opposed to white? I cant remember where I got it from.

I have a surplus, grey-plastic trim, in good condition!

 

[AGC]

May be an expensive option but when I broke my original mirror glass I purchased a new "chinese" door mirror and removed the glass and used this and the new seal in the original frame

 

[AGC]

oops didnt read this second page before posting looks like others have already said what I said

 

[Bwuttonmoon]

Now does anyone know who sells the repro mirrors with GREY plastic surround as opposed to white? I cant remember where I got it from.

I have a surplus, grey-plastic trim, in good condition!

Doh! too late I bought a cheapy mirror from GFS which have the grey trim. Thanks for the offer, though somebody else might be able to use it.

 

[dubdubz]

Just did mine yesterday. The original mirror broke on trying to remove it. The original plastic trim was cooked but the part behind the mirror was still fine.

Using a scalpel I trimmed off all the hardned plastic edge and then made the backing part of the plastic trim a couple of mm thinner at the ends/corners, so the curved glass did not protrude beyond the metal housing in the middle of its curve. Next I cleaned the metal, plastic and glass with cellulose thinners.

At the local diy warehouse I found some grey silicone sealer in a range that was labeled as being neutral. Applied the silicone round the edge of the housing and pressed the plastic into it, then ran another bead round the plastic and pressed the mirror in, carefully ensuring the mirror was central to the housing. Allowed this to go off.

Next came the difficult bit. I cut and filed a small piece of thin aluminium to match the profile of the original exposed part of the trim, where it covers the edge of the glass and mirror housing. Then ran a generous bead of silicone round and used the shaped alloy to take off the excess.

The first time was rough and a cock up so I scraped this off. You have to do the whole sweep round in one smooth movement, you cant go back and correct any faults since this just makes things worse. The second effort was better and was allowed to go off overnight. Silicone is not like plaster and has an annoying habit of slightly moving or settling as it goes off hence the next moring it didnt look as good as when it was newly applied. So, did a second coat which was much thinner and which came out better.

Its still not as perfect looking as using a real plastic seal but it does work. It would be perfect if there were some way of smoothing/polishing silicone to get the final finish spot on. Had a look on the net but have not found any info on whether re-finishing is possible.

could you do pics? pretty please?

 

[Trikky2]

could you do pics? pretty please?

Here you go :-

As mentioned, not as smooth/perfect as I would have liked because the silicone settles a bit as it goes off.

Using a plastic insert will give a better finish but I didnt feel like breaking up a perfectly good new one.

Havnt figured a way of smoothing silicone once its gone off, if only one could sand it a little bit :lol:

and this is the small bit of aluminium shaped to give the profile.

 

[Bwuttonmoon]

Maybe once it has gone off you could run a razor blade flat around the mirror and slice the silicone flush?

 

[Trikky2]

Maybe once it has gone off you could run a razor blade flat around the mirror and slice the silicone flush?

Yes I suppose I could do that but the idea was to imitate the original grey plastic seal :lol:

I agree the og mirrors tend to look better when all the plastic strip has crumbled away :lol:

 

[mike202]

This is something I have also thought about for a while. I have bought a pair of these mirrors they arrived very promptly. The mirrors I have are in good condition I don't know if they are original or not but the grey plastic surround is in good condition. The problem is that the new convex mirror is slightly too small for the surround and then it's a loose fit in the steel frame! It looks as though they were meant to only stick on top of the old flat mirror. This has already been mentioned earlier on but then Bwuttonmoon says that his was a good fit. Maybe my mirrors are not the same I am not sure although they look pretty much the same. Before I get the silicone out(!) I have sent the seller on eBay a message to see if there are mirrors that are a few mm bigger.

This the broken old mirror before I took it out. I will update with how I get on!
Cheers Mike



Mike

Sent from my iPhone

 

[Bwuttonmoon]

The plastic trim in your photos looks exactly the same as the ones I used (GFS cheapo mirrors) Note that as the plastic trim is pressed onto the frame it will shrink a bit. Mine fitted a treat so its a bit of a puzzle.

 

[ZedBed]

I'm putting this job off until I have seen everybody else swear and curse and eventually come up with a neat solution :msn4:

Keep your eye on the road and the traffic around you and nothing will surprise you.

 

[dubdubz]

ok asking a stupid question - how does the mirrors stay put normally? the edge of the back look sort of crimped? Looks like another thing that has gone on the list!

don't think GSF are open on bank hol? should have gone today...

 

[Mike F]

I drove down to the Herne Bay classic car show yesterday, first trip with the new mirror glass. The difference it made was incredible and even if just stuck on with double sided pads as mine is I can thoroughly recommend them to all lhd drivers.