Tried to adjust the Aero mirror on the door of my Vintage Speedster and now know why these mirrors are mounted at an odd angle instead of having the base horizontal. You can only rotate the mirror on the arm, but cannot swivel it in three dimensions.
Is it just my reproduction mirror that is like that? Or are all Aeros the same way?
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Buy a 1" clear suction cup and a slightly longer stainless steel bolt . Cut the tit off the cup and punch a small hole there. The cup goes between the mirror pivot. This pushes the mirror slightly away from the mirror mounting stem increasing the amount of mirror head pivot.
Brilliant!
Gordon N. was the originator of this modification.
"Cut the tit off " made me cringe.
Especially if you happen to be a cow.......
Apparently the aero mirror on my Vintage Speedster, and probably other reproductions as well, is a cheapo version--so the mirror part only rotates. I just bought a better quality aero mirror from Sierra Madre ($77) and it swivels in three dimensions. Now I can mount the base horizontally, instead of the original odd angle, and still get a good view of what's behind me.
Vintage Speedsters Arizona put cheap two dimensional mirrors on mine too when I purchased the car in December '18...I also bought the better quality mirror from Sierra Madre for drivers side and bought a small round fish eye wide angle mirror and placed it on the passenger side mirror. Wheres the quality control these days???
Was the Sierra Madre mirror a simple swap? Easy to install, or ?? Can you provide some details?
I wasn't going to post this but this thread pushed me too far...
I recently purchased a "German" aero-mirror from Sierra Madre Collection, I'm a vendor so receive a discount but still, the mirror (convex) was over $100. The mirror is retained in the frame with a piece of teflon-plastic and has 6 tabs that retain the glass-keep it from moving/wiggling. 2 tabs were broken and the glass was ready to fall out.
I returned it with photos and an explanation of the problem.
A week later I received mirror #2...it had 3 broken tabs and yes, the glass wiggled!
I called, explained my consternation with the problem which now had escalated to a..."thing" and they shipped another one.
The clerk then informed me that though they advertise them as "made in Germany" and the mirrors are stamped "made in Germany" on the mirror itself, they are not made in Germany. He didn't know where they were made but I have my suspicions they're from the land of won-tons and Peking ducks...
I really didn't want to post this but feel compelled to inform...
A few responses:
"Where's the quality control these days?": It's not a matter of QC. The inexpensive mirrors are used to save money. For a builder, every penny adds up.
The mirrors might be a simple swap, but that was not my objective. I'm moving the new mirror on the door so the base sits horizontally, instead of at the odd angle that came with the car. That odd angle was necessary because of the stock mirror's lack of adjustment. The new mirror has plenty of adjustment and can be mounted the way it would on a real Speedster.
Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with Sierra Madre. I got lucky and my mirror, which was flat and not convex, seems to be fine (so far).
I put convex on both sides.
I also put convex on both sides, (From Stoddard / NLA). The convex made a difference in the view-ability. Theirs also say "made in Germany".
...and what's interesting is that the "convex" mirrors aren't, they're flat, I have one on the passenger side
there's something about the glass/mirror that does work like a typical convex mirror but they are ruler flat on both sides
It’s all done by “Magic from the Deutschland”.
I've gotten two aero convex "made in Germany" mirrors from Stoddard recently. Both had broken retaining tabs. Stoddard made it good, but it suggests that there's a common source at this point using a faulty process or material.
30West posted:Was the Sierra Madre mirror a simple swap? Easy to install, or ?? Can you provide some details?
Yes easy swap...my mirrors are mounted on the doors...and the new one was a "convex" type even tho physically not convex looking
Well, while we're on the subject...
The last convex mirror I ordered from Sierra Madre turned out to be a standard mirror in a box labelled 'convex'. I compared it to the first 'convex' mirror I got from them and the reflected image wasn't the expected wide angle view.
I returned it and they sent me a replacement that WAS a convex mirror.
So maybe the lesson is that either the mirror supplier's or Sierra Madre's QC ain't what it should be. In any case, caveat emptor.
That goes for Stoddard, too.
