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Correct wing mirrors

Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2019 5:15 pm
by Hastings
Is anyone able to tell me which shape of mirrors should be mounted on the wings of my ‘56 SII two-door?

It currently has oblong ones fitted but I’m not sure whether these are correct or whether they were originally round...

Any help would be appreciated.

Re: Correct wing mirrors

Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2019 5:27 pm
by geoberni
I think you'll find that as so many cars of the period were very basic, including the Minor (lets face it, even Heaters were optional extra) I think you'll find that most if not all cars left the factory without mirrors and they were fitted by dealers or owners if required, therefore any period mirror is 'correct'.

Round might be more appropriate, but I really wouldn't be that concerned about 'originality'.

Basil is a '55 SII 2dr, I've just swapped his quite high quality (in that they had sprung bases) flat glass rounds for some fixed based convex rounds; the view improvement is remarkable.

Re: Correct wing mirrors

Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2019 5:56 pm
by ManyMinors
Geoberni is correct. Morris Minor saloons all left the factory with no wing mirrors at all. Owners were able to choose from a huge range of accessories both dealer fitted or otherwise so almost anything might have been fitted. If you already have holes drilled in your cars wings then you might as well have a decent pair of mirrors fitted but what is "correct" is debatable and if you look for new/old stock 1950s wing mirrors you'll likely have to pay a highish price I expect. Do the mirrors currently fitted have a makers name? If so, you might find that you can change just the mirror head for one of a shape you prefer.

I agree that a convex glass is of benefit but fixed wing mirrors are easily knocked out of position and are then useless :-?

Re: Correct wing mirrors

Posted: Fri Aug 16, 2019 8:54 pm
by myoldjalopy
Just to add to the above - and this is my opinion only - but I think the round, convex glass ones look best on the older models (like yours) and I have a personal preference for the curved stem. My SII had these type mirrors (Wingard make, I think) when I bought her, but they were so corroded that I replaced them with similar type repro ones. They look fine but the chrome is deteriorating after four or five years - more modern sub-standard parts! :evil:

Re: Correct wing mirrors

Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2019 1:51 pm
by taupe
People always say there were'nt factory fitted wing mirrors but of course there were!

EG van and pick up and as an option....

...Check out the originally fitted types shown in the Morris Body Parts list AKD3542 ..sections BH 5.1 to 5.3 it shows all of the various correct mirrors for each destination country....factory fitted!!!

Likewise in AKD3575 it shows the van and pick up mirror options on BH7

:D :D :D

Taupe

Re: Correct wing mirrors

Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2019 2:12 pm
by ManyMinors
The OP was asking the question regarding his Minor saloon. If you read my post, what I said was that "Morris Minor saloons all left the factory with no wing mirrors". I was assuming he was in the UK as he doesn't mention otherwise. I have no knowledge of cars prepared with specific export requirements.

Yes, I agree, vans, pick-ups and travellers had them fitted but that wasn't the question :wink:

Re: Correct wing mirrors

Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2019 7:00 pm
by geoberni
From the earliest to the 1,000,000th...... :wink:

Probably easier to find older images without that you'd find with.....

https://c8.alamy.com/comp/ERKJGC/morris ... ERKJGC.jpg

https://www.allcarcentral.com/Morris/Mo ... er2010.jpg

Re: Correct wing mirrors

Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2019 10:32 am
by IslipMinor
From the Body Parts List for the M1000 (not SII), the 'original' fitment wing mirrors appear to be 'round' (Tex 'MR' version) in shape:
Wing Mirrors.jpg
Wing Mirrors.jpg (99.36 KiB) Viewed 2604 times
Probably made by Tex, who still make them:
https://texautomotive.com/classic_exterior_mirrors.html

I fitted the 'spring back' versions to our Minor when my mother had it more than 50 years ago, and chose the trapezoidal shaped head (Tex 'MS' version), on a long stem with a flat glass on the driver's side, and convex on the passenger.

They worked OK, but the LH (passenger) mirror was difficult to see even with a long stem to raise it up and outwards.

When the restoration was done in the 90's, I decided to fit door mounted mirrors, again by Tex and again with flat on the RH and convex on the LH. Not original, but a very much better rear view!

If the car is not used very much in busy traffic conditions and dual carriageways/motorways, then why not stay with the original design? Personally in busy traffic I want to have all the visibility I can get.

Re: Correct wing mirrors

Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2019 8:17 pm
by JOWETTJAVELIN
Depends what you want, I don't like convex glass because it distorts the view, also the nearside mirror is pretty redundant because of the domed bonnet. You don't really need a nearside mirror anyway, its only a small car.