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Rear view mirror question

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Team_Sprite

Team_Sprite

Jedi Trainee
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Howdy, In digging around through our boxes of "not original" I ran across a (above the dash) rear view mirror that I now recognize as appearing in some early photographs of our car. It is a flat black, almost wrinkle, finish, holds the mirror in with four clips and is marked "Wingcard" on the bottom and back. 1 5/8" X 4 1/2". Any chance this could be original?

Brian & the girls
www.teamsprite.com

P.S. There is a nice little slide show by the woman who shot the auction photos on our 'Car' page. Scroll down on the left. The car is back apart, working on the seemingly endless list of 'little things' before we fire it up. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grouphug.gif
 
The mirror on my car had a very thin glass that I have not found a replacement for.
The stand for the mirror from the body ends in a ball, The mirror attaches to this by two thin flat strips of metal that have holes cut to the size of the ball. A screw squeezes the metal to support the mirror.. The glass frame will not take a thicker glass, nor will the clamp support it. Interestingly, my mirror has a Insurance sticker on the back that says if stolen a $50.00 reward is offered. I have gone with a later spridget mirror. I'm curious if the glass is available someplace.
 
The original BE mirror had a very thin backing plate that was painted with a black wrinkle finish along with the "U" shaped band that held the mirror together, Two clamps, one centrally located on the top and the other centrally located on the bottom, clamped the mirror to a socket ball located at the top of the chrome pedestal. The top center clamp had the name "Eversure" and the letter "D" stamped on it. Both clamps were painted black wrinkle finish. The underside of the chrome pedestal had "Eversure" and " M661" stamped on it.
 
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/iagree.gif
 
For replacement mirror glass, buy one of those cheap Wal*Mart mirrors in a frame, take out the mirror, cut it with a regular glass cutter (square) and use a belt sander to round the edges. A $5 mirror will yield a dozen attemps for a new Sprite mirror. Yeah I did crack a couple doing this but My cheapo mirror has made new mirrors for a few cars now.
 
Damb, should have thought of that. Frank has more good ideas on how to do stuff on the cheep.
 
They were not well made Brian. pot metal, and one stage chrome.
 
It seems I have a spare Eversure M661 mirror. It came one of many boxes of spare parts that came with this car when I purchased it. I do not know what the going price would be. It is in typical NOS condition, no dings, glass is undamaged.
 
Why not go to a glass cutter? We have one around here and they cut any and every kind of glass for you in any shape. I had an old piece fo furniture from my grandmother. I templated the openeing with paper and then told them the thickness. they showed me all kinds of glass from thin and breakable to safety. They cut both pieces in about 10 minutes and it cost me less than $5!
 
Now that is an interesting question... A worked-over cylinder head... A Weber 45DCOE... a brake servo... A complete bare-metal paint-job...

But seriously, the car is pretty much 100% complete. The PO spent lots of money collecting parts (that is where the mirror comes from) and replacing anything that was worn on the car.

The left-side round doorpost mirror (which isn't OE anyway) has lost its glass - I can probably fix that and not have to buy a new mirror if I can find someone who can cut glass in small circles.
 
Easy, takes a glass circle cutter. Any glass shop can do.
 
Brian,

Did ANYONE offer to donate a correct mirror yet?

I've looked through our stuff, and don't have one. You must be getting very close to your goal. When is the auction to take place?

I hope it goes well for you. Very, VERY worthwhile cause.

Please let me know if you need anything else.

Peter C. (GO Girls!)
 
They were as flimzy as they look as I remember. I am useing one that looks the same but is chrome all over, nice item if you don't care about it being orginal. It came from ebay and they are on there all the time.
 
WOW. That resto (sprinzel sebring sprite) is one of the most comprehensive, exhaustive examples I have ever seen. If you haven't done so, I recommend you take a look at the entire gallery.
 
I just did and I agree. Wow is right!! I have been admiring the Sebring Sprites since I was a teen. Sure is niceto see a loving restoration like that!
 
Hi Peter,
<Did ANYONE offer to donate a correct mirror yet?>

One odd backfire to everyone's incredible generosity is that people who, rightly, feel they need to recoup some expense before letting go of a part, rarely contact us at all. Funds are certainly limited, but if we need something we would rather be offered the chance to buy it, than go without it completely. We can always graciously say no, something all of us silently say hundreds of times when 'thumbing' through e-bay. If anyone out there has something on our "wish list" (https://www.teamsprite.com/WishList.html) to sell, please don't be sheepish about contacting us.

<You must be getting very close to your goal. When is the auction to take place? I hope it goes well for you. Very, VERY worthwhile cause.>

I suppose the end is careening towards us, but when I look at this thing (alone) in the evening, and realize just how many interrelated moving parts there are in the little guy, (and that hardly a single piece hasn't been apart), I need to (sometimes) grab on to something. If you shut off a running car, remove a piece and either rebuild it or replace it, in the back of your mind you are comforted that all the other parts on the car were, at least, cooperating with each other at the time you removed the key. Remembering the twenty-odd boxes of bits, some from other unnamed cars, are now stirred into this stew called AN5L620….whew! To belabor the metaphor, the flavor won’t even be known until, probably, two weeks before the dinner.

Somehow the idea that I have done this sort of thing before has become canon. Before I begged them to change it, Classic Car magazine’s website said I had "50 years of classic car restoration experience." In reality, I was sort of teacher/buddy who had a “sweet” idea for a “cool” class. I do have a very high fuss-level and can call on an abundance of sage advice. The encouragement from you’all has been a major contributor to the success of this “sweet” idea. Although I may sound a bit concerned, I am confident this little car will be a wonderful prize for someone. I just wish I could keep it myself.

Brian
www.teamsprite.com
 
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