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Wing Mirror Location

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Randy-the spring mount is brilliant.

On a side note Japan used to mandate wing mounted mirrors, but did away with the requirement in the 80s to conform to the rest of the world, Japanese cabbies continued to use wing mounted mirrors so they could see everything and everyone behind than and not miss a paying customer.
 
When restoring my BJ8, I decided not to fit mirrors to the wings (fenders) as it would spoil the lines of the car. I also question how practical they would be etc.
I installed a bolt on mirror to the driver side quarter light and it works a treat. Easy to adjust if needed and doesn’t impact on the body shape.
 
Hi All,

Shortly after purchasing my Healey, I installed wing mirrors, driving lights and a luggage rack. At the time (April 1964) I purchased my lights and mirrors directly from Lucas and placed my mirrors as directed by the Lucas representative to BMC USA. The directions indicated the correct position was 1" from the bead at the high point of the front wheel opening just forward of the inner fender.

Although correctly positioned on the fender, I was near-sighted at the time and, for me, use of my flat mirrors was more a joke then practical. As I got older, my sight transitioned toward being more far-sighted and I was really happy to be able to begin to take advantage of my mirrors. However, after 10 years of being able to use the mirrors, my sight was again changed as a result of lens replacement in response to Cataract surgery and my use of wing mirrors has been greatly diminished.

Although I do like the look of wing mirrors, I have not found them to be either comfortable or that useful over their period of installation and, if I knew then what I know now, would have opted for a closer mounted mirror. Keep in mind that I had just purchased my new Healey and the over the wheel mounting was easily accessible but a closer mounted mirror would have required removing part of the fender to properly secure the under-fender washer and bolt.

100_1107.jpg

Just my thoughts,
Ray(64BJ8P1)
 
I'm with Reid on this one. No way I was going to drill holes in one of the most noticeable exterior spots on my Healey. Instead, I got one of those mirrors that easily mounts to the door side screen socket. Very nice and well located near the driver.
 
since i drive my healey year round i do need at least one external mirror. having owned several healeys since 1964 i have had them in most of the aforementioned locations. personally i prefer the mirror mounted on the door as close to the windscreen post as possible.
 
I have my mirrors mounted 22 inches forward of the wind screen (Talbots) The reason is that if you make a circle with your thumb and forefinger and hold your arm out and look through the hole, the field is small. If you bring your hand closer to your eye the field widens. The dealerships placed them over the front wheel because the access to the mirror mount it easier. They really weren't thinking about you or esthetics. Talbots allow you to change the shape of the mirror so I got wide angles. This set up is awesome on the freeways and parking.
 
RAC68 said:
Hi All,

Shortly after purchasing my Healey, I installed wing mirrors, driving lights and a luggage rack. At the time (April 1964) I purchased my lights and mirrors directly from Lucas and placed my mirrors as directed by the Lucas representative to BMC USA. The directions indicated the correct position was 1" from the bead at the high point of the front wheel opening just forward of the inner fender.

Although correctly positioned on the fender, I was near-sighted at the time and, for me, use of my flat mirrors was more a joke then practical. As I got older, my sight transitioned toward being more far-sighted and I was really happy to be able to begin to take advantage of my mirrors. However, after 10 years of being able to use the mirrors, my sight was again changed as a result of lens replacement in response to Cataract surgery and my use of wing mirrors has been greatly diminished.

Although I do like the look of wing mirrors, I have not found them to be either comfortable or that useful over their period of installation and, if I knew then what I know now, would have opted for a closer mounted mirror. Keep in mind that I had just purchased my new Healey and the over the wheel mounting was easily accessible but a closer mounted mirror would have required removing part of the fender to properly secure the under-fender washer and bolt.

View attachment 52832

Just my thoughts,
Ray(64BJ8P1)
Click to expand...
What an interesting, enlightening and most welcome perspective!

It never occurred to me that individual vision traits played a role (I put all the people that couldn't use the wing mirrors down to not knowing how to set them__sorry). I too was near-sighted when younger (though only wore corrective lenses at the theater) and I didn't need glasses for reading until around age 60.

Also happy to learn that there really was an official recommendation for wing mirror placement, and that is the exact location where mine are; maybe those holes have been there since 1958! I too like the look, and consider them to be part & parcel of the car and its image. When I see cars with mirrors on the vent wing, windshield stanchion mounts or sidescreen sockets, they look wrong (to me) and as detracting as if the car had curb-feelers on it.

What does one use for a mirror when the sidescreens are fitted__if you use your car for tours, sooner or later, you're going to have to put them on__if you're using that type of mirror mount?

Clearly, everyone has their own feelings about outside mirrors, and if whatever your preference is keeps you out of trouble, then good for you. I like mine where they are, and they work just fine.

Now then, what about oil... :wall:
 
Does anyone have a link to where I could purchase the quarter-light mounted mirrors? Thanks,

Griz
 
AH SPares https://www.ahspares.co.uk/big-healey/Mirrors/default.aspx MRS 112 flat rectangular; MRS 113 round convex. I expect that all the usual suspects carry them (eg Moss Motors rectangular https://mossmotors.com/quarter-light-mirror ). The Moss photo shows their mirror mounted high on the vent window; we've got ours mounted low down. And (if memory serves) I think that the metal bracket on the rectangular mirror needed some straightening/pounding to move the mirror out far enough to allow full adjustment; no problem with the round one. But don't lose that wee allen key that comes with it! Doug
 
Randy--

Interesting indeed and I'm glad that you and I are in the same camp on mirrors. I must say that it is amazing how so many people whose opinions I normally respect can be SO WRONG on this topic.

As to opening up another discussion on oil I will ZDDP my lip.
 
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