KevinB Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 Hi, I have a 1966 Mk2 Spitfire which is nearing the final stage of its complete restoration. I now have a few choices to make on the look and appearance of the car, such as door / wing mirrors? My questions are : Do I have any mirrors at all, does it look best with or without? If I do have mirrors do I have door or bonnet mounted? Then which style / type? The car is white with red interior if that makes any difference? Any thoughts? Cheers, Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulfc Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 Hi, Don't think I'd go out on the road in this day and age without wing mirrors. Too much happens too quickly not to have the best all round vision possible. As for "with or without", I'd wait until the seats are in and adjusted for you and trial both (I guess someone will need to hold them for you) then make the call. Unless, of course, you want originally then it's easy. Paul 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 take care if you look at bullet types , they can have insufficient swivel to make the passenger side useless door mirrors do allow for some twiddling from the drivers seat , take time in location or what seems ok suddenly needs extra holes in the door skin pete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 I was going to say that the best I've found are mirrors mounted close to the driver, which magnifies the rear view; but as you won't have a door quarterlight in a Spitfire, would a clip-on version attach to anywhere else, for example the screen frame gutter - or would that foul the doors? With this type, you don't have to drill anything and can slide it up or down until you get the most comfortable location for your own driving position.There are quite a few varieties for sale, rimless, framed, round, rectangular so it's really personal choice... as long as you can get it to fit somewhere.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 Kevin, I have bullet mirrors on the wings, they look lovely and are easily adjusted, using a well trained Son-in-Law. However, as rear view mirrors they are pretty useless, too small. Flat mirrors offer a better panorama and mounted on the doors better still. I replaced my damaged internal rear view. New one had the same part number, looked the same, but it turned out to be a much better mirror than the original, wider field of view which compensates for my dodgy bullets. Doug 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andycrews1 Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 My Spitfire had bullet mirrors on the wings when I bought it. Useless, look nice but useless. I've since had flat mirrors on both doors. Huge improvement. Best thing is I can now use slip roads without craning my neck trying to see if anything is behind me. Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 Hello Kevin, It really is a case of trying to get the best of both worlds - practicality and cosmetically. I agree that having no mirrors is one step away from driving blind folded, your really do need to see what is screaming in behind you at the very least. Hope the following experience will assist ?? A friend of mine has clip-on mirrors on his classic; they look neat but the driver mirror tends to want to part company with the car as often as possible; whereas the passenger unit never moves / vibrates an inch. He has secured them perfectly and identically but the problem persists. His catching is now seamless and worthy of any slip position on an international cricket pitch !! Jesting aside, it is likely that he has picked up a duff mirror as we cannot determine any other logical reason that this should keep occurring, despite all our cunning plans. On my Vitesse I have wing mirrors and these are sprung, which is very useful as you can fold them in when required. Additionally and for me this is the deal breaker I purchased mirrors that are slightly convex and this gives excellent rear and angled vision - another bonus is that the convex mirror eliminates blind spots; basically the same principle with modern cars. If my Vitesse had no mirrors and I wanted to site them I would be tempted to go for proper door mount and not clip-on. That said, I like the traditional period wing mounting and as mentioned their set-up provides prefect rear vision and safety. Regards. Richard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 Club shop sell a range of door andnwing mounts Pete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 Many door mounts have a plastic locking plate which the head locates and held with a grub screw ive had experience of these not Retaining the head, being a bit vibro, , older with a cast base fitting are much better And rivnuts in the door skin are a world away from the plastic rawlplug idea with a tap screw to expand it, which might enable break off when you take out an jaywalker on a phone , but is a poor fixing method. Pete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 Are some of them not designed to break? I mean if you hit a Jaywalker that's end of wing mirror, but you don't want it clinging on and bending the door skin. db 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark powell Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 Another vote for door mirrors. I managed to drop an Acro prop on the one on my Herald special...and have since discovered it to have been a rather nice Italian item... Hens teeth. I've had to fit a Tex mirror, not so nice. (the Acro missed the door completely..) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 If you want to use the car apart from pottering about, you need mirrors. And as above, door mirrors actually work, bonnet mounted less so (and to my eye do not suit sports cars at all, but look OK on heralds etc) So which mirrors? On my mk3, I used a pair of tex door mirrors from a later spitfire. But they are not the prettiest. TR4/5 mirrors are quite nice and a bit more period, if you can find them still. Or have a peruse through ebay, you may find a design that you like. But whatever you do, do not fit those bullet mirrors.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Cooper Posted February 8, 2019 Report Share Posted February 8, 2019 1 hour ago, clive said: But whatever you do, do not fit those bullet mirrors.... Too late for me! I have bullet mirrors on the wings of my '66 Mk2 Spitfire and I'm really happy with them. However I have fitted them with convex glass as the standard flat glass gave a field of view that was just too narrow. Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Lindsay Posted February 10, 2019 Report Share Posted February 10, 2019 On 08/02/2019 at 15:36, dougbgt6 said: I mean if you hit a Jaywalker that's end of wing mirror, but you don't want it clinging on and bending the door skin. db So shake him off, or shout at him to let go. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mjit Posted February 11, 2019 Report Share Posted February 11, 2019 Having driven Spitfires with both door and wing mirrors I'd say door mirrors all the way. Sure, if your only concern is the astetics wing mirrors, especially bullet ones probably have the edge. If you actually want to see what's behind you when moving though then, in my experience they are next to useless as a tiny patch of mirror dances around with the vibrations going through the bonnet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Foster Posted February 11, 2019 Report Share Posted February 11, 2019 Kevin Agree mirrors are necessary in modern traffic for safe lane changing (my neck isn't a flexible as it used to be). I used to have wing mounted bullet mirrors on my Mk2 GT6, but when we restored the car with a new bonnet, opted for a door mirror instead. I initially tried a 'clip on' mirror attached to the quarterlight frame, but it kept falling off, so now have an Ital style mirror bolted to the door. I think it is nice style and works well. Photo of car attached and link to Holden website . https://www.holden.co.uk/p/ital_style_mirror_convex_glass Ian 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinB Posted February 12, 2019 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2019 So taking all your very valuable and helpful advice into consideration I've ended up making the following decision, rightly or wrongly !!! I've bought a pair of Tex Classic Bullet Racing Mirrors, the ones with longer stems that allow more movement. I'm aiming to put them on the doors but wait until we've installed the seats so that I can sit in the car to make sure they are in the right position, before we start drilling holes !! The drivers door has convex glass and the passenger flat glass. I'll let you know how it goes !!! Thanks for your very valuable input, Cheers, Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Lewis Posted February 12, 2019 Report Share Posted February 12, 2019 you know that where ever you put it its going to be wrong ....classics they do this to owners on purpose not familiar with a long stem bullet so lets see the results soon Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted February 12, 2019 Report Share Posted February 12, 2019 Keven, Thanks to your thread I've just ordered convex mirrors for my bullets. I wouldn't have thought of it otherwise. Cheers! Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted February 17, 2019 Report Share Posted February 17, 2019 Fitted the convex mirrors to my bullets today and yes, they are a great improvement. Doug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s99sdp Posted February 18, 2019 Report Share Posted February 18, 2019 My bullet wing mirrors are on the front of the doors and they're about as much use as a chocolate teapot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AidanT Posted February 18, 2019 Report Share Posted February 18, 2019 Convex all the time what ever the mirror and position makes a great improvement on flat Aidan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougbgt6 Posted February 18, 2019 Report Share Posted February 18, 2019 40 minutes ago, s99sdp said: My bullet wing mirrors are on the front of the doors and they're about as much use as a chocolate teapot. No, you can eat a chocolate tea pot! db Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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