MGB: Mirror opinions and facts needed for the '69....

Ok, first let me say, I HATE the uneven mirrors on the '69 cars. No offense meant to those that have them and like them, I just don't. Soooo, I want to put either two mirrors on the fenders or just a driver side on the door. Was this a U.S. only thing or did these cars have this strange mirror arrangement in the U.K. also? Was it all 69's or just some? I will be painting it soon so I am ready to do any welding right now. Anyone know th reason for this oddity? Thank you.

I know the reason and had you sided with me regarding the ceiling fan issue I would have told you, but not now.

Dang, does your wife know?

I have one drivers side door only on my '68 GT, and it works great. Don't have a passenger side on either car, and don't see the need unless towing a trailer.

My buddy's GT used to have two fender mirrors, and that looked cool.

I ahve a 69 with the right side mirror. I put a convex one on and do use it. I drove school buses for a while and got so used to relying on mirrors that I feel comfortable looking in the mirrors--I use the 2" convex mirrors on both sides and have the mirrors on my other two cars adjusted so that I see the back of the car in the mirror and the front bumper out of the corner of my eye when a car is next to me. I find the fender mirror to be a better choice than a right side door mounted mirror--I don't have to turn my head to see in the mirror, just glance to the right.

Why there's one door and one fender, ?????

Paul,

see diagram below.....
My 69 has the driver's side door mirror like Moss P/N: 165-220 (# 27) and a passenger side fender mount mirror like Moss P/N: 223-310 (#37). Pretty sure the door mirror is original but can't vouch for the fender mirror as the Moss description says it's a L/H flat. The round mirror (P/N: 165-400 #35) is described as R/H flat, but my mirror has two mounting screws like P/N: 223-310. Perhaps the US dealer installed it. No signs of any others being mounted when we stripped and painted last year.

As a side note, whenever I use the car cover, it messes up the fender mirror and I usually forget to re-adjust so while driving I'm looking at sky or curbs.

Must check ceiling fan orientation now.............

The '69 I owned 25 years ago had the odd mirror arrangement from new. Using the part diagram above, my hazy memory says the P-side fender mounted mirror was #26 in the diagram, and the D-side door mounted mirror was maybe #27? No idea why they did it that way, and I didn't particularly like it. For the '67 I'm doing now, I'm torn between the original single D-side fender mount bullet mirror (it's a GT special) and a single D-side door mount mirror. We welded up the fender hole during bodywork so I could decide what I wanted to do later. The fender mount is more original and less practical; the door mount is less original and more practical.

Also some options here: http://www.texautomotive.com/

mar3kl Wrote:

This page gives some info, http://books.google.com/books?id=h2pqrXtZJZoC&pg=PA27&lpg=PA27&dq=mgb+mirrors+odd&source=bl&ots=x7wiACdoEE&sig=0YXRNnJy9XiVbnyB5GpPupWapOs&hl=en&ei=tTFNSojgNYjANqyWxekD&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1

It's US only and due to the Department of Transportation deciding to make standards for rear vision visibility applicable to the 1969 model year.

The right fender mirror is in a great placement, since you don't have to move your eyes far from road center to check it. But obviously that is offset by the lack of field of vision and it's a pain to adjust. Luckily it is a boomerang design and once adjusted should stay that way. All in all, I'm leaving mine alone on my 1970 as it is set just right to show me that I'm past the car in the right lane. Also back many years ago I installed a pair of aftermarket door mirrors on my first 1970 that acted as speed indicators, as they pivoted into the air at high speeds. So I'm a bit jaded on after market mirrors.

I've never been a big fan of fender-mounted mirrors. T0 me, they just look kind of ungainly, and then there's the car cover problem and the problem of their not being adjusted correctly . . . unlike the passenger side door mirror which I can adjust at any stop just by leaning over if it's "off". I prefer door mirrors (I've got one on each door), as you can tell, but whatever you like is what you should put on your car.

Paul,

It's my understanding that mirrors were an option and were positioned on the cars at the owners request by the dealers. There was no factory standard.

During resto I removed my right door mirror. I don't miss it when the convertible top is down but do when the top is up.