Side Mirrors
Added side mirrors from The Dream Car Company in polished billet aluminum. These attach to the upper wind wing mounts and feature 4” convex mirrors that are positioned higher up than my prior fender mounted mirror. The mounting arms also reach out farther which I wanted with the soft top.
The improvement in overall visibility and blind spot coverage is significant. They work great, and may be the single best thing I’ve done on the Cobra. Much safer with more confidence in traffic. The soft top creates a slight head check blind spot, yet these mirrors seem to help compensate for that nicely.
They are easy to install and remove so there’s a chance I may use these with the soft top and other traditional higher mounted mirrors when not using the top, we’ll see.
Was looking to add a chrome or polished cover where the prior fender mounted driver side mirror was. However mocking that up seemed to be a large piece that unnecessarily drew attention to it. Installing two very small stainless steel screws into the mounting holes to cover. It’s very subdued and still in keeping with the silver/metallic theme and downplays that area.
New side mirrors
Old mirror screw holes covered
Rear View Mirror
My dash mounted rear view mirror sat a bit low already, and was really lacking with the soft top on. I looked at extending it, or getting a center rod mounted style. However to gain significant safe usefulness, and with no rattling, I decided on an upper windshield mounted mirror.
To maintain a classic era look, the shop identified a Lucas 608 dipping mirror reproduction. The mounting arm was modified/shortened to keep the mirror close to the top of the windshield in a useful location. A polished aluminum clamp was made that attaches to the runner on top of the windshield and fastens with a set screw. It was designed with a slight downward angle allowing the mirror to be raised up higher on the windshield while still allowing for the necessary range of view.
The mount will double as a sort of physical lock for the soft top to keep the bars from moving inward should the outer clamps somehow become undone (which is unlikely). The clamp is easily removable for installing and removing the soft top.
I looked at some black mirrors, yet with my new silver raised slide mirrors, after mocking up with a black mirror, the Lucas 608 seemed a more compatible color (and style) scheme. Shelby apparently used the Lucas 608 on (some) first gen GT40’s, so it should work for my Cobra.
Filled the prior dash mirror’s mounting holes with small stainless steel screws like with the side mirror.
Lucas rear view mirror
All new mirrors
Rule Garage
A shout out to my shop friends at Rule Garage in Tacoma. They indulged my many ideas, taking ownership in those projects, and offered many useful suggestions/solutions. They were very easy for me to deal with, we were really on the same page. They felt like family, and treated the Cobra as part of their family.
Andy (father) has a Journeyman Certification in Mechanics and a Certificate in Electronics, plus over 40 years experience in the custom car world including decades building hot rods. Tyler (son) has degrees in both Vehicle Engineering and Plastics Engineering, and a strong aptitude for auto electrical principles and application.
Thanks guys for enhancing my Cobra experience, given that continual improvements are my creativity outlet, and also in maintaining a focus on the core themes for my car. Nice work guys, we will be back, the Cobra really likes you.
Here are Andy and Tyler with the Cobra...
Rule Garage team
Below is a link to a recent write up from Andy’s technical college alma mater, with the Cobra pictured in Andy/Tyler’s prior shop:
https://blog.cptc.edu/feature_story/...cptc-programs/