Rear View Mirror

[lal Naja]

Originally Posted by John-Tucson

Hey Arthur, just wait until you can go-cart your Cobra and keep all of these suggestions as possibilities. The side mirror doesn't work very well when it's attached to the door because of vibration. No matter where you put the dash mirror it still has the same dimensions and will show you exactly the same area. The biggest "problem" with the dash mirrior is when driving at night, all of the cars behind you have their headlights pointing at your mirror. My dash mirror is mounted normally and it is turned so that I can see the right rear of a car which is passing me, it's image is in the left side of the mirror. Now, the side mirror is set so that I can see that cars right front fender at the same time. By the time the car leaves the side mirror it is in my perferial vision and I can also hear it. As for the right side of the Cobra - TURN YOUR HEAD ! When you drive any car you should have situational awareness and never be surprised by a car on either side of you. If you plan to track your Cobra regularly then look and find out what the other Cobra owners are using. Oh yes, no matter where you end up putting the mirrors they will vibrate. Good luck. PS. From reading these posts it seems that some owners are not aware that the little screw on the end of the side mirror can be loosened and the mirror adjusted.

John thanks! Great information!

Question; Where are your side-mirrors attached on the car? Fender by windshield post?

Arthur

[lal Naja]

[quote=Dwight;987563]Mine works just fine

Dwight

Dwight, Are your side mirrors in the typical fender position? If so, do these work well for you? I've heard from a few that these fender mirrors do not work.

Thanks for the photos.

Arthur

[John-Tucson]

Yes, mine is attached to the body near the windshield post.

[jhv48]

And what is that flesh colored object in the middle of the mirror in each picture?

Never mind, my wife just told me what it was.

By the way, congratulations!

[lnfletcher]

lal naja
I have no issues with vibration. Mine are mounted at the top the the windshield and the side post of the windshield.
I could not see with the fender mounted because of the rear fender hump.

[Dwight]

lal Naja

one is mounted on the driver side front fender and I have a 3 1/2" convex mirror double back taped to it. It works just fine. The dash mirror is also in the standard position.
I mounted Ginger's dash mirror from the top of her windshield frame and I liked it so much that I'm going to make one for myself. I'll have two dash mirrors. If I don't like the looks, I'll just remove one.

When I first installed my mirrors I had someone to hold them while I sat in the seat. My mirrors are set up for me. I could never find a place on the passenger side fender or door to mount that mirror. I had Ginger to set in her Cobra while I held the mirrors in place to see where they worked the best. There is some adjustment in the mirror it self.
Take a little time to look at your locations and what works best for you.
Don't forget to RainX the mirrors

Dwight

[Dwight]

windshield mount made of stainless that I made for Coach Mike's Hurricane.
note the stainless badge we made to cover the holes left by the old mirror.
Dwight

[Dwight]

I'm showing off now

Doc driving my Cobra, I'm in Coach Mike's Cobra and Bobby is behind me.

Dwight

[Dwight]

here is a pic of Coach's FFR (he sold it) side mirror mount.

Dwight

[Dwight]

found another pic
note the rain on the mirror

John how do you know that it rains on the mirror?

It never rains in Arizona

Dwight

[Dwight]

this is the last one I'll post, I promise
I have worn out two cameras. Bought a new one last month. I think the reason that Brent has a limit on the number of pictures in our gallery is because of me.

Dwight

Convoy to the London Cobra Show. One Cobra in the trailer.


this is the last one I'll post, I promise

[lal Naja]

Originally Posted by CSXDreamer

"Stock" RV mirror on the dash was just too low for me because of the rear cowl rising. I made a center rod window stabilizer and mounted the modified stock mirror near the top. If you don't want/need a windshield rod, you can mount any RV mirror the same way the US factorys do: glue a slip on base mount to the windshield.

Is your center rod stabilizer similar to the one that Finish Line sells? If not, would like to see any pictures of what you've done.

Thanks for your post,

Arthur

[John-Tucson]

Dwight, as you lnow I occassionaly leave Arizona. The last excursion out of Arizona, June/July '09, I drove 11,500+ miles. If it doesn't rain on you , you ain't driving your Cobra. Real Cobra drivers do get wet ( even if we try not to ). When I drove thru Jacksonville, FL I had continious rain north bound thru Georgia, South and North Carolina and into Virgina. Also, in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Mass., but that was only drizzle. The worst dousing of the trip came 1/2 mile from home, I'd driven thru heavy rain in Phoenix about 1:30 am and drove out of it so I took off my "rain gear" and was in shorts and t-shirt when at 3:35am I was on the road to home and didn't think about it having rained there because the road was dry, well, I drove thru a dip that was full of water, about 5" deep, it came over the hood like a wave from the ocean. I was soaked from head to toe, there wasn't a dry piece of clothing on me. I was home about two minutes later, woke my wife up, she took a look at me and said " I didn't know it was raining outside". I think that Arthur will have fun learning all of these interesting things by himself. Let's not tell him about the shinning new instruments getting fogged up and the water shooting thru the body / door opening into his lap.

[rdc767]

My buddy Terri makes some cool mirror mounts for the center and side mirrors. He has both round and is experimenting with a newer design I like. Here are some pictures.

more like a camaro style side mirrror.



And a more traditional round that I have. The glass is convex and you can see all around you no blind spots.


http://www.thedreamcarcompany.com/

[John-Tucson]

Hey Arthur, Both Dwight and I have the windshield center rod also. The purpose in mine is to keep the top and bottom frames of the windshield together. Mine is not attached to the body. There are about three makers of that rod, I'd suggest that you attend a few Cobra get togethers and look for that rod and see how they are attached. Some are attached to the dash frame underneath the body, some are either screwed into the fiberglass or bolted from underneath. If you look at the bottom center of your windshield frame you'll see two very small holes, some makers use those holes to mount a piece of flat stock to the frame there and attach the rod to that flat stock. It can be a difficult project to do after you have the body on and painted.

[lal Naja]

Originally Posted by John-Tucson

Hey Arthur, Both Dwight and I have the windshield center rod also. The purpose in mine is to keep the top and bottom frames of the windshield together. Mine is not attached to the body. There are about three makers of that rod, I'd suggest that you attend a few Cobra get togethers and look for that rod and see how they are attached. Some are attached to the dash frame underneath the body, some are either screwed into the fiberglass or bolted from underneath. If you look at the bottom center of your windshield frame you'll see two very small holes, some makers use those holes to mount a piece of flat stock to the frame there and attach the rod to that flat stock. It can be a difficult project to do after you have the body on and painted.

I'm thinking about making a center rod for the windshield. The rod will be 1/2" aluminum round shaft attached to the center top of the windscreen via a bracket. At the dashboard cowl it will fasten where the stock mirror attaches, also with a custom bracket. Then a custom fitted mirror will fasten anywhere along the length of the 1/2" aluminum shaft. Infinite adjustment along the 18 or so inches of travel.

My windshield has a center bracket that attaches at the bottom of the windshield frame to the cowl. So by adding the center rod I'll triangulate the structure and reduce vibration too, to some degree.

The 1/4" center rod that I have seen seems only to hold the frame in some compression and I believe really needed if you have a soft top. I had this problem when I installed my soft top. It just pulled the top of the frame away from the glass. That prompted me to silicon the glass into the frame. Now it is solid and rigid.

[lal Naja]

Originally Posted by John-Tucson

Dwight, as you lnow I occassionaly leave Arizona. The last excursion out of Arizona, June/July '09, I drove 11,500+ miles. If it doesn't rain on you , you ain't driving your Cobra. Real Cobra drivers do get wet ( even if we try not to ). When I drove thru Jacksonville, FL I had continious rain north bound thru Georgia, South and North Carolina and into Virgina. Also, in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Mass., but that was only drizzle. The worst dousing of the trip came 1/2 mile from home, I'd driven thru heavy rain in Phoenix about 1:30 am and drove out of it so I took off my "rain gear" and was in shorts and t-shirt when at 3:35am I was on the road to home and didn't think about it having rained there because the road was dry, well, I drove thru a dip that was full of water, about 5" deep, it came over the hood like a wave from the ocean. I was soaked from head to toe, there wasn't a dry piece of clothing on me. I was home about two minutes later, woke my wife up, she took a look at me and said " I didn't know it was raining outside". I think that Arthur will have fun learning all of these interesting things by himself. Let's not tell him about the shinning new instruments getting fogged up and the water shooting thru the body / door opening into his lap.

Okay guys, so you must know some of my friends. Arthur already knows that he does not like getting wet by rain. Reminds me too much of damp wet, Perth, Australian, weather. And water shooting up through your doors?. No weather seals on your doors?

I plan seals in the doors. My hardtop should be reasonably weather tight, have done a lot of fitting to get it just right. The side windows I'm making to fit the hard top should also seal quite well and will be locked into the door for stability. The car can be safely driven with windows in and top off. This is just in case the girl gets too much wind in her hair & cold on her face.

[John-Tucson]

Just a quick comment, the 1/2 " might be rather large. 1/4 stainless steel is suggested. You can buy the SS round and flatten the top end with a BIG hammer or press and bend it about 160 degrees so that it fits into the notch in the top of the windshield. What I am missing is what company built your Cobra ? The triangulation is perfect. So many of the guys that comment here have really good intentions, but, they have never drive their Cobras. That is why I suggest that you see and speak with other Cobra owners at car shows, those are the guys with first hand knowledge about the real life of driving their Cobras. Of course you will always find someone who walks to a different drummer and leans to the far left or right. There is where you'll have to drive your Cobra and make the decisions youself. Good luck. PS. Dwight is on of the GOOD guys. Listen to him.

[John-Tucson]

Just a quick comment, the 1/2 " might be rather large. 1/4 stainless steel is suggested. You can buy the SS round and flatten the top end with a BIG hammer or press and bend it about 160 degrees so that it fits into the notch in the top of the windshield. What I am missing is what company built your Cobra ? The triangulation is perfect. So many of the guys that comment here have really good intentions, but, they have never drive their Cobras. That is why I suggest that you see and speak with other Cobra owners at car shows, those are the guys with first hand knowledge about the real life of driving their Cobras. Of course you will always find someone who walks to a different drummer and leans to the far left or right. There is where you'll have to drive your Cobra and make the decisions youself. Good luck. PS. Dwight is on of the GOOD guys. Listen to him.

[lal Naja]

1/4" rod may be fine to hold the windscreen in compression, but it would not be great for the triangulation that I want to do. I'm starting with 1/2" as the test. Later I'll machine the shaft down after I've located the mirror at the optimum height for me. Then I can see what minimum diameter shaft will finally work. For now the plan in in the works.

I don't think that a 1/2" shaft will block the visuals too much. But we'll see.

Arthur