Technical Driving your hot rod at night.

Hey LB,
If your Corvair is sitting at the standard height like our old 62, 2 door, Corvair coupe, that just happened to be the correct height of most jacked up trucks and cars. Today, that list would include SUVs, Hummers, and fake off road trucks. We just flipped up the rear view mirror to use the angled reflect feature and moved over to the next lane. We were usually not in a hurry driving that Corvair. In our other cars, we did the same, you never know what is in that other car regardless of whether or not they are complete idiots.

Jnaki
One of my friends, that used to drive his mom's big Bonneville sedan, used the electric outside mirrors to angle the high beam reflection back onto the rear, tailgating driver. That always gave the warning to the tailgater and those pesky high beams. We were trying to see how we could fit those outside electric mirrors on his 57 Chevy Bel Air because he never liked his stock mirrors.

 

HRP, I have a mirror like yours - Model T part I think. And I like the suggestion to cover it with a tint. Besides the rear lights, my other "nag" is the double and triple reflections between the rear glass, mirror, and windshield, as they are all on the same plane. Some times I can't figure out where the reflections are coming from. I think I'm going the slant the windshield back a little on my next build. Gary

Side bar --- ever live or drive in Japan? Those folks are SO courteous they turn their headlights off (switching just to parking lights) at EVERY stop light at night (I think it's also the law, but it's the most amazing thing). Whether you are stopped two or twenty deep, ALL the cars turn off their headlights when they are stopped at a traffic light, or waiting for a train, etc.. After you have lived in Japan for awhile, it just seems like the most natural thing to do. Returning to the states after 3 years in Japan was a total pain in the eyeballs.

 

I do that with the inside mirror also. Set so it only takes a slight head movement either way when I want to check what's behind

 

I move the mirror so it doesn't hit me in the face and slow down. Let them go around and bother someone else.


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I do the same thing if I'm in town but that doesn't work on the interstate. HRP

 

Man that is some funny shit.Great video. Man that dude slammed on the brakes and turned around.

 

My daily c10 has a bowtie shaped rearview that came tinted. It isnt as functional as a flip switch but does a good job

 

To solve most of that problem I had the quarter windows and the rear window on the 26 coupe tinted the same degree as the tint on our Lincoln MKX suv. May not be HAMB friendly but it helps. Still don't like to drive at night with a chopped top. Windshield is 7in tall..............

 

I have the same problem with my 32 pick up. I just end up tilting my mirror and slowing down until the jack ass passes. But I also run the original headlights with the halogen conversion, and even though I have the headlights pointing down so I can still see but not the blinding on coming traffic, I still get flashed. But I can usually make other people turn the lights down when I turn on my brights.


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Same issue with my 32 , kinda gets scary at times . I usually try not to drive the 32 much at night anymore or the one Harley . I have an old power wagon that is probably the AH that is behind us ! When bright lights are behind me driving that , it's 10x worse flat back glass acts as mirror and reflections are always there worse than 32

 

I remember you could buy purplish lights to mount in the top corners of your windshield that were -supposed - to cut down on glare from oncoming headlights. LoL
Never in a car that had them, but as a kid I thought they looked pretty cool in some cars.
Can't see how they could really have any effect.

 

Just briefly scanned threw the replies but the one in my 46' is tinted. Can't even tell during the day. Only noticed when it was off and I was trying to clean it thatnit has kind of a purple
Hue to it. Does the trick!

Now my chromed dash top, that's a different story lol

 

Hell, those bright lights don't bother me, I just close my eyes until they go away!

The alternative of NOT getting old isn't so great either!

I hate the stock '32 mirror with the beveled glass on the edges, its like a kaleidoscope at night. I switch it out for a late thirties or early forties Ford oval mirror.

Danny, how about checking the local welding supplies store for a welding helmet dark tinted lens which might be about the size of the stock '32 mirror that you could pop rivet some thin aluminum strips to so you could hang it over the mirror like the one TagMan has.

 

Mine smokes so bad they probably Have to have their brights on..

I like Bob's tinted cover. My OT 356 has visors that are green tint plexi (or whatever)-they cover 3/4 of the windshield so it's a good thing to be able to see though!


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I find more the problem is tail lights and headlights bouncing off the vertical screens on a 32 /34 pickup or coupe and you are trying to figure out what the heck are reflections inside the car and real outside. The lights bounce from front to rear screens and confuse my already addled mind/ eyes.
Recently we have considered a couple of US built 32 fords and the owner says oh the head lights don't work , the tail lights don't go, it has no E brake, but I built it to drive. No real issue here as we would do the fix , but surely a driver needs lights etc. Or is it a poser driver in daylight only on flat ground.

 

I can't imagine why anyone would want to venture out into a public roadway without basic proper lighting and a means of slowing or stoping the vehicle in an emergency situation - but ignorance being rampant in our society I can believe it. Kev when you are asking about a vehicle - a simple question- 'Has the vehicle been NSRA inspected?' will take care of whether the vehicle has basic safety components in place and functional.


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I'm about due myself. About 8 years ago I was at the eye doctor getting a piece of beach shell taken off of my eye and I asked about vision correction surgery, he said come back in 10 years and we'll do that plus your cataracts.

 

I've seen day-night mirrors for my Ford but they are pricey if they are in good shape. I'll look around for a clip on that goes over my stock mirror.

 

choffman YEA that's the ticket.I am still laughing my ass off on that one.LOL.Bruce.

 

Not sure what happened here but was trying to say: I have a mirror like that and unbolted the mirror and mounted a grey tinted mirror from the '50s to it. Recently picked up a vintage day night mirror head I intend to swap out.

 

I remember adjusting the inside mirror in a position that reflected the offending rear Enders headlights directly back into their eyes.
They make a UV film that may work for your problem.

http://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/home-window-solutions-us/solutions/


..

 

Saw this on ebay: searched "small day night mirror"

 

I have no scientific fact to back me up, but when I replaced the factory mirror in my 40 with a Drake aftermarket, I could swear that the lights in the rear view mirror were brighter, so I put the factory piece back in and I believe that it has a bit of a tint to it. Henry Ford has not answered my inquiries about this matter though, so I'll get back to you when he does.

 

Thank you,Never even thought about that,this just might be the solution. HRP

 

I found a small abs tinted plastic pan at wally world. cut out the size i needed to slip over mirror, put it on at night. Not sure if they carry those anymore . Might check a plastics supplier in the area. Funny i have started driving to shows at night, less traffic, cooler in my non A.C. car

 

All of my windows in the 29 become a mirror at night. Its a pain. Everything reflects on them. As far as my rearview goes, it's useless because of the small rear window and stance of the sedan. It does however give me a nice view of the sky.

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The use of those cheap, aftermarket, HID light kits probably compounds the issue. The HID's are pretty popular in my area. It seems like about 50% +/- of the vehicles are using them. The problem is they produce more light but less precisely so the driver of the vehicle with the HID's does tend to see better because more light gets thrown more places down the road. However, more glare is caused in the eyes of other drivers, plain and simple. It's no fun having a neighbor with a barking dog, or one who parties into the early morning, or the guy in the lane next to you who thinks he has to share his giant sub woofer tunes. Although bad enough and super irritating, those mouth breathers are not actually dangerous the way having your night vision compromised, like what happens with the cheap HID kits stuffed into headlight housings that were never engineered to use them.

Sorry for the rant. (Well, maybe not!) Sorry for the run-on sentences, but I do that when I rant.

 

All that flat glass does reflect everything it seems, plus the fact I have shortened windows doesn't help .I think that with age your brains ability to process what you see and to react tends to slow. I try not to drive my hot rods at night because of the critters that might jump in front of you and all of the afore mentioned old man things. Bill

 

This has not been a problem for me since I installed a Trunk Monkey. Check it out: