Can anyone suggest a functional set (left and right) of sideview mirrors for a 1940 Ford, 2 door sedan?
I have stock style swan's necks on my Coupe and the passenger side is useless. I can't even see it from the driver's seat. Looks good, but not functional.
.....I think you are referring to those beautiful swan necks that replace the short cowl stainless piece. They are some of my favorites, but like you mentioned, the passenger side one sits too low to be functional. I've got a single 4" peep mirror on top of driver's side door. It barely extends out enough to "see" around the curve of the body. Seems every option is a bit of a compromise so it all just boils down to personal preference. They're all available, just have to chose which one appeals to you most......Don.
I use the "swan" mirrors myself. Find the spot where you can see em, mount them there. I put a "spot" on the pass side. You can see here where I put them on my coupe. I had the hinge mounted ones on my old 40 tudor and did not like them much.
I have the Bob Drake ones And I use them to back up with no problem. I have a large cooler that blocks my rear window. so I relay on the mirrors
I have come up with a solution a modification utilising the swan neck arms and a 5 5/8" mirror head and it works very well on my 1940 Ford 2 Door Sedan Deluxe. Improved Swan Neck Mirror Arms Modification to accommodate Improved Vision First you need to source the attached 5 5/8” mirrors available from Arnold’s Automotive. They are much superior as the heads crank over to 45 degrees compared to other 5” ones which only move about 30 degrees (fine for drivers side but useless on passenger side). The 5 5/8” mirrors come with a female ¼” unf thread and they are located to arm for 1947 to 1953 chevy with the aid of a stainless ¼” unf bolt. Now the trick is to modify the swan neck arms they do differ slightly depending upon the supplier, the best ones in my opinion are the ones supplied by So Cal or Mooneyes as you get the neat chrome torpedo acorn nut which is 5/16” unc thread. I had the Mooneyes ones which have two studs 5/16” UNC and 5/32 Whitworth (possibly UNC can’t be sure but in any event with the 5 degree pitch variance at this size it is immaterial, besides which the Chinese have a habit of utilising what tooling they have to hand, they bought a lot of tooling from the UK many years ago when we used to have an engineering industry). The So Cal ones only have a single large stud fitting, but the chrome torpedo nut appears to look the same. Modifications · Make up a small bush with a 6.5mm hole to centre drill on arm as the hole is square, so the bush acts as a drill guide on a pillar drill. · Important to use a vice clamp with fibre jaws to hold swan neck arm and pack up with shims to get level. The vice clamp ensures or minimises damage if drill snatches. · Set depth gauge on drill and drill about halfway on the side which mirror mounts with a 25/64” drill, followed by a 10mm drill. · Place a small amount of cutting fluid on mounting part of mirror into swan neck and then place a ¼ “ x 1” UNF bolt with a large washer by head to spread load and gradually do bolt up with spanner. This will gradually move mounting part of mirror into swan neck arm creating an interference fit to the depth of the hole drilled. · I then utilised a long 5/16” UNC bolt machined head off and then machined off the other half of thread and ran a ¼” UNF die down the stem. This is tricky as I messed two up, best to cut down threads by hand with a junior hack saw and file as appropriate. The stepped studding you are left with the UNC thread needs to be 8mm long and the UNF thread no longer than 22 mm. · The UNC thread is then locked into Torpedo nut with bearing lock sealer, allow 12 hours to set, you then have a Torpedo bolt. Thread lock (normal strength that can come loose with the aid of normal spanners) can then be used on assembly. · Finally gently remove mirror lens with a small flat screw driver and smear a small amount of non acetone/low modulus clear silicone sealer around the outer rim of the rubber gasket and re-assemble. I used Soudal fix all crystal super clear. Please note failure to do this will eventually result in either a broken or lost mirror! This set up works on my 1940 Ford and I have tried it out on the passenger side in the normal driving position it is fantastic, it will also suit other hot rods of a similar year allowing fellow rodders better vision on their treasured classics. Kevin
Started with cowl mirrors and they were useless, especially in traffic. Couldn't even see the right side mirror from the driver's seat. Removed them and reinstalled the cowl stainless. Installed the swan mirrors from So-Cal Speed Shop and have 60K miles of fun driving. BIG difference. Good quality and keep their adjustment.
Keep thinking Im going to hide a rear view camera somewhere on my 40.Actually could use it on my t sedan too.Has anyone tried this?
I also had the 4" swan neck hinge pin mirrors on my 40 tudor. I bought 5" replacement heads from "rodtique" on ebay for $40. made all the difference in the world!!!!
I have done a mock up with the hinge pin mirror with larger 5” heads on the passenger side and I have now come to the conclusion the hinge mounting position is not the ultimate position as the view is partially obstructed by A frame of door. If hinge pin mirrors are used then Bob Drakes 4” mirror works better as the hole on back of mirror is 14.5mm, which allows mirror head to crank in further. I initially utilised the 5” heads from Rodtiques, sadly they are crap. For a whole season I made up a rubber wedge (a temporary measure) for the passenger door mirror, all because the Rodtique 5” mirror head does not crank more than 30 degrees, a design fault. Having succeeded in achieving the ultimate functional mirror in keeping with the car, I thought I would share this with you to pass onto others.
They sure worked well for me. good vision & stay adjusted. I did loosen the 2 allen set screws that hold the mirror bracket to the hinge & moved the mirror assy in some to get a good line of sight.
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