[DeTomaso] Side mirrors

[MikeLDrew at aol.com]

In a message dated 7/22/07 11:10:59 AM, dbakker at arrayasolutions.com writes:


> I have the original Vitaloni Californian side mirrors and I cant see 
> anything out of them for the life of me. They point down too much and even maxed 
> out poiting up doesn't work for me. Maybe Im too tall. At any rate I read on 
> pantera place that the baby turbos are good from pepboyz. Does anyone have any 
> expeirence with these? Will they give me much better vision. Im really a 
> cautious merger and I hate not being able to see in with side view mirrors. Any 
> info would be appreciated.
> 
> BTW I want to keep the European look also.
> 

>>>It is *easy* to get the Californias to work perfectly on a Pantera.   I 
have them on my car and absolutely love them.   They will not work without 
modification, but the modifications are simple.

They normally have two problems.   The top of the door is too flat to allow 
the mirror housing to pivot on the base far enough for it to be flat.   Some 
simple, judicious grinding of the corner of the base will allow the mirror 
housing to be positioned parallel to the ground.

The other problem is that the glass within the housing can't be angled 
properly.   Fortunately this is easy to fix too.   The glass is mounted on a 
pedestal which is secured to the bottom of the housing with two screws.   Remove the 
long screw which holds the housing to the base (keep track of any 
washers/shims in there), then remove the two screws and carefully withdraw the glass.

It will be instantly obvious where the problem lies.   The glass has a stud 
which pivots on an open ball on the plastic base; when the glass is moved to 
the extremes of its available motion, the stud hits the inner edge of the ball.  
 All you have to do is determine where you want the glass to go, and 
carefully grind away at the center of the opening to allow additional movement in that 
direction.   Trial and error will eventually give the optimal positioning; 
you don't want to remove any more material than necessary.   You will probably 
install and remove the mirrors three or four times before you are happy, but 
it's worth the effort.

Many Americans position their side view mirrors incorrectly, not 
understanding what they are supposed to do.   They are SIDE view mirrors; the REAR view 
mirror is inside the car!

The glass should be angled so that you can see what is happening in the 
*adjacent* lanes just behind and alongside your car.   When you are behind the 
wheel, a car approaching in the adjacent lane should only start to appear in the 
side view mirror as it disappears from the rear view mirror.   If your side 
view mirrors are adjusted to show the view directly behind you, they are both 
redundant, and not doing the critical job of letting you clear at a 45-degree 
angle behind you on each side.

The Vitaloni California was the original mirror used on the European GTS 
Panteras in the 70s and 80s, and I absolutely love the look.   Don't give up on 
them yet!

Mike


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