[DeTomaso] Side mirrors

[David F. Bakker]

Great info. Im glad I can make them work for me with some simple modifications. Thanks for the detailed response!

-David

From: MikeLDrew at aol.com [mailto:MikeLDrew at aol.com]
Sent: Sunday, July 22, 2007 3:14 PM
To: David F. Bakker; detomaso at realbig.com
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Side mirrors


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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