[DeTomaso] Vitaloni Mirrors Too!

Trevor Fougere trevor at fougere.com
Sun Mar 22 17:17:39 EDT 2009


Mirror mirror on the wall.

 

I have received  and installed my Vitaloni side view mirrors from Boyd
Casey.  Very nice.

 

I had stick on mirrors mounted on the vent windows that were essentially
worthless.  Plus they had large black triangular stick on material applied
to the inside of the window to hide the glue.and further obscure vision from
both sides of the car.

 

Removing the stick on mirrors was simple using putty knives to carefully pry
the mirrors loose from the glue holding them and an exacto blade to remove
the sticky material and glue remnants.  Unfortunately, this led to the
discovery that the passenger vent window glass was chipped/gouged.  Guess
that's why a previous owner put on these mirrors.  At least they hid the
damage to the glass.

 

I installed the leading edge of the passenger side mirror 7-1/2" back from
the furthest forward outside part of the door edge.  The driver's side was
mounted  4-1/4" back from the same point on the driver's door.  This
"custom" positioning was achieved by having a helper move them back and
forth until I found positions that afforded unobstructed views of the mirror
glass.

 

Final adjustment of the two mirrors required disassembly of the mirror and
gimbal mechanism.  The driver's side required removing material from the
main gimbal housing, the circular washer that rides over the pin that holds
the screw, and further opening of the hole the pin goes through to allow the
mirror to be further depressed on the right side (as you face the mirror).
The passenger side require expanding the movement on the left side (as you
face the mirror).

 

Both mirrors also required extending the movement at the top.allowing the
top to be pushed further into the mirror housing and elevate the resulting
view through the mirrors.  This is, in part, due to the fact that the top of
the doors tilt up slightly at the front.

 

The whole thing took less than an hour.and the resulting views into the
blind spots are dramatically improved.

 

I'm guessing the stickers on the front of the mirror housings will look cool
for about a week.  After they have been whacked by a few bugs and cleaned
off, I expect that they will degrade rapidly.

 

Bottom line, IMHO

 

1 - They look good.

2 - They extend further from the car and are far more adjustable (especially
after you Dremel them)

3 - Sight lines are vastly improved.

4 - Easy to install

5 - Price was right.

 

One minor issue.  The rubber boot on the passenger mirror that covers the
mounting hardware does not fully extend down and cover everything when it is
properly attached at the top swivel points.  Since I never do rain, I am not
too worried about it, but it is a quality issue in the manufacture of the
mirror.  This would certainly need to be corrected on a trailer queen.

 

Trevor 

#3797




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