1955 adding passenger side mirror

[spierssn]

I am looking for advice from you guys with experience. My 1955 has only a driver side mirror. I am at the age where I have great trouble trying to swivel far enough to watch my rear fender when backing up. I am considering 3 alternative "old man" ways to avoid things such as my garage door.
1. a rear camers.
2. side view cameras.
3. new door mirrors.
I hate to drill holes in my doors for mounting door mirrors, the rear camera's seem to see more of the area behind and not so much at the side & the side mount cameras spoil the babybird lines. Any advice will be greatfully recieved.
Thank you
Simon

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[ICON 56]

If you drill on the passengers door to mount a mirror mount the mirror a little past the A Pillar, Do not mount exactly like the drivers mirror . If you do the A Pillar will block the view when you need to see. Don't ask me how I know, It's from experience.....

 

[doug7740]

I am looking for advice from you guys with experience. My 1955 has only a driver side mirror. I am at the age where I have great trouble trying to swivel far enough to watch my rear fender when backing up. I am considering 3 alternative "old man" ways to avoid things such as my garage door.
1. a rear camers.
2. side view cameras.
3. new door mirrors.
I hate to drill holes in my doors for mounting door mirrors, the rear camera's seem to see more of the area behind and not so much at the side & the side mount cameras spoil the babybird lines. Any advice will be greatfully recieved.
Thank you
Simon

I your car had a 12 volt conversion done, you could always install a wireless backup camera without drilling any holes. I installed a Auto-Vox wireless backup camera on my 2004 Thunderbird. I thought that the intallation was quite easy.

doug7740
1955 Thunderbird Blue

 

[Tom Alpers]

As Icon said, choose the location fore and aft wisely. If possible have someone hold it in position while you sit in drivers position and have them move it fore and aft till its in the perfect spot. Some folks put removable painting tape on the door to protect the paint while doing this and also to mark the screw holes when you get it in the position you like for drilling.
They make convex mirrors which you may find more useful on that side instead of a flat one.

 

[ICON 56]

Great advice ! I should have had a helper do this but being excited about getting a new toy I made a mistake, Now I have to live with it..... Lesson learned.

 

[spierssn]

Thank you gentlemen for the sage advice. These are what I have ordered.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CT2LNSFM?tag=thunderbirdforum-20

I like that I don’t need to take off the door panel and I like the style. I think it is consistent with the baby bird look even though they are called Bow tie”.

 

[TBoidMark]

I found a convex mirror very close to the same diameter as the driver’s sideview mirror and attached it directly to the original. It’s hardly noticeable and makes all the difference in the world, at least on the drivers side. You may still want something on the passenger side, though. Hope that helps. Good luck!
T-Boid Mark

 

[TAL]

Where did you find it? Please text link or location.

 

[english john]

I am looking for advice from you guys with experience. My 1955 has only a driver side mirror. I am at the age where I have great trouble trying to swivel far enough to watch my rear fender when backing up. I am considering 3 alternative "old man" ways to avoid things such as my garage door.
1. a rear camers.
2. side view cameras.
3. new door mirrors.
I hate to drill holes in my doors for mounting door mirrors, the rear camera's seem to see more of the area behind and not so much at the side & the side mount cameras spoil the babybird lines. Any advice will be greatfully recieved.
Thank you
Simon

I am of the same age and problem so fitted lookalike mirror and it blends in well. Got my wife to hold the mirror while i sat in car to ensure view was good and then got out and marked two holes, its not a big deal really. You can source mirrors at all t-bird suppliers just find one that matches yours