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MG MGA - fender mirrors

I thought I had posted this before and received two nice responses. However I am just not sure where exactly to mount the fender mirrors on my 59MGA. Is there an actual measurement to use or just use your best judgement? I hate to drill two holes in the fender only to discover they are in the wrong place! HELP, if anyone has measurements please let me know.
MKB Michelle

Mine are located directly over the center of the wheel. When I purchased my car that is where they where and when I restored her I kept the holes. If I was to do it again I probably would have filled them and put mirrors on the windscreen (Bob West brackets).
If you went down a row of MGA's at a show you would see an assortment of placements.

Mark
M Gannon

When they were fitted as optional extras from new - it was the supplying dealer who fitted them - not the factory - so the position will vary considerably from car to car. The accepted position seems to be central with the front wheel centre but on mine (fitted when it bought the car) they are a little closer than that and are consequently a lot more usable. If I had the choice I think I would also leave them off and fit windscreen ones rather than attack the pristine wing with a drill!!- cheers Cam
Cam Cunningham

Inside the trunk looks best. If you must have a mirror use a bracket that mounts to the windshield post. Don't ruin the lines of your car with a worthless hard to adjust easy to bump ugly as sin fender mirror. My 58 has them and I hate it.
R J Brown

Let my add my voice to the chorus of people saying don't do it, mount them to the windscreen.
Jeff Schultz

I'll add my voice to the pro-mirror group, mounted over the wheel arch. If you get the slightly convex Lucas-style mirrors they greatly reduce your blind spot (which is why they're mounted so far forward in the first place, ease of adjusting be damned - it's about safety) and give you a great view. Once adjusted, they can be tightened down so it takes deliberate force to knock them out of adjustment. Original mirrors were *not* mounted to the windshield frame. Not only are they a safety factor, they impart what I find an attractive and sporty look not common in America (which is another reason I like them). You never saw mirrors like that on a Ford or Chevy. Here's mine:

David Breneman

I'm with David on this one. The convex mirrors are a MUST if they are mounted on the fender. They give a very good field of view. I've said it before, anybody who wants to sit and see are free to come to the Chicago west suburbs. See for yourself before deciding. Wait until spring as the car is in storage.

My car is attached (or rather a photo of it is). Although you can't see it very well, the mirrors are mounted slightly to the rear of center similar to the white car alongside.

Chuck

C Schaefer

I'm with David and Chuck. I drilled my nice wing and fitted a drivers side mirror, pretty much as on Barneys site. That was standard with the boot rack. Next time I will do the pair over the wheels as Chuck. I think they look period and good. Everyone to their own taste.

Neil
Neil McGurk

There's an alternative position often preferred by those with fender-mounted Talbot mirrors, and it can be seen on the red roadster right behind Dave Breneman's blue one in the picture he attaches above. I have my flat-lens Talbot mounted here, and prefer it to the forward-set Lucas mirrors in that the visual effects of vibration are greatly reduced, the desired field of vision is more easily obtained with slight head movements, and it's adjustable from the cockpit. But on purely aesthetic grounds I prefer to see no mirror--nor even a windscreen-- on an MGA.
Ken Korey

Ken, do you have a clear line of sight to the driver's side Talbot during rain? I don't think that my wipers would clear the windshield far enough left to see it through the wiped area. Maybe it is just my wiper adjustment. I have no vibration at all in my mirrors (except the dash mirror).

I have a cronic stiff neck and cannot turn more than a few degrees without having to turn my entire upper body. I use my mirrors a lot in lieu of turning to look over my shoulders. I am very comfortable in the safety they provide. I would not drive the car without them.

From an asthetics standpoint, I'd get rid of the front bumpers and rear bumper. Replace the front with a smooth valence and replace the rear with a pair of nerf-style bumpers, Cobra or TR-3 like. They look very nice on the MG.

If we all agreed on everything, there would not be a choice of 1500,1600,MKII, twin cam, deluxe, coupe or any buyer options. We would all be driving the same MGA and they would be the same color.

Chuck
C Schaefer

I tried playing around with the positioning of Talbot (bullet) mirrors. One place they don't work very well is on the windscreen/door. You can get away with it on the driver's side but not the passenger's side. I found it impossible to get enough angle on the passenger mirror when mounted so far back. I would imagine that the position Ken is referring to is as far back you can reasonably go for the passsenger side. My bullet mirrors are now mounted on my PC screen at work!

Steve
Steve Gyles

I don't have an especially good sightline to the mirror when it rains, Chuck--it can be quite watery. This is certainly a major liability of this positioning and Steve points to another, the limited use of a passenger-side mirror. My 1960 car had only a driver-side mirror, as was still customary in then for rear-mounted mirrors (the fore-mounted Lucas mirrors being the most notable exception). Actually, I don't recall seeing many paired Talbots on MGAs, a pattern popularized among American muscle cars in the late 1960s.

Ken
Ken Korey

RJ

If you want mirrors that stay where they are adjusted, or only take a couple of seconds to reset if they are knocked out of alignment chack out Tex mirrors with the Patented Springback® mechanism. You can find them at http://texautomotive.com/classic_mirror_stems.html. I have had a pair of fender mounted mirrors of this type with convex lenses on my 49 YT for over 40 years and love them.

FWIW

Larry
58A
49YT
Larry Hallanger

This thread was discussed between 25/01/2008 and 29/01/2008

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