Lotus Europa Community
Lotus Europa Forums => Garage => Topic started by: Triton on Saturday,September 23, 2023, 12:54:40 PM
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I have a pair of Vitaloni California style door mirrors on my Special but i find the passenger side one useless . I was thinking of trying Vitaloni Sebring style ones. Has anybody fit them and are they ok or is there another style which is better. Thanks Stuart....
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File the plastic cup holding the spring and mirror to get the correct angle, about 45'.
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TCs, and maybe S2s were originally fitted with Sebring mirrors. The one on the passenger side was useless. At the Lotus distributor in New Orleans told me the passenger side mirror was for aesthetics. Unless you have a mount that holds the mirror off the door, the passenger side mirror will remain useless.
I suspect that the California mirror mounted on passenger side is not located in the proper place and that properly mounted, it would be useful.
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Any mirror with flat glass on the passenger side is IMO useless. Look for convex glass. Some Sebring mirrors have it.
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Sure flat mirror on pax side could better, but certainly are better than nothing.
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I've got California copies on my car and so far they've been the best I've found. I've had Sebring style, mounted almost directly on the door and the driver's side was ok, the passenger side, as BDA says, just there as an ornament. I've also tried the stainless "bullet" style on a pedestal which does allow a lot of movement with the mirror, especially if you modify the internals. They were ok in terms of view angle but they are small mirrors compared to the California ones.
Basically you need a mirror on a pedestal to get the angle of view across the cabin and the longer the pedestal the better angle you get. The downside is vibration and movement, I've locked mine in place to stop them drooping on our lousy, bumpy roads. To get the angle I spent a bit of time with duck tape holding them in various places, markers behind the car and just trying it. Although they look approximately the same there's a difference in the mounting plate and pedestal angles on either side.
A convex mirror is better but due to the viewing angle from inside the near side is never going to be as good as a modern car and it's (generally) larger mirrors.
I think some of the modern motorcycle or racing car mirrors would work but I'm not so keen on the looks on an old car. Quite honestly I only ever use the nearside when I'm reversing in or out of the garage, I never bother trying to use it when driving on roads.
Brian
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I have “flag” style mirrors that are bigger than the California style (exactly like these though I assure you I didn’t pay nearly what the seller is changing https://www.ebay.com/itm/225492221562). They are mounted in a good position and the passenger side mirror is useful but I’ve gotten used to relying on my inside mirror now that I’ve gotten a convex tinted clip on like this one (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/393705796313).
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My mirrors are similar to Brian’s, only more rectangular. The driver’s side is useful, when it is properly aligned… and with a 1.5” diameter wide angle mirror at the corner. The stalks eventually vibrate it out of alignment but it’s easy to reach. The passenger side is useless and only there for looks, and why I’ve added a wide angle camera under it. 😁
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I have filed the plastic cup in the mirrors to give me more angle on the glass as 4129R suggested. This has worked and i now have a better view. I am going to get a concave mirror for the passenger side as members suggest. Once i am satisfied with the view i will conjure up a way to make them a firm fit. Thanks for all the help and suggestions.. Stuart..
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I have done 7 passenger door mirrors now, and they are as good as you can get from a mirror that size.
Alex in Norfolk
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I have found a way to stop the Vitaloni door mirrors falling down.
If you put a very small C spring washer between the small metal plate and the door mirror when putting the long screw in, it grips the mirror to the door mounting plate and stops the mirror falling down.
The gap is very small but it can be done. The hard part is finding the spring washers small enough. They are the size of those which are on the clamps holding the gauges to the back of the dashboard.
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I used a serated washer on mine to lock them in place. As you say it is a very tight fit and I can't remember if I modified the mirrors to fit them, but they do stop "the droop". The donwside is that if you haven't got the angle right, you've got to loosen everything off to move them, not a bad thing though if it stops them moving on their own.
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When I bought my 1973 TCS it came with two bullet style mirrors. They sat out a little farther on short pedestals. I think the brand name was Sebring but it’s been nearly 45 years so I may be misremembering. The point is similar mirrors are available today from various vintage and sports car websites. I had no problem seeing images in either driver’s or passenger’s side mirrors plus, they did not vibrate. As always, YMMV.
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Having filed the plastic cup on my passenger door Vitaloni mirrors, and having fitted spring washers to both side mirror supports, rear vision from both mirrors is better than the screen mounted central mirror which shakes badly.
I have zero complaints about them, and they don't rust.
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Re the Vitaloni mirrors, do they have an "Infinate" adjustability? I ask because I was just about to ask how the door cards come off as my driver side mirror (RHS) is fine but the left one only adjusts in steps, clonk, clonk, clonk, instead of a " ball in a hole" type feel. I only noticed that the mirrors are different to one another and not sure which one might be the correct one, and looked to be changing both to the Banks type, i.e Vitaloni Sebring Mach 1 type.
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To get the mirror to work on the passenger door at about a 45' angle, you have to file the O in the plastic cup to a U.
You just need to undo the spring mounted screw, file the hole with a round file for less than a minute, and you can then get the correct angle.
To stop the mirror housing from drooping, insert a C washer between the D shaped metal plate and the mirror body. You need a very small C spring washer, about the size of those on the back of the clamp holding the Smiths instruments' clamps.
Once fitted correctly with these modifications, they work very well.
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The mirrors are not what I would call infinitely adjustable and they should move rather smoothly. The Sebring Mach 1 mirrors are the original style (originally, the cover was made of chrome plated pot metal but they are NLA so plastic is the best you can do). You should know that your passenger side mirror will probably not be useable. There MAY be a position where it will work but I haven't seen it.
The door cards are held in by clips around the edge of the card and the plastic trim pieces around the inside door handle. Some people have a screw in the upper rear corner but that is not standard. After taking the upper and lower plastic trim pieces out from under the inside door handle, you should be able to pull the card free of the clips around the front, bottom, and rear edges.