[Healeys] Wing Mirror Placement

[Earl Kagna]

Jack:

One possible explanation:

A wise old Healey guru - can't remember who or even when - once told me that 
the reason for the wing mirror mount location on the big Healeys was because 
of the post-with-nut-from-underneath design of the Lucas 'Wing' mirror.  The 
mirror had to go where the dealership techs could install the mirror without 
having to pry, remove, and generally mess up the wings.  So the mirror went 
forward to the point on the wing where the nut could be accessed through the 
wheel well - just barely in front of the inner wheel arch.  Stick your head 
under there on a car with original mirror locations and you'll immediately 
understand.

Personally, I don't care for that mirror location - the older I get, the 
farther away the damn things are - simply too far forward for me.  Not to 
mention that fact that they are always in your belly button when working on 
the engine (the exact location of the belly button gets farther away too, 
complicating things even more).

As an interesting aside, some of us here have mounted original style Lucas 
wing mirrors on the doors on convertibles.  The mirrors' design allows the 
vent window to be used unimpeded, and the passenger side mirror to swivel 
enough that it can actually be used to see to the rear.  Bit of a pain to 
mount - door panels off, and the ideal location on the door makes the nut 
quite a reach behind the vent window upright, but worth it when it's done 
IMHO.

Earl Kagna
Victoria, B.C.
BT7 tri-carb
BJ8

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jack Feldman" <qualitas.jack at gmail.com>
To: <healeys at autox.team.net>
Sent: Saturday, February 09, 2008 3:46 AM
Subject: [Healeys] Wing Mirror Placement


I wonder if someone could verity this for me. My first AH was a sprite and
the mirrors were extra. When they were installed they were on the wings over
the front axle. I found that I could get a great view of the road without
turning my head and have installed mirrors in that spot from then on, even
moving the mirrors on my B from the door to the wings.

I had heard that British law mandated the mirrors be put on the wings. I am
watching an old 60's series called Danger Man in England, and Secret Agent
in the US (two Healey sightings so far), and even the cars that were
supposed to be in a foreign country had wing mounted mirrors. One car, which
looks like a DeSoto (and I am dating my self by recognizing it), even had
wing mirrors. Interestingly enough, the same car appears in a number of
episodes with different owners. I guess they were far ahead of Tim Allen in
getting paid for using a car from their personal collection.

Did British law mandate wing mirrors at one time? I have some English MGB
catalogs  which have have the mirrors on the doors. Some are shown with no
mirrors.

Jack