fender mt mirror question

[1975yellowBSPZ]

I am looking at getting some fairlady style fender mirrors for my z, the units I'm looking at use studs and nuts from the bottom. Will I need to remove my entire fenders to mount them and if so how involved is this process?

BW

[HS30-H]

Hi BW,

If you are talking about the Japanese domestic market fender mirrors ( the genuine Nissan parts ) then you DON'T have to take off the fenders to mount them.

You should be able to get good access to the mounting area by jacking up your car and taking off the front wheels ( make sure you do this safely and don't leave the car on the jack while you are under it ). Unless you have the aftermarket plastic splash-protectors under your arches, then you should be able to get to where you need to be.

These mirrors mount on a sprung base ( it was sprung for pedestrian safety ) and the sprung base goes underneath the fender. There is a rod which passes from the mirror stem through the plastic mount base and into the sprung base. A simple nut secures the mirror stem to the sprung base.

The problem is that proper mounting of the plastic base requires you to drill one BIG hole and one small hole in your fender top sheetmetal. Some owners are reluctant to do this. The Japanese domestic fenders came with these holes pre-drilled from the Factory.

If you are talking about an aftermarket "bullet" style mirror, then you would simply have to drill the holes that mount the base through the sheetmetal. You could nut these up underneath the fenders in the same way. Without seeing them however, its difficult to comment.

Here's an "exploded" view of a Japanese domestic market fender mirror for your delectation:

Alan T.

[HS30-H]

........and here's a close-up of the sprung base and the black plastic stem mount.

You can see the size of the holes that you need to drill by looking at the shape of the black plastic stem mount. This goes on the outside of the fender, and the sprung base goes on the inside ( under the wheelarch ).

See the hole size?

Alan T.

[2ManyZs]

While we are on the subject Alan, is there a diagram or the measurements as to where the mounting holes should be for these?

I've got a set of the Nissan ones on the way, and I want to mount them in the proper position, and since I doubt they come with a paper template to mark the position of the holes, I was hoping you might know where one could find the measurements.

I hate to drill the holes but....

[HS30-H]

Good question.................

Since the Japanese domestic market mirrors are mounted in pre-drilled ( pressed ) holes in the fenders, this is probably not something that is usually a problem.

When I mounted the mirrors on my previous everyday driver ( the red UK market car ) I drilled the holes for them after measuring the positions from my ZG.

I certainly can't remember seeing anything official from Nissan that gives measurements for these positions. I'll have another look through my literature and see what I can find though.

What I CAN do is measure the positions from the ZG again. As far as I remember, they are asymmetric; that is, one side is in a different position to the other. I think its the driver's side that is CLOSER to the driver than the other - so you LHD guys might have to take that into account. I guess the measurements could be transposed to give an LHD set of measurements. This is not something that is immediately apparent, but its true - they really are asymmetrically mounted.

These mirrors magnify quite a bit, and you can have a REAL hard job getting the actual mirror part pointed where you want it. They are so far away from the driver that a very small move of the mirror angle makes a BIG difference in what you can see in it from the driver's seat. Once they are right, you screw them up tight and theoretically forget 'em. You can't see as much in them as a door-mirror, but you get used to it and learn to trust them. Its actually quite good that you don't have to move your head much to use them; just a flick of the eyes.

I'll go to the garage over the weekend and try to take accurate measurements for you from the ZG's mirror positions.

All the best,

Alan T.

[2ManyZs]

Thanks Alan, but there is no hurry as long as you can get the correct measurements that's all I'll need, looks like it will be next summer before the car ever gets back on the road anyways...:disappoin

Unless you want to post the measurements for others that is...

In all the pics I've seen of them I never noticed that they were mounted differently side to side...

[Alfadog]

On my Zed there seemed to be a spot under the fender marked already for the mirrors... or maybe my car did have mirrors but they were covered up at some stage??? DAMN I would have loved those mirrors !!

[HS30-H]

Right - I've been in the garages all day today. I finally had a chance to measure up the Fender Mirror positions from my ZG, and this is what I measured.

Bear in mind that I measured to the EDGES of the base ( the plastic gasket that goes between the paint side of the body and the "stem" of the mirror ). I measured to the FRONT of the base for the front-to-rear dimension and to the widest part of the base for the side-to-side dimension. This will not give you the centres for the holes ( I wasn't going to take my mirrors off to measure the hole positions ) but it would allow anyone fitting a set to get the Factory positions by using the gaskets as templates.

I think the main point is that they ARE indeed NOT mounted in the same measured position on each side. I can see that this is because they work better that way. The mirror on the passenger side ( in an RHD car ) is further toward the rear of the car and further away from the edge of the Wing / Fender to Bonnet / Hood joint. With the limited adjustability of the mirror faces, this positioning must allow for a better angle of vision I suppose.

I would recommend that anyone fitting them to an LHD car either transposes these dimensions from the RHD configuration, or thinks long and hard about where they are going to drill their holes.

Apologies for the crap 'etch-a-sketch' style line art...........

Alan T.

[240Zdragon72]

I may have missed it, but did you menchon where to buy the JDM mirrors at? They might be on MSA, but thought I'd ask before I went hunting.

Thanks

Brian:alien:

[2ManyZs]

Well.... we didn't say... cuz we're trying to keep it a secret...

I just got a set from MidwestZ, and last spring Charlie at ZeddFindings said he could get a few sets...

They aren't cheap though..:cross-eye

[240Zdragon72]

Thanks for the info. A hunting I will go..... :tapemouth

BrianLOL

[1975yellowBSPZ]

as for the mirrors...I got some cheap black talbot knockoffs for $50 on ebay, the pictures are in my gallery.

BW

[HS30-H]

Oh well - maybe the information will be of use to somebody else who will appreciate it..................................

Alan T.

[Z Kid]

Alan,

I probably should have spoken up earlier, but I dowloaded that picture and saved it for future reference when I get a set of mirrors. Your efforts were much appreciated. My pathetic collection of Z car pictures and information mostly comes from your posts, and they are always looked forward to at the end of a boring day at uni.

Many Thanks Chris

[HS30-H]

Thanks Chris,

It makes it a pleasure if people like yourself appreciate the effort and can use the data / information to good effect.

I only wish that the people who ask the original questions might sometimes be bothered to acknowledge that somebody attempted to give answering them a full and proper shot.

Declining social skills, maybe?

It would be a real shame if this site ended up like a lot of the car-related sites on the web. Sometimes I read them and start to think that people don't even notice when they have their cake and are eating it.

What say you, 1975yellowBSPZ?

Alan T.

[1975yellowBSPZ]

my aplogies! I did use your measurements and it was perfect! I'm sorry I came off as indifferent, the information and the image was right on target! sorry I didn't properly thank you, I guess I forgot (toomanymessageboardpostitis) if you were in Texas I'd buy you a cold one for sure!!!!

BW

[HS30-H]

I'll down it in one!

The next one's on me.

:classic:

Alan T.

[1975yellowBSPZ]

In referece to my original question, on my 75- using HS30-H's measurement, just like he said I did not have to

remove my fenders, I loosened the front half of the fender liner and slid my hand up and around to get to the nuts on the back. The process took all of 20 minutes. The mirrors I got, much like the ones in msa's catalog, have short bases, so you have to move them outboard on the fenders, I moved them 1 3/4 inches outboard, that way I could kind of split the difference and cover the holes with the outward edge of the bases if I got the factory units at some point. I have pictures in my gallery of my setup and can take more if anyone has any questions.

BW

[59ghia]

Just a quick note of thanks to Alan for the measurements, I too stashed them away for later reference. '75 yellow, how is the visibility? I like the idea of not having to turn my head to see the door mounted mirror.

Thanks again!

Dave

[1975yellowBSPZ]

haven't had a chance to drive it yet, It looks like it will be fine. I'll keep you posted.

BW

[2ManyZs]

Thanks for the measurements Alan, I printed them out, and across the bottom in big bold letters put, "Remember stupid, this is for a RHD!" just so I don't drill the holes in the wrong places.....It's gonna be a while before I install mine and don't want to forget...:tapemouth

[mrcheeze36]

Hi. I just wanted to say thank you Alan for the information on the fender mirror position. I too will be installing these mirrors onto my z.

I actually took your picture, and I repositioned the numbers so that it will be easier for us LHD guys to look at, and it lessens the chance of us forgetting that its RHD measurements.

I have attached it below.

Thanks again for all the great info, and I look forward to looking at more of your informative posts.

-Eric

[Mike]

On 9/9/2003 at 2:23 AM, HS30-H said:

Oh well - maybe the information will be of use to somebody else who will appreciate it..................................

Alan T.

Alan, reviving an old thread but it looks like someone did find this information useful.  Someone posted it to Facebook, which didn't exist back in 2003.