<a href="http://s125.photobucket.com/albums/p74/calorchard/f100/?action=view&current=5a474ed1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p74/calorchard/f100/5a474ed1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos" /></a>

I want them for my poor eyes. I have the small ones but do not like them, i dont like the "west coast" mirrors ( too big) Yes I have been checking eBay.

 

Obsolete. AFAIK no one reproduces them, but some can still be found NOS at Ford Dealers/obsolete parts vendors.

Mirrors that fit into the door slots are basically the same thru 1966. 1957/66: Two types were available...telescoping and non telescoping.

Telescoping mirrors have a 3rd "steady rest" arm.

 

If you do not mind having something a little different from stock, you can do something like I did for one of my 60's. I already had the clamps that bolted through the mirror arms to the door bracket, so all I did was get some telescoping arms from a west coast mirror and some new mirror heads that I liked from a parts store. I drilled the arms to fit the clamp bolt and that was it.


The old rusted out mirror and arm are on top, with the new arms ans a mirror head below.

 

the mirrors on the truck in the picture are not the original mirror heads. The original mirror head measured roughly 6"x6" with FoMoCo on the back. The ones in the picture look like after market or replacements that were bought at an auto-parts store. The arms look original though.

There was a thread on here recently about the original mirrors. There is a pic in my gallery that shows an NOS mirror for 53-56 trucks. I have a pair on my truck with pics in my gallery also. Before I found the original mirrors I had mirrors I had bought at K-mart or an auto parts store and painted the backs to match my grille. So you can find something that is bigger than the little round chrome ones and smaller than West Coast Jrs.

Good luck!
Abe

 

Also, note that the hubcaps are the correct. They are argent painted caps with FORD painted red... No chrome was used for hubcaps in 53-54 because of the Korean War effort and I guess they continued that into 55 and 56.

 

Just measured my mirrors. They are 5 3/4" x 5 3/4"

 

Hey Abe,

I use a combination of Barjan extendable mirror arms and 5" round mirrors on my trucks. Couldn't find anything in the retangular shape that I liked and I had to have larger mirrors (bigger than 3"). Check out Trucking accessories for semis including chrome, lights, exhaust, bumpers, GPS units, horns and much more at Iowa80.com They are a semi-truck supplier. They have some neat stuff that works with our trucks. Lots of chrome too.

 

Abe, the hubcaps were not chrome.

Hubcaps were either painted base metal or were stainless steel. I've never seen a chrome hubcap (or wheel cover) for any FoMoCo Passenger Car or truck from this era. AFAIK, there were none in the 1960/70's, either.

The only "chrome" hubcaps I'm aware of in the 1980's and later were chromed plastic, used on styled steel and aluminum wheels.

Korean War "Chrome" ... because of the shortage of copper and chrome, automakers plated nickel onto bare steel, then sprayed clear lacquer on...to protect it.

The lacquer turned brown, began to flake off...pitting began.

Unknowning peeps used chrome polish on what they thought was chrome, stripped the lacquer off, pitting began.

Bumpers were, AFAIK, the only parts that were chrome plated during the Korean War. Everything else that appeared to be chrome was either nickel plated or stainless steel.

6A-1130-A = Stainless Steel Hubcap = 1948/52 F1 & late 1947 & 1948 Ford Passenger Cars / B3C-1130-A = Stainless Steel Hubcap = 1953/56 F100.

FoMoCo later replaced B3C-1130-A with 6A-1130-A. AFAIK, the only difference is the color of the FORD block letters. 6A's are blue, B3C's are red.
While this is true, it doesn't mean that these mirror heads aren't genuine Ford. In fact the entire mirror could be genuine Ford.

1957: FoMoCo updated the 1953/56 6" x 6" mirror head part number from BAAA-17723-B to B7C-17723-B. The same year, FoMoCo introduced several other types of these mirrors.

B7CZ-17723-B .. 5" x 5" Mirror Head-Use with B7TZ-17696-B [C Series only] or C1TZ-17696-G (replaced B7C-18402-A [except C Series]) non telescoping mirror.

Applications: 1957/66 F100/1100 / 1957/69 C Series Tilt Cab / 1963/69 N/NT/T500/1000 / 1967/69 F800/1000 / All have slots in the door.

So, the entire mirror or just the mirror head on this 1954 could be from a 1957 and later.

All outside mirrors were an extra cost option back then. Some peeps opted for them, some did not. Some peeps added them later.

 

I received my extendable mirrors last week. Nicer than expected. Well worth it for my 56 F250 resto.

 

I also used some aftermarket extendable rods and some cheap Ebay mirrors...I still need to paint the arms...yes, they are a little bigger than I'd like for perfect aesthetics, but with a Panel, I need as much mirror as practical....will try to send you some pics. Do I have to be a full member to post pics on here in the threads?

Update; I just posted pics of them in my album if interested.

 

Lets see some pics of them on Earl!

 

Bill, After I wrote that I thought, Uh-oh, I meant stainless not chrome hubcaps. And I thought someone would jump on that mistake. Sorry!!! But the point remains: 1953-1956 Ford F-100's did not have "Bright metal" (as they say in the dealer brochures) hubcaps. They were painted argent. The 48-52 were stainless or bright metal. And I believe it was because of the Korean War effort. The war ended in 1954 but Ford carried on the argent painted hub caps.

About the mirror heads I said this: "The mirrors on the truck in the picture are not original mirror heads. The original mirror head measured approx 6" x 6." Look like autoparts store aftermarkets or replacements."

I never said they aren't genuine Ford. I said they are not original to that truck (1954). I said they "look" like after market.

Here are 2 pics of mirrors I had on my truck. Are they Ford or aftermarket? Hmm, one pair is bright metal, one pair is painted? Do they use the Ford expanding arms or something else? Hard to tell isn't it?




Bill, I appreciate your vast amount of knowledge on all things Ford. Your work experience is second to none! But I don't think anything I said is wrong other than calling stainless, chrome...

 

You said the mirror heads were not original to the truck and I agreed with that assessment.

I then added that while not original to a 1954, they could be from a 1957 and later truck and could be gen-u-ine Ford.