Maybe its just me, but I have the original rearview mirror on the passenger door. For the life of me, I can't adjust it to where it works and I can see the cars next me? I can stretch over and see it, but not from the drivers seat. Is this a common thing with this mirror? How did you resolve this?

 

Hi Ed,
Not being familiar with the '56 style mirrors (I checked them out in your gallery), this may be a dumb question......

Did you try rotating the round part of the mirror? I'm remembering my mom's 64 galaxi had mirrors that the movement was more restricted one way than the other.

I'm sure you probably already checked this.
Beautiful truck by the way.

 

Kenny, thanks for the suggestion and the kind words about my truck, but I have tried that. I've rotated it just about every which way. I've been just driving with it like that. It's not functional at all. I was messing with it this morning and figured I'd post this problem on FTE to see if anyone else has this problem. The mirror won't turn far enough toward the inside to see any cars next to you. If you raise the mirror, then the windwing won't open. I know it's the right mirror for that side, so I figure if mine works like that, maybe everyone elses does too. I have a 66 Mustang also, and it has the same type of mirror as your moms 64, you can rotate the mirror around same as the truck mirror. Doesn't make a difference on the truck. Thanks anyways. I'm thinking about removing the mirror completely, but then I have the square hole in the door to worry about. Might as well remove it, can't use it anyways. LOL... Ed.

 

Yep...had the same problem with the passenger side. The drivers side was worse. The spare tire blocked it.

I fixed it the BobJ way.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...ml#post6392442

 

All 1953/66 Ford truck doors have that mirror slot there. When no mirrors were installed, a rubber plug was used to fill the hole.

352488S .. Plug / Dennis Carpenter makes them (page 69 in DC's catalog). Mid Fifty has them (their #1153-page 29 in their catalog).

In 1961, Ford changed the mirror heads. The repro mirrors sold today are actually the 1961/66 mirrors, not the original '53/60 style.

The original '53/60 mirror head was conical shaped, making it longer by a coupla inches. The design and shape of the early mirror head allowed for more adjustment.

 

Thanks for the info. I believe the previous owner purchased new mirrors because they are in too nice of shape for original mirrors. I'm going to look into the plug as an option. I'm glad someone else was having this problem and it wasn't just me.

 

imlowr2-

It is not just you. On my previous 56 I found the passenger side mirror to be worthless also. On the present 56 I plan to relocate the mirrors and use a different style so i can see something with them.

 

is the mirror useless cause of the vent window frame, or jus the size/position?

Sam

 

Mid-Fifty sells a 1" extended arm. Don't know if it makes for a better view but you might give them a call and ask. I can't see out of mine ether so Sharon sets it so she can see out of it. At least one of us can see whats going on over on that side of the truck.
brian...

 

The one inch extension dosen't help at all. I have it on mine and to me it's worthless in fact the mirrors are not good at all.

Chuck

 

It (sometimes) pays to be old...

Here's the deal...when Ford changed the mirror head in 1961, those mirrors work OK on '61/66's because the door contour is different.

The original 1953/60 mirror head was cone shaped, longer, and the adjustment was located on the head itself, so swiveling the mirror head around allowed for greater vision.

Some repro sellers use the original 1953 Ford part number of BAAA-17696-A (or -S / There's no such thing as an S in the parts catalog).

But...I can guar-an-tee you that because of the newer style mirror head...those mirrors are really for 1961/66's: C1TZ-17696-G.

 

You would think after this many years of not having that mirror effective, someone would come up with a better way of making the mirror or adapter to make it work. I guess the mirrors are there for looks only????

 

I avoided the problem by using the '53-'60 OEM truck mirrors, after the Neighborhood Vandals tore off the '57-'60 OEM Towing mirrors that originally came on the "Wee Beastie" out of the factory. Those are the ones w/ the 3 support bars & the Large Rectangular mirrors.
I then found the Non-Telescoping single bar towing mirrors w/ the Medium sized rectangular mirrors, on e-Bay & they've worked out just fine, that is till I find a set of the originals the same as the ones that were destroyed.

 

I have what I believe are original mirrors on my '53. The right-hand (passenger side) mirror is completely worthless, too. Doesn't matter how you adjust it.

Looks good, though. Form over function?

 

Those small chrome round mirrors you are all complaining about are not stock for '53-'56. The repro parts stores sell them to us to make money not make our trucks stock. They fit on the stock mirror arms but did not come with the '53-'56 trucks.

I will go Number Dummy one further. I do not believe any chrome mirrors, conical or round were stock or options or accessories on 1953-56 trucks. In all the vintage catalogs, dealer brochures, truck fact sheets, ads, vintage factory pictures, list of accessories, Ford Clues magazines, etc. I have never seen those cute little chrome mirrors.

The original stock mirrors for '53-'56 were black 6" square mirrors with rounded corners with a small FORD script on the back. These went on black arms with stainless extensions. There was a big stainless bolt that held the arm onto the door mirror bracket.

Look in my gallery for some pictures of this type of mirror. This is what I have on my truck. On page 2 of the link that Brian B. gave he has a picture of a NOS mirror. I believe the chrome ones came out in 1957. Because they used the same door mirror bracket customizers put them on the '53-'56 trucks.... But don't trust the repro dealers, they are out to make a buck.