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Never done it but it's as easy as have someone hold the mirror to see where you want it, mark your 2 mount holes, drill holes in your door, insert well nuts, and put the mirror mounting plate, then the mirror itself on. It seems the consensus is since there is no metal backing plate you get a lot of vibration though.
When you buy the miror, i think it comes with a drilling pattern that you lay on the door and it shows you where to drill. I am about to do this my self. Good luck.
I keep going back and forth. Sometimes I want to add a passenger side mirror and sometimes I think it looks "off". One day, I'll think . . . "Hey, it will look more symmetrical with 2,." and other days I think . . "Nah that looks silly". I better decide before I get ready for paint. I've been looking at a few pics online. In the end, I guess you do what YOU think looks good. (I know that "non-owners" won't know the difference" . . . in fact, many will just tell you that your passenger mirror fell off if you only have one , I guess.....)... but still . . .
Last edited by 76C3forme; May 5, 2016 at 12:58 AM.
FWIW, a right side mirror, matching the left side was mentioned in the September 1972 Dealers Option List for the 73 model yr. But it was only available as a service part beginning in calendar yr. 74 and the then for the rest of the 74 model year. Therefore it was a dealer only installed item at the time. The right side mirrors were also date coded like the left.
Also, the left hand only chrome mirrors were standard thru most of 77. Option D35 became available in 77. With this option the owner got two sport mirrors that were painted the same color as the car.
If you want to have your car judged in the future you will get a slight fiberglass point deduction because of the holes drilled for the mirror mounting bracket.
My 73 came with a RS mirror already installed by a previous owner. If it were up to me I wouldn't have one only for originality reasons! If and when I decide to have my car repainted the RS mirror will be removed and the holes repaired.
Regards,
Jim
I just added a RH mirror on my 73 I bought in Dec, here's a pic of before % after. To me it balance's the look, but the most important to me is, I just fill lost without the RH mirror when driving.
I personally like only having the driver's side mirror, but there have been a couple times (e.g. leaving a parking spot) where the second mirror could have been helpful.
My 70 had a passenger side mirror on it when I bought it. Compared to todays RH mirrors, it is small and of little value to actually seeing anything with it.
Fortunately, I have the very rare "neck" option where I can just turn my head to the right and look out the window.
A small plate with tapped holes. You'll have to fish the plate through the door and screw in place. DUB helped me with mine.
I like this idea a lot. Probably won't do it until I'm getting ready to paint the car but I've never really liked the well nuts. Just seems flimsy to me.
Last edited by CA-Legal-Vette; May 5, 2016 at 02:19 PM.
I haven't got around to installing the mirror I got from Ecklers yet. It came with a stick-on template and well nuts. But I like the idea of the tapped back plate better and will do that instead of well nuts. But may forego those two back plate retention screws, which would necessitate removing the door panel to remove the mirror. Or can I use something like JB Weld Epoxy or silicone or double sided foam tape or ________ to hold the back plate in place? I don't anticipate that I would ever push down on the mounting screws to break the glued bond.
The right hand mirrors come with a pattern for installation and this installation is pretty darn easy. We put masking tape down on the paint before we drill the holes, this keeps the paint from chipping around the hole. Just follow the pattern, mark the holes and drill. It's that easy.
I added a passenger side mirror to my '74 in the Spring of 1978 using Well Nuts and have never had a problem with vibration. Personally, I would be lost without a passenger side mirror.
