JDM mirrors sourced at last!

[Ped]

I have been trying to tack down some JDM wing or 'fender' mirrors for my 280zx for ages now - I just like the look.

I kept looking on ebay in the States, got nowhere with Japanese sites and nothing else was coming up until I finally found some via the zclub.nz (thanks to jp280 - aka Jeremy!)

Should have realised early on that North America had door mounted mirrors, so it was going to be a long shot anyway. New Zealand and Australia (as far as I know) got shipped JDM spec cars straight from Japan, so there was going to be the best bet.

They arrived airmail in just over a week.

OK, so they are aren't perfect, but they are pretty damn 'rare', and I use the word sparingly. I have only seen one other pair for sale on ebay in the States and they were already sold.

Here is a pic of what they will look like on the car.

Will be painting them satin black and will keep the door mirror until I get used to them.

And then there is the wiring to get sorted and the control switches to source... it may be some time yet!

 

[SeanDezart]

Nice.

Not your blue or grey ?

 

[Huw]

Nice one Peter.

I may have some mirror control switches that you can have, not sure of their condition. I'll look them out for you, they were in a box of bits I bought years ago.

Huw

 

[Ped]

Nice.

Not your blue or grey ?

I think the black will suit best, it'll match the bumpers and door trim. I have seen them in silver on a car of the same 2 tone as mine, but I think it looks a bit 'cheap' somehow.

I am basing the black choice on little more than the image below... and yes it is a model.

 

[Ped]

Nice one Peter.

I may have some mirror control switches that you can have, not sure of their condition. I'll look them out for you, they were in a box of bits I bought years ago.

Huw

Cheers Huw, that would be a help - pm me with a cost when you find them.

 

[candy red]

Nice find they will certainly look good with the colour of your car

Derrick

 

[Huw]

Cheers Huw, that would be a help - pm me with a cost when you find them.

PM sent. No cost mate.

 

[Ped]

Started to strip down the mirrors for a closer look...

The mounting plates are a bit rusty...

The right hand one is pretty bad...

This is them after a bit of a clean up...

The left one is fine, will just give it some rust treatment and zinc primer. The right one is a bit ropey.

It would be nice to imagine I could source a new one, but I think that's a tall order... but if anyone knows of one do let me know.

 

[Ped]

Picked up the switches from Huw at Simply Japanese and tested the mirrors last night. Couldn't be bothered taking the battery out the motor to test them, so found a 9v - wasn't sure it would work, but works a treat.

 

[Ped]

Here is one of the mounting plates painted with rust converter and ready for some zinc primer.

Am going to have a go at making the top half of the rusted through plate from scratch. Haven't done and metal work since being a school, so its a bit of an experiment. Will retain the pressed underside which is only spot welded on. There is enough left of it to reattach to the new top plate - once its been derusted in vinegar.

 

[Ped]

Got a bit of mild steel from ebay delivered the other day, so decided to have a go at making up the mounting plate.

I drew up a template of the left hand plate on the Mac, flipped it over and printed it off on paper. Then stuck it onto the 1.2mm mild steel sheet as a cutter guide.

Here it is cutout and made up, it is actually spot on shape wise (although the photos don't look quite right).

I drilled out the spot welds on the base plate of the rotten one.

The base part in now de-rusting in vinegar...

Here it is next to the good one. Will then get bottom part plug welded back on, hoping to blag a shot of my mates Mig welder to do this.

Quite pleased with my effort considering its a first attempt at metal work in 30 years and its usable!

 

[jonbills]

Nice work. I'd be pleased with that.

 

[Ped]

Here is the bottom bit cleaned up...

Dummied up... should have waited to drill the last two holes, one does not line up.

 

[datsun dave]

Good work.

 

[Ped]

Picked up some weld through primer from Halfords the other day so I can plug weld the two bit together. Looks so much better painted.

As a side note the items which make up the mirror assembly are stamped or marked '163L' or '163R' (Left and Right). Quite helpful as it would be easy to mix up some of the items if you weren't careful.

 

[Ped]

In the highly unlikely event that someone else is looking to do the same repair in the future, here is a PDF to print (remember - at 'Actual Size') off the cutter guide I drew up.

280zx-mirror-base-guide.pdf

Here is whats on the PDF...

 

[Ped]

Having looked online on various sites I couldn't fine a proper answer to the question of positioning the mirrors on the wings, until I found this pic in a JDM "Nissan S130 'Service Shuho' booklet" I picked up on ebay. Note the rubber bonnet rests line up perfectly with the front of the mirror mounts...

Here is a pic found online (sorry cant remember where) of the hole shape I need to cut in the wings. Its the same shape as the black plastic molding on the underside of the mirror trim, so I better cut the hole at the right angle or the mirrors could be out by quite a bit! I will make up a template in cardboard and flip it over so at least they will both be the same angle.

Edit: Actually looking at it again the shape of the hole in the wing looks to be the wrong way round, so may have either been a mistake or different fender mirrors?

 

[Ped]

Finally got got round to stripping and priming the mirrors. There were loads of minor stone chips, but luckily these were in the top layer of old paint, so managed to wet & dry them out. They have been repainted in the past, but no cracks!

Am painting the inside edges too...

I picked up some Matt Black enamel paint, should be a bit more hard wearing than acrillic. If it looks too 'flat' I will clear coat it in satin lacquer. We'll see...

 

[JEZ 280ZX]

Having looked online on various sites I couldn't fine a proper answer to the question of positioning the mirrors on the wings, until I found this pic in a JDM "Nissan S130 'Service Shuho' booklet" I picked up on ebay. Note the rubber bonnet rests line up perfectly with the front of the mirror mounts...

Hi,

I always thought that the position of the wing mirrors was staggered and not in line?...

 

[Ped]

Hi,

I always thought that the position of the wing mirrors was staggered and not in line?...

I have read elsewhere that they are staggered by 30mm, but looking at the photo that does not seem right, they look to be in-line... Now that the seeds of doubt have been sewn, I think I need to get someone to measure them off a JDM car.

Found this other pic when looking into it which seems to back up my initial photo, but need a shot of the other side.