Messed Up Outside Mirrors on My 1950 Land Cruiser

[TWChamp]

Someone drilled 5 holes in the passenger door, and they still failed to provide a working mirror. The mirror was too low to view. I'll use a hammer and dolly to smooth the holes, then weld then shut by holding a block of copper on the inside of the door. Then I'll have to buy the correct mirrors from SI, which is AC-1853 on page 41 of the SI catalog. Did Studebaker have a specific dimension for the mirror location, and if so, does anyone know what it is?
Thanks, Tom

[52-fan]

I believe someone in the club keeps a collection of templates, but I don't know who it is. You could carefully examine pictures on-line or in issues of Turning Wheels and get a pretty good idea of the mirror location. If you are close no one will know and I suspect since most mirrors were dealer installed there was probably some variation. In any case , you want to place it so it is useful to how you sit in your car.

[creegster]

The templates are here

http://www.studebakerdriversclub.com/Studebakertemplates.asp

Find the one you need, send in your money, and all set.

[studegary]

I believe someone in the club keeps a collection of templates, but I don't know who it is. You could carefully examine pictures on-line or in issues of Turning Wheels and get a pretty good idea of the mirror location. If you are close no one will know and I suspect since most mirrors were dealer installed there was probably some variation. In any case , you want to place it so it is useful to how you sit in your car.

I believe that the SNM is now the keeper of the templates.

EDIT: I see that a ink was posted the same minute that I posted.

[48skyliner]

Had a similar experience with my 48 - the passenger side mirror was useless, found three sets of holes under the bondo, welded and filled over them all and the door looks perfect. At that point there was no way I would drill any holes in those doors. I am very pleased with the solution I used.



Edit: These "peep mirrors" were very common on hot rods and custom cars back in the day. Mine are adjusted so that they give a good view in both mirrors, and provide clearance for the vent window to open to 90 degrees. The only negative is they are so high up you cannot see the stripes on the pavement if you are backing into a parking spot.

[rockne10]

I don't believe the repro mirrors have the same pivot ability as the originals.
When I installed mine I had someone hold it on the door while I sat in the drivers seat and moved and adjusted it until I had the maximum view, and also not interfering with the wing vent operation; and that's where I drilled the holes. The right side mirror is useless in any position at all, so just match the dimensions you did for the left or delete it altogether.

[TWChamp]

I wish someone never installed any right mirror. The problem now is I'd like to fill the holes with weld, then touch up the paint, but want to keep all the original paint I can. A mirror would cover the touched up paint, but as you say, I've just found out a pair of aftermarket mirrors won't pivot enough on the right side. I might have to make an aluminum adaptor plate to raise the mirror up. I'll have to check out some mirrors on Studes in the junkyard to see if they pivot enough for the right side.

Has anyone ever blended black paint on a small oval spot like this, and had it look good without having to repaint the entire door?

[RadioRoy]

Has anyone ever blended black paint on a small oval spot like this, and had it look good without having to repaint the entire door?

Not that I have seen. Every paint blend that I have seen has a difference in sheen and is quite noticeable to my eye.

[TWChamp]

Not that I have seen. Every paint blend that I have seen has a difference in sheen and is quite noticeable to my eye.

In the late 70's I had a small rust spot on my white 62 Impala, and my brother repaired it and you couldn't find the blend line when he was done. Wish he still lived close by.

[RadioRoy]

My first experience with blends was on my white 62 Biscayne. Dad had the car nosed to fix the rock paint chips on the front of the hood. Being all the way across the hood, it looked like a terrible band of sand paper from the drivers seat. To smooth it out, I used polishing compound and that exposed a red line from the primer. It looked worse and it still had a difference in sheen.

Black should be a lot worse to blend than white.

[drrotor]

Blending is done all the time in insurance repair shops. Doing it properly almost requires the use of base/clear paint. A good painter will blend the color into the panel being painted, and, if the repair is close to a body line (say, door to fender) then the color is also blended into the adjacent panel. Then, both panels are clear-coated, wet sanded, and then polished to a level that matches the sheen on the rear of the car. The problem of older cars is that they often aren’t painted with base/clear... and it’s pretty hard to get modern paint to look like lacquer, for example.

[RadioRoy]

Sounds like blending is one operation that got a lot easier when clear coat appeared. My experiences are all back in the single stage days.