The Great Debate...

[Alphamacaroon]

Now that I'm looking at finally attaching my side mirrors, I have to ask the question the question that I KNOW is on everyone's mind. The debate that makes enemies of brothers. The decision that makes or breaks the life of a car. Because we don't really have enough to discuss politically these days...

Mount them to the door? Or mount them just in front of the door to the cowl panel/fender?

All kidding aside— I never even considered mounting them to anything but the door, but now that I've really started looking in detail, it seems like a fair share (including some of the road legal originals) actually mount them to the cowl panel.

I'm going with Raydot style mirrors (I realize they are mostly useless to begin with) but I'm just curious what people like/dislike about where they mounted theirs, and anything else I should consider. I gotta be honest, I was a dyed-in-the-wool door mounter for most of my life, but I'm starting to like what I see in the cowl panel mounting ticket. Can you change my mind?

[P100DHG]

136729
This is how I am building my coupe. You’re right that the details matter. If you’re doing scoops like I am the cowl might look cluttered

[edwardb]

I didn't realize this was such a momentous decision. ;) But put me in the door mounter camp. When I was building mine, the universal feedback I received from other Coupe owners was that rear visibility is very marginal. So having mirrors on both sides that actually give a decent view is critical. I chose to go with the Peter Brock mirrors, which he shows mounting on the doors so followed his recommendation. After driving the car for much of this season (1,846 miles after a nice cruise yesterday) I can confirm (1) rear visibility is in fact challenging, (2) side mirrors plus a center mirror with good visibility are critically important. Even then you have to be really careful as the blind spot on the RH side especially is large. My point is whatever you do, make sure it maximizes what you can see. Don't compromise vision for aesthetics.

[David Williamson]

I have similar side mirrors on the doors and a wide angle mirror from FFR mounted to the front roll cage above the windshield. I also added a back-up camera, the visibility out back is fine driving but not for parking.
David W

[John Dol]

Big yes to the back up camera, love mine!!
Oh and door mount for sure.
If you take your time with the ray dots they work OK. It's not a RAM mirror but I can see what I need to. Blind spots are the challenge when shifting lanes.

John

[dsjrocha]

What are the specs on that monster muffler?

[edwardb]

What are the specs on that monster muffler?

Assume you're asking about post #2? (1) That's not his car. Appears was posted only to illustrate his point. (2) Not even a Factory Five from what I can see.

[dsjrocha]

Assume you're asking about post #2? (1) That's not his car. Appears was posted only to illustrate his point. (2) Not even a Factory Five from what I can see.

Ed, correct and thanks for the reply. Just figured since he wanted to model his after the pic he included he might know details. It's an interesting set up.

[KDubU]

I thought the great debate was SBF vs SBC??? ;) A shoutout to Mr Steve, who I hope is finding a place that is high and dry.

[Alphamacaroon]

Thanks folks! Definitely agree with the rear-view camera requirement— I have one installed which is always on, has a very wide angle, and displays in the rear-view mirror. As for the side-mirrors, I have a set of regular and a set of convex Ray Dots, so I'm going to try them out and see what I like. I'm hoping the convex ones help a bit with blind spot management.

I guess the main thing I'm hearing is, don't just pick a place that looks cool, make sure it actually works! Which seems like a no-brainer, but I just assumed that period style mirrors were kind of useless to begin with since they don't stick out far enough from the body to see much over the rear hump. I guess I'll just have to play around with it. Thanks much!