[SCG] West coast style FC mirrors

Sun Sep 9 14:27:28 EDT 2007

Dave, 

Thanks! Great info! I checked my mirrors carefully and did a little paint
scraping. Sure enough, there is white paint underneath the brackets and the
heads. Mystery solved!

Tim, I will replace the photo on my web page of the '63-5 style mirrors with
the picture you sent me, since yours are painted the correct color.

If anyone has a  photos of the correct '61-2 mirrors in black, please send
and I will add to the page (with proper photo credit, of course!).

Thanks.

From: chevrobilia at juno.com [mailto:chevrobilia at juno.com] 
Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2007 9:29 PM
To: kentsu at corvairkid.com
Cc: scg-list at tiger.skiblack.com; N2VZD at aol.com
Subject: Re: [SCG] West coast style FC mirrors

Hi,

It took me a little while to reflect on the mirror question, mainly because
the various Chevy accessory literature is very conflicting on the correct
part numbers for FC mirrors in '62 and '63. But I've made changes to your
chart and believe they're correct.

The 61 985355 (black) and 62-63 985285 (white) mirrors are the same except
for the color. You can mix and match black & white pieces of each to your
hearts content. They were extremely sturdy mirrors but stuck out a mile
making them easy to hit. And when they got hit hard enough, the door was
then ruined or needed to be bumped out.

In 63, ordering D29 got you 985285, but you could get both 985285 and 985410
as dealer installed accessories. 985410 was like the 64-65 985771 and didn't
stick out as far from the side of the truck. Plus, they'd swing in if they
hit something, saving the sheet metal. All the 62-65 mirrors were supposed
to be white whether dealer or factory installed, with cad plated nuts. The
black pair you have (985410 & 985771 style) looks like it's been completely
painted black by a previous owner.

Your second picture is the 61-63 985355/985285 mirror but either stripped
and polished or in a stainless version not offered by Chevrolet. I've had
NOS FC mirrors and there's never been a maker's name that I could find.

Note that D29 could be ordered in two ways: you could either have just the
left mirror or both mirrors, depending on which box the dealer checked on
the order form.

Hope this helps,

Dave 

-- "Kent Sullivan" <kentsu at corvairkid.com> wrote:

Hi all. Hope everyone is having a good rest today.

Tim Colson and I have been emailing about West coast style FC mirrors.
Regarding stock West coast style mirrors, my only source of info is Larry's
article in the April, 1989 Communique. A summary of that is:

Year      

Dealer accessory #

Size

Color

Factory RPO #

Size

Color

1961

988355

7.5" x 10.5"

Black

N/A

N/A

N/A

1962

985285

7.5" x 10.5"

White

N/A

N/A

N/A

1963

985285

 & 985410 6x11" Dealer Installed, White

7.5" x 10.5"

White

D29

6" x 11"

White?

1964

985771               

6" x 11"

White

D29

6" x 11"

White?

1965

985771

6" x 11"

White

D29

6" x 11"

White?

You'll note that I am unsure, from Larry's article, what the accessory part
number is for 1963-5. Perhaps someone can confirm.

You'll note that Larry's article states that the color became white in 1962.
Tim has a set of the white 6" x 11" mirrors on his Corvan. See the first
attached photo of Tim's mirrors. However, I have a pair of original 6" x 11"
mirrors (with the correct Corvair mounts) that are black. See this link
<http://www.corvairkid.com/images/FC_WC_mirror_D29.jpg>  for my 6" x 11"
black mirrors. I am wondering if the factory mirrors were black and the
dealer accessory mirrors were white. Can anyone shed light on this?

Also note that the article also says that 1963 was a transition year-two
sizes available depending on dealer or factory purchase. And then one size
for the last two years.

Next question: Can anyone identify the manufacturer, and better yet, come up
with a sales brochure, for the mirrors in the second attached photo? Tim has
a set of these on his Rampside. They were obviously made for the Corvair due
to the nicely-fitting brackets. Note that Tim said "there should be another
piece going from the top of the mirror to the curve on the door." He removed
the brace to make sure if he bumped something with the mirror that they can
swing away. I know these mirrors are not the Coronado brand because those
look like this
<http://www.corvairkid.com/images/61_Coronado_FC_mirror_01.jpg> . Tim also
said that the mounts inside the door are like the factory mounts-triangular
shape with studs just long enough for acorn nuts on the outside.

Thanks,

--Kent

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.vv.corvair.org/pipermail/scg-list/attachments/20070909/9bbe05d3/attachment.htm