Passenger Mirror Question

[72vert]

I have tried to figure this out for a while with no luck. My passenger mirror sits at a different angle than the driver’s side. The driver’s side sits mostly flat while the passenger’s is angled up. When I bought the car it had a C9 part number passenger mirror, so I found one with a D1, but it didn’t seem to change anything. I’m wondering if it’s possibly the base? Or something with the door? At car shows I have seen a couple other 71-73s with angled mirrors, but most seem to be flat. Any ideas or part numbers would be helpful. (The pictures with the black mirrors are mine. The sprint mirror seems to be flat.)

 

[MikeGriese]

Sport mirrors were used on a lot of different Ford cars. They had different door sill contours, so I would think that the base on your passenger mirror was from one of those other cars.

 

[Hemikiller]

If you remove the mirror, there will be a casting number inside the base. A 71-73 Mustang base would be a D1ZB casting. A mirror from another year or car line will have a different casting number.

 

[72vert]

I checked the number on the base and it is the correct D1ZB. I seem to have been mistaken on the mirror number though. The only number that I can see on it looks like 60842 40. So maybe it’s still the wrong mirror?

 

[Hemikiller]

Compare the distance from the upper body line to the screw centerline against the driver's side. It looks to me like the mirror is mounted too low, which could cause it the tilt.

 

[70cobrascj]

Compare the distance from the upper body line to the screw centerline against the driver's side. It looks to me like the mirror is mounted too low, which could cause it the tilt.

View attachment 98038

I think you are right it definitely looks to be mounted too low.
Also maybe take the screws out and see if it just screwed to the door or does it have the rivet nuts or inserts or whatever they are called.
Where they’re any 71-73 mustang models that didn’t come with a passenger side mirror?

 

[Hemikiller]

Where there any 71-73 mustang models that didn’t come with a passenger side mirror?

Base hardtop and sportsroof models came with only the driver's chrome mirror for 71-73. Convertibles were on again/ off again with the sport mirrors as standard equipment. Ford also did not offer a matching passenger chrome mirror for the 71-73s, but you could buy a complete sport mirror kit over the counter.

OP has a '72, so the pre-1/72 cars got the racing mirrors, 1/72 and later only had the single chrome mirror as standard equipment. It could also be that the passenger door was replaced and the mirror was simply mounted incorrectly.

 

[MikeGriese]

My '71 convertible originally had a single chrome mirror.

 

[70cobrascj]

Base hardtop and sportsroof models came with only the driver's chrome mirror for 71-73. Convertibles were on again/ off again with the sport mirrors as standard equipment. Ford also did not offer a matching passenger chrome mirror for the 71-73s, but you could buy a complete sport mirror kit over the counter.

OP has a '72, so the pre-1/72 cars got the racing mirrors, 1/72 and later only had the single chrome mirror as standard equipment. It could also be that the passenger door was replaced and the mirror was simply mounted incorrectly.

That’s what I was thinking that someone replaced the passenger door with a non mirror door and just screwed it to the door.

 

[Sheriff41]

My 1/72 build convertible came with the single chrome mirror. I added the sport mirrors the first time I repainted the car in the late 70s. Placement on the door makes a big difference in the angle.

 

[72vert]

I measured the passenger side and compared that to the driver’s and it looks like the passenger is slightly lower. It does have the rivets in the door. The car was made 12/71.

 

[tpj71mach]

Because of the way the body rolls there, the lower mounting could tilt the mirror in, but you said it is very small difference from the driver's mirrror. As far as the car having the nut-serts, the PO could have added the passenger mirror and installed the nut-serts themselves, but it's more likely that they were there from the factory. I replaced the spinning nut-serts on my mirror when I restored my car. I also placed tack welds on all four nut-serts and added anti-seize to the screws when I installed the mirrors to make sure they never spin in the future. I think mine are pretty flat and line up with each other, although now that i am obsessing, in the first picture the passenger does seem to tilt in a little. In the second picture from a slightly different angle it looks flat.
I would try to compare the base with a known correct mirror if possible, we can't see the base in the the picture you posted but that seems like it could be the issue. As the other guys stated, these mirrors were on a lot of different body styles and the base would make the head fit many different angles.

 

[Sheriff41]

Because of the way the body rolls there, the lower mounting could tilt the mirror in, but you said it is very small difference from the driver's mirrror. As far as the car having the nut-serts, the PO could have added the passenger mirror and installed the nut-serts themselves, but it's more likely that they were there from the factory. I replaced the spinning nut-serts on my mirror when I restored my car. I also placed tack welds on all four nut-serts and added anti-seize to the screws when I installed the mirrors to make sure they never spin in the future. I think mine are pretty flat and line up with each other, although now that i am obsessing, in the first picture the passenger does seem to tilt in a little. In the second picture from a slightly different angle it looks flat.
I would try to compare the base with a known correct mirror if possible, we can't see the base in the the picture you posted but that seems like it could be the issue. As the other guys stated, these mirrors were on a lot of different body styles and the base would make the head fit many different angles.

Ya know? Now that you mentioned it...

Just trying to feed your OCD!