Side View Mirror Downsize
 

Hello -

I am working on a side view mirror downsize. I got this bicycle handlebar mirror from REI :

Blackburn Multi Mirror
http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/3...or01jj6.th.jpg

Here it is installed on my driver's side :

Front View
http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/3...or01ki4.th.jpg

Here it is from inside. I have a round blind spot mirror on the inside too :

Small Mirror
http://img360.imageshack.us/img360/6...viewsl6.th.jpg

Here you can see a tuft test with the normal passenger mirror. The two forward tufts are being "sucked into" the normal mirror :

Normal Mirror Tuft Test
http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/7...testik9.th.jpg

With the small mirror, the lower forward tuft is lined up nicely. The upper forward tuft is pulled up, probably toward the front side window air deflectors. I need those to stop rain from getting into the car and to mitigate my "no AC" window crack.

Small Mirror Tuft Test
http://img360.imageshack.us/img360/2...testvo0.th.jpg

I won't install a downsized passenger side view mirror until I can solve this problem on the installation :

Mirror "triangular cover" Gap
http://img355.imageshack.us/img355/3...rgapcm4.th.jpg

This means rain can get into my door, :( .

I could remove my passenger side view mirror altogether, but I am partial to symmetry (my bad, :o ).

CarloSW2

Very nice. I especially enjoy the tuft test images.

Nice job, Carlos!

What is causing the gap, the fact that the bike mirror has to fit in somehow?

heat gun and some silicon will take care of that gap..

SVOboy -

The original triangular shape "wrapped over" that area. I am using a flat mudflap that I cut up, so there is no "over-wrap". There is also an interior volume to the traingular space. When I screw in the cover, it warps the mudflap out (concave). You can see I also have some foam in there to try to form a seal. What I would like to do is go to a pick-a-part, and find a driver's side rear-view mirror or a broken one I can salvage. Cut away the part that sticks out, make a smaller shape to cover it, and wa-la, a "clean" mod.

CarloSW2

Chris D. -

Do you mean a heat gun to "bend the triangle over"? If yes, I think I would want to do that with the mudflap/side view mirror cover off the car, because there's lots of rubber seals that could be damaged by the heat gun.

CarloSW2

Love it!!! I hate modern barn door mirrors. I liked the ones that mounted at the top of the A pillar.

Carlos Nice job. What are your driving impression with it? Also what are the deflectors for?

Lazarus -

They work, but they wobble a bit at freeway speeds. I think it is because the bicycle mirror stock is not designed for the higher MPH. Once the triangular cover is solid, I may beef it up and/or experiment with other mirrors at my leisure, :D .

In terms of impression, during the day it is fine. At night I am still getting used to it. But, here is my ace in the hole :

1970's style Convex Mirror from JC Whitney
http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/8...rrorba7.th.jpg

As you can see, I can see it all coming :

ZERO Blind Spots
http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/3...rrorci2.th.jpg

The deflectors were already in place before I became an Ecomodder :

When does having your windows down start to effect your mileage? Reply to Thread

CarloSW2

My truck still has vent windows. I have an extra set, I should drill them out and attach a small mirror to it.

Channeling my inner Vespa ...
 

Hello -

Now I'm just having fun :

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/5...rorsdj8.th.jpg

I mounted a chrome motorcycle light housing through the hole that used to have the joystick for the manual side view mirror. Since the motorcycle light is metal, I can mount the fisheye with a magnet and have very discreet control over the fisheye mirror angle. The other fisheye on a stock is for fun and will be removed after I switch to a larger fisheye.

I am used to the mini side-mirror now. With all the other mirrors I have, I am very safe. Cops have passed me by and haven't messed with me (knock on wood).

CarloSW2

}{ead$hot Zod -

Sounds like a cool idea. I wish more cars had the vent windows. They are literally cool and practical. The Prius has a perfect place for one.

CarloSW2

One thing I hate about those are that my sun visors get in the way of those mirrors and you loose the flip up and down feature for those annyoing high beamers..

Pikacho? :thumbup:

My driver side mirror got bashed this winter by a car door in a parking lot.
I did your inside mirror mod.
Using a squared off fisheye mirror, it's about 2-1/2" square,
I've found it is perfect for the highway driving.
NO blindspots.
The only drawback is I can't use it to back up as I can't see the ground near the car.
But on the highway,
I like this better than the original side mirror with the small fisheye on it.

Sandy -

My panoramic rear-view mirror solves any backup problem, but I miss seeing the ground too because I like to check that I am "centered" when I park in the really narrow spaces. I may put a "tiny fisheye" in the side view mirror at some point.

CarloSW2

Chris -

Yeah, that happened the other day when my wife flipped her sun visor, so it can be a pain.

I still have the flip down feature. Since I became a long distance commuter about 2 years ago, I started fiddling with my mirrors constantly at night or when the sun is reflecting into my face. Sometimes I feel like I am flying an airplane with all the adjustments I am making.

I started the Pikachu thing for my niece back in the 1990's and left it in place in my car ever since. They're like barnacles in my car. I am pretty sure it short-circuits some of the people that would otherwise be messing with me on the freeway. I'll bet some of them go "That @#Q$(*&@#($*@# slow poke, I'm gonna give them a piece of my .... what the hell is all that stuff?!?!?!?!?".

CarloSW2

Hello -

Here is an update on my side-view mirror delete. Since I have learned that a rain drop is the perfect "aero-shape", I started looking for a ready-made shape that would suit as a side view mirror. During Easter I found some Easter Eggs at Target that had clear "pointy ends". I used those as a base to fabricate a passenger side-view fish-eye mirror :

Easter Egg Mirror :
http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/2...or02bg3.th.jpg

It is zip-tie-attached to metal hinge painted white.

Front View :
http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/756...or01cq4.th.jpg

Comparison test with stock side view mirror :
http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/8...or03ae9.th.jpg

Notice the internal mirror. This is a JC-Whitney motorcycle mirror that can slide on a metal stalk. It's not ideal, so it also may get a fish-eye down the road. The main thing is that the stalk allows for *any* setup I want, even a Pirate Parrot!

Current State :
http://img369.imageshack.us/img369/8...or04sq7.th.jpg

Benefits :

- (As always) 100% reversible. The original passenger side-view mirror is in a box in my garage. The side-view mirror cover is an OEM replacement. The cover looked so nice, I didn't have the heart to mount the egg on it. Instead, I zip-tied the egg to the window air-deflectors. The air-deflector is pre-MPG because Saturns get water on you in the rain and I like to crack the window open during rain and instead of using AC.

- Perfect aero shape (right?!?!?!)

- Fish-eye is all I need with other mirrors in place. Technically, I don't need it at all, but I like to use it to pull up to curbs and stuff.

- Cheap. $1 egg, $1.50 metal hinge, $2 fish-eye mirror that I already had lying around. I used white paint that I already had for paint-matching.

Problems :

- Clear plastic is not optical quality. It is a bit cloudy (see comparison picture). But, it serves my purpose in the context of using my other mirrors.

- Fragile. It's 100% stable on the freeway, but I could break it off with a swipe of my hand. Probably need to un-zip-tie it if I go to a car wash.


I have one more egg if I decide to do the same for the driver's side. But, I probably won't do that because I think a "driver's egg" would be more likely to attract the legal ire of the cops.

CarloSW2

My brother and I used to flip those all the way around, shooting air inside the truck at an angle, on the road at 40-60 mph. We called that "air conditioning!!!!" It's as refreshing when it's 95F outside as the a/c is. Not as efficient though. ;)

Funny, we think alike. Without ever seeing this thread, I've been searching for a plastic egg to make a mirror shell. :) No luck.

Meanwhile, I'm wondering how your little bike mirror is working out. I'm thinking to pick one up this week and boat-tail it.

akashic -

I got my egg-mirror at Easter in Target. It was a "Disney toy egg" for $1. I don't have it on anymore because the clear plastic didn't stay very clear and I wanted to try a different shape for parallel parking. Maybe I should try some Rain-X.

I did find this, but it costs too much $ to justify and there's no guarantee that the cover would have better c-thru visibility characteristics (it's for a turn signal, after all) :

Bullet Turn Signal Lenses : JC Whitney: Motorcycle Parts & Accessories
http://www.jcwhitney.com/wcsstore/jc...74529_SW_1.gif

It's also not a pure egg shape, but at least it's more durable than a plastic Easter egg.

A friend gave me the idea of getting a cheap wine glass from a $1 store for the clear glass. It would be fragile, but who cares if it was only a $1?

To answer your original question, the bike mirror works fine during the day, but it's not very helpful at night. It's main purpose is to satisfy legal requirements. Here is my current configuration, which gives me more feedback than stock (the 17" convex rear-view mirror is the key) :


CarloSW2

Hello -

Last year I swapped out the bicycle mirror for a motorcycle mirror. For a while I was commuting in the pre-dawn hours and the bicycle mirror wasn't very good for driving in the darkness. When I stopped commuting I kept the motorcycle mirror. The motorcycle mirror is from a Suzuki GSXR 1100 circa 1986-1988.

It's about 2-3 times bigger than the bicycle mirror, but 1/2 the size of the OEM driver's side mirror, so it's a compromise :

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-cf...-mirror-02.jpg
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-cf...-mirror-03.jpg
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-cf...-mirror-01.jpg

Here is a comparison (but the angles are wrong) :

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-cf...-mirror-04.jpg

The good parts :

1 - Better visibility
2 - It doesn't wiggle in the wind
3 - I like it's aesthetics.
4 - Probably more cop friendly in terms if size. What I have noticed is that cops will try to case me in my blind spot (that no longer exists). In little time they see all my extra internal mirrors and leave me alone.

The bad parts :

1 - It's bigger.
2 - Range of adjustment not ideal for a car. It's meant for a motorcycle.

CarloSW2