Versa mirror mod - Done!
 

Well I got one of those mirrors that is intended to be mounted on an existing outboard side mirror and provide blind spot coverage. I then took the moveable mirror assembly out and cut the main housing to mate to the side at the angle I want. Next I snapped the mirror off at the right line and cut the plastic backing holding the mirror off at that line. The mirror actually came in broken, but I am sure I can find a local mirror to replace it if the cracks are annoying. All I really need it for is blind spot coverage on the passenger side anyway.

So I have decided to mount it so that the mirror is visible through the smaller forward window on the Versa. This gets it away from the door and prevents issues with coverage when the passenger is doing annoying things like reading the paper (which my primary passenger is wont to do).

I will be removing the passenger side mirror and mounting this soon, but here is a shot showing the modified housing, the location it will be mounted, and the enormous size difference between the factory and modded mirror.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/41190821/misc/versamirror.jpg

Stimpson J. Cat....where have I heard this name before????

http://i56.tinypic.com/k3ls39.jpg


You SiCK little MONkey!!!

LOLZ!

It was such a good series...until it wasn't. 'Space Madness' is still the high-water mark for cartoon genius IMHO.

OK...more mods.

Here is the original concept photo from above:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/41190821/misc/versamirror.jpg

And here is the car with the mirror deleted and a section of aluminum siding added to cover the holes:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/41190821/misc/versamirror1.jpg


And here is the new mirror:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/41190821/misc/versamirror2.jpg

Where did you get the new mirror?

Here:
Car Side Blindspot Blind Spot Mirror Wide Angle View | eBay

But I modified it by hacking off part of it and then epoxying on a plate and then epoxied that to the window.

Noticed tonight that the mirror had popped loose of the two-sided tape it gets held onto the rotating gimble with. I will take it back out and remove the tape and use epoxy there as well.

I may also fill the section of window forward of the mirror with something like a silicon caulk, just to prevent a small inlet there that might cause some turbulence.

I have another, different style, mirror I will be adding on the drives side. It is smaller than stock, but not this small. It will get a small blind spot dome on it also. I'll post pics when I get that done.

I would totally just leave the passenger one off altogether- it's easy to do a shoulder check on that side, depending on how big your windows are. (Then again I deleted both without a second thought :p) A single convex mirror on the interior rearview provides more than adequate blind spot coverage.

How did you figure out what angle to cut it at? Interested in whether we'll see an improvement in mpg.

Gotta have something external at least on the drivers side here in Georgia.

I held the mirror body at the same angle as the existing mirror face to decide the cut, before I removed that mirror.

The mirror for the other side is going to need an adapter fabbed up as both the angle is a problem and I need to cover the existing holes.

Using that small mirror in horizontal long-axis orientation, is it better to snug it close to the window, or to put it on an airfoil-shaped short strut but further out into the slipstream?

The airfoil-shaped strut would give a better viewing angle, and maybe put turbulence from the mirror away from the window, so air could flow between mirror and window. Less drag this way, or more? Noise?

I ask because Hoerner's Fluid Dynamic Drag book has a section on external stores (bombs, drop tanks) on aircraft. Says such external stores even though streamlined, should be separated from wing or fuselage by ~0.4 diameter and attached by streamlined strut. So, per Hoerner, least drag of a 12" diameter bomb is to mount it on a streamlined strut of ~5" and not snugged to the wing or fuselage.

I am sure that is correct when you are talking about a fixed size device. But in this case we are also significantly reducing the size of the mirror.

Here. this should help:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/41190821/misc/versamirror3.jpg

I am already fabbing up the spare of the $4 mirror to use on the left size, as I think this will be both simpler than the motorcycle mirror and also have less drag. The motorcycle mirror is about 1/3 the frontal area of the stock mirror, but these things are just tiny.

The drivers side one will get about half of the horizontal distance as flat mirror, and the other as domed blind-spot mirror.

As to mounting these vertically. Yes, it could be done, but not on my car as not enough was exposed when located where it would have needed to be to not be hit by the door. Also, the mirror is domed for horizontal mounting, and is less than useful when mounted vertically. Though as noted it would be simple enough to remove the existing mirror and replace with something else, I will be doing this on the drivers side.