VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Radios, Tools, Accessories King Bee side mirrors on 41 SD

I'm mirror-curious. Wondering if anyone has photos of their car with King Bee or similar mirrors on. I'm not yet willing to drill to mount them, so I'd have to do clamp on for the time being.

Hi Scott,

Interesting timing on your question. Last week I spent more time than I ever imagined to mount a couple of straight arm mirrors on my '37 Master coupe.

There were clamp-on mirrors I bought off eBay. The right one is a convex mirror so it gives more field of view on that side. It was very difficult to find a position where I could see the whole mirror and it would show me the right rear side of the car.

The real issue was that as I tightened the clamp it moved the whole mirror in the wrong direction. I finally figured out that I needed to reverse the clamp bracket in the whole assembly.

And to make things even more tricky the driver side mirror is not in the same position on the door as the right side!

So Saturday evening at a local car show I looked at the older cars there and saw the same problems on all of them even those with curved arm mirrors.

So...what'd you end up doing? How's it look (bonus points for pictures)? In my googling I found a lot of recommendations to putting the mirror in a vise and bending it to get a better angle.
I haven't hit any small car shows yet this year. There are only a few of our vintage. The Cars and Coffee is all hot rods. There is a big show in August/September that draws from a bigger area...maybe I'll see some examples there.

I will get some pictures this week. I did not have to bend anything but it took a lot of thinking to figure it out. And the height difference between left and right is not noticeable to most people.

Does a 41 SD have those little rain deflectors over the wing windows like a 36 has? If so, you can get the "peep" style, preferably the larger ones, and clip them up there. Getting the mirrors closer to you increases the field of vision, and every little bit helps.

The right side one needs to be convex to do much good. In any event it needs to be aimed way out, imagine 3 lanes to your right on a really wide freeway. If you can see the side of your car, you will be looking too far back, and your whole field of vision will be between your car and the car in your blind spot. You will never see it.

Yes on the rain deflectors. I'm still looking for pictures with mirrors mounted....bonus points for close ups of the mounting.

The poison I am swallowing is that after rehanging my doors and getting body lines and stainless lined up the space to mount a mirror to the DOOR is just not enough with a clamp on mirror. I will have to settle on a screw on designed mirror and I have not get wanted to so I am driving with only the rear mirror and turning my head to make sure what is in the lane next to me. I also, stick my arm out the window when I want to signal turns. Call me old fashion.

Good luck, Mike

That's how I am too Mike. I give myself whiplash triple checking when I need to change lanes. I guess I need to buy one of the less expensive peep mirrors and see how I like it. I can't swallow the $$$ King Bee mirrors, if I can't be sure they are a workable solution for me.

I've also been trying to be better about using my hand signals. I often rest my elbow on the window sill and have to pull my whole arm in to lead with a hand going out the window. Old car problems :)

I don't have any pictures of 41 SDs. Here are some pics of Pontiacs with that setup.

https://imgur.com/a/5XfJmxM

On my Pontiac, I just have a single mirror (not King Bee, but similar) clamped to the front edge of the driver's door. It just isn't very good. It slips around.

Thank you. That's the best picture I've seen. You get ALL the points.

None of the mirrors picturedthere were sold by GM.
The KingBee mirror was standard equipment on convertibles.
The 1941 clamp on accessrory mirror was a simple clamp-on mirror.

Did Chevrolet offer anything for the right side?

Their mirrors fit eiyher side.

So...is this the most appropriate? The photos you noted weren’t gym were all peeps with the curved arms
https://www.chevsofthe40s.com/detai...r_View_Mirror_Straight_Arm_Clamp_On.html
Or...asked more directly...pictures of the appropriate style? I don’t need original...just trying to get close

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/parts/1929_41/41cp236.html

FYI according to this both a Peep and a universal left, right were offered. No matter what you choose, you will still need to look all around to be safe.

On my '48 I went with the cheaper curved arm clamp on they , cot40, states is for a '49 simply because I liked the look. Yes, you really have to move all around to see anything out the right side. Easier to just look out the windows, safer too.

The need for a right side mirror is magnified when driving a 41 cabriolet. It is annoying to be in any other lane except the right hand one. I have to look for a long straight stretch and steer with my foot whilst scooting over the seat back to look out the tiny rear windshield (being AACA correct here) to see if another car is any where from a 180 degree rearward prospective. Especially the right side 90 degree part. Not fun, either.

Owing to the fact that any reward or side view would be of some help, I got a right side (Gene, please note that the right side is different from the left. May be the case on clamp-on's but not bolt-on's) from CofTF. I mounted it last month. To mount have a center punch, a sharp drill bit and the proper thread tap. With the proper tools then mounting is a piece-a-cake.

Gene has indicated that the cabriolet didn't come with a review mirror. That is an even worse condition for knowing what is around you. I think cabriolets were supposed to be driven in the right hand lane on a two lane highway and use its superior power to quickly zoom around lesser cars like 37 and 38s poking along and holding up the 41's superior beauty, power and speed. I think that was where the expression "eat my dust" came about.

Anyway, being mentioned by another poster, the small right-side mirror is not much help. It will provide a small slice out of the 180 degree blind spot. Maybe 10 degrees at best. Almost worthless.

One can always stick up your hand signal and then creep over to the right hand lane until they are clear, hear a honk, or metal competing for the same space. The "bird" is to be expected in all but the empty space scenario.

I like the idea of having a concave/convex (forget which) attachment to the right-hand mirror to gain much more degrees of prospective and safety. I was thinking of applying one and using chewing gum to attach it. Anyone have any experience with attaching such a mirror/device to the right-hand side?

Best,

Charlie

Charlie,
Those small round convex mirrors are a godsend. May not be able to identify the make, model, hear, body style and color but, can determine if you and another are jockeying for the same space. They take a little getting used to as they magnify the view and that alters the distance perception. Most come with double sided sticky tape that is nearly impossible to remove from clean glass. So when you place it in place do it carefully.

Thanks Chipper.

I'll check out the usual parts stores to see if I can find one. If I do I don't want it to be over the flat surface permantely. Think I'll use some good double sided Scotch tape.

Best,

Charlie

Let us know what you find in the way of these Charlie. I'm interested in something small like this that you could stick to glass as most clamp on mirrors only look like they will chew up paint and move around.

Tim,
I think Charlie and Chip were talking about small convex mirrors that stick in the corner of a (right-hand) mirror.

I have those tiny round stick-on convex mirrors on several of my vehicles. The give a wider view, abet distorted, but good enough to determine if someone is in your intended space. As we get more mature these aids help.

I put a peep mirror on drivers side of my 41. Helpful, going to take some adjustment to get used to. Ordered a convex one for the passenger side. Thanks for everyone's help.