Maybe someone can fill in the blanks for me?
Both doors on my daughter's beetle have these el-cheapo chrome plastic mirrors...they look good...but you can't see behind you because they won't adjust far enough in either direction so you can.
What sort of mirrors were on the car originally and what do I need to fit them to the door.
Any clues as to where I can get some...new or second hand?
Phil74Camper ·
'69s are easy - the mirror looks like this.
They screw into the large tapped hole in the door, just above and behind the top hinge. Generally Australian cars came with a mirror on the driver's side and a blank plate over the hole on the passenger side (that mirror was optional).
They are a standard VW replacement part so they are pretty easy to find. You can get them in right and left hand, of course. As Birchall would say, give Vintage Veedub Supplies a call on (02) 9789 1777 - they can supply either reasonable second-hand ones or brand new ones from West Coast Metric.
Gazza265 ·
Thank you Phil...but the only problem being is that there are no holes at all in the door into which I could possibly screw these mirrors. There are 2 tiny self-tapper holes where the base for the plastic mirror is and that is it.
This is the same on both the passenger and the driver's side doors...a total absence of any mounting holes or fixtures whatsoever.
The door hinge pins are not threaded either.
It has me baffled..it is like someone has "shaved" the exterior of the car to produce a smooth finish.
Any more suggestions at all as this problem needs to be solved if my daughter is to take full advantage of the driving fun these Bugs can offer a Learner driver.
DylanTheDubber ·
Yeah gazza that car has aftermarket mirrors not vw. and yes it's been smoothed out
Gazza265 ·
Any suggestions anyone?...are there mounting kits etc that can be screwed to the doors to put correctly operating mirrors on?
And has anyone got any idea if I can put a day/night rearview mirror in it at all...it has one of those "twist to remove" mirrors at present that is only daytime useful.
Phil74Camper ·
This is the trouble with 'smoothing out' - for the sake of looks you bugger up something that works well!
You might be lucky - the previous owner might have only filled the mirror mounting holes with bog and smoothed them over. Grab a magnet and see if it sticks to the door where the mirror hole ought to be. You might be able to drill, grind and scrape the bog out of the hole and threads. But there might be metal welded over the hole - a mich bigger repair. Of course if you are going to remove the holes for the bodgy plastic mirrors at the same time, then that's not so bad but it's still a lot of work to put right.
The other alternative is to use the earlier 6-volt style mirrors that mount in the upper hinge pins. You'll need to buy mirrors and pins as a set - contact Vintage Veedub. Knocking out the pins is a tricky job to do without damaging the car but it isn't that difficult.
Phil74Camper ·
Oh forgot to mention - Beetles never came with day/night mirrors so you'll have to adapt something else. You could use one off a mid-1990s Golf Mk3, but the Golf's mounting post is stuck to the windscreen rather than mounted to the body just above. It would work fine but you'd be left with the mounting hole where the Beetle's one used to be.
It's always nice to update your old VW with parts off a newer VW - it keeps it 'in the family'.
matberry ·
You can get a day night internal mirror fro H & M Fermann in Sydney. They came out on the Brazilian bugs and can fit the same hole. Maybe other vw shops carry them too. I wouldn't bother, it's not life or death without one, get those exterior mirrors right first, you should be able to find the original mountings still in the door, albeit under paint, bog and/or panel steel.
Joel ·
unless it has a passenger door of a 72 or later bug it wont have the factory mount on the left door
as ugly as they are they old baby turbo mirrors work well for bugs with no mounting holes