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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ Late model Miata mirrors

Posted by: jridder May 18 2004, 07:02 PM

I like the styling of the original 914 mirrors. However, mine are a little "wobbly" and the one "power" option that I like is power mirrors (or at least ones I can remotely adjust while I'm seated). I saw a reference to Miata mirrors on the board and looked into them.

I got some off Ebay from a 2000 Miata. They were silver, and my car is yellow, so I repainted them. That has been a major pain in the ass. I smoothed out all of the Mazda part numbers on the outside bottom of the mirror as well as a flashing line around the mirror from when they were molded.

I can't find spray paint that is the correct shade yellow as my car. I suppose I need to go to the dealer to get it (it's a GM color). I just rattle canned it and have called it "good enough" until I get a repaint (which I probably need after stretching the rear fenders in the future).

On the driver's side I was able to use the stock rear mounting hole for the rear mounting hole of the new mirror. However, I wouldn't recommended this project for those that aren't ready to really rape their doors. I had to drill additional hole for the front mounting screws, another for a locating stud and a big one for the wiring to pass through. I still need to drill two more to get the wires into the car.

The passenger side required yet another hole since the mounting holes on the mirrors are not symmetttrical (not even close). I welded some M6-1 nuts to some plates and JB welded the plates inside the doors. This should hold well enough since it only needs to hold while I'm tightening the bolts.

I'm not finished yet and still need to do the wiring and run it through the doors and body. Then I hve to mount the switch and wire it up.

BTW, the mirrors shown in the image posted by "East Coaster" in this thread - http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?act=ST&f=2&t=9152 - are early model Miata mirrors, not late model. I prefer the more angular late model style to the early, rounded style.

Jonathan

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Posted by: jridder May 18 2004, 07:03 PM

Front view.

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Posted by: jridder May 18 2004, 07:03 PM

Top right.

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Posted by: SirAndy May 18 2004, 07:10 PM

that looks better than i thought it would!

Andy

Posted by: lagunero May 19 2004, 03:12 AM

Thanks for the post jridder. I've been looking for those exact mirrors for sometime now and even bid and lost (maybe to you) on ebay. Although they look as good as I thought, I'm not ready to massacre my virgin doors. They do look sweet.

Posted by: East coaster May 19 2004, 06:55 AM

Did you wire them up yet? Just wondering what you used for switches and where you put them. BTW - They look cool!

Posted by: tat2dphreak May 19 2004, 08:52 AM

Very nice look, much better than I guessed! like a "sleek" flag mirror!

Posted by: jridder Aug 2 2004, 01:16 PM

I have been using the Miata mirrors for the last month or so. I still haven't wired them up, but they are nice and stable with my stiffly sprung car. I was not able to use them in the position pictured above. They need to be rotated out at the rear of the mirror. This means that you can't use any of the stock mounting holes. Since this is the case, it would probably be better to also mount them a little further back.

I haven't seen what a Miata door looks like without the mirror on it, but it must have a recessed mount for the mirror. On my 914 the plastic bezel sits up about an 1/8". I got some 3/6" thick black, closed cell, foam rubber from a hardware store and made new gaskets. This looks pretty good.

Jonathan