Thinking of putting a side view mirror on pass side of my '73. If I remember correctly when havin the panel off, the nuts are welded in place on the inside for the screws aren't they? Even though it would pain me to do it, you could drill from the inside through those to create the holes?
Can you just turn the mirror around to use a spare mirror from the driver's side, or it a different part number for right (pass) side?

I may chicken out when it comes to drilling the holes though

You are correct on all points.

The mirror can be flipped. Some debate as to whether there was a factory passenger mirror part number. I suppose the nuts were there for right hand drive cars...

I use my passenger side mirror all the time while driving you will not regret it.

No debate at all in fact! They were required equipment to have mirrors on both sides on cars in Sweden back when new `69-76, & a few other countries too (& RHD ones, as Kansas said), plus a factory or dealer supplied option on any 914 when new.

In fact have a brand new Porsche part pass. side mirror - which is slightly convex for pass. side (I bought 2 new L & R a couple of years ago), & AFAIK they're still available from Porsche new .... at a Porsche price of course.

It is also orrect that - you can also flip a flat driver's side one, if you're on a budget, but want the added safety of the p-side mirror visibility.

Correct on the nuts welded to the underside of the outer door skins on both driver & passenger doors.

Wrong on the drill from the inside - you'll need to carefully measure & find them on the outside & drill IN to door skin - otherwise you'll have the steel skin push-up to the outside, which you then have to flatten & cause more skin damage, or else they'll make the flat gasket under the mirror base not sit flat.

After drilling, I'd recco using some Wurth or Eastwood zinc rich primer on the bare metal, then a touch-up with enamel/urethane in your body color to prevent rust at the holes, but don't get it into the nut threads.

Not a bad addition with today's traffic & crazy drivers texting/talking! Plus nobody will worry about correct Porsche 914 "flag mirrors" on both sides at any PCA concours - & many out here in CA have them both sides.

Good Luck!
Tom
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Also, before you start to drill from the outside put a piece of masking tape where you are going to drill measure to mark it then use the center punch and drill. Remember, measure, measure, measure then when you feel comfortable with it....drill away!
This keeps the drill bit centered and helps it from walking causing paint chaff. Rip the tape off and voila!!

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=228786

I just did my black car. It takes ten minutes. The nuts are exactly where they are on the driver's side. It's not that big of a deal.

Measure, mark it and drill. From the outside.

As far as I know there was never a right hand drive of the 914 model....only left hand drive.

I disagree about drilling from the inside. One of 2 ways. Run an 1/8" quality bit thru the nut with a small amount of pressure. You don't need to "stand on" a sharp bit and it will therefore not push the metal up. Then use a cheap Needle or Rat Tail file from the top to open up the hole.
Or, use a short piece of tubing or bushing stock placed in the same nut then run a bit thru the same size as your stock I.D. This centers your bit dead on. Then move to the outside and step drill to the proper size. Don't use cheap freaking bits and throw the dull ones in the trash. Low speed isn't necessary on thin metal but lube always helps. Plain old paraffin wax is great especially when drilling upside down.

Great advice but my hand will probably start shaking as it gets close to that nearly new bahia red paint!!

Use the internal punch method to mark the exact positioning, drill from outside in ever increasing drill sizes 2.5mm up to 6mm to check you’re not drilling off centre and cutting into the captive thread. (If you go off centre you have time to recover it at small drill diameter using a swiss rat tail file to get you back on track).

Like raynekat said: I don't believe there were ever RHD 914's.

Also, the part number for the convex RH mirror is (was?) 914 731 040 10. Straight out of the parts katalog. LH mirror was 914 731 039 10. The real convex mirror is supposedly hard to find.

Can you access the inner nuts without pulling out the window? I ask, as I have't pulled the panel yet to look, but have been thinking of adding the mirror too, as was considering being lazy, and doing a measure/locate from the outside.

The cars were manufactured with the capture nuts in the door for a reason.

I use the right hand mirror constantly and I think the car looks better with two mirrors.

Tomrev,

Yes, remove door trim and roll up window, you can reach inside and around to feel the captive nuts. No need to take out the glass.

Thanks all, found them, and agree it will be good to have the vision down that side.

I tend to just turn my head. So I'll be the voice of dissent and say the car looks better with one mirror.

Throw the cheap ones away when they get dull, but it doesn't take any time to sharpen a quality bit. I use a 6 inch bench sanding disc and wear magnifiers for my older eyes. In college I had electives, so I took metal shop in the engineering department. First thing they had us do is to file a perfect cube to .001 out of bar stock. They also showed us how to sharpen bits. Eventually we got to the Bridgeport and Southbend and Heliarc.

It is a bit scary to find the nuts behind the metal. And also easier than one thinks in the end. Because it is sort of like a magic trick I suggest shooting the holes with a .22 and a hand mirror. Preferably with an ace of spades taped over the hole.

Doesn't everyone do a head check mirror or not? You coming on the trip south btw?

"I tend to just turn my head"


Not so easy in a LHD 914 driving on the leftside in the UK when all you see in the drivers door mirror is the sidewalk :-)

Much much safer to have the passenger mirror I can tell you.

I agree the car looks sleeker without the mirror, but with my 4 cars crammed in a 2 car garage (you know, projects, race car sideways in back, etc.) I have twice just touched the garage door on the pass. side slowly backing out, so finally decided it was time to do it. I made a paper template from the drivers side, flipped it over, marked the locations, drilled with 1/8th in. bit, and there they were. Whole operation was about 15 min. Thanks for the helpful posts!

When I worked in a Porsche dealer parts department in 1976, I noticed that under the fitment column in the parts catalog, the mirror was listed as L/R, meaning left or right application. That is when I mounted a right side mirror on my car. It is an important safety measure, and with a small spot on it, the right side mirror gives a useful view.

Right-ho. Sorry. All my knowledge of the U.K. comes from 1920 era novels.

Jolly good old boy, you're right up to speed with modern Blighty then.
We've been living here since 40,000 years BC.

Yeah, definitely put one on there.

Cmon SKL1,

You are from Iowa, you can do this, I hit mine square in the middle on the first try!
It is in exactly the same location as the drivers side, use your mirror gasket as your template and drill your pilot hole with small diameter drill bit. With the window up you can feel and see (Flashlight) if you hit your mark!

Good luck and put tape down before you drill.

Vysoc

I believe you'll find that the separation between the two pieces of glass in the door will block part of your mirror from your view.

There were some RHD 914s, but they were all post-Factory conversions. Several were done by Crayford's in the UK, and there were a few done onesy-twosey elsewhere.

--DD

Does the mirror flip over (to put on the passenger side) via brute strength or does the glass need to come out and something has to be loosened on the inside? I wanted to check here before possibly stripping a part. Also, the one I have is used so that could have something to do with it.

I didn’t want to start a new thread so figured it’d be best to add this question here.

Loosen the nut under the mirror base. Sometimes the joints are so tight and corroded, you have to disassemble the mirror which does require removing by the seal around the glass.

Thanks! I got the nut loose. Once that is done and the base is disconnected, does the mirror itself twist on the tube that is attached to it or is it not meant to turn without loosening something inside first? I just want to make sure i’m not breaking anything.

The base will turn with the nut loose. If the mirror doesn’t turn easily on the other end of the angled arm, you need to remove the mirror glass to get at the other nut. Don’t force it, the stainless steel back is easily damaged.

The clamping mechanism is basically the same on each end of the angled arm.

Also, the ss mirror back polishes up nicely with mother’s polish.

Thank you again...looks like I’ll be takibg it apart.

since were hijacking this thread witch mirror belongs on a 74 the large one or the small one as I have one of each

Large one with radiused arm vs 90 degree arm.

Use your fingernails to remove the trim ring on mirror. A hard tool will damage the ss back. Lube all the metal parts with oil or grease.

Thanks again to @mepstein for the advice. I figured I’d provide some tips here for the knuckle-draggers like me who find things like this to be challenging.

To loosen the base nut of one of these, you will need a very narrow 10 mm socket to access and loosen the nut. Mine did not fit. I had luck borrowing from a friend who has a light duty ratchet set.

To get the retaining ring off, I manipulated the ring with one hand and slid an old health insurance card between the glass and the ring (a credit card would not fit). Once I got that in there, I was able to get the ring off with some patience.

From there, I got the mirror away from the plastic seat and then got the seat out. After spraying penetrating oil, I was able to get the arm moving freely.

Since I now have the glass out, I cannot justify putting the old glass back in, so I ordered 2 from 914rubber as the other side is in similar condition. Pretty sure I told the mrs. recently that I was done buying stuff for this car for a while. Anyway, this is one of my winter projects planned for my car and hope my tips help others. The pic below shows it broken down.
Click to view attachment

Just the breakdown and instruction i needed to flip one of my mirrors.

I find both factory mirrors to be pretty much junk...