Packard Forum Index » V-8 (1955-56)

Yankee mirrors were aftermarket, not Packard supplied. But you can bet some number of dealers offered to install them instead of the Packard units with the enticement of saving $.

Owen_Dyneto wrote:

Quote:
Well, when I inspected the 55-56 repro at Jay Fisher's swap meet display some 20 years ago, I asked about the lack of a hole in the mirror base for the special Allen head fastener, and he advised (and showed) me that it fastened from inside the door with a couple of machine-threaded screws (not Allen-recess).

Furthermore, I believe that you are acquainted with a Dover White and Scottish Heather 56 Four Hundred in your area that's equipped with that very type of mirror.

Of course, in the ten years since, he could very well have retooled that mirror to match OE installation - perhaps for the issue I cited WRT fender mounting. If so, kudos to him.

So the question remains -- is he still in business with mirrors and are repro's available or are they long gone. The only Jay Fisher Google readily came up with is in the knife business.

....is he still in business with mirrors and are repro's available or are they long gone

It just takes a phone call to find out, his number (assuming it hasn't changed) is on the attachment (page from a full catalog of some years back). If you call, let us know the answer, please. If he is no longer in the business, you might ask if he sold his tooling to someone else.

Also, Kanter's 55/56 catalog lists exterior mirrors @ $720 a pair (about the same price as Fisher's); I'm not familiar with them and don't know if the are duplicates of the original design and how they attach.

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Are the 55-56 mirrors the same as the 54 and earlier?

https://www.packardinfo.com/xoops/html/downloads/partslist4854/48-54_Accessories.pdf

The parts book show a different number.

51-54
Has a belt moulding mirror
And
"Remote control" mirror. What is that?

EDIT:

I am learning how to ask the search questions, and found this
https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=10817&forum=2&post_id=113499#forumpost113499

Long and short, 51-54 fit on belt moulding, 55-56 fit on sheet metal.


I would still like to know what the remote control mirror is? On the back of the spotlight?

Quote:
No. While the 55-56 mirror (PA469482) looks quite similar to the 51-54 (PA437238), the devil is in the details. The base/stem is the same basic casting, but was machined differently for the 55-56 application.

Take look at the images that I previously provided in post #6 of this thread - namely, where the mirror head is attached to the stem.

The mirror that I received from American Arrow has a bevel to it at that point that won't allow the head to be positioned properly. Instead, it should have more of a square cut to it for 55-56 - like the NOS unit that I acquired years later.

That bevel only works for 51-54 because the base of the mirror lays in more of a horizontal plane (see attached image, below). In that orientation, the bevel doesn't interfer with up/down adjustment, but appears to prevent the side-to-side angle of the mirror from being adjusted too far outboard.

Also, to get that American Arrow mirror to fit flush against the body sheet metal, I had to file down a pin that projected from the bottom of the base - thinking it was just some sort excess material from the casting process. I later learned that pin was actually a feature of the 51-54 version that's needed to index the base to the belt molding.

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Someone asked about that one (PA457896) some time ago, in another thread, but I've never seen one. I don't remember anyone coming up with an actual picture.

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From the 54 Acc folder.

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So the remote mirror would of been on the fender?

Kind of hard to judge length but I'm thinking from the looks of the vertical base and how the arm extends from it, the mirror would have been close to the regular spot. To my eye the handle looks like it passed thru the door at an angle -- maybe under the vent window -- and the knob was fairly close to the inner upholstery panel. It might have been installed like the spotlight but hard to tell.

Are these the mirrors that a picture was
Wanted of?

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