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My 1950 23rd Series sedan is now stripped for painting. When I put the chrome back on I want to install a pair of beautiful replicas of the original outside mirrors. These have a notched base that fits over the polished trim strip below the front door windows. The mirrors came with a threaded stud that apparently goes into some sort of thin mounting plate inside the trim strip. The stud has a hex hole in one end and a tiny head (like a nail head) and captive lock washer on the other.

There is no way to bolt the mirror to the door structure as on other cars. The only feature on the outside of the mirror is a tiny access hole that allows a hex hey to engage the hex hole in the threaded stud.

Is it true that the mirror is supported only by the trim strip made of thin stainless steel? I suppose I can fabricate a steel mounting plate to go inside the trim. I assume the mounting plate would have a tapped hole to match the stud in the mirror. Does anyone know what these mounting plates look like? How long are they?

The 1955-56 mirrors have the little bracket that uses the same set screw. I have not seen a bracket for a 23rd series mirror. It indeed may just turn into the moulding. On the other hand I don't see why you couldn't use the later bracket. In any case I'll defer to someone with a lot more knowledge of the 23rd series models to give the definitive answer.

I believe that the swan neck mirrors that fit into the belt molding are 21st and 22nd series, and that the 23rd mounts conventionally to the body

I believe bkazmer is correct; at least that was the case with my 23rd series Custom 8.

I am 100% sure the 23rd series uses the mirror that mounts on the trim strip. I got an original trim strip from a junked 23rd series and it has the hole for the mirror in a proper place. The owner told me that's where the original mirror mounts. Factory leterature also shows it there. I looked at the Packard photo gallery last night and found a number of cars with the mirrors mounted on the trim strip. The repro mirrors I bought from a mirror repro restorer, and he sent me ones for a 23rd series. The bottom of the mirror base has the odd shaped cutout that matches the unique trim taken from my 23rd Series car.

I have seen a few cars with flat mounted non-original mirrors mounted next to the trim strip on the door. I can understand why a Packard owner would do this because it is a big expense to do it the way Packard did it. I probably will have near $1000 in the job of putting proper mirrors on my Packard after I plow though everything. In addition I will have many hours of my labor. The car will look great however and I will be able to actually see the right hand mirror on the road.

Fred, I was only going by photographs of my 23rd series Custom which I bought back in 1959 before it had much time to be muddled with, but of course the mirror could have been installed according to the owner's wishes I suppose.

Something definitive on this would be nice to see, for example the installation directions that accompanied the factory mirror for dealer installation such as we have for some of the later cars. To me this would really be conclusive - I just sent a query to Kanters to see if they have such a document or anything else definitive.

Fred:
Just checked photos of a 49 Convertible and 50 Custom that I used to own (both 23rd Series); and they have driver mirror on the stainless molding.

Good luck with your project; those mirrors are expensive!

Thanks for all the input. I will design a steel plate to fit inside the trim strip. I need to use mmy milling machine to create a shape that fits well inside the odd shaped trim strip. To make sure the support works I will probably use JB weld to fill the gaps between the mounting plate and the trim strip.

The other fabrication issue is creating the hole in the trim strip for the mirror attachment. I cannot use a punch because it would distort the thin stainless steel as it contacts a canted formed surface. Using a hole saw or milling cutter would grab the teeth on the cutting tool and destroy the trim strip. Maybe a grinding stone will do it without damaging the trim strip.

I still don't know how long to make the mounting plate. Let me know if you have any information.

on my 53 300 convert the stock mirror mounted on the ss trim with a special screw that threaded into the sheet metal door skin and the mirror attached to the special screw. sold the car so can't get you a picture.

If PA 415908-9 are the correct mirrors for your car, then I think this definitively answers the question about where they should be mounted. Document courtesy of Stuart Blond at Kanter Bros.

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