TheSamba.com :: View topic - 74 ghia

Mon Apr 09, 2012 11:30 am

Could anyone recommend a quality passenger door (aka right side) sideview folding mirror?

I was looking at all the usual sites but they dont all have pics of the mirror or if they do i cant tell if it looks like a stock one. On my driver door i have the original sideview mirror and i would like one to match the other side. I think my original has a little hold in it, not sure if that means anything (maybe if water gets in?).

Thanks in advance!

Mon Apr 09, 2012 3:25 pm

I have bought many ($20 - $50), and they all seem to come from the same factory in Taiwan and have badly made adjustment parts. I would look for a good second hand one on the samba (sadly none there at the moment). depending on how tall you are you may need the 'long arm' version to see it well. I have bought a few factory ones and some have the little hole you mention, but not all. I have a RHD Ghia and it took 2 years to get a good pair of mirrors from here!
You could give Mike at House of Ghia a call and see what he has got?

Tue Apr 10, 2012 4:14 am

Thanks for the info. I actually have a longer arm right side mirror but it doesnt have the correct mount (i guess its from a beetle). I was going to use that but it doesnt fit the base i have. Im 5'11" not sure if that makes a difference in size.

Is there a show quality mirror vs a taiwan one? Like how kgpr has a show quality dash pad vs a reg one? I will also give mike a hog a shout too.

Tue Apr 10, 2012 4:52 am

You can order just the base from Mike at HoG too. The long arm is what I mounted. Regular "short arm" mirrors are difficult to see over the door edge from the driver's seat. The long arm gets the mirror up so it's more useful (IMHO).

Tue Apr 10, 2012 4:53 am

Ian is right about the cheap mirrors. I have 2 and cannot keep them adjusted. I keep tightening the adjustment points, but afraid something will break if I keep going.

Tue Apr 10, 2012 7:06 am

Oh thats good to know, i think i will stick to the long one then. My only problem is - how do i know the correct base size for the mirror? Im going to try to get a pic up here and maybe someone could let me know what mirror it is (beetle or SB).

Tue Apr 10, 2012 9:35 am

Yes, post a pic.
Just to be clear, though, the "long arm" mirror that I was speaking of is a Ghia mirror. The shape of the mirror itself is identical to the shape of the left side mirror, it just has a longer arm to allow it to sit above the door edge and be visible to the driver. I was assuming this is what you have. Could be wrong... [/b]

Look on this page for the two different mirrors and you'll see what I mean:

http://www.karmannghia.com/products.asp?strSearch=...partNumber

The less expensive mirrors that are listed there are most likely West Coast Metric units. They are only fair. The OEM units that are listed as Temporarily out of stock are the good stuff.

Also, here's that mounting kit:

http://www.karmannghia.com/viewDetail.asp?strMasterCat=&idproduct=4885

Tue Apr 10, 2012 8:00 pm

Hey Mike,

Yes the mirror i have is a long arm but is exactly like the mirror on the drivers door which is original. So i guess it is a ghia mirror but probably the wrong mounting kit. Im going to grab a pic of the mirror and get it up on the site and maybe we can somehow figure out what mounting kit i need for it.

Is the beetle mirror much different than the ghia mirror?

Of course the good one is out of stock! haha.

Wed Apr 11, 2012 1:43 am

All the late Ghia mounts are the same and can be used Left or Right side, but they have a special ghia angle (different to beetle or type 3)
from the samba....

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1031760
Jensend is good to deal with :)

on the long arm mirror the angle between the head and arm is different to beetle as well, so you need the combo of ghia mount and ghia mirror to get the mirror roughly square to the ground.

good luck

Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:14 am

Go with Ian's vendor... cheaper and close to you.

Beetle mirrors are different. I don't know exactly how, but it's been said over and over here that they won't work very well.

Also, on that mount, there's a right way and a wrong way to mount it. If you're mirror is sticking up like a dog's ear and not square to the ground, flip the mount around, it's upside down. :D

Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:27 am

Hey Guys,

Thats funny cause i bought my ghia mirror mount from jensend. Unfortunately it the threaded part doesnt fit for this mirror (its not their fault the mount is great and they are a great seller) which is leading me to believe i might have a beetle mirror afterall. Yet it looks like a ghia mirror with a long arm. Very confusing.

I will get a pick up once i can get to my car at the shop.

Fri Apr 13, 2012 4:39 pm

Ok so i snapped a few shots of the mirror. The metal circle (all the way to the left) that screws onto the mirror is too big. Could someone let me know what mirror this is and if they know what size metal circular base screws on?

Mon Apr 16, 2012 7:50 am

one more pic:

Mon Apr 16, 2012 2:09 pm

That looks like the correct mirror to me, but the threaded part looks too long, or at least longer than mine was.

Are you saying that the threads are too big for the mounting point, or are you just concerned about the length?

Mon Apr 16, 2012 3:26 pm

the threaded part is incorrect, way to long.
the door mount you have looks right though the pic is not to clear.
not sure about the angle of the mirror but it looks like it will stick up in the air a bit, instead of being parallel to the ground

Mon Apr 16, 2012 3:51 pm

The circular metal base is too large for the threads. im doubting that this is a ghia mirror. When i bought the car he gave me some other parts and some were beetle parts so it could be a beetle mirror.

When i hold it straight it looks like it would angle down a tiny bit not up.

But i guess if its not fitting the base which should be a ghia one cause i bought it from jensend for a 74 ghia mirror its not for a ghia.

So if i was to start from scratch and get a repop should I get a longer arm one? Or just go with a standard repop from kgpr/house of ghia or something?

Mon Apr 16, 2012 4:07 pm

Definitely get a longer armed one, as much hassle as that is. However, you can change the threaded part by undoing the bottom adjustment all the way and removing only that part and replacing it alone.

Without a car, I can't tell if the angle is good or not...try holding the mirror up to the d. side one to see at least if it's the same size.

Here's a link to a good mirror thread, ending with my car with its p. side mirror to compare to as well.

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=462501&highlight=passenger+mirror

Mon Apr 16, 2012 4:53 pm

Marionius thank you! I didnt realize i could unscrew that bottom piece.

I have an extra drivers mirror - im going to see if i can use that piece for this mirror (hopefully i can).

The mirror i have with the longer arm looks and works great when i had my friend hold it up as i sat in the car. Thanks for the help!

Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:41 pm

cmarino929
When I looking into a passenger mirror for my Ghia, I found out that this is a factory option. The factory welded 2 square nuts to the inside of the door skin. Mine do not have them.I did not want to trust sheet metal screws to hold my mirror on.
Do you have the threaded nuts inside of your door? You could just use nuts too. But you would have to take your door panel off to hold the nut.

Tue Apr 17, 2012 10:32 am

70coupyel wrote: cmarino929
When I looking into a passenger mirror for my Ghia, I found out that this is a factory option. The factory welded 2 square nuts to the inside of the door skin. Mine do not have them.I did not want to trust sheet metal screws to hold my mirror on.
Do you have the threaded nuts inside of your door? You could just use nuts too. But you would have to take your door panel off to hold the nut.

No i did not know that, thanks for the heads up. So I should pull the door skins off and check to see for two welded nuts? But there are no holes on the door, does this mean its a spot set up to drill into the door and hold them on? Sorry im a little confused.