New truck style mirrors, anxious about drilling.

[crookedmouth123]

I just got hold of a pair of original truck style synchro mirrors, I'm really anxious about drilling 3 holes into the top of my door, has anyone done this before?? Are there any alternatives to drilling?? A clamp or something???
Another worry of mine is of I lost a mirror in the future are they easy to replace?!

Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

[kevtherev]

No alternative but to man up and drill it.

syncro mirrors are readily available, but like all things pretty they cost.

[Mocki]

Mark it carefully , offer it up twice , check it, and drill it .
Then paint the hole immediately the drill is out .
Then paint the screw thread and fix them on.
You won't look back ....
Well you will, but you know what I mean lol

[crookedmouth123]

Yes I just have to grow a pair and drill it I suppose
Shall I use primer to npaint the hole and screw?
Would you reccomend self tapping screws or normal bolts?
Thanks in advance!!

[Dazco]

Put some masking tape on the paintwork where the mirror is going to fit prior to trial fitting or drilling , will just help protect the paintwork and tends to stop things from slidind around. Centre pop before drilling aswell. Have fun

[Winchweight]

Yes I just have to grow a pair and drill it I suppose
Shall I use primer to npaint the hole and screw?
Would you reccomend self tapping screws or normal bolts?
Thanks in advance!!

Self tappers and try to get some anti-tamper screws for at least one of them.

[Fudgy666]

Did it last year:





I tried Rivnuts first, but couldn't get the depth in the door frame and they just didn't really work.

Ended up using nuts/bolts. Does seem drastic when you are drilling, but it's gotta be done

[Plasticman]

you can add a nyloc to one of the lower fixings
mm

[crookedmouth123]

Do you have a different type of door than me? Can't see how I could use bolts on my frame.?

[Fudgy666]

Nope, same door.

I actually removed the door rubber, and then cut a small access hole on the rear of the frame.



Then used some narrow nose pliers to offer up the nuts, a quick coat of Hammerite and replaced the rubber.

Seems drastic, but it was all a little bit of a faff because two of the bolts needed to be positioned right on the join between the outer frame & inner box section. You can kinda see that in the photo.

I'm also a little less precious about putting extra holes in my door as it already has a few of the rust variety

[crookedmouth123]

ooh myyy!!! You are brave! I'm certainly not happy about doing this myself!! Surely this can be avoided??

[Mocki]

You don't need to chop the door up, just use self tappers , mine haven't fallen off in 5 years !

[crookedmouth123]

Pheew!!! Do you remember what size self tappers did you use??

[Mocki]

Nope , sorry .... Just short stumpy ones with the right size head to sit in the recess in the mirror arm bracket
Obviously drill the hole the right size for the self tapper you decide on , and as I said before , paint bother the hole as soon as you have drilled it and the screws thread before you fit it

[crookedmouth123]

Nope , sorry .... Just short stumpy ones with the right size head to sit in the recess in the mirror arm bracket
Obviously drill the hole the right size for the self tapper you decide on , and as I said before , paint bother the hole as soon as you have drilled it and the screws thread before you fit it

Got it, just out of curiosity why do you need to paint straight after drilling?
What paint did you use?? Spray paint? Primer?

Thanks for all of your help guys! . I'll post up the results at the end of the weekend!