Rear View Mirror on Windshield

[Bob at Warsaw]

This is as close as you can get to a rear view mirrow
on a Valentine tank

[Hummerkiller]

I dedided to hang my rear view mirror on my new GPW on the Roll cage, but my stock MB and GPW had the holes so I made a flange similar to the GP style for both of them and then hung CJ mirrors on them, the MB/GPW side mirrors are a pain in the B.u.t.t to use. Never can get them quite right...LOL

[Bob at Warsaw]

Can you show some pictures Hummer

[Bob at Warsaw]

Here is another nice motor pool mirror

[erikofnorway]

Just found this picture in a 99th Infantry Battalion photo album. Taken in Germany spring 1945.



Erik

[jag]

I fitted an original WW2 GMC rectangular truck windscreen mirror to the existing hole in my GPW windscreen. It looks good and works well. There is a high quality version of this mirror available as a repro. Only issue is that with tandem wipers it hampers movement due to the centre bar. I returned to 2 seperate wipers that work well and flop about less. There is another photo of jeeps being assembled somewhere in europe. One has a central windscreen mounted rectangular mirror.

[Chuck Lutz]

I don't have a pic of it but....

I was out scrounging in an auto parts salvage yard (used to be called a junkyard but when they raised the prices, they changed the name) looking for cars suitable for a Staff Car, jeeps or other MVs and happened to check the cab of a couple 40's/50's pickup trucks and spotted a very good candidate...the glass was bad so I think it went for $5.00.

I bead blasted and primed it and had a glass company install new glass for $15.00 on it.....then some OD and I installed it..

I was lucky....on that truck it had a screw that came through a mounting bracket into a FLAT round extension from the rear and the threads were the same size as the bolt that holds the TOP rail of the inner windshield frame to the CENTER section between both panes of glass. I had to get another short bolt as the TP was not the same as the one on the brass acorn nuts, but a RH was installed and now it fits perfectly. I can even put on the canvas cover when the windshield is DOWN and it stays focused when I remove it...It is about 6" by 2 1/2" and OVAL and looks like it rolled off the line with it on the jeep.

Check the auto salvage places for them and just note the mounting you would need to install it if you find one like this.

[simon king]

In the UK you can still get "auxiliary" rear view mirrors which can be added to cover any blindspots in car accessory shops. These mirrors have a socket and ball mounting for fine adjustment and have a rectangular housing and mirror glass. They are affixed directly onto the windscreen glass with a big sucker - and have a screw to "tighten" the sucker to ensure the mirror stays firm.

I simply painted the black plastic OD and used it on a daily basis - easily removeable back to original for a show

[Rod Rushton]

Years ago I had a WC53 Carryall and the rear view mirror was the same as the Ambulance also.
I am presently restoring a GPW and found in my spare parts stock a broken Caryall mirror which I carefully prised off the retaining edge and removed the broken glass.
I took this down to my local glass supplier and he cut one from stock mirror glass, sanding away the sharp edges and rounding the corners. The original glass was smoked, and I did hear polarized, but the new one is not.
With the winter top fitted the rear view panel is quite low down so I will fabricate a mount similar to the triangular one shown in previous threads.
As there was never an interior rear view mirror fitted from standard, provided it looks the part and does the job what does it matter? There is enough evidence to support both round and oblong mirrors being used in practice.
Here in the UK there is a requirement that two mirrors be fitted, and more often than not the standard one that fits on the drivers side is replicated for the passenger side - as this was seen during the war, and was a safety addition in any case. Driving on busy roads today in a LHD vehicle is a hazard and risk anyway. There have been several occasions when Jeeps and MV's have been rear-ended by modern vehicles and their drivers not realising how slow we travel. It is common to see a Hi-visibility jacket draped over the spare wheel to draw attention to the vehicle. Happy New Year to you all!

Rod Rushton
Ford GPW 20534360
DoD 5-22-44
MBT #25553 DoD 4-43
Matchless 41G3L 350ccs DR solo C5806205

[Rod Rushton]

Further to my last post - whilst at Stoneleigh Militaria Show last month, I saw that Dallas Autoparts were selling the oblong mirrors for about £27.00
These were identical to the one I had on the Carryall.
They had the triangular mount included.
Regards
RR