Outside mirrors and door handles;

[markatherton]

I am very frustrated with the quality of the outside door mirrors and door handles; I am putting these on very expensive vehicles and customers are unhappy; The mirrors start pitting in less than a year; The door handles are so difficult to open they practically break your thumb. We have spent hours trying to adjust them to no avail. I have also had trouble with the deluxe FORD grill letters pitting in a very short period of time. Has anyone found an alternative supplier they are happy with or are they all selling the same ones? Mark in San Diego, Beach City Broncos;

 

[chuddy]

I feel your pain on the door handles, specifically. The best ones I have purchased are from Toms, they work really well. Every other set I've used has been awful.

 

[f2502011]

I am very frustrated with the quality of the outside door mirrors and door handles; I am putting these on very expensive vehicles and customers are unhappy; The mirrors start pitting in less than a year; The door handles are so difficult to open they practically break your thumb. We have spent hours trying to adjust them to no avail. I have also had trouble with the deluxe FORD grill letters pitting in a very short period of time. Has anyone found an alternative supplier they are happy with or are they all selling the same ones? Mark in San Diego, Beach City Broncos;

Where have you been getting them from?

 

[markatherton]

Where have you been getting them from?

Rather not say. I generally will not bash any vendors. Just looking for suggestions on what works best.

 

[serial car restorer]

I recently bought a door mirror and pair of door handles from an eBay seller. They are all ACP brand parts, from Taiwan as we expect these days. The chrome finish looks fine for now, we'll have to wait to see how it holds up over time.

As for the handles, I only have the driver's side installed so far (passenger door isn't hung yet). After much cleaning and lubing the original latch, along with a fair amount of time adjusting the length of the link rod, I have the button effort mostly reasonable. It still requires a firm push, but nothing that will pull a muscle in your thumb. Time will tell if I can get the other side that good also.

 

[bigmuddy]

My issues with the new mirrors besides pitting is the pivot getting sloppy in short order. I have two that look almost new and you shut the door and the mirror is out of whack again. Finally said screw it and went to a single glass window and a jeep type mirror for a newer TJ.

 

[AZ73]

This might help your door handle issue. A lot of the repo handles have a squared off pin which digs into the lever. The factory pin is rounded. Scott Drake makes replacement handles that have the correct rounded pin.

New "OEM" quality outer door handles

My disaster is your benefit. I had a replacement set of outer door handles I purchased years ago, and installing them for the second time I cross threaded the mounting screw on the passenger side. I pulled it and tried to retap it and snapped the tap even with wax and a light touch. Drilling...

classicbroncos.com

I had my old mirrors re-chromed by the only shop in the country grandfathered to use the old quality process (Located in Washington State $$$) because the drivers side was a remote and no one made a replacement. I had to disassemble the cables to take the mirror out of the housing and I rebuilt the cables using a repo Mustang remote mirror as a parts donor.

 

[rockinrich]

Rather not say. I generally will not bash any vendors. Just looking for suggestions on what works best.

I just ordered some black satin mirrors and handles,hopefully since they're black they won't have any issues.

 

[BOBS 2 68S]

Last stock type mirrors I bought and was happy with were from Dennis Carpenter

 

[ba123]

This company makes some really nice stuff, although it is Priced REALLY high. I did get their black headlight rings and love them, but man, were they pricey for those simple headlight rings.

Here are their door handles:
https://fatfender.com/collections/b...1977-ford-bronco-billet-aluminum-door-handles

I have thought about it as I worry how the ones I got will do over time.

The mirrors I got were from United Pacific and they seem pretty good so far. Not sure if these are different than the vendors or not.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BFZNGP4D/?tag=classicbroncos-20

 

[SpudBoy]

This might help your door handle issue. A lot of the repo handles have a squared off pin which digs into the lever. The factory pin is rounded. Scott Drake makes replacement handles that have the correct rounded pin.

New "OEM" quality outer door handles

My disaster is your benefit. I had a replacement set of outer door handles I purchased years ago, and installing them for the second time I cross threaded the mounting screw on the passenger side. I pulled it and tried to retap it and snapped the tap even with wax and a light touch. Drilling...

classicbroncos.com

I had my old mirrors re-chromed by the only shop in the country grandfathered to use the old quality process (Located in Washington State $$$) because the drivers side was a remote and no one made a replacement. I had to disassemble the cables to take the mirror out of the housing and I rebuilt the cables using a repo Mustang remote mirror as a parts donor.

Just asking here as the issue came up in this thread ... I have a '76 with remote driver's mirror, which functions and the chrome is thankfully OK. However, the mirror itself is a bit "loose" in that it will not stay adjusted where I can see and actually need it. Excess vibration (what Bronco doesn't have that) and even air flow above maybe 50-55 MPH and the mirror inside the frame shifts. Any help or hints? I have even considered converting to a stock non-remote, as seeing the idiots trying to run me off the road is more important than originality.

 

[Dylan_Shaffer]

Where can you get good chrome done these days? South of the border maybe? Mirrors I got started pitting within a couple months, my handles are original and the chrome from back then seems to hold up much better. Bronco sits outside 100% of the time about a mile from the beach. If there’s demand it could be worth getting a group order together to send a bunch of these mirrors and handles to get rechromed at a quality shop.

 

[Madgyver]

I had my old mirrors re-chromed by the only shop in the country grandfathered to use the old quality process (Located in Washington State $$$) because the drivers side was a remote and no one made a replacement. I had to disassemble the cables to take the mirror out of the housing and I rebuilt the cables using a repo Mustang remote mirror as a parts donor.

where is this chrome shop in Washington?

 

[AZ73]

where is this chrome shop in Washington?

Restoration Plating

We offer quality auto restoration services - Metal Restoration, Show Quality Polishing, & Chrome Plating.

restorationplating.com

 

[AZ73]

Where can you get good chrome done these days? South of the border maybe? Mirrors I got started pitting within a couple months, my handles are original and the chrome from back then seems to hold up much better. Bronco sits outside 100% of the time about a mile from the beach. If there’s demand it could be worth getting a group order together to send a bunch of these mirrors and handles to get rechromed at a quality shop.

Restoration Plating

We offer quality auto restoration services - Metal Restoration, Show Quality Polishing, & Chrome Plating.

restorationplating.com

 

[AZ73]

Just asking here as the issue came up in this thread ... I have a '76 with remote driver's mirror, which functions and the chrome is thankfully OK. However, the mirror itself is a bit "loose" in that it will not stay adjusted where I can see and actually need it. Excess vibration (what Bronco doesn't have that) and even air flow above maybe 50-55 MPH and the mirror inside the frame shifts. Any help or hints? I have even considered converting to a stock non-remote, as seeing the idiots trying to run me off the road is more important than originality.

I'll talk about the mirror housing and the mirror itself just for reference for others.

The mirror housing is tightened with the screw that's on the back of the arm that attached to the door. Either the screw is loose or you're F'd because it's held tight against the arm with a ball mount. If you over tighten the screw you can crack the casing of the mirror housing that the ball seats in. See the red arrow.




The mirror itself actually rotates around another little ball that plugs the hole the piece that mounts the housing to the arm went through.



The 2 little sticks sticking up on either side of the hole are bump stops for the mirror. The mirror itself is held in position by the spring in the remote lever. My spring and remote housing was was just old and worn out, and where the arrow is was cracked on the back side which didn't help the spring either.



When I went to disassemble, the cheap pot metal just crumbled. which is one of the reasons I purchased a repo mustang remote mirror, so I could use the controller (spring and housing) as a donor new piece. I removed the controller and tossed the rest of the mirror.



It was complicated to remove the old cables and correctly attach them to the new controller (although each of the 3 cables was marked at the factory with a different color on the tip). I had to cut the little brass bushing off the ends, thread the cables through the housing and the controller, then use a special tool to crimp new tiny brass bushings on the ends. The repo controller worked out great. The spring is tight which keeps the mirror in place, and it perfectly fit the old bezel nut and handle that I had re-chromed with the mirror.



That's the long answer. For you it's most likely a worn out spring in the controller. I'm not sure how you can tighten it up without replacing it like I did. You may be able to somehow shim your spring at the bottom. If you're local to the Phoenix area I'm more than happy to help you graft a repo controller on since I had to buy the tool and a bag full of bushings. The mirrors are rare so don't toss it if you swap it out.

Sometimes North East Ford Parts has a used remote mirror for sale (they have one listed now for $149) but the pitting is really bad. They always seem to be which is why I just rebuilt and re-chromed mine.

 

[f2502011]

Rather not say. I generally will not bash any vendors. Just looking for suggestions on what works best.

Understand and don't want anyone to be bashed. I wanted to know so that I don't purchase the same products myself only to be disappointed.

 

[mustanggarage]

I struggled with the door handles also. did a lot of reading and finally someone told me to take the internal parts out of the old door handle and reuse them. thats what I did. now my wife can at least get the passenger door open, even if it is still a bit of a struggle

 

[ford man]

I'll talk about the mirror housing and the mirror itself just for reference for others.

The mirror housing is tightened with the screw that's on the back of the arm that attached to the door. Either the screw is loose or you're F'd because it's held tight against the arm with a ball mount. If you over tighten the screw you can crack the casing of the mirror housing that the ball seats in. See the red arrow.


View attachment 936111 View attachment 936112 View attachment 936114

The mirror itself actually rotates around another little ball that plugs the hole the piece that mounts the housing to the arm went through.

View attachment 936115

The 2 little sticks sticking up on either side of the hole are bump stops for the mirror. The mirror itself is held in position by the spring in the remote lever. My spring and remote housing was was just old and worn out, and where the arrow is was cracked on the back side which didn't help the spring either.

View attachment 936116

When I went to disassemble, the cheap pot metal just crumbled. which is one of the reasons I purchased a repo mustang remote mirror, so I could use the controller (spring and housing) as a donor new piece. I removed the controller and tossed the rest of the mirror.

View attachment 936117

It was complicated to remove the old cables and correctly attach them to the new controller (although each of the 3 cables was marked at the factory with a different color on the tip). I had to cut the little brass bushing off the ends, thread the cables through the housing and the controller, then use a special tool to crimp new tiny brass bushings on the ends. The repo controller worked out great. The spring is tight which keeps the mirror in place, and it perfectly fit the old bezel nut and handle that I had re-chromed with the mirror.

View attachment 936118 View attachment 936119 View attachment 936120

That's the long answer. For you it's most likely a worn out spring in the controller. I'm not sure how you can tighten it up without replacing it like I did. You may be able to somehow shim your spring at the bottom. If you're local to the Phoenix area I'm more than happy to help you graft a repo controller on since I had to buy the tool and a bag full of bushings. The mirrors are rare so don't toss it if you swap it out.

Sometimes North East Ford Parts has a used remote mirror for sale (they have one listed now for $149) but the pitting is really bad. They always seem to be which is why I just rebuilt and re-chromed mine.

Sound's like to me you could make some side money restoring mirrors I tried to take one apart once let,s just say it trued out badly I do have a couple cores I need restored!

 

[AZ73]

Sound's like to me you could make some side money restoring mirrors I tried to take one apart once let,s just say it trued out badly I do have a couple cores I need restored!

I'd have to actually finish my Bronco first. It's close....... It's little details like this that take months to do that keep dragging it out.