1968 Roadster mirror

[eaglenest66]

Bobby,

It's been a while! Just thought I would provide input about this discussion on the 68 roadster mirror. I have found in all my original brochures, ads, literature and Ford installation sheets that the 68 roadster was produced with the retangular mirror and profiled to lay horizonitally. If you have an original sales brochure for 1968, look on page 3 at the red roadster in the lower left corner of that page and you can see a horizontal driver's side mirror. Perhaps Ford changed the design simply because the round mirror found on the 66 and 67s can become "too small" to view with. I can't ever remember finding anything showing me the traditional proud round 66-67 mirror mounted on a 68. I do own a 68 rectangular mirror in it's original box with 1968 Ford bronco original installation document. This piece of literature takes some of the guess work out for all of us! I will forward some pictures to Terry and Mike and let them post for me. Yes I will become a contributor in the near future so I can post pictures as well. Hope this helps in answering your question and hope you find my input valuable as well.

By the way, roadsters rock!!

-Tim

 

[Blue71]

Great info Tim. Thanks for helping this post out some more. Love to see the pics when they are posted.

Thanks again,

Andy
Blue

 

[Baja71]

In 1968 there were only 212 roadsters made, so if they all came with the square mirror, that would still make it a very low number. I find it strange also that Ford made so many small changes on these trucks in such a small amount of time. It must have cost a fortune for some of the changes that they made in the early years such as the drip rail on the upper floor pan after the 1st month production on the roadster. Small chages can cost big money in production!!;D

Change for the sake of change wouldn't make much financial sense, but if you providing solutions to known problems as a manufacturer, what choice do you have??

 

[66Bronco]

Here are the pics that Tim sent me to post here.

-Terry

 

[Broncoblood]

Made it back, well so far so good, thanx 4 all the help.
I also looked in my 1968 reproduction brochure and found that little detail I overlooked. It is a white single stick mounted rectangle shaped mirror, kind of like some of the door mirror heads on the 1967 Bronco's 3"x5" instead of 4"x5".
So I agree I like the round mirror look, vintage to the Roadsters but I got a 68Roadster so I am in the market for a 68 square Roadster mirror if anybody comes across one? U13NLC71655 thnx 2 all my Roadster friends...

 

[Broncoblood]

My Roadsters serialized date was 12/27/67 and build was 1/13/68.
The mirror was missing when I got the Roadster but did have the original 4 bolt holes on the drivers side fender and actually had the backing plate piece stuck on the inside of the fender behind the holes. No hole on the upper and or down below like the later 68 mirror is showing with the 3 stick mount combo. So with a build date of 68, a title of 68 and a VIN of 68, I plan on running with what I think was put on there, a single stick, 4 bolt mount plate with a 68 rectangle headed NOS mirror which what is being shown on the Litho FORD Repro Brochure with a print date of 8/67 which I think is what was ran for the 1968 Broncos in earlier production?
What do you guys think, with my build date do I have everybody's approval on the mirror to run?

 

[Broncoblood]

Here is the pix I have, not as clean as Tims and Terry's but some reference?

 

[Broncoblood]

the other

 

[77Bronco636]

I would go with the square one bobby. There are not that many 68 roadsters out there and to make it correct would be really cool. Plus it would be a good conversation piece when everyone tells you that the mirror is incorrect, but it really is not.
Paul;D

 

[66Bronco]

I'd be careful about going with what you see in the Bronco literature. I'm not saying it's always wrong mind you but in my opinion a lot of the photos were "touched up" from year to year and not always accurate. I don't have a lot of the '68 material since my "thing" has been the '66 stuff but the one 68 Ford Light Truck Sales Features brochure I have shows a Bronco on the cover with '66 bumpers on it and the wheels appear to be added in (color doesn't look right). On the inside is a roadster with no mirror, a halfcab with a '66/67 roadster mirror on the door, an engine compartment with the 6 cylinder radiator w/ a 289 (it's the '66 289 Ad shot w/ the wrong Aircleaner), and all of the pictured broncos have a side lens markers that appear to be drawn in.

The Ford Parts manual does show the same part number for the 66-68 round head mirror. The mirror that Tim and I posted is identified as being '68 Bronco Rectanguar head fender mounted and painted. Due to the mounting brackets the Lefthand the Righthand mirrors were different. The Bronco towing mirror was introduced in '67 could be mounted on either side.


-Terry

... I plan on running with what I think was put on there, a single stick, 4 bolt mount plate with a 68 rectangle headed NOS mirror which what is being shown on the Litho FORD Repro Brochure with a print date of 8/67 which I think is what was ran for the 1968 Broncos in earlier production?

 

[toddz69]

I'd be careful about going with what you see in the Bronco literature. I'm not saying it's always wrong mind you but in my opinion a lot of the photos were "touched up" from year to year and not always accurate. I don't have a lot of the '68 material since my "thing" has been the '66 stuff but the one 68 Ford Light Truck Sales Features brochure I have shows a Bronco on the cover with '66 bumpers on it and the wheels appear to be added in (color doesn't look right). On the inside is a roadster with no mirror, a halfcab with a '66/67 roadster mirror on the door, an engine compartment with the 6 cylinder radiator w/ a 289 (it's the '66 289 Ad shot w/ the wrong Aircleaner), and all of the pictured broncos have a side lens markers that appear to be drawn in.

I hadn't looked at some of my old literature for awhile so I dug it out tonight here and perused through some good stuff again. Second what Terry says - you can see airbrushed changes all over them.

In particular the shot Bobby posted above of the roadster is a picture also used in one of the '67 brochures I have. The same roadster has a round head mirror in the '67 brochure. If you compare it to the '68, you can see it's the exact same photo with the mirror shape changed a bit.

Boy, we like to nitpick these things . I'll bet we're not as bad as the Mustang crowd though!

Todd Z.

 

[mike.l]

Due to the mounting brackets the Lefthand the Righthand mirrors were different.

-Terry

Terry

Whats different about the left and right mirrors? Comparing the two that I have, the radius on all the mounting brackets is the same.

Do the right and left just have different part #'s, but are really the same?

Mike

 

[66Bronco]

Mike, I was referring to the '68 mirror whose picture I posted. Your round head post mirror is the same for both sides and has one part number. The '68 mirror picture (also see Tim's post) is different and does have different part numbers (LH and RH).

-Terry

Terry

Whats different about the left and right mirrors? Comparing the two that I have, the radius on all the mounting brackets is the same.

Do the right and left just have different part #'s, but are really the same?

Mike

 

[mike.l]

Trying not to complicate things any more. A roadster for sale locally which led me to buy the one that I have has a vin of, U13FLB02278. What year is this since it doesnt fit into the list on broncohio. I belive it had a round mirror (the pass was missing) single post mount. Either way it didn't have the setup that looked like the towing mirror.

 

[66Bronco]

Mike,

That consecutive unit number appears to me to have an March '67 production date. 1967 is a screwing year since some of the Ford literature (I'm looking at the 1967 Ford Bronco Shop Manual) shows that an extra digit was added after A99999 instead of going to the next letter 'B' (i.e. A111,111). One source I have shows A98,00-B11,999 to be an Econoline or F-series truck unit number.

FWIW, the 1967 Bronco towing mirror was interchangable side to side per the Ford parts manual.


-Terry

Trying not to complicate things any more. A roadster for sale locally which led me to buy the one that I have has a vin of, U13FLB02278. What year is this since it doesnt fit into the list on broncohio. I belive it had a round mirror (the pass was missing) single post mount. Either way it didn't have the setup that looked like the towing mirror.

 

[mike.l]

Terry,

Never noticed that they changed from a 6 digit vin to a 7 digit.

Mike

 

[Broncoblood]

Hey Todd, I think we are way cooler then Mustang crowd. I like it that we only have 3 models to nitpik about so we can dial them in even more. So I tought I was going to get off easy with my mirror choice and now Terry and Tim are backing me up against the wall. I am starting to think that a Stroppe Bronco and a Roadster mirror being the hardest things to find fall into 2nd and 3rd place with the 68 Roadster mirror being the most difficult???
Thanks for all the chatter, I love every word that is posted.
Mike is that Green Roadster the one with the 7 digit VIN? very nice...

 

[eaglenest66]

So as the plot thickens!!! That is the coolest thing about the "bronco" is the hunt for the little treasures! So not to change the subject, how about the interior rain gutter behind the foot pedals? I have been asked by numerous people on that subject. It is located just above the floor pan on the driver's side just below the fresh air interior intake box.

-Tim

 

[Blue71]

So as the plot thickens!!! That is the coolest thing about the "bronco" is the hunt for the little treasures! So not to change the subject, how about the interior rain gutter behind the foot pedals? I have been asked by numerous people on that subject. It is located just above the floor pan on the driver's side just below the fresh air interior intake box.

-Tim

Yeah Tim, You had e-mailed me some pics of that gutter. Kind of a neat thing about the '66's. Thanks again. Wonder why they changed and deleted them from later years?

Andy
Blue71

 

[Broncoblood]

I have seen those gutters too. Andrews wim white Roadster has them, I think his build date was September? I have another Roadster other then my 68, a 66 U13FL738673 August build date and the gutters are not there? I think the gutters came on the Ranger model Roadsters to keep the dust off a business mans shoe?
So if anybody out there knows anybody with a 68 Roadster, let me know, I would love to see some pics.