I just recently mounted a side view mirror on the right side of my Victoria using the hinge pin. The previous owner had installed the same arrangement on the left side years ago. I thought the right side would be a simple task.
What I dioscovered was that the hinge pins on slant window cars are larger in diameter and the hinge pin mirrors offered by suppliers won't fit.
The hinge pins on most Model A's, according to supplier documentation are .233-.236 in diameter. Oversize pins with a .244 diameter are also available to be used with bored out repaired hinges. The Victoria, Cabriolet, and slant window sedans, which have only two hinges per door instead of three, have a larger diameter pin. Supplier documentation indicates the diameter is .279 according to Snyder and Mac's, and 9\32" (.281) according to Bratton. Neither supplier offers an oversize pin.
Accessory outside rear view mirrors that mount on the door hinge have a shaft pin that is sized to fit a standard Model A and cannot be used on the Victoria, Cabriolet, and slant window sedans. Neither Snyder, Mac's nor Bratton supply a hinge-mounted mirror to accommodate these cars.
What I did was remove the top hinge pin on the right side. It measured a nominal 0.300. Someone must have bored it out and made a pin for it. I had a machinist friend make a new pin on a lathe the same size only longer. The bottom end was made smaller and threaded for the 1\4-20" acorn nut that comes with the mirror that is not supposed to fit a slant window car. The top hole of the mirror bracket was drilled out to fit the pin. I had to add a 0.010 shim between the hinge and the mirror bracket.
Looking at the left side it appears that a larger pin was fabricated for that side as well.
I now have a well suited mirror on the right side and I can see cars lurking in the blind area.
Tom Endy
