Greetings,
Trying to put together a folder of info on the stock OEM Ford mirrors placed on many of our Panteras. Hope to munch this info down to a newsletter article.....PLUS get info for guys that want to buy new ones......without having to return purchases because vendors (not Pantera vendors) and sellers seem hesitant to post real information in their ads....!!!
The Ford Master Parts Catalog (1973 printing I believe...only one out there) lists only one mirror and it is a Pantera specific piece. Now that said, we know that dealers (or the factory????) installed a common Galaxie mirror on many many cars....... BUT if you ordered the Pantera mirror via the part number, you likely got a Galaxie mirror....with two special metric screws that were never used on production US cars.....so the part number of the "mirror kit" changes when the Galaxie mirror and the metric screws are dropped in a box. Or something along these lines.........
I'm trying to glean info from my 1975 edition of the Ford Master Parts Catalog that the dealerships would have....but it's a last edition, and some of the parts aren't listed, removed, or there are errors never corrected....and I can't draw any good conclusions. BUT, I do think that Ford simply dipped into the pool of available parts to make this mirror happen instead of spending more money on molds, production, blah blah blah....on a very limited production vehicle!
I know many of you have removed stock chrome mirrors and have gone to great lengths to fit more streamlined or perhaps just power mirrors to these cars. But there are those that want to get sets of ugly mirrors off of our cars, like me, and I happen to like the simplicity of the chrome ones, and the aftermarket has seen fit to come up with very nice reproductions......but getting info about these new mirrors is next to impossible!
I am going to try and do this, BUT, first I need to know what I'm looking for!
I know that the rectangular mirror top measures aprox 3.25" x 5.5" . (did Ford have a larger size also?)
I know that the place on the Pantera door where these mirrors mount is flat. Not concave.....not convex, so a flat gasket is called for.
I know that the same mirror was used RH and LH.
Ford made several casting versions that appear the same externally, until you flip them upside down and look at the casting number.
They made several versions of the base gasket to fit different vehicles also!
I need you guys to dig into the old dusty boxes on the shelf in your garage where you buried your old manual chrome mirrors!
What I need to know:
1) Base casting number. Something like C7AB-17743-A OR similar.
2) Base Gasket part number. Similar to C7TZ-17724-P OR similar.
3) Size of your mirror top rectangular piece if NOT a 3.25 x 5.5" piece.
NEW EDIT!!! 3/19
4) *****I just received a note an owner submitted about a small bevel on the "ball" area at the top of the base, which allows more "angle" movement when installed in the RH door location. What I don't know is "which" mirror this is yet......as the mirror is still on the car! Another detail to look for! Cheers!
IF anyone has an OEM Ford actual Pantera mirror still in a box, would love to see what all that has! Box would likely have a D16Y-17682-B (or similar) number printed on the box.
Please reply to this post, or privately to me if you appreciate anonymity...
Cheers!!! ...and thanks!
Steve
