Alternative to the dash mounted rear view mirror-low windshields
Mike Hudson aka 23yearebuild came up with an alternative for the dash mounted rear view mirror for the low windshield cars. Mike's comments follow:
Here is a picture of the Victoria British catalog page for mirrors. Their catalog is available on line, and here is the direct link to the mirrors:
http://www.victoriabritish.com/icatalog/mg/full.aspx?Page=98
Part number 9-091 is what I used for the windshield mounted rear view, and part number 9-180 is for the fender mounted unit.
The base of the fender mirror appears to be good quality, chrome plated steel, the mirror head itself is stainless steel, and will drop right in the existing single hole. You can use it on RH or LH (either fender). Swivel tension is fully adjustable, for $14.95.
The windshield mounted unit uses a two piece, chrome plated clamp on the center rod, but will require a small piece of tape or similar material to shim the clamp enough to tighten it. Apparently the MG rods are a little thicker. I was surprised by the finish of the mirror head as it is simply a gold colored paint on the back side. Not altogether ugly, but it would have been nicer to see it chromed as well. Probably explains the low price of $19.95. Silver paint, or the color of your choice would fix that. Someday in the future, I will soak it in some solvent like acetone or lacquer thinner to remove the glass, plate it, and re-insert the glass. That would look awesome and would no longer look like the MG unit from the catalog! I really like the functionality of this mirror as it looks right at home mounted on the rod, and IMHO it gives a much better rear view than the dash mounted roadster mirror. I did manage to break my mirror as I was fumbling around trying to mount it with my large hands. Wouldn't you know I was 10 minutes into this with shimming and tightening the one screw, when it slipped from my hand and landed squarely upside down on the shifter knob. One single crack in the middle. Not to worry, $19.95 will fix that! Picturess of my install will follow sometime soon.
Thanks Mike for sharing.