thisismatt Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 My 521 has a wink mirror installed by a PO, but being 6'4" it restricts my forward vision, causing me to have to tilt my head to see stoplights, etc. Chances are your 521 either didn't come with an original rearview mirror or yours looks like the one from my parts truck, falling appart, like this:I wanted to use the stock mount, rather than glue on a glass-mount style mirror, so I looked around for something that might work. I came across these on ebay:I asked a few different sellers what the ball diameter is. 1/2 inch! Just like/similar to the stock mounting arm ball. Perfect!Loosen the screw, swap the mounts...Not too shabby, and you keep your stock mounting arm. The dimensions are ~6" x 2-1/2" whereas stock is ~8-1/2 x 2-1/2". I'll powder coat the mounting arm eventually, and file down some burs on the clamp so that it isn't trying to gouge the stock mounting arm ball, but overall I'm happy with the result. I don't know who makes these mirrors, but you can find various sellers on ebay with them if you search for "stainless rear view mirror" and weed through the results. I got this one for $25 shipped. 5 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 Is this the one? http://www.ebay.com/...dd5b417&vxp=mtr How did you know what the back looked like, as there are no photos of the back? I found another one that shows the back, is this the one you bought?. http://www.ebay.com/...3c15126&vxp=mtr This a great find. :thumbup: 2 Quote Link to comment
bananahamuck Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 Good find the one in my car is exactly like that and it fell off the other day because of sun damage around ball gripper ..I had to steal off other car ,, now i can put it back.. B) Wayno, maybe this one? http://www.ebay.com/...3c15126&vxp=mtr Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 Good find the one in my car is exactly like that and it fell off the other day because of sun damage around ball gripper ..I had to steal off other car ,, now i can put it back.. B) Wayno, maybe this one? http://www.ebay.com/...3c15126&vxp=mtr That was the second one I found, this is a great alternative if one cannot find a stock mirror. 1 Quote Link to comment
thisismatt Posted December 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 Is this the one? http://www.ebay.com/...dd5b417&vxp=mtr How did you know what the back looked like, as there are no photos of the back? I found another one that shows the back, is this the one you bought?. http://www.ebay.com/...3c15126&vxp=mtr This a great find. :thumbup: The second link is the same seller I bought mine from. I bought it Monday, he shipped Tuesday from NY via Priority Mail, and I got it today in CA. There are other sellers with pictures showing the back, etc, so I just looked for the cheapest one I could find where everything else looked the same. My biggest concern is the stainless clamp rubbing on the cast aluminum mounting arm ball during adjustment. I'm thinking filing the rough edges + powdercoating the mount will keep it from wearing the ball, or maybe some kind of plastic cap over the ball. I worry too much :P 2 Quote Link to comment
wayno Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 I just bought one, as every time it gets hot outside my mirror won't stay up, it always droops and won't stay up, thanks for the leg work, makes things easier. :thumbup: 1 Quote Link to comment
flatcat19 Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 That's pretty clean. Looks good. When I bought my first 521, the mirror was MIA. Slight thread jack on this one... I was rummaging through a friend's parts stash shortly after I got my truck. There was a 620 mirror and stalk in there. I took the set-up home and removed the stalk. The mirror was a perfect fit onto the 521's stalk. 1 Quote Link to comment
thisismatt Posted December 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 That's pretty clean. Looks good. When I bought my first 521, the mirror was MIA. Slight thread jack on this one... I was rummaging through a friend's parts stash shortly after I got my truck. There was a 620 mirror and stalk in there. I took the set-up home and removed the stalk. The mirror was a perfect fit onto the 521's stalk. Good to know. I saw that there are some aftermarket reproductions on ebay, too. 1 Quote Link to comment
mklotz70 Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 Nice find :) 1 Quote Link to comment
mrbigtanker Posted December 1, 2012 Report Share Posted December 1, 2012 I got a brand new NOS in my truck but that my friend is a good idea.kudosss 1 Quote Link to comment
skyblue Posted December 3, 2012 Report Share Posted December 3, 2012 that looks great. thx for sharing. 1 Quote Link to comment
dat521gatherer Posted December 4, 2012 Report Share Posted December 4, 2012 Nice find. All datsun ball mount rearview mirriors are interchangable. 1200,b210,520,521,620,720 ect. Newer 720 mirrors are not rottet yet but they are a brown/orange color. 2 Quote Link to comment
bilzbobaggins Posted December 4, 2012 Report Share Posted December 4, 2012 I like this. I bought a 521 arm with the pastic crappy mirror off ebay three years ago. The mirrors in bad shape already. Thank you 2 Quote Link to comment
datsunaholic Posted December 4, 2012 Report Share Posted December 4, 2012 If I could only get the screws out of the roof, this would be golden. I have the arms, but someone years ago took the mirror off arm and all. Put the screws back in, where they proceeded to rust-weld into their holes. The stick-on mirror fell off years ago, so it's been nothing for a while. Not all 720 mirrors are brown. Mine is blue. They're color matched to the interior. 1 Quote Link to comment
thisismatt Posted December 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2012 I filed down and then took some emery cloth to the rough edges around the ball mount to it has a more snug fit without gouging the aluminum ball. Yesterday, after taking down the wink mirror, I installed the new mirror and the sun visors from my parts truck (after a good cleaning). The mirror works great, although granted it is a little narrow. Either way, I can now see without tilting my head like I had to do with the wink mirror :) 1 Quote Link to comment
Rocket Dog Posted March 23, 2013 Report Share Posted March 23, 2013 I filed down and then took some emery cloth to the rough edges around the ball mount to it has a more snug fit without gouging the aluminum ball. Yesterday, after taking down the wink mirror, I installed the new mirror and the sun visors from my parts truck (after a good cleaning). The mirror works great, although granted it is a little narrow. Either way, I can now see without tilting my head like I had to do with the wink mirror :) Can I see a pic? I just ordered one myself and probably I'll paint the mirror mount and mirror frame to go with the interior. 1 Quote Link to comment
motavated Posted March 23, 2013 Report Share Posted March 23, 2013 I did this mod long ago. It is the 20 dollar mirror that mooneyes sells. http://www.mooneyes.jp/product/5896 1 Quote Link to comment
DanielC Posted March 24, 2013 Report Share Posted March 24, 2013 I have gotten two different mirrors out of Mazda B2000 trucks that fit the Datsun 521 mirror mount ball perfectly, at Pick-n-Pull. 1 Quote Link to comment
Rocket Dog Posted March 24, 2013 Report Share Posted March 24, 2013 Do you know what year B2000? 1 Quote Link to comment
XXL Posted March 24, 2013 Report Share Posted March 24, 2013 If you want the not-very-inexpensive fix, I just stumbled onto this NOS part on ebay-- http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=271139128363 1 Quote Link to comment
DanielC Posted March 24, 2013 Report Share Posted March 24, 2013 Sorry, do not know what year. I just went up one aisle, and down the next, looking for a mirror mounted like the one in a 521. I think the Mazda mirrors are even made by the same Japanese company that make the Datsun mirrors. Here is the mirror that was in one of my 521 trucks. And this is the Mazda mirror on the 521 pedestal. 2 Quote Link to comment
thisismatt Posted March 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2013 Looking at them, they appear to be the same mirror housing, different arm of course. 1 Quote Link to comment
Rocket Dog Posted March 24, 2013 Report Share Posted March 24, 2013 Yea nice, great match too. Well...I think I'll stick with the "Matt solution" but if I ever make a (long overdue) trip to the pick and pull, I'll scout out a B200 mirror. Looks like a perfect fit. 1 Quote Link to comment
thisismatt Posted March 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2013 Sorry, I didn't grab a shot from the front of the truck. 2 Quote Link to comment
Rocket Dog Posted March 26, 2013 Report Share Posted March 26, 2013 I like it, looks very cool. You have a nice truck Matt. 1 Quote Link to comment
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