Lets talk 1960-1961 cast iron mirror arms

[1963c-10]

I now have 4 different 60-61 solid cast iron mirror arms. Question is Im not sure which ones came on what. I now have 4 different variations. I will include pics. The black one is a short arm, the yellow one with the bend is a long arm for the truck that had the factory spare tire fender, the black one on the yellow mounting plate is a long arm passenger side, and the blue one is a long arm driver. Does anybody know which trucks got the short vs long arm mirrors? I plan to use the passenger side and the spare tire arm. The spare tire mirror is the most interesting as I have never seen another one. The guy I got it from said it was the factory installed mirror on his 60 that came with a spare tire mount fender. I stripped off 4 coats of paint to get it to the original yellow. I was checking to see if its been fabricated in any way, but cant find any evidence of it. Its cast and has never been welded so Id have to think its OEM like the PO said. Being cast, if you tried to bend it, it would snap. Any info on this would be great, as I find very little literature on the mirror arms & I never seen to see any trucks with them. Alot of the older guys around here said that being cast, they broke easy and were replaceed with the hollow tube style started in 62.

[1963c-10]

Heres a comparison of the long vs short arm. The 2nd pic is the two long arms im currently planning on using and will get rid of the other two. Im hoping the spare tire mirror will help with the void that the tire causes when mounted on the fender. I mocked it up yesterday and it made a huge difference in visibility.

[1963c-10]

Here are OEM vs repop screws for mounting the arms. The heads are different on them. The orignals are a little more inset than the repops.

[1963c-10]

Heres a pic of a current repop. The chrome arm showed up better than the black did, but its just for example. Also does anybody have a pic of a 62-66 OEM mirror arm to show the comparison of the OEM vs repop?

[jonzcustomshop]

I have 2 short black ones like yours (lh) one I know for sure is off a 60.

my problem, my rh one is a little different than the lefts, the left has a nice smooth molded transition from the arm to the base, the right is real angular, and dosen't have a molded look to it.

I am looking for a molded style match to my left.

I will try to get some pics up of what I have.

[rideblue00]

Your blue one is the one i see the most on 64-66. It looks longer than the ones you have pictured. It looks like it is as long as the chrome one.

[1963c-10]

The blue arm is one that is still on the original door. Its off a 1961 that I got for parts. Truck was single owner 21,000 miles truck that was t-boned. The cast iron mirror arms only came on the 60-61's odd to find it on a 64-66. All the factory 62-66 arms that I have seen were 2 piece arms that were pressed or welded. These are 1 piece solid cast iron arms.

[1963c-10]

jonzcustomshop.....my passenger side is also a little different. I will try and get a better pic of the base. All of my driver sides are "smooth" and the passenger side has this "rib" style base.

[MalibuKasey]

I actually have a short cast iron one on my 66... I found it still attached to the original 60 in a boneyard.... I dug it so thats what im running. I have to take the mirror off to open the vent window all the way though :-)

[1963c-10]

bottom and side view. Very thick & heavy arms

[1963c-10]

Originally Posted by MalibuKasey

I actually have a short cast iron one on my 66... I found it still attached to the original 60 in a boneyard.... I dug it so thats what im running. I have to take the mirror off to open the vent window all the way though :-)

Does it have the smooth or rib style base? I also like the cast style mirror arms and Im putting them on my 63. Your doors/cab are different, didn't know it created a problem opening the vents though. What kind of mirror head are you running? Im running the 5" round. Im still looking for another factory mirror like the one pictured here.

[MalibuKasey]

mines a smooth base with a round 5" mirror.

[1963c-10]

Get a pic if you dont mind. Id like to see them on a 64-66 cab. Also good to inform others that if they are going to run them on the 64-66 that they will run into issues with the vent assemblies.

[markeb01]

I’ve been aware of the cast arms for many years, but have never seen this many variations before. Can’t help with the original applications, but can offer there were at least two types of screws on the early trucks. The oldest version I know of has a very wide serrated flange almost the full size of the indentation in the mirror mounting base:



Also forum member gcwhite has cast arms on his truck, and both the driver and passenger arms appear to be the rib style like your passenger side photo, and both sides seem to have the early wide flange screws as well:





His post has arm length dimensions as well:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...=mirror+screws

Thanks for posting this thread, I’m interested to learn more about these rarities.

[1963c-10]

Hmmm... the driver side is harder to tell if its "ribbed", but the passenger def is. I wonder if he can take a look at his driver side and see which one it is. Do you know what year truck he has? Im wondering if one version was 60 and one was 61? Or was one used at specific plants? My 61 is the only truck that I can verify where it was built which was St. Louis, which had the long blue arm in the pic above. I can check on the assembly plant of the spare tire arm as I know the man who owns the truck. The mystery deepens. I know its a petty thing, but I like to be correct when I identify parts. I also note two different screws. Half of mine have the wide flange and half dont.

[markeb01]

Originally Posted by 1963c-10

Do you know what year truck he has?

It is a 1961 GMC.

[1963c-10]

The more I look at the pic the driver side looks like the ribbed design. My 61 arm is the smooth version. So I dont think it was a year specific thing, Im more inclined to think was just different assembly plants.

[oem4me]

Originally Posted by 1963c-10

Heres a pic of a current repop. does anybody have a pic of a 62-66 OEM mirror arm to show the comparison of the OEM vs repop?

Here you go. looks like the base is "softer' on the OE mirror.

[1963c-10]

Ok, thats the 62-66 two piece base. Great...didnt have a pic of a 62-66 OWM mirror base. Like the original mirror head too. All the repops are center mount studs. I agree the repop arms dont look as rugged as the OEM ones. I believe the OEM 62-66 had solid shafts also.

[1963c-10]

Here are the lenghts that I have: black short arm is 6 1/2" , yellow spare tire arm is 9",
passenger side is 9" and the blue one is at my storage unit....ill have to post later.

[markeb01]

Interestingly, there was an NOS passenger mirror offered on Ebay a while back that claimed it was for a 1961 GMC. It had the later tubular arm, but the early offset head. Here are the photos that went with the listing. It includes the newer screws with the smaller heads, and a part number of 2233986 on the original box:

[1963c-10]

Have to get somebody to run the #'s. I think aerotruck can probably search the # and find out more on it. Maybe late 61 made for the 62 year? Also....were there any veriations for GMC as opposed to Chevy? My Crash Sheets only show the 62-66 chevy arms. I have Crash Sheets from 60-66 chevy/gmc and suburban if anybody needs them. Most have parts #'s and exploded views

[jonzcustomshop]

here are mine , the one mounted to the driver door/round/black is a 60, and the one mounted to the driver door green is a 61, the 60 is molded , and the 61 has the "fin"
the 60 was a long step, and the 61 was a short step, I don't remember what spare tire the 60 had, but the 61 s/s had the under bed spare.

I need a "60" molded passenger side if anyone ever finds one.. I have a 61, but don't care for the look for my project.

[1963c-10]

I have a 60 molded short arm that I would get rid of, its the short black one.

[jonzcustomshop]

Originally Posted by 1963c-10

I have a 60 molded short arm that I would get rid of, its the short black one.

If it is a passenger side, that is the one I need!
here is the only passenger side one I have, it was off a 61 long step.
it is the ribbed design.

I will have to measure my other arms, one 60 lh that I have is the 6.5 inch (not pictured yet) and the other 2 lh I have pictured I didn't measure yet