window tint/cockpit mounted rearview mirror

Charleswbering · 04-29-08, 10:28 PM

have searched and came up with nothing.

Have any of you tinted the windows in your 40? How dark? whick windows? Already hot here in Atlanta even with the a/c running.

What cockpit rear view mirror have people used? Found an old Talbot susction cup one, and a ski boat mirror.

Gracious help appreciated. cb

Richard · 05-11-08, 03:35 PM

I’m checking to see if this is legal but I’m hoping not to have a real rear view mirror. I'm going to use the same camera I’ll use to take videos of open track events to be my rear view mirror. The camera is a .1 lux 580 line Sony from datatoys.com. The small dash mounted monitor has a button to flip the image so it will work correctly in either direction. Might be strange but the forward camera view will be much better without a mirror in the way. The monitor also has a wireless license plate camera so between the two I should have it covered. This was just a test fitting, the drain should be hooked back up soon along with many other improvements. I hope to post a how to on the whole project.

Bill Musarra · 05-11-08, 07:40 PM

Richard,
I like your idea for the race camera. I plan to use one of the tag cameras purchased a year or two ago to start with until my wife loosens up the purse strings. With our daughter getting married this fall, that is highly unlikely.
One thing you might want to consider is, if you have the plexi rear hatch cover, I think your visibility out the back from inside the cabin will suffer no matter how good the quality of a camera. I am planning on either getting a glass cover, or putting the camera on top of the spider. I have adapted the tag camera to a "third brake light". It is a temporary thing for now, and if the real camera will fit, it will all be glassed in and painted.

Bill

chuck smith · 05-11-08, 08:01 PM

I will be interested to see if you think the rear camera is satisfactory. I use one, but only for a general idea of what is behind me, mostly in parking lot situations( it has a wider view than my inside mirror). I have a hard time judging distance with a camera, much like with a wide angle mirror. An inside mirror is still hard to beat.

David Morton · 05-12-08, 02:11 AM

You will never have any idea of distance from a single camera installation and a mirror does. All you can ascertain from a camera is that there is something there. I have two seperate cameras on one of my vehicles (Mercedes Van) - one for overtaking in Europe and the other for connecting up a trailer but they are useless for
any depth perception. Until there is a stereoscopic system that will not change. If I was going to install one in a -40, which I don't think I would anyway, it would be the type I've seen in Japan where the camera would be in the rear number plate area and the screen in a rear view mirror in the normal central place.

John · 05-12-08, 10:23 AM

I don't know about Idaho, but in California you must have two rear view mirrors installed, one of which must be installed on the drivers side door. This can be interpreted to mean that no interior mirror is required, as long as there are two exterior mirrors available.

Malcolm · 05-13-08, 04:47 AM

On my GTD I have a very slight blue tinted front screen. I think it is 5%? If you didn't know it was tinted it is hard to spot, but it does have an effect at keeping the heat build up down just a little.

I saw a rear view mirror camera set up on a van once. The camera is fitted to the rear of the vehicle, in this case next to the door locks, and the display is rear view mirror shaped but a bit bigger and clips over the regular rear view mirror. It seemed to work well as I recall. I was told cost was about £300.

Brett James-McCall · 08-15-08, 09:11 AM

Just to bring this thread back to life slightly. I have always wanted to limit the amount of clutter that could potentially appear in a 40. With the current tax robbers (nee Government) here in the UK, it is almost a requirement if you go on any driving trip to have a Sat Nav with 'Point of Interest' in the form of Speed Cameras loaded.

Binatone recently released their T430 with a wireless revesing camera (they're doing an HD one sooon as well), which might be a useful thing for our cars. There appear to have been some pretty good review on it so far reading the web; and I am sure you could fake the reverse switch to make it more of a rear camera when you weren't using the Sat Nav. Thoughts?

Welcome to Binatone Carrera

Brett
(I have no affiliation with them, I just am thinking about putting it in my car if I ever get it to that stage of the build)

Kev Farrington · 08-15-08, 10:20 AM

I dont Know what difference, if any, it makes because my car has always been like it but I have very dark tinted strips along the top of the windscreen and the door windows like the Gulf cars. Maybe you could experiment with the idea to see if it helps with temperature. While on the subject does anyone know if tinted windscreens are legal in competition cars in the UK? I`m building another one and have been offered a light tinted screen. Cheers Kev Farrington

John · 08-15-08, 10:30 AM

Guys,

I've come up with what I consider one of the more elegant solutions - that is to mount the camera on the rear hatch in a used third break light housing - see pictures. The camera and the mirror costs about $120 and the 3rd break light housing cost me about $15 dollars on ebay!

John

molleur · 08-15-08, 11:38 AM

Nice solution, however, the depth perception problem remains (see David Morton's post). I had considered mounting a wide angle camera in the tail section, and a mirror type display on the dash. A neighbor has a similar system in his van which I drove and found that there really is a depth perception problem in this scenerio.

So, it appears that I will stay with the high mount mirrors as standard on the SLC.
Will know more after the car is delivered. I'm sure that on the road this is not to much of a problem. Backing would be the challange but to be sure, there will be a crowd around the car whenever it is parked somewhere. This allows for a "spotter" to be easily selected!

CRASH33 · 08-15-08, 12:08 PM

You guys sure are making a lot of noise about depth perception. Sorry but I'm pretty sure you can deduce relative depth perception by looking at placement of objects. Bet you guys didn't know that one of the Trans Am series drivers in the 90s only had one eye! How he did that, I still don't know, but he is proof positive that it CAN be done. In any case, I have a camera in my dually and find it another useful tool combined with my mirrors so as not to back into things. More info is usually not a bad thing. Although a complete and direct replacement for two mirrors is niether legal in my state, CA, or desirable IMO.