I agree that the information in Bill Carroll's book is incorrect.
Sun visor kits were available on Tigers only as an accessory, just
like fire bottles, engine block heaters,fog lamps, clocks, or
whatever. They were never fitted as production equipment, except,
perhaps on the 15 GT cars. As delivered, the pre-drilled holes for
mounting the 2 outboard visor fittings were plugged with
chrome-plated Phillips-head screws. The screws that secure the
rear-view mirror were used to mount the center visor bracket.
The vinyl visors were available in any color you wanted, so long as
it was white. There were 2 styles: one with notches on the inboard
edges to clear the large rear-view mirror on later cars, and one
without notches for early cars with the small mirror. Notched visors
can be used on early cars, but not vice-versa.
Steel rods ran through the visors along their front edge. There was a
flat spot on the end of the rod where it protruded at the outboard
end of the visor, and this flat spot fitted into a similar-shaped
hole in the outboard mounting bracket. On the inner end of the visor,
springs in the center bracket maintained pressure on the rod in the
outboard direction, keeping the flat seated firmly in the outer
bracket. With the rod thus held stationary, the visor could
theoretically be adjusted to any position, and was held there simply
by friction between the visor and the rod.
Jim Leach gives a pretty accurate description of how the system
actually worked, and conveys the frustration most owners experienced
with it. The main problem was that eventually the rod would rust.
This caused the visor to "freeze" on the rod, causing the rod to
twist in the outer bracket whenever you tried to adjust the visor. It
took only a few of these muscular adjustments for the rod to round
out the hole in the outer bracket, which was made of fairly soft "pot
metal." Once this occurred, the visor had only one position: full
down, which generally necessitated its immediate removal!
Even if the above problem could be avoided, sooner or later the foam
padding inside the visor turned to crumbled sand, and the visors
became a unsightly, lumpy mess. Solution? Same as above!
Although the repro visors sold by Sunbeam Specialties look a little
different than the originals, they are very attractive and are made
of superior materials (e.g., stainless steel brackets). However,
because they have slightly different dimensions, they are not
interchangeable with the originals. So if you by the SS visors, make
sure you also buy the brackets that go with them.
Dick
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