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>I`ve got a question that has been bugging me for years: >The rear view mirror in my `69 square has some kind of >"thorn" with a bolt pointing towards the windshield. >What`s it for ? I couldn`t find any hints in my literature. This was a "feature" only found on 68-9 T3s. That extra branch ends with a thresded piece that is rubber tipped. The rubber tip (which has often fallen off and been lost) can be screwed out until it pushes against the windshield. I beleive the purpose was intended to be twofold: The first reason was to serve as a fulcrum so that if you were thrown against the mirror in an accident it would help lever the mirror out of its spring loaded grip in the roof. Note that this logic is faulty, but that may explain why VW dropped it in 70. 68 was the first year for the spring-loaded breakaway mounting of this mirror. The second reason is that the extra point of support would help avoid annoying vibrations in the mirror that might hurt your rear vision. The later mirrors did without this, but do vibrate a bit more. However they use a shorter "stem" which changes their vibrational characteristics. It also limits how far behind the car you can see with the rear view mirror. The 68 and 69 mirrors were different: only the 69 had the day/night feature. This makes it highly desirable as a replacement in a 68 or 70-73. Jim - ******************************* Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, Wisconsin, USA *******************************