I just came back in from the garage, where I took photos of one of the ?Tex? arms, vs the SNG version sent to me by Julian Barratt, beleived to be the current version. Despite my previous conviction, I have not been able to determine that my first mirrors are in fact the Tex version, because, checking back through my receipts, it appears they came from eBay and were not in original boxes. They do however have TEX written on the mirror heads, but not on the arms. It was this fact which led me to believe they were Tex items.
The SNG version also has no writing on the arm, which is clearly a different shape to the others (see below). However, it too has TEX written on the head, although the head is slightly different from the others, with a better quality securing method for the glass. Given the SNG mirror also has Tex written on the head, but is different, it is possible all share "Tex" heads, but are not (as complete items) manufactured by them.
I can only see one version of these mirrors on the Tex site, so I don't believe they make more than one version.
Anyhow, here are the two arms, with the heads removed, the SNG version on the right:
What is clear, is that the head end of the arm is more or less parallel with the base on the SNG version, whereas with the others, if points inward (and, not so visibly in the photo, downward).
Here is the SNG version in a Trial fit:
It is difficult for me to demonstrate the poor fit of the original mirrors, but this photo attempts to do so. It doesn't show how the mirror also points too far inward, but you get the idea:
In fact, the inward angle is so severe it was impossible to adjust the passenger side successfully. The SNG vesion does not suffer from this problem - although I only have an RH side example, it would easily adjust to a LHD car.
Because I am no longer certain the mirrors I had originally are definitely Tex, I will only say that they do not fit. If someone can take a picture of their Tex mirror, fitted to the car, or held in place as I show above, then we could confirm or otherwise. However, despite what is written on the mirror head of my SNG example, Julian Barratt assures me their examples are not in fact Tex mirrors and I draw the conclusion that they may in fact use the (separately available) Tex Head, but the arms themselves are different. Incidentally, the bases appear identical and bolt spacing is the same, so you could retro fit with no detriment to the car.
Finally, here is a picture of my three drivers mirrors. The original version I had, which started my investigation, is bottom left. The SNG version is bottom right and shows a nice black surround to the mirror glass, the head is a little thicker too and chrome slightly better. The third mirror is my Tex clamp on, identical head to the Non-SNG version, except the latter is showing signs of silvering damage around the edges.
I?ll leave you to draw your own conclusions.
Regards,
