Home page
SPONSOR AD SPONSOR AD

Topic: Re: outside mirror help

in Forum: C3 Body


Re: outside mirror help

Posted: 9/23/12 8:26am Message 31 of 32
Profile Pic
Lifetime MemberLifetime Member
Moderator
Send PM
Duncanville, TX - USA
Joined: 11/8/2003
Posts: 20214
Vette(s): #1-1974 L-48 4spd Cp Med Red Metallic/Black deluxe int w/AC/tilt/tele./p/w-p/b/ Am-Fm/map light National/Regional/Chapter NCRS "Top Flight" #2-1985 Bright Red/Carmine Cp.L-98/auto Member: NCRS, NCRS Texas, Corvette Legends of Texas
The mirror glass is held to the base with silicone....I used lacquer thinner to loosen mine. With the mirrors off the car(duh!), find a container that will hold up to strong chemicals, and is large enough to hold the mirror completely submerged. Carb cleaner, mineral spirits(naptha), paint thinner, etc. will work, but each has it's own amount of time to soften the silicone. I let mine sit for several hours, and just kinda push around on the glass every now and then to try to work it loose a little at a time. Once it is loose enough, it will pull right out. Clean the glass with soapy water asap after removing it. Don't use anything with ammonia! Ammonia will damage the silvering on the back. Amazingly enough, lacquer thinner did not...
Once the glass is out, you can see what hold the head to the base...it's kinda cheesy, but that's the way it has been done for years and years...



Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    

My Link


(click for Texas-sized view!)
             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

SPONSOR AD:: (Our Sponsors help support C3VR)

Re: outside mirror help

Posted: 9/23/12 12:29pm Message 32 of 32
Profile Pic
Lifetime MemberLifetime Member
Moderator
Send PM
Duncanville, TX - USA
Joined: 11/8/2003
Posts: 20214
Vette(s): #1-1974 L-48 4spd Cp Med Red Metallic/Black deluxe int w/AC/tilt/tele./p/w-p/b/ Am-Fm/map light National/Regional/Chapter NCRS "Top Flight" #2-1985 Bright Red/Carmine Cp.L-98/auto Member: NCRS, NCRS Texas, Corvette Legends of Texas
Here's some pics of a mirror. This was a correct, dated glass mirror that was just hanging on my car at the time, before I sent it to get painted. Mama walked by, and knocked it off, breaking the glass. Cry I found another mirror with correct dated glass, so all is forgiven...
Anyway, you can see how the glass is held to the head with small splotches of silicone....




The mirror head is held tight to the ball on the base by this strap, which is peened. A more accurate term would be "spun". The posts that the strap is on fit all the way thru the holes in the strap. The strap is then held with tension on it, and the whole mess is put into a machine with a concave mandril over the posts. The mandril is spun quickly, with downward pressure,a nd as it spins, the post metal heats up, and melts slightly, forming a rivet-like "head" over the strap. That's what holds it all together tight. Over time, the spun "peen" loosens, and the mirrors get floppidy. To tighten them back up, I have placed the heads on heavily padded block of wood, and used a punch to re-peen the posts. Most of the time, this works. Last time I did it on one of my mirrors, I got a  little overly aggressive with the hammer, and made a couple of small dents on the outside of the mirror head.




There are other ways to tighten these things up. If you have a drill press, or a really steady hand, you could pop the straps off the posts, and drill in the center of the posts, and then either use a metal screw, or tap the holes and use a machine screw. The posts would need to be shortened slightly for this to work well, but it is another option.



Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    

My Link


(click for Texas-sized view!)
             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

in Forum: C3 Body


SPONSOR AD: (Our Sponsors help support C3VR)