'87 Carrera Flag Mirror Glass Replacement...

[cbeers]

OK this was weird. I was driving home from work, entering an intersection, when I hear this 'clang-de-clang-clang' sound. (like that? )

Anyway, it turns out my passenger side-view mirror glass fell out due to ??

I found replacement glass in the PP catalog, but my question is how to attach it? Is it glued?

Also, is there any reason I can't just get a glass shop to make a small mirror for me? I am thinking there could be significant cost savings this way, $50 vs $??


As always, thanks in advance


-Chris

[jimi_c]

I had the same thing happen with mine on a hot day. I used a silicone adhesive that I got at a Napa shop, it hasn't come out since.

[ianc]

Hey Chris,

I'm a bit unclear as to what's happened. Was it just the glass itself that fell out, or the backing plate as well?

When I had to pull my mirror glass on the 87 to fix one of the motors, the damned thing would not come out, and eventually the glass itself parted ways with the backing plate, but it was unbroken. I used the 3M Super Weatherstrip Adhesive (Gorilla Snot) to glue it back on and it's been fine since. I really think they could make skyscrapers with that stuff...

As for having a shop cut you one, I don't see why not. If you can come up with a mirror of comparable thickness, get the pattern right, and have their assurances they won't bung up the edges, you should be good to go. There is that heated mirror thing on some of our cars though, but now we're fading into the misty edges of my memory...

Good luck!

ianc

[don911]

pull the mirror backing plate out of the mirror. There's a ring in back that you have to rotate to releae it. I had the same thing happen and just took the backing plate to a glass shop and had a mirror installed.
If you do this, you'll have a standard mirror and lose the "objects are closer than they appear" mirror.

Also, I think the replacement mirror from pelican comes with the backing plate.

[juanbenae]

why dont you just use that fancy-nancy hand mirror of yours? you know, the one you use to make sure you get JUST the right amout of hair-gel on the back of that moon shaped head of yours. you silly fig!

[cbeers]

Thanks all, well except Tbag

yeah, Ian, just the glass fell off. I still have the black backing plate there. I think I'll try Don's idea. To me, it seems pretty simple for a glass shop to do this, it's only a small mirror. Even if it's $20, it's still cheaper. And I am CHEAP!

-Chris

[juanbenae]

you know i always hurt the one's i love!

[avale]

I had the exact same thing happen to my '87 driver's side-view mirror. I was under the impression that the replacement glass that Pelican sells was only the mirror glass and that it needed to be glued on. I even called Pelican tech support on this and they led me to believe that I would only receive the mirror glass and would have to glue it on somehow.

I can 100% tell you that the Pelican glass DOES come with the backing plate and the attachment points for the heated mirror. The mirror assemble I received from Pelican had the attachment ring installed up-side-down, but that was easily fixed with a screw driver.

At the end of the day, I bought the assembly from Pelican because I'm not sure how well the adhesive from a glass company will hold the mirror glass to the original backing plate with glue residue already on there. I also didn't know how these adhesives would hold up to the heated mirror. Let's face it, the $20 in savings won't even buy a 1/2 tank of gas anymore...

[Rick964]

So how do you remove the glass and backing plate? Do I need to remove the mirror from the car first?

[avale]

Nope, you don't need to remove the entire mirror assembly from the car. This has been documented with pictures somewhere on this forum but the basic steps are:
1. Push the bottom edge of the mirror in all the way with your thumb
2. Look at the bottom of the mirror assembly and find the slot
3. Put a flat blade screw driver up into the slot (blade length in the direction of the car front to back). There is a slot in the backing plate.
4. Slide the screw driver to rotate the lock on the backing plate (I can't remember off the top of my head which direction. I do recall that the Bently manual is confusing. The text description has the correct direction you should move the screw driver, but the diagram shows an arrow that is appropriate if you are pivoting the screw driver, and not sliding it)
5. Remove the mirror glass assembly.

Let me know if you have additional questions. I believe I have the old backing plate in my car and could take a picture of it for clarity...

[midlife]

What about getting a used mirror to get the glass out of.

I have a flag I'd sell for $12 + shipping. It is the drivers side though.

[khamul02]

Flag Mirror Help

[wcc]

I broke a mirror on an old Toyota I used to have, and I took it over to a local Henderson Glass shop and they made a mirror for the housing. $25 for them to make it and install it.

[cbeers]

Thanks for the link Tom!

Printing it all out now

-Chris