The Aero mirror puzzle: Help ???

Deschodt · 04:29 PM

I ordered a manual aero mirror kit from our host, and got the following (some already assembled by me per the instructions I found on the forum, one side only for smaller pictures)

I used my only 6 screws to attach the base inside the mirror housing (3 screws per side), as per the instructions. I know I'll have to do the spring compression dance later on, looking forward to that ! But now what ? The instructions kinda stopped there, so I must be terminally stupid but I still don't get it.

- A seems to attach to the mirror housing with the 3 screw holes but no other screws were supplied, hmmm...

- How does B attach to A ? It all lines up beautifully, but there are no clips to keep B in place, am I supposed to glue it to A ?

- What on earth are the rest of the letters for ? I can see C possibly attaching the base to the door, although one screw per side only? G is a plug obviously, but the rest ?

Me think that kit is incomplete, and could use a diagram for installation... Please obiwans, help !

Deschodt · 08-04-2008, 04:37 PM

A batter picture maybe ? You can clearly see I'm supposed to Bolt A to the housing in those screw holes, with home depot screws I guess... And The long bolts seem to go in those metal bits. Then, still stuck !

janz · 08-04-2008, 04:38 PM

Wish i could help. my 86 came with the mirrors already installed and they are remotes. I do like the sleek look they give the car and are very sturdy with no vibration even at hi speed. Have had no problems with them so never had to take them apart and as far as I know they are made to fit right in place of the origonal flag mirrors.

felix_browne · 08-05-2008, 04:06 AM

go slow it will all make more sense as you go. The ring on the back of the glass, B, should rotate like10 or so degrees. rotate it so that the tabs on a are lined up and it will snap in, then with a tiny screwdriver rotate the ring on the back of B back so that it is locked. this can be done through the small hole on the bottom of the mirror housing. C and D are what hold the mirror bases to the door of the car. If you look at the bottoms of the bases you should see a channel. orient the comma shaped nut so that when you tighten the bolt with your allen key the nut doesn't just rotate and will hook on to one of the holes in the door skin. it's hard to tell from the pics and it has been a while since i have done this but H looks like the split washers for the spring assembly. There should be 2 washers for use with each spring assy. one on the bottom and one on the top. G is the plastic plugs to finish the allen bolts that affix the bases to the doors of the car since you will see these bolt heads. They will just snap into the recess. Are E and F pop rivets??? if so they are to be used for attaching the mirror base to glass housing gasket to the glass housing (i don't see them in the pics must be resting loosely in place?). I think that covers everything but K. and i'm not sure on that. maybe for use if you didn't initially have a passenger side mirror in the attaching of the new door skin backing plate. I don't know. i don't think my kit had those. anyway. hope this helps.

jhelgesen · 08-05-2008, 04:57 AM

I believe the parts K are spacers for the manual mirror since there are no motors in the housing. I assembled the pair on my car a few years ago, let me see if I still have my instructions. I did end up using all the parts......

Deschodt · 06:37 AM

Keep'em coming guys, and Felix, the rotating B thing ? never saw that coming, that is genius ! Unfortunately for me that probably means I need to separate the A thingie and repop them in with the mirror.... OR I'll try the screwdriver thing - still need screws to attach A to the housing though, I bet they are missing from the kit...

John if you do find instructions, I'd be immensely grateful as well ;-) And I'll make sure to illustrate them with pics for future installs, as there is no complete guide on the board.

jhelgesen · 08-05-2008, 07:52 AM

I knew they were in PET somewhere, its what I used to build mine....shows the stack up of all the fasteners and spacers.

ShakinJoe · 08-05-2008, 07:56 AM

Deschodt,

There was great article in EXCELLENCE about four years ago on this conversion (step by step) that they did on a 944. I had it saved but cannot locate right now...snap! You might check the Excellence archives.

felix_browne · 08-05-2008, 08:36 AM

no screws to attach a to the housing. it should be a ball and socket joint so that it can rotate and you can adjust it to actually see behind you. and the front glass must be put in with the mirror assembled. the amount of force it takes to pop the a piece into the corresponding recipticle is more than you would want to subject the glass to.

Deschodt · 08-05-2008, 08:36 AM

Hmm, 2 things I should have thought of, thanks guys ! I have ALL excellence issues and a PET Cd but it's not installed since I switched to Mac and got a 24" monitor. The PET is picky about screen resolutions as I recall...

It makes more sense now, thgough it looks like I'm missing a few screws, but nothing else ! Cool !

Deschodt · 08-05-2008, 08:39 AM

>no screws to attach a to the housing. it should be a ball and socket join

I meant the back part of A, the black part that A pops into.. Something's gotta hold this to the housing somehow... Gotcha on the glass, it did take a lot of pressure so I will try your rotation method ! Many thanks guys, I'll document this if I am successful ;-)

jhelgesen · 08-05-2008, 08:57 AM

Yes, the backing plate (pet part 12) snaps on the ball, then the mirror attaches to it via the locking ring.

I got to the parts diagram through our host site, looking up the 964 parts.....all available online.

Deschodt · 08-05-2008, 04:05 PM

Ok, I am close but the elusive cigar is out of reach...

The locking ring is sitting too flush with the part it is supposed to lock...
Look at part A on the picture above, the four corners that are supposed to be locked under the ring are level with the locking ring, so the ring cannot turn unless I force one side at a time (won't work for the real install in the mirror housing)

Could it be that B on photo #2 needs to be peeled off to allow A to be seated deeper ? It would make a ton of sense, but if so, it's glued damn well and I 'm afraid to break the glass!!!

I feel real stupid ! Thanks Aero mirrors for the ego-check ;-)

peritus · peritus's Garage

Thank Ferdi the PO of my mirrors assembled mine before sending them!

felix_browne · 08-06-2008, 08:46 AM

item 12 in the diagram, item A in your first post snaps over the 4 little nubs (with gentle but firm even pressure) before you will be able to rotate the ring. I don't think you want to attach that piece to the glass before it is attached to item 7 in the diagram.

check out this link. it has a lot of good information in it. the tool used to compress the spring is very similar to what i used and is the only way i would approach this task.

http://www.951motorsports.com/

-felix

Deschodt · 09:27 AM

Felix,

I've been on that site... That is precisely my problem... The transparent plastic piece that is supposed to snap at all 4 corners on the back of the mirror glass really does not snap in place. It sits in its spot but does not snap in deep enough ? it's kinda flush with the locking ring that is supposed to go above it to block it ?

A picture may explain this better...

Maybe I shouldn't have ground this down but I don't see any other way. Maybe I got the wrong part ? Seems they made this stuff for 964, 993s and there ARe different part#s.

felix_browne · 08-06-2008, 11:12 AM

I guess you're good then. can't say about grinding those nubs down but it seems that doing so solved your issue so go with it. They can't be put back on anyway so bolt those suckers up and don't look back.