Mirror, Mirror, on the ground...

[AApple]

I'm pretty sure the glass is simply glued to the housing, with some sort of silicon/rubber cement. Solvents, or lacquer thinner will loosen the glass, then it's just a matter of gluing the glass back in. I haven't taken the time to actually look at them, so I can't say for sure, but that is the way most mirror glass is installed. I bet I find out, one way or another! :mrgreen:

 

[dan filipi]

Maybe soaking the whole thing in a thinner like acetone or even gas will soften the glue?
Gotta be a chemical that wont harm the chrome or mirror coating.

 

[scdmarx]

Maybe soaking the whole thing in a thinner like acetone or even gas will soften the glue?
Gotta be a chemical that wont harm the chrome or mirror coating.

I bought a "pair" of mirrors thinking that a matching set of new would look better. But when they showed up with flat glass I was dissappointed. I needed to change the right side one because it wouldn't hardly stand up on it's own. I'll try to use chemical on the new left one today and see how it goes. We use an acetone/mix in bulk at work. So that'll be my first attempt.

 

[AApple]

I've used mineral spirits(naptha) on them many times. My '74 Vette has date coded mirror glass, and I've removed the glass to tighten the housing swivels several times in the past. So far, there has been no damage to the silvering of the glass. Don't know how good the silvering is on these 'Wing mirrors, but it should stand up otay....I hope.....
We'll find out! :mrgreen:

 

[scdmarx]

Ok man, here's the dope.....

The mirrors I bought.

There is nothing behind the mirror. It's held in place by the rubber seal. I tried to pry out the rubber seal on the new one and just as I feared, the flat glass busted.

So I used a razor blade to slice the outter lip off the old mirror to save the glass.

I then installed the old convex glass into the lip of the rubber from the new mirror.
This is how it looks seated into the new rubber.

The glass w/new rubber didn't seem like it was gonna be easy to install back into the frame, and I didn't want to get too rough with it, so I used some silicon spray to aid in the assembly. The lubricant made all the difference in the world. It dropped into place so easily that I was afraid it would fall out at first, but upon further inspection I'm convinced it is indeed a proper fit.

So there you have it. Hope this helps somebody hang onto their original mirrors.

 

[dan filipi]

Well coolness!
Easier than expected. Thanks for doing the R&R for others to use!

I'll copy this thread to the Tips section.

 

[scdmarx]

At least if there's somebody else out there who is spoiled like me (I love the convex glass) it would be worth it to try to come across some old original mirrors on ebay that are rusty or pitted chrome, then find some NIB ones for an acceptable price, and fix theirself up some nice looking mirrors.

All you have to be willing to do is bust the new glass out. After that this project was so easy a caveman can do it. I would have been willing to spend a lot more to get my good ol' mirrors back. I'm happy as a pig eat'n S%*t! :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo:

 

[AApple]

:clapping: :salute: :clapping: :salute:
Excellent!!! Reckon a heat gun would help ease the rubber seal when removing the "new" mirrors, and maybe salvage them? Maybe sprayin the lube first, and then try to remove?
The rubber part of my old mirrors is hard as a rock...I thought it was just a piece of plastic trim! oh2: Now I know! Thanks for the info!!! :thanks: :yahoo:

 

[scdmarx]

:clapping: :salute: :clapping: :salute:
Excellent!!! Reckon a heat gun would help ease the rubber seal when removing the "new" mirrors, and maybe salvage them? :

For what?????

If you're replacing them, who cares? I did try heat and ran out of patience, FWIW.

I'm warning you, "DON"T DO IT" on any glass you plan to keep! :doh: :crying:

 

[AApple]

Otay...following scdmarx's lead, I installed my new mirrors today. I bolted them on first just to see how they would work, and as expected, I couldn't see squat!!! :sensored:
So, I swapped the mirror glass, as scdmarx did. I found on the cheap ones I bought, that I could get the mirrors out of the base without breaking them. There was no way the originals were gonna come out, so I sliced the seal on them, too. The ones I bought have a plastic-y seal around them...not really what I would call rubber at all, so that did make it a little tough, but with a little heat from a heat gun, and some spray lubricant, I got them swapped out without fear of 7 years bad luck. :heat:
These new bases are tight...as in when I try to adjust the mirrors, it moves the whole fairing! :smilie_happy: I don't think they'll be floppin around, anyway!
Thanks to scdmarx for the heads-up on how to get the glass out. :thanks: :thanks:

Here's my former "fix" for trying to keep the mirrors from floppin around after the stud finally broke off of both of them. It worked for a while, but they finally would not stay in one position, no matter how tight I got them...

click on image for link to gallery

 

[scdmarx]

The ones I bought have a plastic-y seal around them...not really what I would call rubber at all, so that did make it a little tough, but with a little heat from a heat gun, and some spray lubricant, I got them swapped out without fear of 7 years bad luck. :heat:

I don't think there is anything made with real rubber these days. But I use the word generously for lack of knowing what stuff is made outta now. Gotta call it someth'n. Plastic/vinyl/tupperware/drysnot, ???? China must be a wonderful place. :headscratch:

Awright! :music: One more set of good ol' wide angle view originals that won't make it to the landfill today! :yahoo: :good:

 

[scdmarx]

Rating difficulty of this project on a scale of "1 to 10", I give this a "2" because there is a chance that you could possibly cutchirself with the razor blade. Beer drinkers, (those of us who don't care to save the flat glass) allow yourself half an hour for both mirrors.

 

[AApple]

"Drysnot" seems to be an accurate description! :smilie_happy: :smilie_happy:
30 min is prolly aboot right, too....not a big, overly technical job at all. :good:

 

[Mon]

I had the same darn problem. I bought the JCW mirrors for Goldwing. They lasted about 2 days. I've read on another site where a guy switched left to right and vice versa and was able to have a little better luck with being able to see. I'm going to try that, but I finally bought mirrors for the handle bars. I think the original design was just screwed up. Good Luck!

 

[AApple]

Mona? Is that you?

 

[scdmarx]

I think the original design was just screwed up. Good Luck!

Let us know if the new ones last any longer than the original ones did. :clapping:

 

[toytender01]

I rebuilt mind with new bolt and spring they seem to be holding yp prety good at this time even on rough roads... guess i was just lucky...... the ones on the builder seem to be good also..will address them later.... :grin: :grin: k: :whistling: