Fixing power mirror attempt...

[danf]

Our power side mirrors are getting old and of course mine finally broke. I've made a couple attempts at fixing it but so far was not successful.

This thread suggests cutting the plastic plate for repair, I decided against that. Reasons were primarily why butcher the plate, especially considering if it decides to not stay together after a while chances are repairing it again (properly) would be nigh impossible.

Another thread suggested gluing some bolts to the back of the plastic plate. I had mixed results with this one. The problem with this method is it is permanent, and you will wind up with very little adjustability (as when you move the mirror the angle to the bolt head varies.) So I found myself with 2 degrees of adjustment with my mirrors. (This isn't nearly enough in practice, especially if you make a wrong guess as to where the mirror is supposed to be sitting when you glue it.)

Anyway, with two not-so-working mirrors, I found the best damn way to fix them is to take the damn glass off. They pop off easily with a screwdriver (note: they chip/crack easily, plan for replacement of the glass.)

So you're left with the plates, remove the wax bits out of there and remove the threads from the motors.

You'll need four (4) M8-1.00 x 25mm bolts to attempt this repair. In fact, you may want a couple of extras as you'll be grinding them.

Now the trial-and-error part: you need to grind the bolt heads down to fit in the plastic plate. Grind two opposing tips flat, then rotate 90 degrees and grind down the flats, then check fitment. Repeat until it fits.

When that's done, the bolt head thickness will be too thick. Grind it down as well, using the old wax one as a gauge.

I threw some rust paint on them when done.

Two pictures are attached, the first showing what the bolt looks like after grinding (with an original bolt next to it) and the second picture is them installed into the mirror.

When I do final assembly I will use some flexible rtv and put a couple dabs in the small recesses in the plate before installing the bolts. Then I'll stick the new glass on.

[dirtyernie]

Interesting.

Now, when you say pop the new glass in, do you mean replace the original mirror?, or do you mean you came up with new mirror pieces somewhere?

[danf]

I ordered new mirror glass replacements from rockauto, I think they were around $15 apiece? The thing is when you pry the glass off you'll definitely chip it and most probably crack the glass. I chipped the corner on my original glass but it mostly came off in one piece (surprisingly?)

I figured the glass is replaceable already, no sense in modifying the plastic plate and chance buggering it up, cause those are harder to find (at least for me, no cars like mine in the wreckers for a couple of years now!)

Those metal bolts should last a good long time too, I doubt they'll get brittle like those plastic/wax bolts that were in there.

If you can somehow get the original glass off without breaking it, you could reuse them - they're just attached using double sided tape.

[thesteve42]

the original plastic is closer to 30mm length

[danf]

Well, I can't seem to edit my first post for some reason...

Anyway, it's a success.

One thing I didn't mention is to check the fitment & operate the power mirror motors with the new bolts to make sure they don't bind. The angle changes when you move the mirror so the bolts need to be ground smaller than the opening to allow movement (i.e. it should not be a tight fit.)

Got the mirrors back on & applied the new glass and I have full movement of the mirrors! Woohoo?

Edit: I didn't use rtv sealant, the replacement mirror glass came with double sided foam adhesive tape so I put those over the bolts. So the bolt won't press up directly against the glass.

the original plastic is closer to 30mm length

Yep, but I didn't want to have longer bolts, opted for shorter ones.

[quagmire]

Nice work!  I think this is actually an improvement over the original factory design.  It's been a few years since I opened one of these mirrors but I seem to remember that the factory design (1983, some later mirrors have a different connector and maybe different internals) depended on flexing of the nylon bolts to accommodate the change in plate angle as the bolt moved in and out of the motor threads.  The repeated flexing eventually resulted in fatigue failure of the nylon bolts and loss of control of the mirror position.

I got fed up with swapping in boneyard mirrors only to have them break too, and my '83 has a floppy mirror on the passenger side.  Driving on the freeway at night is like being in a disco with the headlight reflections bouncing around all over.  You have motivated me to try repairing that mirror using your method.

[danf]

Nice work!  I think this is actually an improvement over the original factory design.  It's been a few years since I opened one of these mirrors but I seem to remember that the (1983) factory design depended on flexing of the nylon bolts to accommodate the change in plate angle as the bolt moved in and out of the motor threads.  The repeated flexing eventually resulted in fatigue failure of the nylon bolts and loss of control of the mirror position.

Yeah, the 84-85 style is like that too. Those nylon bolts just snap. Toyota's solution? Buy a new mirror. You can't buy the nylon bolts & you also can't buy the plate the mirror snaps into, it's sold as a whole unit only. 

I was lucky and had a spare set of mirrors from my '84 parts car, but the paint didn't match (I had all the black sprayed flat black when I had my car painted.) So now my car's back how it was.

I got fed up with swapping in boneyard mirrors only to have them break too, and my '83 has a floppy mirror on the passenger side.  Driving on the freeway at night is like being in a disco with the headlight reflections bouncing around all over.  You have motivated me to try repairing that mirror using your method.

Hah! In my old Cadillac I had the rearview mirror on the windshield do that too, then five minutes later it fell off and hit the floor. 

[Green Anchor]

Interested in this because of the problems you outlined with the other fixes. This one is $20 or so along with the loss of original mirror glass so I'd like to know how it turns out. Not rushing because from your other posts I gather you're still ironing out the details, just letting you know you've gained my interest and I hope this works! 

[danf]

Interested in this because of the problems you outlined with the other fixes. This one is $20 or so along with the loss of original mirror glass so I'd like to know how it turns out. Not rushing because from your other posts I gather you're still ironing out the details, just letting you know you've gained my interest and I hope this works! 

Yep, it was successful. I can't edit my first post, just read the notes later down the thread. I took the car out yesterday and was able to fully adjust both mirrors (both were broken on mine.) 

After you grind the bolts make sure you have enough movement with the mirror though. Test before you put new glass on.

It's weird having both working again. 

[elbaron]

thanks for the tip.just got done with my  mirror. the best way to take the glass out is to heat the back cover  and slide a small screw driver between  the glass and the cover

[quagmire]

That is a beautiful car.  Were the mirrors always the same color as the car, or did you paint them to match?  They're (factory) black on Annie.

[PB3]

Those must have been painted.. I'm pretty sure they were all black originally. VERY nice looking ride you have there elbaron! Post some more pics - we 'vert owners would love to see.

[bananahamuck]

This is an old thread but i saw you were just on here today ,,, sooo .  Here's my questions. Just to be clear,, did you put backing plate all the way on , THEN put the glass in? What happens when you snapped the pivot ball in as i was going to put glass in then install, but was afraid the snapping might break motors somehow.
 This isn't my first attempt at these things as i have tried Gorilla glue and running tiny wires through plastic bolts and then through tit that stuck out,, as you know neither worked for long  .. This seems like it will be permanent fix  once and for all..

I used the tip from above using heat gun and a couple butter knifes and a lot of patience, the glass came out unscathed. ....... for now.

[danf]

This is an old thread but i saw you were just on here today ,,, sooo .  Here's my questions. Just to be clear,, did you put backing plate all the way on , THEN put the glass in? What happens when you snapped the pivot ball in as i was going to put glass in then install, but was afraid the snapping might break motors somehow.

Yes I installed the backing plate first. I then made sure that the bolts were ground properly (i.e. there was full movement of the mirrors) THEN I installed the glass.

For the second question, I never tried it.

[bananahamuck]

Excellent ,, I figured that's what i read as it was easier to feed the bolts in carefully with glass off but i needed reassurance.. I can pretty much see your write-up will be THE answer i have been looking for , for many years.