A buddy of mine is restoring his 67 convertible and was looking for recommendations on who restores the day/night mirrors. He said the older fellow who attends Carlisle died, anyone have a good experience/recommendation they like to post. Thanks sincerely Brian
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Gosh...
it's so simple for a '67, why not do it yourself?
(1) Take a ball pen hammer and crack the glass.
(2) Using pliers and protective eyeware, pull out the glass shards and discard.
(3) Clean up the rubber surround's surface with a cloth dipped in lacquer thinner.
(4) Order replacement D/N mirror glass from Paragon ($40 less your NCRS discount).
(5) Tape/mask the rubber surround and fire up your buffing wheel to polish out the SS back.
(6) Squirt a thin bead of silicone bathtub caulk onto the inner flat surface of the mirror's plastic surround.
(7) Holding the replacement glass so you do NOT touch the backside (that's unprotected raw silver!), push/pop it into the plastic surround.
You're done! It cost you a whooping $40 and took a couple of hours.... -
Re: C2 67 rear view mirrior
Brian,
If you don't consider the mirror a do it yourself project, you might get a restoration cost quote from MIRRORS Restored. They were at Carlisle this year and their display of restored mirrors looked excellent.
Contact: Robert Kauffman at 717-938-2731. They are located in New Cumberland, PA.
Good luck,
GeneComment
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Re: C2 67 rear view mirrior
Thanks guy's I printed your replies and will pass them on to my buddy Bob who has the 67, I got an 66. Thanks again Sincerely BrianComment
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jack,are the paragon mirrors dated ? *NM*
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Huh?
No day/nite mirror glass was ever dated... Why would you want something that didn't exist in the first place?
For exterior rear view mirror glass, you simply tell the Paragon order taker what date you want/need and they add that detail...Comment
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Re: jack,are the paragon mirrors dated ?
Phil,
Paragon mirrors can be ordered with any date code you want.
I needed a correct mirror for my 68 restoration and I followed Jack's advice (something I have learned to do over the years since he knows his stuff) and I just soaked my mirror in the acetone, the old glass came out in an hour; I then cleaned everything like Jack said, ordered the replacement glass with the date code I wanted from Paragon and installed it.
Perfect to this date and the car gets driven on nice weekends and Massachusetts has the lousiest roads with bumps and the mirror did not fall out.
KurtComment
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Re: jack,are the paragon mirrors dated ?
Mine was the driver side outside door mirror, not inside.Comment
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Gotta be carefull...
about mixing 'metaphors' here! The interior version of the rear view mirror (day/nite) has an unprotected, raw silver, reflective coating on the back side. It HAS to in order to work and change its reflective index by tilting it.
That's why they deteriorate over time... Prior owners and 'Bubba' used traditional glass cleaning solutions (most are based on ammonia...a strong chemical base agent) that will RAPIDLY attach the silver backing if it's allowed to wick down the glass and reach the back side via the grey plastic surround. To make these mirrors last, just use plain water to wash/clean them and promptly dry the front surface after cleaning.
Now, EXTERIOR rear view mirrors WERE dated and the back of this mirror glass is shot with a protective paint after the reflective silvering is laid down. That's where the silk screen is applied to achieve the date coding!
The exterior mirror glass is 'glued' to a set of pot metal mounting posts behind the mirror glass and you can sucessfully remove that glass by soaking the entire mirror in lacquer thinner to dissolve the glue. BUT, the '67 and later day nite mirrors have the glass glued directly to the grey (or black for later Shark cars) plastic surround.
If you soak one of these fellas in lacquer thinner, you can kiss the plastic mirror surround 'bye bye'... That's why I said take a ball pen hammer, break the glass, pull out the shards with pliers while wearing eye protection and THEN scrub off the reminants of original glue manually by rubbing/wiping. You do NOT want to expose the plastic to harsh chemicals for very long!
Bottom line, distinguishing between day/nite mirrors and conventional mirrors + internal vs. external mirrors makes a difference in how you get from here to there...Comment
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all clear now !
that's where i was confused about mirror date codes in vs out---not it's all clear,thanks---philComment
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Re: Gotta be carefull...
Jack:
Rather than smash the glass to remove it I have replaced several by simply heating up the entire assembly in hot water and then prying back the grey rubber on the edge to enable a small, flat knife to be inserted between the glass and the rubber under the glass to pry away the glass. The adhesive has never been on the grey rubber edge (in my experience) and has always been under the glass and cuts away rather easily. No adhesive is used to attach the new glass mirror. Simply re-heat the rubber and CAREFULLY roll it over the glass.
JeffComment
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