inside rear view mirror repair

[Daniel Grunwald]

I have a 1970 with a bad reflecting area around the edges but otherwise it is very good. can this be opened up by drilling out the two rivets on the edge and have a new mirror cut to replace the old one? Without having done this I would like to know if anyone has tried it before I attempt to drill it if it just doesn't work. I thought I might replace the rivets with pop rivets afterward. What do you think?
Thanks,
Daniel

[Joe L.]

Re: inside rear view mirror repair

Daniel------

A MUCH better plan would be to send the mirror off to Carol Fish for complete restoration. She will replace the mirror glass and restore the assembly to like-new condition. She is very reasonably priced, too. Without a doubt, the best and OVERALL most economical way to go. You can call her at 502-933-3734. She's located in Louisville, KY.

[Shannon Burgess]

Re: inside rear view mirror repair

Joe, I totally agree. Carol Fish does excellent work and her prices can't be beat. But, I don't think she's doing individual restoration jobs by mail any longer. When I called her a few years ago, she told me that she's only doing core exchanges at major shows. I had her bring a restored '69 mirror to the Knoxville show, and traded my old mirror in toward it.

It's worth a call regardless.

Shannon

[Terry M.]

Re: inside rear view mirror repair *TL*

I haven't looked for this service in a while, but I suspect a number of folks advertise it in The NCRS Driveline. If you want to do-it-yourself see Vol 12, Number 3, Winter 1986 issue of The Corvette Restorer.
Before you take your old mirror apart verify that you can still get the new mirror from Chevrolet, as the part number in the story is old. It may be less expensive to have it done by someone skilled at the work, so check your options.

[mromano]

Re: inside rear view mirror repair

Dan

Carol no longer does mail order. She only accepts exchanges at a show. She usually attends Carlise in August and Orlando in January. She does top quality work. (she has a good husband to help!!!!!)

good luck
mike

[Jack H.]

It's CHILD's play....

The mirror glass is attached to the grey rubber surround using an adhesive like 3M Weatherstrip. The grey rubber is also attached to the SS housing this way and it's INTENTIONALLY free to move along the bottom center 2/3rd distance of the SS housing (this is how it moves to accomplish day/night).

The rivets hold the internal day/nite adjusting mechanism to the case. Drill these out and you'll wish you HADN'T! That's unless yours are rotted/pitted and you HAVE to have a cosmetic repair on the top side. To the child's play....

Order a replacement mirror glass element from Paragon (about $30 with your NCRS club discount). Don safety glasses and take a ball pen hammer and tap/crack the existing glass. Carefully fish out all pieces and major shards from the rubber surround. Clean the rubber surround. Lay down a bead of adhesive using the pattern you see from the original glue reminants. POP the replacement glass into the grey rubber and let the adhesive set up. DONE!

Now remember, in order for the day/nite feature to work the silvered back of the mirror HAS to be open--not protected by paint as with a traditional non-glare mirror. This means there's raw silver back there! When you use cleaning agents that contain ammonia (a caustic base), they attach the silvered back and you get the 'aging' effect (yellow streaks). So, clean your new mirror with chemistry that's PH neutral and it'll last and last!

What professional mirror restorers do to earn their fees is: (1) remove dents & dings in the SS housing/back, (2) remove and replace rusted/pitted rivets, (3) totally reconstruct the mirror to factory fresh. If all you've got is an original mirror with tarnished reflective surface (the 'bubba' before you used a non PH neutral cleaner), pop in fresh glass and pocket the savings....

[John D.]

Re: inside rear view mirror repair

Daniel:

I exchanged my 68 mirror with a gentleman and his wife at Carlisle who does restorations. Did a great job as best as I can tell. Name was Robert Kauffman 717-938-2731.

I think it cost me $45.00, not worth my trouble doing the repair at that price.

Good luck, John

[Daniel Grunwald]

Re: inside rear view mirror repair

Thanks for all of the response. I don't know for sure which route I'll take but I'm really glad I didn't try to drill the rivets.
Thanks again, Daniel