67 Outside rear view mirror problem

[Ira L.]

Whenever I'm driving at high speeds my outside rearview mirror keeps rotating down. I can't seem to figure out how to tighten the ball and socket that holds the mirror to the door mounting bracket. It would seem like it should be an easy fix.

Any Ideas?

[Carl B.]

Re: 67 Outside rear view mirror problem

Make sure mirror right side up ( bow tie on top} was problem with my mirror Rotated mirror to bow tie on top no more mirror adjustments

[Mike T.]

Re: 67 Outside rear view mirror problem

Ira - Your mirror must be pretty loose, typically when they are a little loose they shift position when you close/slam the door. To get inside you have to remove the mirror glass. The originals, as far as I know, all used the split ring around the perimeter of the glass to hold it in place. The mirror actually sits on three small coil springs and you have to 'gently' push the mirror downward and then with a pick or small screwdriver, pry up the ring starting at one end. Once it's off and you've then removed the mirror glass, make sure to corral the three small coil springs. If you don't have the original style mirror and have instead the repro that uses no ring you're in for a bit of work...just what you wanted to hear, right ;-)? My 65 Coupe had the cheaper version repro and the mirror is held in place with three dollops of silicone. I soaked the mirror in enamel reducer in order to get the glass off. Even after soaking, it's a pain to try to work some sort of plastic blade under the edge of the glass and pry a little here and there to get it to separate from the silicone. Doesn't matter which type you have, the first part of the fix is to get the glass removed. Once that's done, you'll find the ball stud is just under a flat-spring plate that's attached to two upright posts and puts tension on the ball stud. Usually, one of the cast posts breaks at the top and the flat spring doesn't hold enough tension on the ball stud, and that's why it flops around. The actual fix is to drill down through the post and tap it for a small screw and washer. That should add enough tension against the ball stud to let it still be adjustable but strong enough so that it doesn't shift position while driving, or when closing the door. Here's a pic of what you should see once you get the glass out of the way. This was taken right after the glass was lifted so you can see the one peened/swaged cast post on the left isn't holding that flat spring plate tight anymore.

[Ira L.]

Re: 67 Outside rear view mirror problem

Hi Carl,

I can't believe it was that easy! I tried it and took the car out for a nice ride last night and it worked like a charm. Thanks again. This was by far the easiest fix I've ever had to do!

Ira

[Ira L.]

Re: 67 Outside rear view mirror problem

Thank you Mike for this detailed help. I really appreciated the time you took to help me work out this problem. I tried Carl's advice first and for the moment it does seem to be working. If it doesn't hold, now thanks to you I have a guide to a more detiled fix. BTW, it seems that I do have an OME mirror so that should ease the the job should it be necessary.

Once again, thanks for all the detail.

Ira

[Mike T.]

Re: 67 Outside rear view mirror problem

Ira - I'm all for easy fixes too. Considering the amount of work involved with tearing the mirror apart, if a simple rotation puts a bit more tension into the mirror, that's the way to go.