Midyear O/S mirror glass

[Larry S.]

Long story short: Bought a NOS mirror for my 67. Put it on. Glass fell out and broke. Ordered dated glass (Corvette Central). Glass is 1/16" too small (diameter). Am I missing a retaining ring? Glass in the NOS mirror was just glued in. Thank you.

[Peter L.]

Re: Midyear O/S mirror glass

Larry - The OE 67 O/S mirrors used a retaining ring to hold the glass in place. Behind the glass there was a circular metal piece the size of the glass and behind the metal piece there were 3 small springs that fit into 3 cast in "holders" in the inside of the mirror outer body.

So, the sequence of assembly would be 1) the 3 springs, 2) the circular metal piece, 3) the mirror glass and 4) the most fun part, installation of the retaining ring.

Have fun.

Pete

[Larry S.]

Re: Midyear O/S mirror glass

Thank, Pete. Oh, boy; I was afraid of that. It looks like the NOS mirror I bought has been 'monkeyed' with since there's no springs, plate, or retaining ring. I don't see where any of the suppliers sell these parts individually. Any ideas?

[Peter L.]

Re: Midyear O/S mirror glass

Larry - You can usually find old original mirrors at swap meets that you can scrounge the parts you need from. Be sure you measure the head diameter because some car O/S mirror heads are different diameters from the Corvette mirror.

Also, before you go thru all the trouble to find a suitable donor, please double check that the mirror head of the NOS one you have has the groove for the retaining ring, some later replacement Corvette O/S mirrors "glued" the glass in place.

Pete

[Rick S.]

Re: Midyear O/S mirror glass

Larry,
I received a dated mirror glass for my 67 as a gift in Dec 07 (from Corvette Central) and discovered that the glass diameter was also too small. I didn't measure it but CC wouldn't take it back, so I got a dated mirror glass from Paragon during their Fall Cruise-In and they installed it for $11. I think CC has a batch of too small mirrors.

Rick

[Michael H.]

Re: Midyear O/S mirror glass

Thank, Pete. Oh, boy; I was afraid of that. It looks like the NOS mirror I bought has been 'monkeyed' with since there's no springs, plate, or retaining ring. I don't see where any of the suppliers sell these parts individually. Any ideas?

Larry,

I think what you have is a later GM replacement mirror that was mfg'd without the snap ring groove. (probably in the late 70's or 80's?) The glass was glued in instead of retained by the snap ring that Peter described.