With my new right side mirror in place I find the looseness of my left side mirror kinda annoying. It's not where the mirror mounts to the door or where the mirror arm attaches to the mount, that would be too easy. It's of course where the ball stud goes into the frame that holds the glass. I read several old posts on using super glue, silicone, and even dimpling the frame with a punch (until the glass breaks).

While I enjoy the idea of dimpling the frame I don't think a 12" drift punch and 5lbs sledge would do a good job :sad:. Is there a way to remove the mirror glass without damaging the glass or the frame work ? I'd like to see what is inside and if I can fix the problem the right way vs. just replacing a perfectly good mirror.

I tried the super glue but it was only good to 90 mph. :)

I bet there is a really good solution out there if the thing comes apart.

Replace it quick. Eventually the head will fall off, typically as the door is closed. Usually takes some paint with it as it slides down the door.

You can get a real nice dated one from Ecklers. They are the closest repoped and they are nice and tight.

I'm a tightwad, I'd clean out the socket by spraying some carb or brake cleaner in it, then position it close to where it would be on the car and squirt some loctite in the socket before I replaced it.

I think that I read in previous posts that immersing the mirror part in gasoline overnight will disolve the original glue that holds the mirror to the tilt mechanism.

Jim

Thanks. If the mirror is glued in place then I can get it apart. I'll have to play around with this.

Thanks for the suggestions, soaking the mirror worked. I tried this on my old right side mirror first just so I could check it out. Filled a pie pan with mineral spirits and soaked the mirror for about an hour. The glue loosened and the glass essentially fell out into my hand. The glass is only held in place by 4 dabs of a silicone type glue on the pads shown in the picture below.

There are two places to tighten the mirror. The ball stud is actually screwed into the cast mirror base. I would suggest putting some red locktite on this part. The other adjustment is under the glass and how you tighten the pivot of the mirror.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5066/5736883108_7170446b26.jpg

Tighten the screws on each side and the pivot gets really nice and tight.

Excellent work, Russ!

Thanks! One more thing I'll just have to try now because it can be done...:clonk:

I will have to give that a try!
I have tried every kind of glue possible with no help.

Wow... This must be a real common issue, because I have had the same problem with my repop passenger side mirror ever since I bought the thing.

Finally, a solution. Thanks.

Russ,

Awesome...thanks for tearing your mirror apart for the good of all TC'ers with droopy mirrors.

My soon-to-be-former-droopy mirror thanks you.

B.

My 67 mirrors seem to have a flat retention ring holding the mirror glass in place. I'll try taking that apart and post photos if it works.

That is nice to know that some mirrors have the ball-stud bracket screwed in place.

Unfortunately they are not all like that. I took apart an old date-coded mirror and a Scott Drake replacement mirror - both had the ball-socket riveted (not screwed) in place.

Fortunately I was able to save the date coded glass using the mineral spirit soak then remove method.

I have one more loose orig mirror in the junk box - time to give that one a try....

Glad this is helpful to others as you guys sure have helped me a number of times.

Okay. This was one of the most useful threads I have found so far. My floppy mirror syndrome is completely fixed and it cost me $0.

Thanks Russ for the pic--it really made this simple to understand.

Here is what I did:

I immersed my side mirrors in thinner in a small pie pan overnight. The glass easily fell out of both of them.

Mirror #1 is an older, 1990's repro. The strap that holds the ball tight was riveted to the mirror body. The mirror was attached to the body by 4 small pieces of double-sided tape. Once the glass fell out, I put the mirror body in a vise and tapped each rivet back in place. I used a punch that spread the rivets back out and tightened them. I now have a very tight side mirror #1.

Mirror #2 was purchased from D&R in 2006. The strap was held tight by two screws. The mirror itself was held on by four small dabs of clear adhesive. The screws (and the rivets on mirror #1) had come loose from the car vibrating and being driven. I tightened the screws down and the mirror is now really tight. I reattached both mirrors to the mirror body with 3M double-sided tape. They are tight for the first time in a few years. Major, major improvement.

Stop using adhesives, JB weld, etc. This is very, very simple to do.

very cool ! Glad the pics helped.

This thread helped me too. On my round 67 door mirror I removed the glass by grabbing the spring steel ring with a plastic screwdriver-like tool and then the glass, another round piece of sheetmetal and 3 small springs fell out. The mirror turns out to be a Scott Drake boxed in a Classic HQ box. The pivot keeper plate was riveted to the mirror body but peening over the looser of the two rivets a little with a small hammer did the trick and now it's like new. Too bad it's got that non-original "bowtie" on it, though!;)

Dang, wish I would have known this before I bought my Ecklers dated mirror. I was happy with the repop mirror until it contracted DMS (Droopy mirror syndrome). I tried the glue, the silicone, trying to dent the socket area, nothing worked.

So I wish I would of read this post sooner. Last year when I built my car I ordered the cheaper mirrors from Ricks thinking they would be fine because no where in the ad did it state the mirrors would be loose! After being fed up with the mirrors dangling I ordered the "made in USA" mirrors for $131.97 with shipping. I just got them today and the mirrors are a bigger piece of crap than the cheap ones. The passeger side has at least 1/8" of slop in it and no way would it stay in place. I cannot believe Ricks would send a piece of **** mirror and charge me $131.97 for it! I had a car show this weeked but thats off because of the inferior piece of crap mirror. The best part is that I have to pay for return shipping. What a fricken joke! I would just love to see one vendor who posted the truth abouth their part and not try to sell you a better one in place of it which is just as bad! Ricks part # are MR-6 & MR-5, I would not advise buying this. I can send a video or pics of my order from Ricks today for anyone who is interested.

Some of you will say call them and let them know and they will make it right. They probably will, but why should I have to go through this with their budget mirror and premium mirrors. Why not just say in their catalog that their crap and buy at your own risk! At least they would be honest and I would think more of them.

Well sorry for venting but I really did want to hit the show this weekend with mirrors that stayed in place.

Clint

Take out the Bottom Stop and Drop the Side Glass to the Bottom of the Door - That Way you can get at the Mirror Mount Bolts & don't have to Re-Align the Guides.

Soaked my what I think are original mirrors , mirror glass fell off in 5 minutes time. I have rivets , not screws , holding a metal strap that provides the friction fof the "ball". A couple taps on the strap, and a couple taps to reset rivets seems to have fixed it for me.
How can I tell if mirrors are original , before I stick glass back on ?
Thanks.

Soaked my what I think are original mirrors , mirror glass fell off in 5 minutes time. I have rivets , not screws , holding a metal strap that provides the friction fof the "ball". A couple taps on the strap, and a couple taps to reset rivets seems to have fixed it for me.
How can I tell if mirrors are original , before I stick glass back on ?
Thanks.

I think the GM mirrors have a date code along with the letters DCA etched at the top of the mirror glass. Sorry, don't remember how to read the date code but I'm sure someone here does though.

Take out the Bottom Stop and Drop the Side Glass to the Bottom of the Door - That Way you can get at the Mirror Mount Bolts & don't have to Re-Align the Guides.

HAHA! Speaking from personal experience?:)

What type of glue is best to use after you have removed the glue and tightened the screws to glue the mirrror back onto the tabs?

What type of glue is best to use after you have removed the glue and tightened the screws to glue the mirrror back onto the tabs?

I would use clear silicone incase you have to tighten it up again.

While we are on the subject, has anyone used one of the replacement glass from heartbeat city. They have gone to the trouble to date code the repop glass. My OEM mirror's glass is scratched and I was wondering if anyone had replaced the glass.
And mine is not drooping at all after 40 plus years.

Photo to go with post #19.
http://i281.photobucket.com/albums/kk227/MelroseRS/d4e06fa6.jpg

Sent from my iPhone using Autoguide

Hmmm, I have an original 67 mirror that had the ball stud broken off. Does anyone know if I can take the ball stud off of a repop and switch it over to my OEM to repair it?

Tom, do you have a picture of the tool you used to disassemble yours?

Hmmm, I have an original 67 mirror that had the ball stud broken off. Does anyone know if I can take the ball stud off of a repop and switch it over to my OEM to repair it?

Tom, do you have a picture of the tool you used to disassemble yours?

That green thing in the photo is the tool I used. It came with a replacement ipod battery I bought. I haven't opened my original mirror because it still works fine!:D

i have tried to fix the mirror on my z for last year. didn`t want to buy a repo one,so i have been holding it when i needed to see behind me. can`t wait to try this fix. thanks to the members at Team Camaro :hurray:

Every time I close the driver door on my 68 I need to adjust the mirror again as it is too loose, so I followed the advice in ths thread and placed the mirror in a tray of petrol (gasolene) overnight
The mirror needed a bit of gentle persuasion to come out.

Sure enough the screws were loose.
A touch of thread lock on the screws and tighten them up and now all is good.
Here's my photos

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n387/nev68/mirrorintray.jpg

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n387/nev68/mirrorremoved2-1.jpg

http://i337.photobucket.com/albums/n387/nev68/mirrodisassembled.jpg

Look on Pro-Touring.com in the New Products at the Mirror Problem Resolved.

Billy

In the post, it was asked where to get the outside review mirror re-chromed!! Of the different chrome shops I have used in the past, they have a minimum charge of $35.00, for even the smallest of pieces, why not just purchase another mirror, I seen on a TV story one time, about a guy in Texas that has several ware houses full of N.O.S. parts, not sure but believe in Midland, TX, you might want to do some searching and see if you can locate them.....And I also have purchased outside review mirrors from a distributor on the West Coast, Mount the mirror, and not long after the head comes loose, and this has happened at least three times....A 1st Generation Camaro Restorer in Denver, CO said the 1st Gen Camaro/Firebirds did not come with a rear view mirror on the Passenger Side, right or wrong that is what he stated to me!!!!

"why not just purchase another mirror" Purchasing a NOS mirror does not give one the desired mirror date code. "I also have purchased outside review mirrors from a distributor on the West Coast, Mount the mirror, and not long after the head comes loose, and this has happened at least three times" A lot of the aforementioned info has to do with tightening the mirror back up by removing the glass and tightening the screws. The originals were riveted in. "A 1st Generation Camaro Restorer in Denver, CO said the 1st Gen Camaro/Firebirds did not come with a rear view mirror on the Passenger Side, right or wrong that is what he stated to me." Yes, they did not come with a right side door mirror.
Our Oct67 dated mirror: Back side of the glass is mirror also and note the date code from the back side (back-wards).
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z117/1-2-b-67L89/100_7772.jpg
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z117/1-2-b-67L89/100_7770.jpg
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z117/1-2-b-67L89/100_7771.jpg

I can't wait to try it. Monday morning

OK, so I soaked my mirrors in Laquer thinner for +/-12Hrs..Maybe I got a little anxious, but I popped the glass in one of the mirrors. So, I now have a couple questions:
1. Does anyone know where I can purchase 1 Mirror (Glass only)
2. As I have the rivets holding straps, Should I
a. start hammering on the Strap and rivets, or
b. Drill out the rivets, and replace with screws?

Any suggestions would be helpful...
thx..

For anyone that has not yet removed the glass itself, just wanted to throw this out there. My mirrors kept acting like they were loose (either the ball/socket or mounting to the door) as they kept going out of adjustment. However, the ball/sockets seemed pretty stiff and I couldn't tighten the door mount any more. I finally realized that after 15 years or so of being on the car, the hot-melt style glue that they used on the repro mirror glass had come loose in at least two of the posts, allowing the glass itself to move enough to change the angle of view but not enough to jump out at me as being loose. Just wanted to throw that out there in case someone is stumped like I was. I removed the glass, cleaned everything up, and used some clear silicone to re-attach. So far so good.

OK, so I soaked my mirrors in Laquer thinner for +/-12Hrs..Maybe I got a little anxious, but I popped the glass in one of the mirrors. So, I now have a couple questions:
1. Does anyone know where I can purchase 1 Mirror (Glass only)
2. As I have the rivets holding straps, Should I
a. start hammering on the Strap and rivets, or
b. Drill out the rivets, and replace with screws?

Any suggestions would be helpful...
thx..

I think a local glass shop should be able to cut one for you if you bring the mirror frame to them. If your rivets look like mine in post #29 a couple taps with a small hammer was all it took to tighten them up. If that doesn't work then I'd move on to maybe drilling them out but it should work.

Thanks, I'll give it a try