Hi, not sure how far this has got but if someone is thinking of placing a batch order I would be interested in two!

Take care,
Peter

 

Hello,

I'm back in the game – as expected, the spare mirror won't fold in anymore. Since I still have the 3D printed gear, I'm planning to install it – I'll let you know how it goes ;-)

One more question before I do: Does anyone know if the folding motor is the same for the left and right mirrors, in other words if the right motor can be used for the left mirror and vice versa? I can only find the exploded view for the left mirror on Classic Parts.

Best regards,
Martin

 

Difficult to answer with certainty without going through the complete job of swapping because I only have one disassembled mirror. I have a right disassembled mirror so if you have a doubt on a part coming from a left mirror, please post the picture and I compare with mine.

Many parts are symetrical in the sense that they are identical to their mirrored shape.

However I would be surprised that the 2 folding mechanism can be swapped stricto-senso, without any kind of (at least minor) adaptation.

The electric motor for instance has a rotation direction, at least the electric connections may have to be swapped, not a big deal. Since the motor is used alternatively with both polarities, I would think we don't care about the protection diodes (if they are still in place) since they must be designed to support reverse polarity.

To continue with minor considerations, on my disassembled mirror, the spring coils appear to be wound clockwise. It is unlikely the springs are wound anticlockwise on the other mirror. Who cares? They are doing their function anyway.

Most of the other parts I have checked appear to have an identical mirrored shape, which means they could be reused on both sides.

The pieces that intrigues me the most are piece 22 and 23.
Part 23 has some brushes that have an inclination. Obviously, the mirrored shape would have opposite inclination. Now it is likely that whatever the inclination, the function is the same that is insure contact on 3 directions at 120° one from each other. It is not unreasonable to think that both sides are identical on the original mirrors (rather than mirrored).
Part 22 appears identical to its mirrored shape on the face that is in contact with the brushes but certainly not on the other face that holds the diodes. I am unable to say if these are 2 different parts in the reality nor if they can be swapped, either without modification or with modification (like reversing the diodes? or swapping the 2 wires?)

Note that I may have overlooked other pieces that would end up in a disappointment when trying to swap L versus R folding mechanisms.

 

Thanks a lot for your detailed report.
On the other hand, it would have been crazy from an economic point of view to have two different parts for a relatively low number of pieces sold with the cars (I don‘t have figures on how many cars with the folding extra were sold, but judging grosso modo from the second hand market, there is perhaps one 12 wire model among ten mirrors offered).
My hope was to take the entire folding unit from a left side mirror, change part 21 and put the whole thing into a right hand mirror, without having to dismantle the 2x parts - I found it difficult to get the pieces together in my first attempt and ruined one of the fragile friction discs…
Well, I think I‘ll give it a try and buy a left hand mirror (will be in february)…
Out of interest: Did anybody order a 3D printed gear and got it to work?

 

Yes,
it could well be that the only issue is placing the two wires in the correct slots on the 12-point connector, and if the mirrors fold/unfold in reverse, swapping the 2 wires around.

The positive thing is that the parts with the mechanical stops that determine the angle of the mirror at the end of each travel direction have an identical mirrored shape.

 

Next year we‘ll know ;-)

 

I'm thinking of changing my powerfolds for the non-powerfold versions due to all the failure problems.
Does anyone know if the plug arangement is the same? Are the five wire plugs on the car the same version as the 12 wire? I can re-arange the wires in the plug to suit if they are the same.
I'm collecting broken mirror units at the moment to rob them of any relavent parts that may be in usable condition but to be honest, I think I may be better of with just non-powerfolds.

 

I've now managed to purchase a pair of power fold mirrors from an XK8 that look as if they may work!
I'm looking into popping the red and grey wires out of the plug and passing some current to see what they do but I notice that the wire colours are in a different place on the plugs in relation to left and right. Is this normal or will I need to put the wire colours in identical positions on both plugs?

 

Hello.
I know this is an old thread but do you still have details for the manufacturer of the the mobile ring gear Part Number 21 of your post?
Thanks.