I've purchased some series 3 electric mirrors for my series 1. I would like to take them apart and clean them up before putting them on the car. Has anyone taken these apart before? Is it possible?

 

you need to very very extremely carefully pry off the glass which is stuck in place with a type of white mastic tape that solidifies and sort of "welds" the mirror to the plastic base / holder.

once you achieve the impossible, the moving / pivoting plastic mirror base has screws that you can remove to pull the base off, to get to the motor and pivoting bracket.

a thin stainless steel kitchen spatula is the trick, you want to find the weak spot where you can insert the spatula behind the glass and start to slide it behind the glass mirror until you break the bond. If you try to pull the mirror it will crack, so the movement has to be sideways, not outwards.

To reglue the mirror so it doesn't vibrate off, I used contact cement on both the base and the glass, when tacky, put them together and clamp them overnight putting a piece of wood over the glass so it doesn't receive the stress of the clamp, otherwise another cracked glass.

 

Unless you have XJS side mirrors, the bases will not allow fitting them properly on the side of the car, the angle will tilt your regular S3 bases.... see the photo that shows the XJS mirror mounted on the door and the difference in the angle of the S3 mirrors you have.

Our S1 workable vent windows mean the mirrors have to be mounted more to the rear and properly positioned. Note old holes are covered with the duct tape before my recent paint job.

If you break one or need parts I have S3 mirror spares available since I did not use them, for just shipping costs.

 

But busting the glass is not fatal. I searched and found a mirror supplier. One for my jeep and one for my daughter's soon to depart Passat. On their recomendation, I used
a clear sealer to mount them. On the cars here a block of wood and masking tape. After a day, off with the tape and all has been well.


Carl

 

Thanks for the insight!

I wonder if a little heat might help the adhesive release?

The main problem that I see is using my wife's spatula without her catching me...

 

To remove emblems I have used a hair dryer and fishing line. Heat up the part then wedge fishing line in a corner and pull the line side to side as you pull the line down to separate the part from the surface.

I'm not sure if that would work in this case but just a thought.

 

sure, if you don't mind warping the plastic base with the heat. or Try a putty knife.

 

a .010 gauge guitar string works better

 

I bet you're right that thin gauge wire would be more effective but one reason I like using something like plastic fishing line is it that there is less chance of scratching a surface.

That being said fishing line may not be strong enough to cut through glue that has had decades to solidify.

 

Alex
what you have behind the mirror glass is a type of fabric-tape, double sided, that sticks to both the back of the mirror and to the top of the plastic mirror base, very strong stuff, industrial strength. It is not "foam tape" it is a very thin strip of what looked to me like "fabric", super-sticky.

Sometimes it has become dried and the mirror comes off easily, sometimes it is still "wet" and by golly that thing won't let go.

what you want is to slide something under the mirror that will "cut" the bond.

I used a cake-frosting spatula made of stainless with a wood handle that is very thin and sharp but strong and yet will "bend" as you push it behind and around the mirror. Works great.

 

Naah, just search for a vendor that can provide a nice clean fully reflective mirror.
When it arrives, you have two good options. After a check to see if it's shape is perfect, go to slick or not quite.


1. Bust out the old glass and fasten in he new.


2 Just affix the new to the old. I chose this path to fix a cracked passenger side glass on my Jeep. No outward clue. Easy choice has worked well.


Carl

 

So, AFTER breaking the mirror I realized that you don't have to remove it from the plastic holder to get it off. With a gentle, even pull, the whole mirror will pop off the arms connecting it to the motors. I've attached a picture of the inside of the body and the back of the mirror. You can see the 3 spots where the mirror attaches.

I think the mirror will still need to be removed from it's holder because it is a pain to try to get it back on with the mirror in place. The arms it connects to move when you try to push the mirror down on them.

 

I think that may be a later version since the one I removed had screws

 

Hello.
I don't know how/where to contact you regarding this thread. At this stage I'm working on a 1985 XJ3 and I have the glass separated from the wing mirror (as in your picture). How do I clip the two together?
Thanks
Johan

 

In the picture in post #12 you can see the (3) sockets in the back of the mirror and the corresponding (3) ***** on the motors in the housing. Two ***** on one motor and one ball on other motor. Line up the mirror to match the ball/socket pattern and then push the mirror onto one ball at a time. Baudrate was correct that it may be a little frustrating because one of the "ball arms" will want to give when you push on it, I think I studied things a little bit and adjusted one or more arms out fully and snapped the ball/sockets together in a particular sequence, but I don't remember what that was now.

Good luck.

Dave