[Hot66ss]

Hey guys. Here is my latest problem. My rear view mirror is very unclear and was planing on replacing the glass but cant seem to figure a way to get the glass out. It looks like it is glued in big time. Is there a trick to get the glass out?

Thanks for all the help

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Hot66ss

66 ss
67 malibu
Aces Member 2380
Team Chevelle member #262
Http://members.aol.com/chvellss

 

[STEVE_CUDDIHY]

If your talking about the REAR view mirror (the one mounted on the windshield) then you
really should look at replacing the whole mirror. The glass in there is actually a 2-way mirror. When you tilt it up for night driving it allows you to look thru the first mirror (its smoked so you can see thru it) at a second mirror. I don't think this can be replaced.

If you are looking at the side view mirror, removal of the glass will more than likely break the glass. In fact its probably better to just break the glass than run the risk of damaging the chrome trying to pry it out. It is better to replace the whole mirror here also.

 

[JWagner]

Sure hope someone comes wup with a good idea here, as I have several mirrors that could use a freshening up. I am in no hurry to replace my stock mirror with map light with a Pep Boys stick-on replacement.

 

[GT]

I could be wrong about your particular mirror but: The rear view mirrors I have seen are one piece of glass with a silverized backing. Problem is, the glass is not a standard piece of glass, if you were to remove it, you would see that the glass is wedge shaped, that is, thick on one edge and thin on the other. I guess that is what gives you the day night effect. The silverized backing gets worn away or seperated and that gives that stained look. You can have a regular piece of mirror glass cut and install it but it would not be the same as the original. There used to be a guy advertising in Hemmings that resilvered the original mirror glass. Worth checking into..........GT

 

[JWagner]

Did a little checking on the net on this topic and excite and alta vista had some useful info. There are places that will resilver a prismatic mirror and it looks like the basic charge for a small (under 1 square foot) mirror is $12-$18. The ones that mention the rear view mirrors expect you to take out the glass and send only that. Now the challenge remains to extract the glass without damage!

 

[Hot66ss]

If I could just figure out how to get the glass out without damage I could fix it. I have a good rear view mirror that came out of my 66, the only reason I wont use it is because the silver backing it shot and rusted to hell. but the glass in it is ok! another quick question. Are SIDE view mirrors a standard piece of glass or are they a special mirror??

Thanks for the help




------------------
Hot66ss

66 ss
67 malibu
Aces Member 2380
Team Chevelle member #262
Http://members.aol.com/chvellss

 

[JWagner]

Success! I had an old mirror that was falling apart and had bad silver, so I attacked it. the trick is to go to one end and roll back the rubber that grips the mirror glass. The get behind it with a knife and start it to break loose. It appears that there is a white coating on the rubber that does something for the optics and it becomes a glue that holds the glass, but only in a few spots around the perimeter. It also appears that wherever the mirror is bad is where the white stuff is sticking to the glass (but not a perfect correlation here.)Once you get it moving it seems to come apart pretty easily. Hope this helps. It seems a lot easier than I would have thought.

 

[rick]

jwagner
How about posting a url or two of the places that do the resilvering. TIA

 

[Hot66ss]

Hey JWagner did the mirror come out in one piece? ill give it a try i hope it works.

------------------
Hot66ss

66 ss
67 malibu
Aces Member 2380
Team Chevelle member #262
Http://members.aol.com/chvellss

 

[Hot66ss]

Hey JWagner did the mirror come out in one piece? ill give it a try i hope it works.

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Hot66ss

66 ss
67 malibu
Aces Member 2380
Team Chevelle member #262
Http://members.aol.com/chvellss

 

[JWagner]

As a matter of fact, it DID come in one piece , with no chips or other apparent signs of distress. It seemed too easy. As for the URl's try ( on alta vista and Lycos) the search word "resilvering" . It seems like there are places in many major cities in the US, Canada and Australia. So, if you are traveling, take your old mirror with you!

[This message has been edited by JWagner (edited 07-17-99).]

 

[Hot66ss]

when you took it out did it pull the silvering stuff off?

Thanks

------------------
Hot66ss

66 ss
67 malibu
Aces Member 2380
Team Chevelle member #262
Http://members.aol.com/chvellss

 

[JWagner]

the sivering stayed in place but the white coating that is on the rubber holder for the mirror is stuck to the mirror in several places--mostly the places where the mirror looks bad. By the way, the glass is pretty thick so it can probably take a lot of force during removal and still survive.