How To Guide Repair seized door mirror

[oldcarman]

Thanks

Brilliant! I've been trying to progress past the seized stage for ages!

The people who sell the fibreglass replacement will sell you the spring, bolt, starloc washer & new mounting bolts separately. Just email and ask. The guy's name is Udo. http://www.spiegel-z3.de/index.html.

When I enquired a few months ago the price list was:

Complete replacement assembly with painted base 110€
Base painted/unpainted 41,90€/21,90€
Sleeve and starlock fixing 4,90€
Spring (stainless steel) 3,50€
Base to door securing screws M5 0,65€
Shipping to UK 16€

thanks for that info @mrscalex I'll give that a try. But I still can't seperate the base and the stalk! But now that I see how it goes together and there is a stub on the base I'll try the dremel cut and see if that helps! JIM

 

[mrscalex]

Happy customer It's sat seized for several months while I pondered what to try next. People say that these things are brittle. But this has been smacked senseless to free it previously and still in one bit!

 

[oldcarman]

I agree, I've beat the crap out of mine and still can't loosen it up even after soaking it in vinegar and penetrant with no joy so far! JIM

 

[mrscalex]

I soaked one in WD40 for several days (you can buy big containers of it). Then I applied Plus Gas. 1 of the mirrors was the one above and it didn't move obviously. The other did move some days later. You'll never beat dismantling and cleaning up properly however.

 

[mrscalex]

Thanks

thanks for that info @mrscalex I'll give that a try. But I still can't seperate the base and the stalk! But now that I see how it goes together and there is a stub on the base I'll try the dremel cut and see if that helps! JIM

You'll see I was successful last night! You'll need to be persistent as it's a big area for a Dremmel to get through - it took me about 30 minutes. A standard size 1" disc (or whatever they are) is slightly too small to go through in one cut. I needed to move the disc backwards and forwards. I don't think you can avoid cutting the base but who cares as you can't see that when it's on.

Make sure you've gone clean through the arm. Then start gently levering. I could only get any movement on one side of the cut but that's all it needed. It was enough to rotate the whole thing and take it off. I guess you could fill certainly the arm and base with some sort of filler if you don't like thhought of the cut.

 

[oldcarman]

Thank you for the encouragement and expectation that I can be successful because this mirror in particular means a lot to me personally and I have to be successful and get it on my car. JIM

 

[mrscalex]

The bolt was even seized with mine. So I had to drill that out before waiting several months for this fix for the final part!

I think it was a 12mm bit (decent quality SDS - £10 worth) bit I used and a very steady hand! Here's a photo with the final part of the bolt out and to the left of the hole.

 

[oldcarman]

Thanks, I may need to give that a try!! JIM

 

[Barry78]

My drivers side wing mirror had been wobbling around since i got the car a few months back. Eventually got round to tackling it and once the covers and mirror removed found this...



The mother of all bodges. Snotters of weld, grinding/cutting marks, parts of the sleeve has been cut away and a piece of hammered steel shaped like a collar with self tapping bolts to hold top to bottom. It so far bodged by i presume a variety of previous owners that it's now at a stage where it is practically unbodgeable...

Salvaged part on order...£70 delivered.

 

[oldcarman]

My god who would ever expect that to work? You're also missing the star washer to retain the spring!
On a plus side I finally was able to seperate the two sections on my Ashbandicoot mirror!! And without cutting. Now just have to order a few pieces and put it all back together. Took just over a year but it's saved!! JIM

 

[mrscalex]

My god who would ever expect that to work? You're also missing the star washer to retain the spring!
On a plus side I finally was able to seperate the two sections on my Ashbandicoot mirror!! And without cutting. Now just have to order a few pieces and put it all back together. Took just over a year but it's saved!! JIM

I'm new round here but having trawled through the forum I'll take a guess why that mirror is special to you and why you wanted it fixed.

For me it got very personal as it seemed like a stupid thing that should be easy but I couldn't fix. And such a common problem for which no one had come up with a fool proof method for previously. So hats off to kendo for identifying it and sharing it!

 

[oldcarman]

I totally agree that @Kendo found a solution which worked! Those mirrors are a real challenge to keep them moving properly as it's not something one thinks of as once they're set they very seldom need to be moved. By then it's usually too late for most. I was determined to do whatever it took to free it up no matter how long it took!! Had I had kendo's solution months ago I would have tried it for sure! Well done, JIM