Side Mirrors...which one to buy?

[sdkar]

Hey guys,

I am having problems with my side mirrors.  They are over ten years old now.  I noticed they were starting to rust on the pivot ball area and decided to clean off the rust followed by a drop of oil to keep them from rusting again.  I am sure without my having to say anything further, most of you are now shaking your heads as you know what happened next.  My polished and oiled balls are now causing me to have a flopping and sagging problem.  My mirrors now drop down at the slightest breeze while driving. 

Anyway, they have a few pits in them anyway so I want to replace them.  I see there is the mucho grande muy expensivo originals for about $150, so not an option.  There are the imports for $25 each, and the upgraded ones for about $55 each. 

Does anyone have any input on the quality of either of these?  If the cheapys last 5 years, I still have enough money left over to buy another one, plus I can take the $30 savings and put it in a 5 year interested bearing CD and have a 500% return. 

Seriously, how bad are the imports versus the next step up?  Is the extra $30 times 2 ($60) worth it?  Thanks for any opinions.

Steve

[lakeholme]

Are they so rusted that a drop of Loctite and fairly quick adjustment won't fix the problem --beyond the few pits?

If so I'd suggest the uprage, but you still may need the Loctite.  I'm still hanging onto my original driver's side mirror and it works fine.  But the passenger's side upgrade doesn't work like the original mirrors. 

[Sauron327]

I bought a cheap one 8 years and 23K miles ago. Looks bad now. Mine never became loose as most do. Here's a thread on tightening solutions. If something comes apart, there is generally a way to repair it. http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=195512

[joesauer]

Ditto on the loctite.  Did you try 0000 steel wool with some wax, followed by a drop of loctite on the ball.   I adjusted the mirror to the position I wanted & then did the loctite....needs a drop maybe twice a year.

[lakeholme]

I used to have to put a drop of Loctite about once a year, then I finally accepted the fact that my wife decided that the passenger mirror belongs to the passenger, namely her. So I let her adjust it, put a drop, and no problem since. That was two years ago. The mirror is six years old, no pits, no errors.

The driver mirror is original with still no problems.

Next time I have a problem with either one, I'm using the fix Sauron327 showed us. Thanks!

[sdkar]

The link by Sauron327 is an absolute perfect fix.  I was skeptical that it would work, but sure enough, it worked perfectly.  If you want to avoid going to the link, here is what you do:

Get a pan that will fit your mirror sitting in it mirror side down.  I used a pie pan.  The article said to use mineral spirits, but I didn't have any so I used lacquer thinner.  Pour just enough to cover the mirror up to where the glass would be and set the mirror face down in the spirits or thinner.  The first mirror I only waited an hour or so and when I picked up the mirror and shook it, I could feel the mirror "rattle" and so I got a feeler gauge and pried it out.  It came out easily, but I could feel the grinding of the glass and it felt as if the mirror could very easily crack or chip, but it did come out.  The other side, I let it stay in overnight and the next day when I picked the mirror up, the glass and 4 "blobs" of saturated double sided taped were left in the pan. 

My mirrors had rivets, so I set my mirror in a vice with a heavy rag and tapped both of the rivets until they were tight against the metal strip.  I didn't need any loctite or anything after that, but did add a couple of drops from the inside just in case it might help a little.  Finally, clean the glass and mirror, new double sided tape, and press mirror back in.  DONE.

It was quite easy and is the proper way to repair these things.  So, if your mirrors are floppy and you don't want to buy new ones....this will work.

Hat tip to Sauron327 for the link.