Loose drivers side door mirror

[bsdnazz]

The drivers side door mirror of my S reg Chim has come loose. It turns around on it's mounting point and does not stay in the proper position.

I've had a read of the bible and checked what's on pages 317 to 320 regarding the mirror and it's fixing. I'm sure nothing is broken but instead the grub screw is loose.

Having had a good look at the mounting I can't for the life of me see how to get at the grub screw. It's low down and access is very tight. My normal allen keys are too big. I think the grub screw needs a 3mm allen key (as per the bible) but mine is too big. It's about 1/2" by 2" and it looks like nothing bigger than 1/8" by 2" would fit. Is there a magic position in which the grub screw can be accessed or do I need a custom allen key?

TIA!

[snorky]

you could just gentle turn the whole mirror and the mounting will come out of the thread in the door till you can reach the grub screw...just remember the cables will only take so much rotation...

[steshutt]

I cut an allen key down, with an hacksaw, so that it just leaft a small stubby end.
Can't remember if i used it from a certain angle though.Don't think so.

[bsdnazz]

snorky said:

you could just gentle turn the whole mirror and the mounting will come out of the thread in the door till you can reach the grub screw...just remember the cables will only take so much rotation...

The boss is firmly attached to the door and does not move when the mirror is rotated. The loose fit is between the boss and the mirror.

[bsdnazz]

steshutt said:

I cut an allen key down, with an hacksaw, so that it just leaft a small stubby end. Can't remember if i used it from a certain angle though.Don't think so.

I know what I'm doing this weekend then! Thanks.

[bsdnazz]

bsdnazz said:

I know what I'm doing this weekend then! Thanks.

Baah! One cut down allen key later and I'm still having no joy. I think I can get the end of the allen key into the end of the grub screw but I can't then turn the allen key! It's hard up against the mirror case.

Time to go to a garage I think...

[Ed450]

It's a bit tricky, but if you want to get to that allen key properly, you have to unwind the mounting. I managed it by lifting the gaiter (carefully - cover the surrounding paintwork with a cloth) with a screwdriver. Just enough to see the metal underneath.
I then inserted the screwdriver through the middle of the tripod-style mount and used it as leverage to turn the whole assembly anti-clockwise. Just half a turn, the do the rest by hand. Once the thing's off, you can get to the grub screw. I put a bit of copper grease on the thread on re-insertion to make it easier in the future (just hope it doesn't go droopy!)

[Good Soil (Pete)]

I'd say get an expert to do it......far too much aggro and far too much swearing to be had on this tricky job.....I hold my hands up and say I just gave up on mine....leave it to somone who knows what they are doing before you break it or make it worse than it needs to be.

[bsdnazz]

[quote=Good Soil (Pete)]I'd say get an expert to do it......far too much aggro and far too much swearing to be had on this tricky job.....I hold my hands up and say I just gave up on mine....leave it to somone who knows what they are doing before you break it or make it worse than it needs to be.
[/quote]

I'm booked into Fernies for tomorrow morning...

Can't see why the quoting is not appearing properly.

>> Edited by bsdnazz on Tuesday 28th June 20:40

[bsdnazz]

bsdnazz said:

I'm booked into Fernies for tomorrow morning...

Fernies spent a quick and efficient 15 mins or so fixing the mirror while I had a coffee and looked around. Then a lovely top down drive to work.