taking the door apart, to fit new mirrors

[bobbybo]

Ive bought some MK1 Mazda MX5 mirrors, arriving early this week to be fitted, along with some new Gaz shocks, itching to get out now ;-)

wondering if anyone has any tips for getting into the door, removing the card to access fitting a bolt setup to hold the mirrors in place?

got the car last summer so im not too experienced but seem to remember from an old thread it can be a tricky job..

[ttraynor]

Hi, Getting into the door is not that difficult if it's an S series without electric windows:
1) Wind up the window then remove the window winder by taking off the plastic cover and undoing the screw.
2) Ease off the speaker grill and undo the self tappers, could be up to 4, although mine has 2. Release the two electrical connectors.
3) If you put your hand up inside the speaker aperture there are two nuts or if you are lucky they are wing nuts, undo both.
4) using a "Ducks Foot" trim tool ease out the plastic fasteners, about 5 or 6 .
5) lift door card away and release the door lock cable from the lock.

The door card should come away. There is a thread somewhere with a drawing showing the various fixing points.

Hope this helps
TOM

[bobbybo]

thanks Tom, your a gent

Robert

[Gerald-TVR]

There is a 'hidden' bolt which can be a PITA to remove.



1 Remove the speaker and place out of harms way
2 Now the tricky bit is to place your arm in the speaker hole and undo the hidden nut and bolt as shown, in my case this required a 7mm socket, but others have found it required 8mm one. Hint on replacing dispense with the ordinary nut and use a wing nut instead
3 Unscrew the screw shown
4 Unclip the trim from the door
5 Unlatch the inner door handle from the door locking mechanism
6 Lift the trim up to go over the push button

'Nicked' from TVRSERIES.COM if you are attempting to remove the 'hidden' nut tie the spanner to your wrist with a piece of string (makes recovery from the dedpths of the door is easier.

But if you have the same problem as I have (twice) the 'hidden' bolt is/was a nightmare. To get around the problem I inserted a couple of furniture levelling wedges between the door card and the door body so I could get a hacksaw blate in between and very carefully cut the 'hidden' bolt

HTH

Norman

[phillpot]

When it comes to putting things back together I soldered the 7mm "hidden" nut to a 10mm nut, this made it easy to hold and I could use a ratchet spanner to nip it up (smallest ratchet spanner I have is 10mm)

[bobbybo]

thanks for all replies im feeling 100% confident now, got a string to tie the spanner to my wrist looked out! & i have wing nuts somewhere

Norman, thanks for taking the time to post that picture picture, tells a 1000 words & all that, what did people do with S's before Pistonheads, pull the boiler suit over their head & start crying? ;-)

ill try & post a few pics this week after work done

cheers

Robert

[Gerald-TVR]

bobbybo said:

what did people do with S's before Pistonheads, pull the boiler suit over their head & start crying? ;-)

Still do that now!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Griffinr]

I fitted MX5 Mk1 mirrors to my S3. Before fitting the mirrors I made up some aluminium tapping plates to fit the mirrors. After removing the old mirrors and cleaning up the inside of the door a bit I drilled the door to suit the new mirror fixing centre's then bonded the tapping plates to the inside of the door using a gap filling adhesive / sealant. The mirrors where then fitted from the outside only using stainless fixings. I made the tapping plates big enough to cover the holes left in the doors by the old mirror bases. Removing the old mirror bases required a sharp tap with a rubber mallet to detach them as they were bonded into the door in addition to the fixings. (not sure if I took any pictures) Fiddly but neat job and makes a tremendous difference to rear visibilty.

Rob.

[v8s4me]

On my V8S there were two hidden bolts on each side but, as you might expect, on one side there was just one nut. I found a small socket & wrench the easiest for removing the original nuts, and wing nuts are definitely the way to go for refitting. You'll also find the wedges mentioned above useful when refitting the door card. Push it between the glass and the alloy quarter frame to ease out the inner door moulding. This will help you hook the lip of the door card over the edge of the door moulding.

[Top Gear TVR]

i have been considering using mx 5 mk1 mirrors, how do they look when its all done? does any of the oiginal hole show? pictures would be great

[stourbridges2tvr]

Top Gear TVR said:

i have been considering using mx 5 mk1 mirrors, how do they look when its all done? does any of the oiginal hole show? pictures would be great

I recently had some fitted to mine, by a well known midlands TVR bodywork specialist, they sprayed them up to match and did a cracking job, i am really pleased, they look good, and whats more they are usable. Once fitted there was no further body work modifications required. Sorry no pics as yet - its being further fettled for s-club!

Having taken the door cards off for refurbishment some years ago, i found them difficult to undo (that hidden bolt) but now they are near impossible to re fit correctly with the "lip" over the window reveal, leave yourself plenty of time!

[DJ8226]

Recently fitted Mk2 Escort mirrors to my S3, made plates etc bonded them to the door and the mirrors just cover the original holes if you position correctly, (measure twice drill once logic used). Another recommendation is to mask the area outside the area your fitting the mirrors to safeguard the body work whilst you work. Door cards yes patience is needed, the wedge suggestion is good but I found if you push the middle area of the door glass it just fell in easily. Worth the effort, its not a hard job just take your time.

[techbotics]

They look great IMHO pics on

http://tvr.n3s.co.uk



Thanks

Damian S3

Edited by techbotics on Friday 17th June 20:43