Help! - Door mirrors
Discussion
I am trying to replace my door mirror. I removed the speaker and shoved my arm in (as per the Bible) but couldn't feel a nut holding the mirror on.
I spent an age getting the door card off. The bible says there is a hidden nut behind the door arm rest. Fine, found it, removed it - but nothing would budge.
It turned out there were 4 hidden nuts - grrrrr. Mine is a 1999 Griff 500. Don't know if they suddenly decided to reinforce the door cards that year.....
Then I still couldn't see the mirror mounting properly - but could just about squint in - still not nut.
I shoved the camera in the hole and took a couple of pictures:
Can anyone tell me what is going on here and how I get the mirror off? There doesn't appear to be a nut, other than what may or may not be emdedded in the GRP.
As a slight aside, the spacer blocks from TVR to fit Corrado door mirrors look like this:
They fit into the round recess for the normal mirrors. From the mounting screw hole on these I was expecting a small is nut holding on the normal mirrors.
I'd be really grateful if anyone can help shed some light on this.
Thanks
Andy
>>> Edited by Griff2be on Saturday 23 November 17:31
I spent an age getting the door card off. The bible says there is a hidden nut behind the door arm rest. Fine, found it, removed it - but nothing would budge.
It turned out there were 4 hidden nuts - grrrrr. Mine is a 1999 Griff 500. Don't know if they suddenly decided to reinforce the door cards that year.....
Then I still couldn't see the mirror mounting properly - but could just about squint in - still not nut.
I shoved the camera in the hole and took a couple of pictures:
Can anyone tell me what is going on here and how I get the mirror off? There doesn't appear to be a nut, other than what may or may not be emdedded in the GRP.
As a slight aside, the spacer blocks from TVR to fit Corrado door mirrors look like this:
They fit into the round recess for the normal mirrors. From the mounting screw hole on these I was expecting a small is nut holding on the normal mirrors.
I'd be really grateful if anyone can help shed some light on this.
Thanks
Andy
>>> Edited by Griff2be on Saturday 23 November 17:31
Then I still couldn't see the mirror mounting properly - but could just about squint in - still not nut.
I shoved the camera in the hole and took a couple of pictures:
Can anyone tell me what is going on here and how I get the mirror off? There doesn't appear to be a nut, other than what may or may not be emdedded in the GRP.
Not sure but whats that above the wire that s going through, looks possible like some sort rubber/sealant in a round Blob,could be a nut under there.
It just looks a bit different there to the rest of the Grp internals.
Hope it helps.
BB
The b@stard things are still on the car. I gave up trying to find something to undo on the inside - I can't see in there anyway. So I took the mirror glass out and undid three screws in the mirror housing - found that I could then loosen the front section of the housing. I can now see that there is a plastic collar that sits over an alloy mount that goes through the door. But still no evidence of anything that looks like it will help get them off.
I think there is a large diameter nut glass-fibered into the door inner (i.e. what is in the photo) - so there is no way that is going to undo. Not without wrecking the door. It must be attached from the outside....
Very frustrating!
The bible was way out for getting my door trim off. As I said above, the trim outer is held on with 4 hidden nuts and one screw (the screw is hidden behind a reflector) - not one nut and one screw as per the bible. Having undone this lot it still won't come off. Eventually I found that you have to remove the trim 'outer' first. The centre card (in my case leather, but often carpet), is held onto the door with 5 stainless steel self tapping screws. The inner and outer are glued together in places, so its all a bit nerve wracking when you don't know whether you've got all the fastenings undone and you're heaving away at the trim. Actually - I've just read the section in the bible about removing Chimaera door trims -and its almost exactly what I had to do on the Griff. I must have Chimaera door trims!!! I have some nice glass fibre grazes from my efforts.
Incorrigible or someone else posted something about getting the mirror bosses off and someone else mentioned smacking it with a big hammer until it unscrewed. I can't see anything that looks like it would benefit from a smack with a hammer. Except me perhaps....
Time for a phone call to Steve Howard at Thames Valley Racetech -unless anyone here has the answer....
I think there is a large diameter nut glass-fibered into the door inner (i.e. what is in the photo) - so there is no way that is going to undo. Not without wrecking the door. It must be attached from the outside....
Very frustrating!
The bible was way out for getting my door trim off. As I said above, the trim outer is held on with 4 hidden nuts and one screw (the screw is hidden behind a reflector) - not one nut and one screw as per the bible. Having undone this lot it still won't come off. Eventually I found that you have to remove the trim 'outer' first. The centre card (in my case leather, but often carpet), is held onto the door with 5 stainless steel self tapping screws. The inner and outer are glued together in places, so its all a bit nerve wracking when you don't know whether you've got all the fastenings undone and you're heaving away at the trim. Actually - I've just read the section in the bible about removing Chimaera door trims -and its almost exactly what I had to do on the Griff. I must have Chimaera door trims!!! I have some nice glass fibre grazes from my efforts.
Incorrigible or someone else posted something about getting the mirror bosses off and someone else mentioned smacking it with a big hammer until it unscrewed. I can't see anything that looks like it would benefit from a smack with a hammer. Except me perhaps....
Time for a phone call to Steve Howard at Thames Valley Racetech -unless anyone here has the answer....
I believe there is a small grub screw under the black plastic cover which grips the boss mounted on the door, the screw (if i remember correctly) is a 4 or5mm allen head but it's in the recess that surrounds the door mounted boss so you need to cut down an allen key to gain access,the grub screw goes through the tripod shaped alloy part of the mirror.My mirror was smashed off so it was easier to get at I think the way to get in to it is by pushing the black plastic cover up into the underside of the mirror.
My mirror still droops so I'am very interested in how you get on,and will maybe fit the VW mirrors myself if all goes well.
Hope this helps and is not to confusing but it's well over a year since I worked on this and the details, size of fasteners etc may be abit off but I'm sure the princple is right.
My mirror still droops so I'am very interested in how you get on,and will maybe fit the VW mirrors myself if all goes well.
Hope this helps and is not to confusing but it's well over a year since I worked on this and the details, size of fasteners etc may be abit off but I'm sure the princple is right.
I own a 92 Griff and went down the exact same road as you reading the book and looking for that allusive nut that holds the mirror on, forget the book (but it is very good),the mirror is held in place with one allen screw locating it onto a centeral hub,if you turn the mirror or hub anticlock wise it should start to unscrew but obviously be very careful of the wiring loom.
Hope this helps
Chris.
Hope this helps
Chris.
Ha ha! Victory!! Finally removed the mirror after much cusring. Andy from APM e mailed me this descrption:
there is no nut inside the door the mirror screws into a thread bonded into the door you need to remove the speaker to disconnect the wiring block but thats all. On the outside there is a black plastic trim where the
mirror mounts in the resess in the door, you have to turn this round by lifting it up and turning(can be a bit of a b***tard to do small screwdrivers can help). Underneath there is a three poled mounting and in the
middle of this is the nut holding it to the door. It has a ring of oval slots in it, you need a long pin punch and hammer to tap this round - once loose the
whole mirror will unscrew from the door. The wiring plug wont fit through the hole so you need to mark the wires and remove the plug. By the way the thread in the door is r/h ie a/clock to undo clockwise to do up.
Thanks Andy.
Unfortunately in all the hammering my mirror started rotating around the collar without undoing it. I ended up cutting the housing off with my Dremel (and ruining a perfectly good mirror). I could then see the allen nut others have mentioned. Mine was loose enough to allow the mirror to turn, but not enough to get it off the collar. In the end I drilled a small notch in the collar so that the allen nut could pass through. With the mirror removed I could then unscrew the collar.
Now I know how the passenger side should be MUCH easier and I won't damage the mirror this tme.
Looking at the recess, I reckon a 12 mm bolt with a 25-30mm washer, plus some Sikaflex should hold the new mounting block for the Corrado mirrors in pretty well. The only slight problem will be the routing of the cables - but thats just a deep breath and out with the drill...
Thanks for the helpful comments though guys. Full story, with pictures, when Project Mirror is complete!
there is no nut inside the door the mirror screws into a thread bonded into the door you need to remove the speaker to disconnect the wiring block but thats all. On the outside there is a black plastic trim where the
mirror mounts in the resess in the door, you have to turn this round by lifting it up and turning(can be a bit of a b***tard to do small screwdrivers can help). Underneath there is a three poled mounting and in the
middle of this is the nut holding it to the door. It has a ring of oval slots in it, you need a long pin punch and hammer to tap this round - once loose the
whole mirror will unscrew from the door. The wiring plug wont fit through the hole so you need to mark the wires and remove the plug. By the way the thread in the door is r/h ie a/clock to undo clockwise to do up.
Thanks Andy.
Unfortunately in all the hammering my mirror started rotating around the collar without undoing it. I ended up cutting the housing off with my Dremel (and ruining a perfectly good mirror). I could then see the allen nut others have mentioned. Mine was loose enough to allow the mirror to turn, but not enough to get it off the collar. In the end I drilled a small notch in the collar so that the allen nut could pass through. With the mirror removed I could then unscrew the collar.
Now I know how the passenger side should be MUCH easier and I won't damage the mirror this tme.
Looking at the recess, I reckon a 12 mm bolt with a 25-30mm washer, plus some Sikaflex should hold the new mounting block for the Corrado mirrors in pretty well. The only slight problem will be the routing of the cables - but thats just a deep breath and out with the drill...
Thanks for the helpful comments though guys. Full story, with pictures, when Project Mirror is complete!
If only it were that simple,the mirror suffered a massive whack from another mirror on an oncoming car and smashed the three pronged mounting,so as a temporary fix it as length of treaded bar up the middle to hold it on(not very temporary it's been like this for a year now)as the mirror needs painting I think is time to sort out some new mirrors ,sounds like the VW ones will fit the bill.
shpub said: The section has been updated and includes picyures showing broken mirrors and what brakes to cause the problems.
steve
What? As in different brakes give different rates of inertia so causing the mirror housings to snap off in varying rates of shear? Or, hitting the mirror with an AP Racing caliper creates an impact fracture different to that of a Brembo caliper?
Looking forward to reading the new edition of TVR G&C.
Dave
A quick update: mirrors removed and means of fitting new VW ones is sorted out. However there is one remaining problem (other than painting) - and that is the wiring:
The Citroen mirrors are powered by 5 cables - 2 do the heated element and the other three control two motors to do the up and down movement (a controller reverses the polarity to change direction in each plane).
The problem I have hit is that the VW mirrors are powered by 6 cables. Again, 2 do the heater. Two more do the left and right movement, with the final two controlling a solenoid. When powered up the solenoid moves a gear which means that the left/right (controlled by the first two) is converted into up and down.
I have no idea if or how I can wire this into the existing loom ior if I will need to replace the controller unit. I called the factory and the joystick/pad is the same, but still not sure if the controler unit changed, or if the wiring needs to be adapted. The parts dept gave me the name of the electrician who does the development work at the factory - so if anyone knows, he will. Unfortunately the bugger is busy developing cars... but hpefully get to speak to him soon.
And I thought the wiring would be the easy bit!!
The Citroen mirrors are powered by 5 cables - 2 do the heated element and the other three control two motors to do the up and down movement (a controller reverses the polarity to change direction in each plane).
The problem I have hit is that the VW mirrors are powered by 6 cables. Again, 2 do the heater. Two more do the left and right movement, with the final two controlling a solenoid. When powered up the solenoid moves a gear which means that the left/right (controlled by the first two) is converted into up and down.
I have no idea if or how I can wire this into the existing loom ior if I will need to replace the controller unit. I called the factory and the joystick/pad is the same, but still not sure if the controler unit changed, or if the wiring needs to be adapted. The parts dept gave me the name of the electrician who does the development work at the factory - so if anyone knows, he will. Unfortunately the bugger is busy developing cars... but hpefully get to speak to him soon.
And I thought the wiring would be the easy bit!!
No spiders from inside the doors or mirrors. A couple of spare bolts were in the bottom of the drivers door though...
As an aside to this I had to use a concrete cutting tool to create a drain in front of my garage a few weeks ago. The resulting dust highlighted the thousands of cobwebs in the garage. Which p1ssed me off because I had spent ages vacuuming them all away couple of months ago. For some reason I grabbed my blow torch and set about them. Not only does a blow torch make short work of spiders (I know - not nice, but it is quick!) - it vapourises the webs. Which is good. Spiders seem less keen on getting back to work in the garage now. Which is even better.
And yes - it is a most excellent surname. May I complement you on your choice of surname too, Mr Mungo
As an aside to this I had to use a concrete cutting tool to create a drain in front of my garage a few weeks ago. The resulting dust highlighted the thousands of cobwebs in the garage. Which p1ssed me off because I had spent ages vacuuming them all away couple of months ago. For some reason I grabbed my blow torch and set about them. Not only does a blow torch make short work of spiders (I know - not nice, but it is quick!) - it vapourises the webs. Which is good. Spiders seem less keen on getting back to work in the garage now. Which is even better.
And yes - it is a most excellent surname. May I complement you on your choice of surname too, Mr Mungo
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