Mirrors

[depmike38]

Does anyone know if there was ever a right outside mirror for the Mark II or if even one made by an accessory company.

[Barry Wolk]

I've looked through the DSOs and I believe there was mention of a RH mirror, but only one, I believe.

[black56]

The silver on my interior rearview mirror is badly tarnished and needs repairing. I have a place that will redo the silver plating, but I need to remove the glass from the frame myself. I am told this is easy, but I have not been able to do it so far. Any helpful hints? Does anyone know of any other solution to this problem?
Thanks!

[Barry Wolk]

Yes, inquiring minds want to know the secret.

[depmike38]

My glass man says to heat the metal with a hair dryer and then try and cut the caulk around the edges where the glass and metal housing meet. He says it is definitely a tedious task and that he uses an exacto knife to scrape it loose as most times the caulk is around the edges.

[Barry Wolk]

Is the heat to expand the metal and break the bond or does it soften the caulk, allowing the mirror to be pried out?

Who would resilver the mirror? Could I send them mine? What's the proper material to recaulk it with?

Does the old caulk have lead in it? Everything from that era seemed to have some lead in it.

[Mad Scientist]

I also have that problem.
But I don’t think heating the frame is going to do any good. It appears to me the glass was placed into the frame and the edges were folded (crimped) around it. Trying to unfold it would undoubtedly destroy the frame.

I have been toying with the idea of cutting a new mirror to size and gluing it on top of the old one. Not sure how well that would work or look.

[black56]

The original glass is a prism (thicker at the bottom) to provide the day/night function. If you put a new mirror on top of the old one, you will lose that function. This is also why you have to be careful not to break the glass when removing it from the frame.

[Barry Wolk]

MS,

The crimp is on the backside of my rear-view mirror and it's very small. I used a dental pic to get the gap opened and then used a very small screwdriver to pry the crimp back where it goes around a corner. That allowed me to slip the frame off the glass and remove it.

Now that I done that, where do I get it resilvered?

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg18/barry2952/1%20Mark%20II%20docs/IMG_2538.jpg

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg18/barry2952/1%20Mark%20II%20docs/IMG_2540.jpg

Yes indeed, it is a prism. I learned something new today, thanks!

http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg18/barry2952/1%20Mark%20II%20docs/IMG_2541.jpg

[depmike38]

Barry,
It looks like you did what I was thinking of and yes it was supposed to help soften the caulk. All of the modern mirrors are held in with an epoxy but if I'm sure I don't want to take it out again I use 3M windoweld urethane. My info source says that since they're crimped you can use silicone to replace the original caulk and he's had good results with it. I was thinking the crimp was probably to hold it until the caulk could set. He also advised me that as long as the original glass is resilvered the day/night function will still be there.

[Barry Wolk]

There was no caulk nor do I see any purpose in using caulk. Someone may have altered your mirror in the past.

[Nick DeSpirito]

MS,

The crimp is on the backside of my rear-view mirror and it's very small. I used a dental pic to get the gap opened and then used a very small screwdriver to pry the crimp back where it goes around a corner. That allowed me to slip the frame off the glass and remove it.

Now that I done that, where do I get it resilvered?

Yes indeed, it is a prism. I learned something new today, thanks!

Good work, Barry. I always wondered how that dang thing came apart. My glass is good, so I never delved into that project. Check the services offered columns in Hemmings. I think I once saw that service offered there.

I never knew the glass was thicker on the bottom either. I just thought the tilt mechanism would work the day/night feature by deflecting the image. Ya live and learn.

Thanks Black for that tidbit of information. :)

[depmike38]

Well I've seen the remains of it in the past on other cars and always assumed it was to help dampen vibration in the mirror glass and to keep from having to put such a tight crimp against the glass. Apparently the Mark II is different but let me know what you use to close the crimp back up. I'd be tempted to use a bit of adhesive to keep from potentially damaging the mirror housing.

[Barry Wolk]

It feels like it's thin stainless. I'll roll it back over with a wallpaper seam roller.

[Shelly Harris]

Are you guys sure the thicker edge is the bottom edge? If so, I bet mine has been upside down probably 50 years.

[black56]

I have not used them yet, but when searching locally for a resource to resilver my mirror, I found a source in Chicago. They quoted me a price of around $40 to do this. Here is the name, address and phone numbers of this place.
Armand Lee & Co.
840 N. Milwaukee Avenue
Chicago, IL 60642-4103
312-455-1200
I also spoke to Jack Rosen about where to have this done and he had a resource to do this, but had to send out multiple mirrors at one time. I think the price was about the same.
Tom

[Old-Timer]

Heating will expand the frame allowing U to get an exacto knife in there.

[Mad Scientist]

I think I see a good winter project here.

[Barry Wolk]

OT, I didn't need to use heat. I'd be afraid to use it due to the variable thickness of the prism mirror. Thermal shock:eek:and glass do not get along very well.

[Jim Rohn]

interesting note here while on that topic

My mom gave me the collection of 3 glass "coasters" that the glass/mirror company had made for Continental Division as they attempted to pick out "the" proper tint of the mirror (now whether exterior or interior, I am not certain, I always thought they were the exterior mirror glass - my dad was a pack rat, anything that had a use he kept and a LOT of things beyond that too- I have a giant box of air conditioning sensors/switches etc that were evaluated for the air conditioning program)

One appears to be almost no tint, then two are darker, each slightly a different shade. They went to a LOT of trouble on nearly EVERY detail on those cars before they were built.

Anyone want some genuine Mark II prototype mirror glass round "drink coasters"? :)

[Barry Wolk]

Who wouldn't?

[Shelly Harris]

My rear view mirror is certainly not brand new looking, as it has some flecks but not enough to run to a refinish. ANyways, I just wanted to add that the mirror has little if any tint. It looks pretty much clear. Is that what everyone else has??

[Barry Wolk]

Mine appears clear. There appears to either be some faceting to the prism or I'm seeing the infinity mirror effect. It looks like it's borosilicate, the stuff they make eyeglasses out of.