A Replacement Convex Mirror that Really Works

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by Mongoose930

Just an FYI, and I have no affiliation with Tex, but those mirrors are also see through glass. I didn't see any advantage to this and actually put painters tape behind them. For $10.00, it is a pretty good upgrade to the flat glass.

It sure is. Aardvark charged me $40. In the meantime, I'm using dental floss to compress the cork and spring so I can silicone the mirror and gasket in. Once that's dry, I'll release the floss from the back hole of the housing and the spring will uncoil and the cork will push out against the mirror reducing vibration. Here are two pics. Chas will love the fact that I'm using dental floss in this project.

[Mongoose930]

Very clever. Looking forward to seeing the final results.

[ERA Chas]

I have used dental floss for decades to hold small parts together when model building.
But that's pretty good for a lawyer........

[OldFoggey]

Patrick, what's really cool about the pic of the mirror is whatever is reflected in the mirror appears like a nice glass of German beer.

Don

[patrickt]

Glass and chrome cleaned. I'll let the silicone cure one more night before I untie the floss, thus releasing the internal spring and cork. BTW, the gasket, spring, and cork look like they could be fabbed pretty easily from Home Depot components instead of spending $25 on them.

[FWB]

he may like the use of dental floss.....but the perplexing part is the straw and the batteries.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by FWB

he may like the use of dental floss.....but the perplexing part is the straw and the batteries.

I trimmed the straw to pass around the screw that extrudes from the back of the housing so that the three pieces of floss, which are looped around the top of the spring in 120 degree increments, pass inside the straw, along the screw, and are constricted at the top by the straw so that there is a nice, even "draw down" of the spring. I then wrapped the floss several times around the base of the screw, where it exits from the straw, and put a little blue tape to hold it. The batteries are for a small flashlight, off camera. You couldn't figure that out?

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by ERA Chas

I have used dental floss for decades to hold small parts together when model building.
But that's pretty good for a lawyer........

I agree - I've been impressed with Patrick's ingenuity and do-it-yourself projects. I think he could have had a second career as an engineer.

[FWB]

Originally Posted by DanEC

I agree - I've been impressed with Patrick's ingenuity and do-it-yourself projects. I think he could have had a second career as an engineer.

i thought the batteries were for a newly acquired turbo'ed vibrator.

shouldn't there be some sort of battery recharger wired into the cobra, i think it would be a staple for all of the "how to" posts. from what i've read, chas would be able to help him wire it in

[patrickt]

Done, and a beautiful job, if I do say so myself. Here are some shots. I turned the flash off and put on my work lights since it's in the garage. To give you an idea of the view from the driver's seat, I put two orange cones out. One on a tangent line of the car, adjacent to the back fender, sitting on my work stool. The second is at a right angle to the end of the car, six feet over. This is the blind spot. It's easier to see with a pic, but this gives you an idea. That last pic is exactly what you see from a normal driving position in the seat. Of course, I might want to adjust it a little more one way or another, but I won't know that until it stops raining and I get it out on the road.

[ERA Chas]

Holy crap-looks like one of those planetary alignment mobiles from science class.
All this for a mirror Sheldon...

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by ERA Chas

Holy crap-looks like one of those planetary alignment mobiles from science class.
All this for a mirror Sheldon...

Yes indeed. I was even going to run strings to show the curvature of the line of sight, but I thought you would make fun of me.... But I will tell you that the upgrade is absolutely phenomenal. That little upgrade took my fifty dollar Talbot knock-off right up to the level of the genuine $400 job. Now, I don't know if the $10 UK mirror is the same as the $40 German mirror, maybe it is, maybe it isn't; but I do know there are different "cuts" of mirrors for quality purposes -- like steaks, first cuts, second cuts, etc. You know, I bet G-Pete would know. He's exceptionally talented in areas such as this. Maybe we could ask him if the cheaper English mirror is as good as the more expensive German mirror. In the meantime, here are the instructions for the Talbot mirror. The knock-offs are pretty much the same, except all the internals are of lesser quality. Just replace the mirror, gasket, spring, and cork.

[G-Pete]

Years ago I had to replace a Talbot mirror on my first '77 911, the former owner exchanged the large Porsche ones with the small Talbots. Anyhow, I can't recall these mirrors are that expensive. There were good and they had no vibration and the view was excellent.
$400 is way too much for a mirror and your fix seems to be working. Good job!



Now, as someone mentioned before - what's up with that light fixture?

[G-Pete]

...just remembered, I bought that car 22 years and 2 days ago.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by G-Pete

Now, as someone mentioned before - what's up with that light fixture?

House warming gift... from ERA Chas.

[ERA Chas]

Originally Posted by patrickt

House warming gift... from ERA Chas.

A house warming gift from me would be about 4000 degrees F. and delivered by B-52.