Replacing just the mirror's glass: what adhesive?

[T.Low]

Thanks a ton for the mirror, Skip. My glass simply fell out.

WHat adhesive should I use and how big of a deal is the ambient temperature during installation? It's been just under freezing here lately.

Cheers, and thanks again Skip.

[Smiliesafari]

You are welcome, Tom. I used RTV to glue my mirror in place. I noticed that the factory used very little adhesive so I used a lot more. I used masking tape to hold it in place and left it taped for 24 hours.

[dunedog]

Warmer is better.......got a garage?
Probable would if it wasn't filled to the brim with STUFF

[T.Low]

Thanks again, Skip.

Yeah, I figured warmer would have to be better. One of these days I'll have to raise the brim of the back garage to be able to fit the van inside.

[kamenz]

Tom, 3M makes some super double back adhesive tape which might do the trick.

[CaptSquid]

I used clear silicone to stick my mirror glass back in -- LOTS OF IT.

[loopie]

I miss my power mirror
Was rolling a lenght of rolled up carpet off the roof rack one day and it clipped the drivers mirror on the way down and bent it a little. Then one day I was pressure washing the van and the mirror lense blew off. I had a spare complete manual side view mirror assembly that wasn't bent, so I swapped it in(no, I couldn't see a way to swap the power bits)...

[1Gary]

The help section in your auto parts store has replacement mirrors that are plastic with the glue already on them.You cut the shape to fit and just peel the back to stick them on.It is kind of cheesy repair,but served it's purpose on a Areostar I owned.Honestly Tom,I don't want to rain on anyones parade here,but given a really sweet ride like yours,don't you want to buy a replacement mirror like you had and have it painted the same color by a paint shop??.That does follow along the lines of every thing you have done with the van.

[Herbie]

Tom, just take the whole mirror housing off the van and do the gluing in the house. It's just three nuts - pop off the triangle-shaped trim piece on the door and then peel back the gooey-weatherproof cover stuff and you'll see the nuts. 10mm, IIRC. I had to use a wrench on the lowest one, but the other two were easy with a socket.

I was going to transplant just the glass on my driver's side mirror, but I'm having trouble getting the glass off of the donor mirror's backing without flexing it so much I'm worried it will crack if I go any further. Looking at what is left of my original (my glass just fell off too, like you), it looks like hot-melt glue, so next I'm going to try my heat gun to see if I can release the glass...

[CaptSquid]

I got my replacement mirror GLASS at Manny, Moe & Jack's for just $11 and change. The stealership wanted $54(!) for the same piece. It included double stick tape, but I used clear silicone. That was about 7 years ago and the silicone "breathes"; i.e., adapts to the weather conditions.

[GnarliSafari]

they only take a couple minutes to remove, why not take the mirror inside?

[T.Low]

Thanks for all the replies, guys. I've been meaning to post this but I seem to usually surf the site with one hand while bottle feeding a baby in the other, these days. (Oops, wrong smilie)


When the glass falls out, the plastic backing piece is exposed with it's tiniest little dabs of glue on it. There are little slots in the center of the piece meant for a flat head screwdriver to poke threw and undo the tabs holding it in place to the rest of the mirror assembly. Once off, I then took the plastic piece and the new glass mirror inside to warmer temperatures and used a lot of RTV glue and clamped them together for a few days.

Once glued to the plastic backing piece, it presses back into place on the mirror assembly. As soon as i pressed it into place I realized it was too late to take a picture of the the bare plastic without the glass to show the tab slots. Sorry.

Thanks again for the glass, Skip, and thanks for all the suggestions guys.

[T.Low]

Warmer is better.......got a garage?
Probable would if it wasn't filled to the brim with STUFF

Hey, you'd better post something quick; I just noticed your post count is at 666.