Rear view mirror restoration

Robotsan

Club Member
Hello,

As a little side project from the rest of my car, today I was looking at the rear view mirror..

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It's got lots of black around the edge of the glass - but I've found at least one place that will resilver it, for £60. Seems a better bet than paying $200+ customs & shipping from the US for a replacement.

But that comes down to how well I can restore the plastic casing. Has anyone done this before?

I have found this excellent DIY guide on Hybridz, but I'm scared of heating it and twisting it to get the glass out! So has anyone attempted it already?

The plastic was crumbling and turning to dust, but I've given it a good scrub and I'm down to a layer which isn't crumbling. But I'm thinking it'll need a primer and then some kind of textured black spray paint - like the type people use for dashboard restoration?

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Geoff-R

Club Member
I did this last week! I had a casing that was in good condition but the mirror was shot and I had a mirror where the casing was shot and the mirror was perfect. Read the how to as well and got proper worried about doing the job, I had visions of the glass smashing and cutting me. Tried running it under hot water but had no luck at all, I was just getting the plastic hot and really not achieving a lot. In the end I sat the mirror glass down in a roasting tray with a bit of cold water in it, then added boiled water from the kettle, left it 5 mins and the glass popped right out. I'd advise using some trim removal tools, the plastic kind as they aren't going to damage the silver on the mirror, just to aid levering it out.

As for your case, it looks pretty good, is the plastic solid or crumbling? I would wipe it down with some alcohol, a very light sanding (800/1000 grit) and then give it a quick spray with some black paint and matt lacquer, that's what I did and it looks good as new.
 

Robotsan

Club Member
I did this last week! I had a casing that was in good condition but the mirror was shot and I had a mirror where the casing was shot and the mirror was perfect. Read the how to as well and got proper worried about doing the job, I had visions of the glass smashing and cutting me. Tried running it under hot water but had no luck at all, I was just getting the plastic hot and really not achieving a lot. In the end I sat the mirror glass down in a roasting tray with a bit of cold water in it, then added boiled water from the kettle, left it 5 mins and the glass popped right out. I'd advise using some trim removal tools, the plastic kind as they aren't going to damage the silver on the mirror, just to aid levering it out.

As for your case, it looks pretty good, is the plastic solid or crumbling? I would wipe it down with some alcohol, a very light sanding (800/1000 grit) and then give it a quick spray with some black paint and matt lacquer, that's what I did and it looks good as new.

No way!? First the roof, now this! 😂

OK nice one, so the mirror was pretty much submerged in hot water? And then you twisted it like the DIY said?

Yeah the back of mine was crumbling pretty bad - I must have scrubbed 1mm of plastic off which was basically dust. See the first photo of the back, above - all the leather effect texture is gone. That's why I'm thinking of using something like UPol PlastX to give the whole thing a new textured finish.

I might not do the front edge, around the mirror though, as I imagine the act of pushing the glass back in would damage the new finish.

Got any before and after photos of yours?

Btw, in case anyone else wants their glass redoing - this place (https://antiquemirrorglass.com/) quoted me £60 for re-silvering. I emailed about 6 companies in the UK but they were the cheapest by quite a long way.
 

Geoff-R

Club Member
I know!

I'll grab you some pictures of the after. I didn't take any before pictures but the actual mirror was far more de-silvered than yours. It was from a UK car so had really suffered over time, however, the casing hadn't been subjected to the heat of a US car so was in really good condition.

The UPol PlastX isn't a bad shout, the finish will be pretty good, I've used it before on the dash.

I probably submerged it face down in about 2cm of water, I didn't cover it completely, enough to soften the plastic edges to allow a degree of flexibility. I'll be honest I couldn't twist the casing like they mention in the DIY, plus twisting it just felt like I was asking for trouble, either a cracked mirror or a cut hand. I carefully pulled at the top edge where the mirror meets the casing, got my trim tool in between the mirror and casing and it pretty much popped out. Don't attack it from the bottom edge as the mirror is bevelled, it's thicker at the top than the bottom.
 

Geoff-R

Club Member
That looks really good. Did you paint the front edges too? How did it go pushing the glass back in? Did you have to heat the plastic again?

I did, painted front and back, light prime, quick blast of black and finished with matt lacquer. Left it a few days before pushing the glass back in. It went back in really easily. Basically the reverse of removing the glass. Leave it in the hot water for a few minutes and it pops back in really nicely, bottom edge (thinnest edge first) and the top pops in.
 

Robotsan

Club Member
I did, painted front and back, light prime, quick blast of black and finished with matt lacquer. Left it a few days before pushing the glass back in. It went back in really easily. Basically the reverse of removing the glass. Leave it in the hot water for a few minutes and it pops back in really nicely, bottom edge (thinnest edge first) and the top pops in.

OK cool. I'll give it a go when I'm back from holiday!
 

Robotsan

Club Member
Managed to get the glass out with the method you gave me Geoff. The glass was actually flat though on mine - must be a 280z thing?

I've given it a Plastx coating (see this post) and now have given it 1 coat of Simonez Satin Black .. was planning to give it a coat of same brand clear lacquer tomorrow, but then read on the Satin Black can it says don't overcoat with other paints or lacquers 🤔.. Do you reckon I really shouldn't risk it?

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