How to go about repainting mirrors?

[longms]

This is my problem...



I have read there is no way to separate these. Should I just prep the area, tape it off and then spray?? I will take them off the car of course.

[SimplyDope]

Bumping this up.

[george graves]

I've never heard of anyone that separated them. But if they went together, they have to come apart -= I think there is a brass shaft that gets crimped?

I've seen most people paint them while "bent" about 30 degrees to get into the cracks.

[Ceeker]

Yeah, I was looking into doing that as well; I just moved the mirror in such a way to get into the whole area. If you want them to never corrode ever again. Get the black plastic ones and paint them white.

[dakon]

i am currently re-painting my mirrors, i will post some pictures in this thread of my process...

my mirrors were oxidized in the same spot as yours, however the paint was not coming off yet.


i took my drivers side mirror apart yesterday, got the glass out, motor out, and the cables out.. the spring shaft, does appear to be crimped, i was trying to see if i could seperate the 2 pieces myself, however i do not think there is a way of doing it with out breaking something, so i am going to spray the entire mirror as one assembly.


also you will want to make a jig, to hold the mirror, i used some 2X4's and a 1/4 threaded rod, i will post some pictures of my painting rig as well.


i used 150 grit sand paper, to get the old paint off, and to grind down the oxidation, then when i had everything pretty much the way i wanted it, went over the entire mirror with 800 grit...

if your mirrors are like mine, you will have oxidation inside the mirror as well, on the back side of the mounting plate, where your paint is coming off, you will need a sandblaster to get rid of that, i will be sand blasting mine in the next couple days.. you need to get ride of ALL of the oxidation prior to re-painting, or you will just be wasting your time...

this is how my mirror started


here is an iphone photo i took of the painting jig, i will get a better photo with a real camera in a bit. but this is good for an idea..

[Ceeker]

keep in mind the bubbling beneath the paint is crusty which means once that comes off the aluminum will have indentations and unevenness. after sanding it is best to get some epoxy and fill the holes to even out the surface and then sand and prime. otherwise it will show up under the paint.

[dakon]

here is my update so you can see how i am going about doing my mirrors











right now it is pretty much ready for paint, i may wet sand the mirror tomorrow, and then spray color, i will post pictures after i get color on if you want.

i would highly recommend sand blasting the inside of the mirror, as there was a pretty good amount of oxidation on the inside of mine, and if you don't take care of the oxidation it will just continue to spread again....

hope this helps

[dkbmxer002]

nice to see i'm not the only one with that shit on the mirror... i just repainted the ones that were on the car but i am going to paint my spares and put them on since they don't have any of that corrosion.

[jjc-hi]

Very nice! I may need to do the same thing with a newer set of mirrors I got. I want to swap the glass from my original mirrors to the new set. Is this hard to do? Any instructions available?

[dkbmxer002]

it's easy. i had never done it and i took my mirrors apart and did some painting and removed the glass and motors. it's easy. i personally would take the mirrors off to do it just so you can do it inside or and can move the mirror around to your liking.

[jjc-hi]

Found it at

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=154705&highlight=mirror

[longms]

Damn...that looks pretty good. I am going to have to go this route as well but it is snowing and 15 degrees outside so that kind of makes it hard to work with paint. I like the jig idea though. Very nice

[Need4Speed1299]

Looks great dakon!

[dkbmxer002]

Damn...that looks pretty good. I am going to have to go this route as well but it is snowing and 15 degrees outside so that kind of makes it hard to work with paint. I like the jig idea though. Very nice

i just did it on a table right next to the window with a fan blowing out the window and a drop cloth.

[george graves]

^that's like a DIY heater box or something. :)