Bad News

[Haitian_King]

Bad news guys.

I come out of work today and I notice my driver's side mirror at an awkward angle. After further investigation, it appears that some idiot has broken it. The whole unit. It's still attached to the car, however the mirror won't stay upright and I can't see. I had to drive home in the rain tonight with a busted mirror. I'd never realized how much I used it. I kept glancing at it to check traffic and kept being reminded that it was broken. I'll take some pictures in the morning to give you guys an idea of how bad it is. Merry Christmas to me eh?

Does anyone have a black driver's side mirror laying around that they'd like to sell? I don't know if mine can be saved. Has this happened to anyone else? Is this an easy part to replace? Or does it require door disassembly?

I was very upset. Not angry per se, but filled with an overwhelming sadness. I felt so naked without the mirror and I felt that everyone was looking at it and laughing. Paranoia I guess.

So. Anyone, please help. This is killing me. I don't even want to drive it. I just want to throw a cover over it until it's fixed.

IOS has it at $298.70. Will Joe be available tomorrow? It's Christmas Eve.

If I was more sensitive, I'd cry.

[Raxephon]

I have a spare one, but its white.

[Q45denver]

Black is the easiest color to match. You could probably get a can at the local auto parts store and get a decent match.

[Haitian_King]

But canned spray paint wouldn't match OEM and it'd look all funny. I found some spares on eBay that weren't too outrageous. What do you guys think?

Is this something I can do myself? Is it hard to replace?

I had my dad look at it and he says that he'll try to use screws to make it sit. I just won't be able to fold it in anymore.

[Q451990]

Sorry to hear about that... at least it wasn't sheet metal damage... if something had to happen at least this is relatively easy to repair. I was half expecting to open this thread and hear tales of exploding transmissions or a major accident.

Is the black "shell" on the back side of your mirror damaged? If not you should be able to swap it out with any 90-93 mirror your buy. The rest of the mirror is black on all of the cars if I remember correctly.

See how this one has black everywhere except the back? That pearl portion is removable, and you could put your black cover on there if it's still OK.



Heath
Modified by Q451990 at 11:19 AM 12/24/2007

[Haitian_King]

I saw that mirror last night on ebay.

Heath,

The shell isn't cracked. In fact, there's no cosmetic damage. You see where the shell connects to that "base" that swivels? So you can fold the mirror in? It won't stay seated. It's come loose. It won't stay upright. I used Krazy Glue on it last night but that didn't work. I don't know if it can be fixed, so I've been toying with the option of just buying a whole new replacement. Taking off the old one and putting the new one is is what's stumping me. I have no idea how to do it. The defroster and motor connectors won't be hard, it appears that the wires are plug and play.

[Raxephon]

But canned spray paint wouldn't match OEM and it'd look all funny. I found some spares on eBay that weren't too outrageous.

Umm, I was going to give it to you, you would just have to cover shipping.

Mirror removal is easy.

There's a plastic cover you remove to gain access to (3) 10mm bolts and the wiring molex for the motor/heater.

Once you remove those 4 things the mirror will pop right off with little to no effort whatsoever.

[Haitian_King]

Wow. Really? What a swell guy.

Sure thing. No problem. What'll it be to 08046?

[Q451990]

By "shell" I meant only the part that is color matched to your car. In the picture that would be the pearl white portion of the mirror. So if you get a mirror assembly in a different color, you can interchange that part with your factory black part and you're done.

To replace it you have to remove your door skin and then three screws. It's not too bad.

Heath

[Raxephon]

Wow. Really? What a swell guy.

Sure thing. No problem. What'll it be to 08046?

Figure a 12x12x12 box weighing less than 5lbs and shipped from 32608.

USPS-Parcel-$10USPS-Priority-$13USPS-Express-$34

Fedex looks to be about the same.

[Haitian_King]

Priority's like what, 1-2 days?

No problem. Paypal good with you?

[MR. Q]

I had the same problem when a little pick-up truck tried to squeeze between my 1990 and a garbage truck. Took less than 20 minutes to get it off.

[96Qowner]

Mirror removal is easy. There's a plastic cover you remove to gain access to (3) 10mm bolts and the wiring molex for the motor/heater. Once you remove those 4 things the mirror will pop right off with little to no effort whatsoever.

Here's another brief description from goody:

"you've got to remove the interior door trim to unplug the mirror assembly, and get to a couple of screws holding the triangular shaped trim piece in the front corner of the window. From there it's pretty straight forward. Take it inside where it's cool and pull the assembly apart. Start by removing the 2 or 3 bolts on the bottom. I've busted a couple of side view mirrors on other cars over the years and most of the time they are unrepairable."

zerothread?id=275746

[Haitian_King]

Thanks guys. I'm feeling better about this already.

[Raxephon]

Priority's like what, 1-2 days?

No problem. Paypal good with you?

Yeah, just drop me an email. I'm not posting paypal addy's on a forum.

anlasak AT yahoo DOT com

[maxnix]

The "shell" is often called the "mirror nacelle."

Way to go NICO.

[Haitian_King]

Thanks for that tidbit. Any reason why it's called that? Why do you even know this?

Interesting bit of trivia though. It's appreciated.

[AH240sx]

damn.. right before christmas. Sorry about that

[Haitian_King]

Yeah. It sucks.

I put some rubber cement on it and wrapped some tape around it. Hopefully, it'll set and be able to be used as a mirror until my replacement comes. The glass responds to the controls so that's good. I hope when the tape comes off, the mirror is remain stationary.

The downside to using the glue is that I won't be able to fold the mirror in anymore. But once I get the replacement, I'll be ok.

[Haitian_King]

*Status update on the mirror.*

I took the tape off and drove to work this morning. The mirror held up ok until I hit 40. The glue stopped it from swiveling forward, but the road vibrations and wind had the mirror shaking worse than Michael J. Fox in an earthquake. I retaped it in the parking lot and am now in a deep depression because I realized that when I get off of work, I have to drive with that tacky tape on the mirror. It's black electrical tape and camouflages against the black mirror shell (or the mirror nacelle to those in the know) decently, but it irks me because I know it's there.

To go off topic, I started the Q this morning after not driving it for week. (God I missed it) I must say, while it started up with little effort, the scent I was getting from the exhaust pipe was a little disconcerting. I'm scraping the rear window and the exhaust smelled quite strong. Like concentrated exhaust. There was no color, just the white steam (it was 37*F). I noticed the fuel smell in the cabin and made a mental note to have Keith tighten the hoses or replace them while he's doing the guides.

Another off topic question. I haven't checked my oil levels in a couple of weeks. (Everytime I remember, I always forget) I found out about the valve covers recently, so I wanted to know if a major loss of oil can be a result of leaky VC's. Sorry if it's a dumb question.

[Kiven422]

Hello Haitian King just dropping buy to say that there are black 93 side mirrors for sale on ebay at a decent price.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...wItem

[Haitian_King]

Thanks Kiven. I'm waiting on a driver's side mirror from Anlasak.

[Haitian_King]

The picture of my mirror. (Sorry it's so late)

Brace yourselves guys. Don't be afraid to cry. It is disturbing.

[goody90q45]

Irreversibly tweaked.

Nice to see you posting pics BTW. Let's see the rest of your Q.

[Haitian_King]

I will. I'm a little self conscious about it though. I haven't been able to get to the car wash in weeks. Ever since I owned the Q, I noticed that the hood didn't line up evenly. ( A small discrepancy in symmetry) I remained blase about it, close to full blown denial. I asked Keith about it after our road test and he said that he suspects that the driver's side fender took a shot. He pointed out a small part that had been touched up. I'd never noticed the touch up (even during handwashing and waxing). I'm quite narcissistic and shallow which results in my being in a constant state of paranoia. I always think people are judging me and snickering at possible flaws and defects. (Some real, some imagined. Being a Psychology major and recognizing the symptoms and behaviors is disconcerting too.)

I feel that every flaw in my Q reflects a flaw in my personality, hence my intense desire to have a "perfect" Q. Mechanically and cosmetically.

Sorry for the introspective narrative. Just thought I'd share something personal. Hopefully it'll shed some light on the reasons for my behavior on the board. I'm working on it though. But I digress again, damn it.

Here are some pics.

My rusty dot thing. No clue why this one decided to rust out. The other 3 are quite nice and black.

My damn rear passenger door that won't stay flush. Constantly looks ajar even after numerous door striker adjustments. Looking at it today, I think the problem may lie in where the door "latches" on the the striker.

Rear driver's side door refuses to be flush as well. It behaves better than the passenger side. Striker adjustments have been done here too. Could it be the door latch mechanism? What are the odds of both doors being like this?

This is where my hood symmetry gets distorted. I tried to get a picture of the spot that was touched up, but it wouldn't show up on the phone camera.

My only remedy until my replacement mirror comes in. How ugly is that? I'm sure I'm committing a crime against good taste somewhere.

Scratches in the driver's seat. (Lumbar area closest to the door) Should I replace the whole seat, or just have it reupholstered? I'd need to do the passenger side as well (But it's not as bad as the driver's.) The actual seat cushion has some blemishes too.

Well enough of my vehicular shortcomings. Here are some pics of the things I take some pride in.

My interior. I like the way it looks in the picture.

My Burl Kit (Courtesy of Mike). Sorry about the glare. Damn phone camera wouldn't filter out the excess sunlight.

My steering wheel cover. A little thick, but feels very nice. I like the stipple pattern too.

A close up of it.

A picture of the rubber winter mats I have in the Q. I had a person sitting in the passenger seat before the picture, and they didn't have the decency to at least shake a little debris off of their shoes before planting them on my mat. I have these in until I can get some gray or black OEM ones.

Sorry this turned into a "Haitian_King Q Picture Fest". Just wanted to share with you guys. Show what I'm working with. I guess I'm a ways away from having a Q like Woot's. Hopefully you guys don't rag on me too hard about it.

Thanks for taking the time to look.

[Kiven422]

I am jealous of your non-tan interior!!!

For that rusty screw you should put tape around it and spray paint it black... sand it lightly first if you need to.

I never realized you can fold the mirriors in. I tried it on my Q but it wouldn't budge and seemed like I would have broken it if I forced it.

[Q451990]

Ditto on the window retainer (rusty button) - and I'm a huge fan of treating it by a product from Locktite called "Extend" to stop the rust first.

I think I bought my last can at Lowe's

Heath

[Raxephon]

Hey,

Sorry for the wait but I found a black one for you.

Tracking number is in the email I sent you.

Cheers!

[Haitian_King]

Thanks a million man. You're a lifesaver.

[Raxephon]

Has the mirror arrived yet?