DIY: PAINTING SIDE MIRROR COVER

Forum for Infiniti M35 and M45, and Nissan Fuga owners.
Larz
Moderator
Posts: 3054
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2013 8:55 pm
Car: 2019 Q70-L RWD
Location: Ft Lauderdale, Florida
Contact:

Post

Long story short, our weekly rubbish pick-up is Tues and Fri. That's important because it was a rogue rubbish bin that attacked my side mirror and damaged the outer cover on the passenger side. The night before pick-up, these tall, huge bins are dragged down our driveways to the street by housekeepers, butlers, or in my case ... ME. I allegedly came too close to one my neighbor's bins and it jumped out, viciously attacked, and deeply scraped my mirror cover, smashing it into the folded position.
The dealer quoted $174.75 for a new cover, $225 for paint / labor (it comes in primer only), $90 to remove / install it for a total of: $489.75
I declined. :nono:

I went home, and used google to save me. I bought the following:
OEM exact part number mirror cover from Infinitipartsonline 98.00
3M Scotch-bright pad to sand / prep the surface: 6.22
Dupli-color paint promoter: 15.92
Dupli-color Perfect Match clear coat 10.79
Harpy Motors QAA OEM paint (1 can base + 1 can top coat) 27.99
________
Total: $ 158.92

I thoroughly cleaned the cover with 99% alcohol, wet sanded it, then cleaned again with alcohol, then re-sanded it smooth. I followed the directions on each of the cans to apply promoter, paint, and clear coat. As you know, QAA paint is a three stage paint process with base, pearl top coat, and then clear to protect it. The idea that these paint cans could accurately create a finish similar to what a paint shop can do was rather unlikely, but it was worth a try to avoid $500 for a pro job.
The painted plastic mirror cover is NOT attached to the car. Rather, it simply snaps onto the main mirror housing. It was easy to remove. If I'm honest, The cleaning, sanding, re-cleaning, priming, re-sanding, two step painting, final clear coating, and polishing was a bit cumbersome and there was time spent waiting coats just staring at it, LOL. Not difficult like rocket science, but it took loads of patience to make sure the plastic would accept the paint evenly and loads of care to avoid paint runs or overspray. Mind you, anybody can do this - but you have to follow the instructions to the letter. That is where, frankly, I sometimes fall a bit short of the mark, LOL. Everything you see listed above came from Amazon and all but the paint arrives in 2 days free if you're a prime member. The paint took 4 days. I sprayed multiple thin coats of promoter, lightly sanded nit smooth, then multiple thin coats both paints, then 5 thin coats of clear. The final stage came a few days later. After I was sure the surface had cured, I used my orbital and Griot's BOSS polish to refine the surface of the clear coat to match the shine and depth of the rest of the car.
When you view the result, you have to agree that Harpy Motors (a rather funny name) makes a great product and a nearly perfect match to the factory pearl effect. To provide this color in touch-up bottles, pens, and spray cans is a welcome thing indeed. I highly recommend them.
.
Image
.
Image
.
Image
.


LIBRILZ
Posts: 1483
Joined: Sun Mar 04, 2007 3:17 pm
Car: 1990 Nissan 300zx
2007 M45 Sport

Post

Looks great, glad to see this worked out for you!

kmiles
Posts: 317
Joined: Sun Mar 27, 2011 2:59 pm
Car: 2015 Q70 3.7 AWD - Hermosa Blue
Sold - 2007 M35x

Post

Larz - great write-up! I've found that repairing the paint on plastic parts can be a long process. Who did the pin striping on your mirror?

Greg00gts
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri Oct 13, 2017 10:31 am

Post

I would love to try this, too bad they don’t have the paint for an 07 white m35.

Larz
Moderator
Posts: 3054
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2013 8:55 pm
Car: 2019 Q70-L RWD
Location: Ft Lauderdale, Florida
Contact:

Post

kmiles wrote:
Sun Mar 24, 2019 9:43 am
Larz - great write-up! I've found that repairing the paint on plastic parts can be a long process. Who did the pin striping on your mirror?
That pinstripe is on the rear fender. I posted that to compare the factory paint to my mirror.

Larz
Moderator
Posts: 3054
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2013 8:55 pm
Car: 2019 Q70-L RWD
Location: Ft Lauderdale, Florida
Contact:

Post

Greg00gts wrote:
Sun Mar 24, 2019 2:40 pm
I would love to try this, too bad they don’t have the paint for an 07 white m35.
Chances are, if you're just doing the mirror, the paint I used will work fine. If not, here is a site that offers your factory matched color (QX1):
https://touchupdirect.com/touch-up-pain ... ct=aerosol
It includes the color and clear coat.

carldu
Posts: 93
Joined: Wed Jul 03, 2013 9:30 pm
Car: 08 Titan

Post

The outcome looks great. Nice work! How many coats of paint did you apply?

Larz
Moderator
Posts: 3054
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2013 8:55 pm
Car: 2019 Q70-L RWD
Location: Ft Lauderdale, Florida
Contact:

Post

I reckon the side mirrors get swatted pretty hard by rain and road debri so I did 2-3 light coats of primer, then lightly wet sanded it. I followed with 3 coats of each touch-up can (mine takes two different paints to match the pearl effect. After the touch-up colors, I add 2 very light coats of clear, followed by 3 more regular coats of clear. I kept the cover in my garage for two days to allow it to completely cure. I drove the car with the innards and motor exposed for two days, coated with vaseline and a bit of plastic wrap - and yes I looked quite daft whilst doing it, LOL. After two days, I reinstalled the mirror cover, then buffed it with polish to make the surface smooth and bring a pop to the clear coat.

User avatar
LEXKYM45
Posts: 40
Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2008 7:42 am
Car: 2006 M45 Sport / Aero, Diamond Graphite
Location: LEXINGTON, KY

Post

Okay, is there some trick to removing the side mirror covers? I've tried prying them off with a nylon tool and they wont budge. I'm afraid of breaking the tabs inside and/or damaging he cover itself. FSM hasn't provided much insight. Id really rather not have to buy new ones. Can the locking tabs be accessed from behind the mirror? Thanks in advance.

Larz
Moderator
Posts: 3054
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2013 8:55 pm
Car: 2019 Q70-L RWD
Location: Ft Lauderdale, Florida
Contact:

Post

I might be wrong, but I believe I started with a pory tool on the outer edge of the mirror. The cover slides on and rests against a tiny lip on the actual mirror. You need something slim enough wiggle itself between that tiny lip and the edge of the painted cover. I didn't find the tabs to be flimsy and it does take a bit of force to unclick that first time.

EdBwoy
Moderator
Posts: 3507
Joined: Tue Dec 25, 2012 12:47 am
Location: Indiana, USA
Contact:

Post

LEXKYM45 wrote:
Tue Apr 07, 2020 1:09 pm
Okay, is there some trick to removing the side mirror covers? I've tried prying them off with a nylon tool and they wont budge. I'm afraid of breaking the tabs inside and/or damaging he cover itself. FSM hasn't provided much insight. Id really rather not have to buy new ones. Can the locking tabs be accessed from behind the mirror? Thanks in advance.
When I've done it, I found it necessary to remove the mirror. Check out the beginning of this video, maybe the same methods will work for you -

Larz
Moderator
Posts: 3054
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2013 8:55 pm
Car: 2019 Q70-L RWD
Location: Ft Lauderdale, Florida
Contact:

Post

As always, best to follow the advise of Ed. Ed has been were few have gone with Infiniti cars. If you aren't already subscribed to his youtube channel, I highly recommend you do that.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPhOXF ... ND-EZjkJaA

EdBwoy
Moderator
Posts: 3507
Joined: Tue Dec 25, 2012 12:47 am
Location: Indiana, USA
Contact:

Post

Thanks for the props Larz.
I like to share my experienced in the most honest way possible -with all that we have going on currently, breaking a mirror cap while trying to fix it isn't going to uplift anyone's spirits.

User avatar
LEXKYM45
Posts: 40
Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2008 7:42 am
Car: 2006 M45 Sport / Aero, Diamond Graphite
Location: LEXINGTON, KY

Post

Thanks Larz and EdBwoy for the info. Props to EdBwoy for the video. I had prepared myself to ordering replacements before i started but i think I got this. I'll post my results later.


Return to “Infiniti M35 and M45 Forum”