Interior rear view mirror repair questions

[DAVEN1256]

I am trying to save and restore the original interior rear view mirror from my '68 and have some questions.

It has two problems. The glass is needing replacing or re-silvering and the lever for switching the day/night mode is broken.

My questions are...…

1) Is there any place you can get a replacement lever aside from a donor mirror. I'm doubting it but it never huts to ask. I tried gluing mine back together and had exactly the luck I expected......none!

2) Replacement glass is available from Paragon Corvette for $40.00. I assume it's reproduction and wonder about the quality and fit. Anyone had experience with these?

3) Can any place that re-silvers  mirrors re-do do a day/night mirror?

4) Is it true that the glass just fits inside the rubber and that no adhesive was used to hold it in. I didn't know if the yellow substance that came off of the back of the glass and stuck to the rubber was adhesive or part of the mirror backing?

5) How is the rubber attached the stainless steel body of the mirror? I had soaked my mirror in hot water to soften the rubber to get the glass out and in the process, most of the rubber detached from the body of the mirror. An inch and a half of the rubber at one end will not come loose though. On the part that did come loose, there doesn't seem to be any trace of adhesive.

Thanks..…..Dave

[ZLP955]

Dave - would suggest a call to Joyce Borrell - https://www.mirrorladypa.com

[Petes L48]

I bought a repop mirror recently, and there were noticeable differences.  The gray day/night lever was different shape, the lettering was different, the ribs on the case were not stamped the same, and the mount arm was  different at the end.  I'm now going to send mine original in for restoration.  I started taking the original apart and will post some pictures tonight.

[67conv6cyl]

Besides my 67 Camaro I also own a Corvette.....I notice that all reproduction parts made for Corvette’s are much more authentic and better quality then reproduction parts made for Camaro’s and mustangs....has anybody else notice this?
Therefore I am doing my Camaro with ONLY original GM parts. I have bought some reproduction stuff over the years and ended up not using them and searching for original or correct  nos parts. I am one of those purists that also has to have everything with the correct date codes on anything that I buy used.
That’s also why I have been working on This 67 Camaro for 28 years! I have owned it since I was in my early twenties and never stopped working on it.

[Petes L48]

Here are pics, repop is on the left.  There is no glue behind the original mirror, just a light "ungray"area that feels slightly higher than the gray when you run a fingernail across.

[Petes L48]

Final comparison pics, repop now on the right

[69Z28-RS]

The Mirror Lady does good work... 

[68camaroz28]

I am trying to save and restore the original interior rear view mirror from my '68 and have some questions.

It has two problems. The glass is needing replacing or re-silvering and the lever for switching the day/night mode is broken.

My questions are...…

1) Is there any place you can get a replacement lever aside from a donor mirror. I'm doubting it but it never huts to ask. I tried gluing mine back together and had exactly the luck I expected......none!

2) Replacement glass is available from Paragon Corvette for $40.00. I assume it's reproduction and wonder about the quality and fit. Anyone had experience with these?

3) Can any place that re-silvers  mirrors re-do do a day/night mirror?

4) Is it true that the glass just fits inside the rubber and that no adhesive was used to hold it in. I didn't know if the yellow substance that came off of the back of the glass and stuck to the rubber was adhesive or part of the mirror backing?

5) How is the rubber attached the stainless steel body of the mirror? I had soaked my mirror in hot water to soften the rubber to get the glass out and in the process, most of the rubber detached from the body of the mirror. An inch and a half of the rubber at one end will not come loose though. On the part that did come loose, there doesn't seem to be any trace of adhesive.

Thanks..…..Dave

Dave, I restored our original 68 rear view mirror but did order the Paragon piece of glass as the silver backing was messed up on our original piece of mirrored glass. One difference was the thickness as it’s thinner but that actually helps zipping the glass back in.

[DAVEN1256]

I am the OP and apologize for not getting back to this sooner. Thanks for all of the replies and comparison photos.

I think my two choices are to send my mirror to The Mirror Lady or to buy replacement glass from Paragon, replace my broken day/night switch lever, and do it all myself. My metal body is in excellent shape. I don't know what adhesive I would use to re-attach the rubber frame to the metal body, though. I have a line on a donor mirror to get the day/night switch lever from.

I Googled "mirror re-silvering' in the Orlando, FL area and got two hits. I went by one place which was close to me and they told me they don't do anything like that. I called the other place which was called Mirror Mirror and they told me they were a hair salon! (I had to laugh at that one!) With the results some have had with re-silvering, maybe that isn't the way to go.

I did contact The Mirror Lady, spoke with Dennis over there,  and found out the following....

     a) The cost for the mirror restoration is $95 plus $12 for return shipping.
     b) Yes, they can replace my broken day/night lever switch but that is extra but I didn't ask how much.
     c) They use new glass! They do not re-silver your old glass!
     d) I said my rubber frame has some light discolored spots that I could not remove with detergent and scrubbing. He said     they have a solution that they use that does a good job. That most light staining would clean up but if it was really dark, it might not.
     e) They DO NOT sell individual parts if someone was wanting to do their own restoration.
     f) There is an adhesive that is used to attach the rubber frame to the metal body of the mirror. I wasn't sure if it was supposed to somehow snap into place.

For the price, The Mirror Lady is probably the way to go. I like fixing my own things when I can though, so I haven't made up my mind which way to go yet.

Dave

[z28z11]

Used to be about 15-20 people that advertised in Hemmings for mirror restoration/resilvering, this month only one - Ron's Corvette, 660-749-5473, lists auto at $45.00, non-glare at $58.00, clock window mirrors at $55.00, all include shipping. 27169 State Hwy 6, Winston, MO 64689.

If you need any more, I can look back a few years in the archives before the internet took it's toll on the mag - 

Regards,
Steve

[uscrichter]

I just installed the original inside mirror in my '68 vert. which looked good with just a small blem in the glass, IMO which didn't justify replacing the glass, my question is in regard to the plastic shroud that goes over the brackets. The one I have is original to the car which has a medium blue interior but the plastic cover was black, however I noticed a small scratch which reveled the fact that the plastic is actually blue like rest of the interior, so I cleaned off the black paint with lacquer thinner and now it matches the rest of the interior, although I am curious as to why it was paint black in the first place since the car has never been restored before, so my question is did the factory paint these black for some reason? I noticed that the reproductions only come in black or gray.

[68camaroz28]

Our 68 has a gray shroud.

[Sauron327]

my question is in regard to the plastic shroud that goes over the brackets. The one I have is original to the car which has a medium blue interior but the plastic cover was black, however I noticed a small scratch which reveled the fact that the plastic is actually blue like rest of the interior, so I cleaned off the black paint with lacquer thinner and now it matches the rest of the interior, although I am curious as to why it was paint black in the first place since the car has never been restored before, so my question is did the factory paint these black for some reason? I noticed that the reproductions only come in black or gray.

Your mounting bracket cover, or "shroud" as you call it, is color keyed to the headliner color. Before I changed my interior from blue to parchment, my bracket cover was molded in blue. Don't know why yours was painted black.

[uscrichter]

It is blue molded plastic which matches the interior but mine is a convertible, it is strange that there was no color change to the interior from previous owners and the paint on the part looked factory, thanks for your reply.

[Petes L48]

So I sent off the original mirror shown in my post/pictures above, to Joyce Burrell - mirror lady PA - NFI.  I was very happy with the results, and should not have bought a repro since the original was a good restoration candidate.  The glass is excellent, just a reflection in my photo.  The cost was right around $100 shipped, plus my cost to mail it to her.