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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ How do I remove the rear view mirror base ?
Posted by: Porsche Rescue Jan 24 2005, 07:40 PM
Usually the problem is making the damn thing stay on. Here is the situation. PO (not me honest, but I am capable of it) mounted the mirror base to the windshield upside down. I need to remove it and reinstall. He did a fine job. I can't even get a razor blade between it and the glass. Best adhesive job I've seen (naturally!). Any suggestions appreciated.
Posted by: scotty b Jan 24 2005, 07:46 PM
Fingernail polish remover? It seems to work on everything else! 
Posted by: Ray Warren Jan 24 2005, 07:50 PM
Don't pull on it too hard.
I did and it cost me a new windshield.
Posted by: scotty b Jan 24 2005, 07:52 PM
| QUOTE (Ray Warren @ Jan 24 2005, 05:50 PM) |
| Don't pull on it too hard. I did and it cost me a new windshield. |
All I can say is WOW 
Posted by: Martin Baker Jan 24 2005, 07:57 PM
How is it attached? Original doubled sided tape pad, or super glue? Heat gun on a low setting, with a razor blade, you just do not want to use the glass for leverage in any way. You won't have to worry about the mount if you break the glass....
Posted by: Ray Warren Jan 24 2005, 08:04 PM
| QUOTE (scotty b @ Jan 24 2005, 08:52 PM) | ||
All I can say is WOW |
Yup
I read a bunch of posts about how they just fall off
so I gave it a couple of good tugs and it came off with
a big chunck of glass.
Posted by: Seagrave Jan 24 2005, 08:07 PM
If your car is in the garage (and not too cold), a hair dryer and slight pressure will do it. I've never broken a windshield...but stranger things have happened.
Posted by: scotty b Jan 24 2005, 08:08 PM
| QUOTE (Ray Warren @ Jan 24 2005, 06:04 PM) | ||||
Yup I read a bunch of posts about how they just fall off so I gave it a couple of good tugs and it came off with a big chunck of glass. |
MAYBE you shouldn't be tugging on it in the car Bathroom seems a little more appropriate...and discrete 
Posted by: aircooledboy Jan 24 2005, 08:13 PM
That is a tough one. If it is on there good and proper like you describe, it is almost certainly attached with legit rear view mirror glue. With the very small clearance between the metal and the glass, solvents won't penetrate far enough to help. In the glass shop, we would remove them by pouring alcohol on them and lighting it. It gets hot enough that you can then twist (not pull) the tab off with channel locks. Problem for you is that is best done while the windshield is laying flat on the glass rack. I did remove a few over the years by carefully doing the same thing while the glass was installed, but it ain't easy. You have to be really careful not to melt anything above the glass.
I saw other guys use any oxy/acet torch with a very hot flame and a quick touch, but the risks are about the same, and if you linger too long with the flame, you can melt the laminate sheet in the windshield.
Sorry dude, no easy answer.
Posted by: scruz914 Jan 24 2005, 08:16 PM
Usually they are glued on with a special rear view mirror adhesive. (Well probably not special for rear view mirrors, but a special adhesive anyway.) You can buy it at your FLAPS. There may be a solvent for removing them.
Posted by: scotty b Jan 24 2005, 08:16 PM
The other concern with using heat, is that being in Oregon, it is cold right now, and we all know cold glass and heat don't mix well! 
Posted by: drgchapman Jan 24 2005, 08:17 PM
I like the hairdryer idea. Razor blade for the release. Harmon Glass, here in Beaverton has new clear Windshields for ~$200.00. We know how to take it from there...........
Only other option I can think of is to cut and fit, then much glue. Then you are the PO form hell. 
Gary
Posted by: Ray Warren Jan 24 2005, 08:25 PM
MAYBE you shouldn't be tugging on it in the car Bathroom seems a little more appropriate...and discrete
I had a feeling that someone would say something about that. 
Posted by: aircooledboy Jan 24 2005, 08:29 PM
| QUOTE (scotty b @ Jan 24 2005, 08:16 PM) |
| The other concern with using heat, is that being in Oregon, it is cold right now, and we all know cold glass and heat don't mix well! |
A very good point. That is why the alcohol is the best choice. The heat radiates up, and quickly. Heats up the tab & the glue only. Absolutely best done while the glass is out. Unfortunately, not really an option here. A hair dryer ain't gonna get it though. Average hair dryer gets to be about 90-100' tops, windshield gets to 150' easy on a hot sunny day. If 100' would do it, we would all lose our mirrors every summer.
The other alternative is just use it as is. If I recall correctly, the later mirrors had a ball joint at the base. Put it on, and rotate 180'. Ain't prefect, but it beats pulling the glass, or worse.
Posted by: scotty b Jan 24 2005, 08:30 PM
Yeah but I've got a lot of respect (and fear) for a guy that can ruin a windshield like that!! Especially if you knocked a chunk of glass out Your wife must live in constant fear 
Posted by: MarkV Jan 24 2005, 08:35 PM
Let a glass shop do it. They probably have a special solvent. Can't cost much.
Posted by: Ray Warren Jan 24 2005, 08:38 PM
| QUOTE (MarkV @ Jan 24 2005, 09:35 PM) |
| Let a glass shop do it. They probably have a special solvent. Can't cost much. |
They must do it all day every day.
New windshields don't come with new mirrors.
Posted by: markb Jan 24 2005, 08:38 PM
| QUOTE (MarkV @ Jan 24 2005, 06:35 PM) |
| Let a glass shop do it. They probably have a special solvent. Can't cost much. |
Posted by: aircooledboy Jan 24 2005, 08:55 PM
| QUOTE (Ray Warren @ Jan 24 2005, 08:38 PM) | ||
They must do it all day every day. New windshields don't come with new mirrors. |
I was an auto glass installer for a long time. It was quite a while back, and we had solvents that would melt anything (I'm sure several were comically carcinogenic) , but we had no solvent for mirror adhesive back then. As I said, there is no clearance, so a solvent won't get in there. That's the difference between a good bond to glass and a bad one. The thinner the glue, the better the bond. I don't think that has changed. That's why we used the alcohol method.
New windshields actually do come with the tab attached 99% of the time. Ocassionally you would have to glue one on a new install, but if you F'ed it up, you poured alcohol on it, lit it, twisted it off, and did it again.
I knew 50 guys at 20 different shops in the area, and we all did it the same way.I still talk to my old buds at the shop every now and then. I can call them tomorrow and see if they have developed a better answer in the last 15 years or so.
Posted by: Porsche Rescue Jan 24 2005, 10:21 PM
Sounds like I'm in deep. I'll wait to hear what Chris learns. Suspect I will try a shop first. Windshield and outer trim look new and I'd hate to lose it. Thanks to all.
Posted by: Jenny Jan 24 2005, 10:23 PM
| QUOTE (aircooledboy @ Jan 24 2005, 06:55 PM) |
| As I said, there is no clearance, so a solvent won't get in there. |
I bought some solvent. Tried using a straw to funnel it down. Got a lot of it on my carpets, all over my hands, and down my arms. I've sorta just lived with not being able to see much in my rear view mirror besides my trunk.
Maybe if you saturate a rag with the solvent and wrap it around the base... I dunno
Jen
Posted by: boxstr Jan 24 2005, 10:24 PM
Looks like its time to put it on ebay.
CCLINEBAYWIZARD
Posted by: Porsche Rescue Jan 24 2005, 10:27 PM
Buy my 914 and never look back!
Posted by: DJsRepS Jan 25 2005, 07:23 AM
Ha! put some airshocks in the rear and adjust your rearview mirror that way. Or try some super glue remover as the mirror glue seems simular.
Posted by: aircooledboy Jan 25 2005, 09:52 AM
Alrighty,
Talked to my bud Bandy this morning (yes his name is Bandy). Best glass guy I've ever seen. Bad news is nothing has changed. Only way to get thosee bastards off is heat. When the customer insists on having it removed, they use a torch most of the time now due to the fact that modern windshields tend to have a steeper rake, making it next to impossible to get the alcohol to safely burn long enough.
BUT, they rarely pull them off because the chance of damaging or breaking the windshield is about 30-40%. Instead what they normally do is just glue a new tab correctly on top of the upside down one. You are only raising the base of the mirror about 1/8" higher off the glass, so it is virtually undetectable unless you are looking for it. Plus, the increase in leverage against the metal/glass bond of the upside down tab almost always causes that bond to safely break after a while anyway. So, you solve your immediate problem of needing to mount the mirror, and eventually, the screwed up tab will come off, and you are back to square one.
Posted by: Porsche Rescue Jan 25 2005, 11:15 AM
Thanks Chris. Unfortunately the 914 mirror base is kind of a pyramid shape and pretty big. No way to attach anything to it. The recess and threaded hole where the elbow/mirror attach is now at the top instead of the bottom. Suppose I might drill and tap a new hole. Then use glue to keep it from rotating.
Posted by: Jenny Jan 25 2005, 11:19 AM
sorry to hijack (sort of) but if I were in California, where the temp is around 60-ish, can I take a heat gun to the windshield and get the adhesive soft enough to detach? Or is windshield adhesive only removable by fire and/or solvent?
Jen
Posted by: aircooledboy Jan 25 2005, 11:42 AM
Damn. 
Sorry Jim. I have never seen the old style base removed from the mirror before. I just Ass-u-me-d it was the later style. In that case, heat is the only answer. And frankly, with the greater mass of the older base, and thus more heat needed to achieve the result, it seems to me the chances of getting it off w/o damaging the glass or the interior are even worse.
That really sux. Sorry bud.
Posted by: DJsRepS Jan 25 2005, 09:03 PM
Super Glue Remover ?
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