Anyone found a way of removing internals out of wing mirrors?

[SUPRA4EVA]

Is there a way for removing the internals out of standard wing mirror and preserving all the parts?

I looked at various posts but they just tend to break the internals to free the housing off as the spring won't budge apparently.

 

[tayr]

I recently split mine down (non power folding) and you can split them but you have to de pin the connectors and also break the top part off the spring iirc. I think it’s a right pain to try and get back together after as the spring is so strong. I didn’t bother going any further 

[greenslade]

It is really difficult, but it is possible. I had to change the plastic housing on one of mine as a van clipped and broke it. The hardest bit is compressing the spring on reassembly and fitting a replacement star washer thing. I used a valve spring compressor and perseverance.

Good luck,

Stephen

[mwilkinson]

I thought I would cover how I disassembled my wing mirrors.  I didn't have to damage anything to take these apart.

These are power folding mirrors, so I don't know if that makes them any easier to take apart? I'm happy to look at a set of non power folding mirrors to see if they can be taken apart without having to damage anything.

This is a near side power folding wing mirror from a J Spec 1996 car.

This is all the parts after I'd disassembled it.  It might help to see all the parts when following the dismantling pictures.

You first have to remove the mirror from the door.  This is done by disconnecting the door loom plug and releasing two 10 mm nuts.

The next step is entirely optional and will depend on how far your restoration will go.

You can remove the two integrated bolts using a 14mm spanner.

If you don't want to do this you can simply slip the rubber gasket up over the bolts and electrical connector and remove it from the wing mirror.  There are a couple of very small plastic locating pins, so take care not to break these. I've highlighted one on the below image.

Next you will need to unscrew the philips headed screw holding the electrical connector to the base plate.  This is hidden by the wires at the base of the connector.

 

The next part is probably the most fiddly.  You'll need to pop the pins out of the connector.  To do this you'll first need to dismantle a few parts from the connector.

There are two lugs on the side of the connector that if depressed allow the top inner section to slide out.

You can then remove the central piece of plastic with some needle nose pliers.  This will give you access to the lugs for the pin removal.

There is then a small rubber seal to come out.  This comes our quite easily.

Using a strong pin or similar implement you'll need to lift the retaining lugs up for each pin and slide them out the back of the connector.  Once you get a feel for this it's actually quite straight forward.  The pin will pull out quite freely if the lug is lifted correctly, don't apply too much force.

This image will also help to recall the order of the pins to reassemble the connector.

You'll then need to remove the two larger central phillips screws to separate the upper and lower parts of the wing mirror.

(I had problems removing one of the intergrated bolts from the lower housing which is why it is still attached in this image).

You can then separate the lower internal metal structure from the plastic housing by undoing the three remaining phillips screws.  When taking the plastic housing off be careful not to force the internal plastic clip and break it.  This will need to be eased apart.

Remove the glass from the wing mirror by pulling thr glass out from the bottom of the mirror, not the top.

There are then two phillips screws on the base and two in the main housing that need to be removed.

Once removed this will allow you to simply slide the motor out of the main plastic housing.

And there you have it.  A dismantled wing mirror, ready for refurbishment and a proper respray.

A couple of extra pictures of the base for your reference.

 

Edited October 25, 2021 by mwilkinson (see edit history)

[broomie]

useful post, thanks ;)

[TuneR]

Nice post, an extreme way to get rid of the spiders living in the wing-mirror though lol.

Just FYI (as i saw a video of it recently) they're not Philips head screws, they're JIS. You can tell by the dot next to the slot, i must get a set.

[mwilkinson]

12 hours ago, TuneR said:

Nice post, an extreme way to get rid of the spiders living in the wing-mirror though lol.

Just FYI (as i saw a video of it recently) they're not Philips head screws, they're JIS. You can tell by the dot next to the slot, i must get a set.

Thanks for that.  That is actually a really useful bit of info.  I suspect using the correct screwdriver will prevent unessessary rounding of troublesome screw heads.

[mwilkinson]

46 minutes ago, Kukulza said:

Thanks for your very detailed guide which leaves no questions. 

As previous posters said this is a lot more difficult as you have to find a way to safely remove the top washer which holds the spring, see picture below. I'm too scared to damage anything so I probably won't go any further.

This is the closest washer type I could find, looks like it's not available in the required size though: https://www.bakfin.com/starlocks/reversed-type/

Could you post a picture of the bottom part of the wing mirror?  I'd like to see how the base connects to the upper part.

[mwilkinson]

Yes, I fully appreciate the conundrum now.

I'd have to get hold of a set or one and effectively sacrifice them / it for the greater good of Supra society to see if there is a good way of dismantling and reassembling them.

If anyone has an old slightly broken one they are willing to send me I'd happily look into this more.

[SUPRA4EVA]

On 10/30/2021 at 2:59 PM, mwilkinson said:

Yes, I fully appreciate the conundrum now.

I'd have to get hold of a set or one and effectively sacrifice them / it for the greater good of Supra society to see if there is a good way of dismantling and reassembling them.

If anyone has an old slightly broken one they are willing to send me I'd happily look into this more.

That's a great write up!

Yes the electric folding ones were pretty straight forward when I did them, just gotta watch to unclip the terminals properly.

Even the manual mirrors, in crap condition are so expensive now, it will be a pricey experiment lol

[mwilkinson]

On 11/6/2021 at 5:31 PM, SUPRA4EVA said:

That's a great write up!

Yes the electric folding ones were pretty straight forward when I did them, just gotta watch to unclip the terminals properly.

Even the manual mirrors, in crap condition are so expensive now, it will be a pricey experiment lol

You aren't wrong.

[Iky]

On 10/25/2021 at 6:53 PM, mwilkinson said:

I thought I would cover how I disassembled my wing mirrors.  I didn't have to damage anything to take these apart.

These are power folding mirrors, so I don't know if that makes them any easier to take apart? I'm happy to look at a set of non power folding mirrors to see if they can be taken apart without having to damage anything.

This is a near side power folding wing mirror from a J Spec 1996 car.

This is all the parts after I'd disassembled it.  It might help to see all the parts when following the dismantling pictures.

You first have to remove the mirror from the door.  This is done by disconnecting the door loom plug and releasing two 10 mm nuts.

The next step is entirely optional and will depend on how far your restoration will go.

You can remove the two integrated bolts using a 14mm spanner.

If you don't want to do this you can simply slip the rubber gasket up over the bolts and electrical connector and remove it from the wing mirror.  There are a couple of very small plastic locating pins, so take care not to break these. I've highlighted one on the below image.

Next you will need to unscrew the philips headed screw holding the electrical connector to the base plate.  This is hidden by the wires at the base of the connector.

 

The next part is probably the most fiddly.  You'll need to pop the pins out of the connector.  To do this you'll first need to dismantle a few parts from the connector.

There are two lugs on the side of the connector that if depressed allow the top inner section to slide out.

You can then remove the central piece of plastic with some needle nose pliers.  This will give you access to the lugs for the pin removal.

There is then a small rubber seal to come out.  This comes our quite easily.

Using a strong pin or similar implement you'll need to lift the retaining lugs up for each pin and slide them out the back of the connector.  Once you get a feel for this it's actually quite straight forward.  The pin will pull out quite freely if the lug is lifted correctly, don't apply too much force.

This image will also help to recall the order of the pins to reassemble the connector.

You'll then need to remove the two larger central phillips screws to separate the upper and lower parts of the wing mirror.

(I had problems removing one of the intergrated bolts from the lower housing which is why it is still attached in this image).

You can then separate the lower internal metal structure from the plastic housing by undoing the three remaining phillips screws.  When taking the plastic housing off be careful not to force the internal plastic clip and break it.  This will need to be eased apart.

Remove the glass from the wing mirror by pulling thr glass out from the bottom of the mirror, not the top.

There are then two phillips screws on the base and two in the main housing that need to be removed.

Once removed this will allow you to simply slide the motor out of the main plastic housing.

And there you have it.  A dismantled wing mirror, ready for refurbishment and a proper respray.

A couple of extra pictures of the base for your reference.

 

Excellent work Mr Wilkinson. Can I ask, did you take the power folding motor/gearbox apart at all? 

I have an issue where mine don't seem to come out or go in fully and sometimes require a little help manually whilst pressing the switch back and forth. 

[mwilkinson]

2 hours ago, Iky said:

Excellent work Mr Wilkinson. Can I ask, did you take the power folding motor/gearbox apart at all? 

I have an issue where mine don't seem to come out or go in fully and sometimes require a little help manually whilst pressing the switch back and forth. 

No, I'm afraid not.  Mine haven't ever been an issue so I didn't intend on dismantling them further - I know that doesn't normally stop me!

You planning on taking yours apart and having a look?

If you did take it off, I'd bench test the mechanism first to see how it behaves, as this might highlight a connection / wiring issue.

[Iky]

21 hours ago, mwilkinson said:

No, I'm afraid not.  Mine haven't ever been an issue so I didn't intend on dismantling them further - I know that doesn't normally stop me!

You planning on taking yours apart and having a look?

If you did take it off, I'd bench test the mechanism first to see how it behaves, as this might highlight a connection / wiring issue.

Yes I am planning on it in the future as I want to retrofit the heated glass into them. I have a pair of the non power folding ones to take bits off with some new glass. Good idea with the bench testing. 

Edited November 23, 2021 by Iky (see edit history)

[mwilkinson]

Are the non-power folding ones UK Spec with the relevant heater plugs?

 

[7677243]

To help with the spring compress it in a vice and loop some fishing line around it, when it's assembled cut the line.

[Iky]

On 11/24/2021 at 7:19 AM, mwilkinson said:

Are the non-power folding ones UK Spec with the relevant heater plugs?

 

No idea if they're off a uk spec but they do have heated glass on them. I have part of the body loom as well I think.