68 rearview mirror restoration

[Rotmilky]

If you've got a 68, you might have some issues with your rearview mirror. In my case, the mirror is starting to rust in from the top edge:

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/o6ZbcbUToTFjnuN_eI9u4Q?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-lg438mr_TvU/ThDdUHV_B5I/AAAAAAAAADg/iTE6kplzxME/s400/DSC_7998.JPG" height="266" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/107685368595078804853/1106Porsche911OriginalState?authuser=0&feat=embedw ebsite">11 06 Porsche 911 original state</a></td></tr></table>

The back looked nice when I got the car. But a little poking and the sun damaged plastic crumbled. Now it looks like this:

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/35Ysb4kwmydHdjeIRcGWTw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-POF6rAQQIsc/TkxxDNmtu5I/AAAAAAAAATc/3o-uaifbx68/s400/IMG_1247.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/107685368595078804853/1106Porsche911OriginalState?authuser=0&feat=embedw ebsite">11 06 Porsche 911 original state</a></td></tr></table>

68 mirrors don't seem to come up for sale frequently. It's a one year only mirror, so there just aren't that many. The few that do come up for sale have similar conditions to mine above. Plastic just doesn't hold up to sun damage well for 40 years I suppose. I've seen a couple of nice examples...but I think they must be about as rare as hens teeth.

I've been digging trying to find a good restoration thread on the 68 mirrors, but just haven't turned any up. One thread (I think it's on this board, but I can't find it now), held a very useful nugget of info. Someone mentioned that the '68 911 mirrors looked a little like the BMW 2002 mirrors, which were also ceiling mounted break-away. I got on fleabay and managed to find one. Wow, they did look similar, although the BMW part was black. They were produced from the late 60s or so up to about '77. So, it's not terribly hard to find one in good shape. There was a good looking one for about $20. I figured, what the heck. It's $20...that's way less than the typical amount of money I'm dumping by truckloads into this black hole called a '68. It came in today and turns out to be a fair substitute for the 911 mirror.

Here's a comparison of the two mirrors side-by-side. If the BMW post wasn't black, I'd mistake it for a 68 mirror at a glance:
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/brMSNYK6B2LLOUljudkF3w?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-xvnqYB8zMps/TkxxD8WqRbI/AAAAAAAAATg/hLqJqqRm0PA/s400/IMG_1249.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/107685368595078804853/1106Porsche911OriginalState?authuser=0&feat=embedw ebsite">11 06 Porsche 911 original state</a></td></tr></table>

The BMW mirror is a little smaller though:
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/29lAxLxd3GqfHABT5iBYaw?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-42W7Yvk3k1c/TkxxFMCfC3I/AAAAAAAAATo/usNX6PxSiac/s400/IMG_1252.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/107685368595078804853/1106Porsche911OriginalState?authuser=0&feat=embedw ebsite">11 06 Porsche 911 original state</a></td></tr></table>

From the side, the shape of the BMW post is a little different than the 911 post:
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/REmxHwLj2Jueayh43igxkA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-In0t-WZQVgs/TkxxIeHQ0wI/AAAAAAAAATs/nZMiBQ7ffbo/s400/IMG_1253.JPG" height="286" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/107685368595078804853/1106Porsche911OriginalState?authuser=0&feat=embedw ebsite">11 06 Porsche 911 original state</a></td></tr></table>

Hmm...I wonder if I could just swap posts? Eh, I was only out $20 if I blew the BMW mirror up...and my 68 mirror looked like crap, what would it hurt to try to pop the mirror out of socket? I braced the back of the mirror with as much of my palm as I could to keep from cracking the plastic and sorta twisted the post like a corkscrew. Twist, rotate, twist, rotate. Here's how it looked, although I took my support hand off the mirror to take the photo:
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ROVCrNJ4Xkxx-w943YKENA?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-KK53W5ECNfI/TkxxJJCBquI/AAAAAAAAATw/HS0ce57UIMc/s400/IMG_1254.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/107685368595078804853/1106Porsche911OriginalState?authuser=0&feat=embedw ebsite">11 06 Porsche 911 original state</a></td></tr></table>


After about 30 seconds of that, the ball popped out of the joint. I repeated with the other mirror and out it popped. Here are the two posts side-by-side:
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/L1Y43ZEyWpmNKStSsHqW-Q?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Z0a8oSRRvQ4/TkxxJsmXbWI/AAAAAAAAAT0/XvmmL0z8Ia4/s400/IMG_1256.JPG" height="286" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/107685368595078804853/1106Porsche911OriginalState?authuser=0&feat=embedw ebsite">11 06 Porsche 911 original state</a></td></tr></table>

I laid the BMW mirror flat on the table, stuck the ball of the 911 post into the socket and then corkscrewed in. Twist, push, twist, push. It was harder to do, but after about a minute of constant force, it snapped into place with a loud 'pop'. Here it was just after the ball popped into place:
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/7S5VwhHoQElJtx0uFz9cqg?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-meo28Ozifhk/TkxxRsM_drI/AAAAAAAAAUA/fvR0EOhW_MU/s400/IMG_1260.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/107685368595078804853/1106Porsche911OriginalState?authuser=0&feat=embedw ebsite">11 06 Porsche 911 original state</a></td></tr></table>

A little cleaning of the BMW mirror and some scrubbing on the Porsche post, and my mirror now looks like this:
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/PSQVNrwqVeDTnV2q7u1E9Q?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-gSlperoCOZ4/TkxxW1VqWHI/AAAAAAAAAUs/ic3DlchSoYo/s400/DSCN0438.JPG" height="286" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/107685368595078804853/1106Porsche911OriginalState?authuser=0&feat=embedw ebsite">11 06 Porsche 911 original state</a></td></tr></table>

and from the back:
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/vjTkLKlGI8rk9zzO036Y6w?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-sorpTXFYkrU/TkxxXTNDK9I/AAAAAAAAAUY/pyXEqvhBgic/s400/DSCN0441.JPG" height="285" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/107685368595078804853/1106Porsche911OriginalState?authuser=0&feat=embedw ebsite">11 06 Porsche 911 original state</a></td></tr></table>

I'm pretty happy with it. It cost me about $20 and maybe 15 minutes of time and effort. Side-by-side, I can tell it's not original. But it looks way better than before and once it's mounted in the car, I'd have a tough time telling it was a BMW mirror.

[beh911]

Rotmilky,

Nice story. I follow your 68 resto thread on Pelican. It's a great thread. Welcome to this board

[Rotmilky]

Thanks for the kind words.

I thought I'd put the 68 mirror restore on this thread. It's hopefully easier for other 68 people to use the info if it were here instead of buried in my rebuild thread.

--Von

[edmayo]

VERY GOOD post, thanks

[mshaver51]

Not to detract from your discovery, but I think I might have an extra '68 mirror from my project. Let me know if I should dig it out for you.

[Rotmilky]

If the back is intact, I may be interested. I'd like to try to recast that back plastic piece. Since my mirror's plastic is missing a huge hole...that is getting larger by the minute, I can't get the mold right.

Thanks,

Von

[70SATMan]

The mirror arm that is an exact match in shape (not arm finish) is an early Mercedes mirror. They took the same 68 arm and rubber coated it. The mirror body itself is still different as is the BMW in both shape and the pebbling texture in the plastic. I've never seen a Porsche 67 mirror to compare to the 68 mirror I have but, the 68 texture is completely different from the 69 -on mirrors.

What you have to be careful of with the BMW mirrors is the base. They are slightly smaller than the 68 Porsche/Mercedes and I think the width of the spring loaded pin might be slightly narrower. To use the BMW arm, it's best to also use the BMW base that screws into the overhead. (I have a set of these as well).

[mshaver51]

I'll dig it out and post some photos. It may be the weekend before getting everything together. Is that okay?

[Fritter]

Pretty cool, thanks for taking the time to post this up. My '68's mirror looks like yours on the front, the back is intact, but I haven't poked at it at all. I'm OK with a little patina since the rest of my '68's interior is original and has a certain aged look to it.

The day/night switch on mine is floppy, doesn't work....any chance you could try dissecting the original mirror into it's pieces and post up some pics of what's in there?

If they are dissassemble-able (is that a word) I may take mine apart and try to fix the day/night switch.

[Rotmilky]

I'll dig it out and post some photos. It may be the weekend before getting everything together. Is that okay?

That's fine. I'm not in a huge hurry as it'll be a few years before my car is roadworthy again.