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I'm working on a 1971 Cutlass S. My project hopefully, is removing this mirror and installing dual sport mirrors. Any tips or advice on removal, even as obvious as they may seem. Installation seems straight forward, but getting this one off is confounding my lizard brain. Appreciate any input.
You will need to remve the door panel for the remote. If not on this mirror the sport mirror should be a remote. Also, and you may have figured it out already but there are serveral versions of the sport mirrors. Make sure you have the correct ones before you paint them. I’ve seen a few cars with the wrong sport mirrors and the angles are all off.
I've visited this project some years ago and was stymied then and again now. With the panel removed, the two fasteners inside look like a bumper/stove bolts. I honestly thought it was a rivet.
So, thanks for the allen head suggestion as it clearly is accessed from the outside with an allen wrench. I had no idea. Unfortunately, one spins and I've stripped the other one.
I do have the correct parts. These are the times when having a parts car in the back 40 is worth it all. I admit to seeing cutli with the wrong pedestals as their usually sourced from GM F bodies which are found more readily in the wild.
If there are no more suggestions..." I'll take power tool extraction for $200 please Alex"
Here's the secret to these allen head fasteners. These are conventional RH thread screws, but since the allen recess is in the TIP of the screw, not the head, you have to turn them CLOCKWISE to loosen them and COUNTERCLOCKWISE to tighten them. Once you loosen them, the holes in the door are keyholes, so you just slide the mirror forward to disengage the fasteners from the door. Of course, since this is a remote mirror, you still have to remove the inner door panel and feed the control cables around the forward edge of the window to get the mirror out.
Be aware that on nearly every one of these I've ever worked on, these allen screws were seized in the pot metal mirror base. The small allen wrench spins out with very little force, and at that point I had to resort to a block of wood and a hammer to slide the mirror forward to disengage the heads of the fasteners from the keyholes.
Thank you. At this point I can't loosen them any more. I did get some creaks and groans with small movement of the screws....in the proper direction before spinning.
A block of wood and some tempered force is next before I implement other tools.
Door panel removal you say? Oh yea, that was a long time ago. This mirror project is an extension of the interior replacement. Hmm...that started long ago that could be expressed in years with only a door panel and an arm rest left to do. But of course, they're never done.
inner door panels must come off. See pic with sport mirrors on
Zacc
FYI, that is not true if you don't have a remote mirror. The chrome mirrors are designed to be installed and removed from the outside. It's only the cables for the remote that require the inner door panels to come off.
These came off like described above by Joe. I soaked the screws and cleaned the allen heads of some fine debris. I was able to get a better grip in the fastener with a tap or two on the allen wrench. Also, a couple of taps on the base of the mirror...with a block of wood and hammer. Loosened things right up. I might mention the remote cable was clinched in a tab in side the door. A small pry bar bends this back and the cable can be wiggled out easily. Thanks for the help.
August 19th, 2019, 08:56 AM
as it clearly is accessed from the outside with an allen wrench. I had no idea. Unfortunately, one spins and I've stripped the other one.
