ELECMAN

i HAVE A LIGHTED REARVIEW MIRROR FOR MY 72 CUTLASS THE MIRROR GLASS HAS SPOTS ALL OVER.DO THEY SELL A MIRROR GLASS TO WORK WITH THE CHROME BACKING.A PLACE.

Jamesbo

Paul at ROS 203-272-7103 sells reconditioned ones. I bought one and was very pleased. ros6872@hotmail.com

Nice honest parts guy in Conn.

stlbluesbrother

By chrome backing are you talking about "silver"? Or the housing? I thought chrome housings ended with the 70 model.

Anyway, none of the auto glass or mirror shops cut them anymore in St. Louis because of their shape (thin at top/thick at bottom). So, I took a donor mirror from a 71 (black housing, incidently) and had it resilvered ($30). As a winter project I intend to replace the blemished mirror in my Cutlass with the resilvered one.

Jamesbo's lead might be the way to go for a professional job, though.

Lady72nRob71

X2 for keeping the originality in the car.

I looked into this last year, as I have the same problem. However, I plan to go with one of the new mirrors with the lights, compass, temperature display, etc. built in. Just have to custom make a bracket for it. They cost less than 10 bucks from my far-away bone yard.

ELECMAN

the silver backing that holds the actual glass

stevengerard

I just took mine apart, it was not easy but time and patience got the glass out. There is a place near me in Chicago that will re-silver the mirror for 15 bucks - yes 15 plus 10 shipping. I found the info on a chevy forum, they are in south holland a suburb of Chicago,

Silver Service, Inc.
16120 Vandustrial Lane
South Holland, Illinois 60473
708-331-5501

you can also take the mirror out of a new one and install it in your original with the map light or cut a 1/8 thick mirror and put it in behind the old mirror, but you would still have to strip the old silver off and polish the glass

ELECMAN

Thanks steve

Bluevista

I sent my map light mirror mirror glass with a money order for 25 bucks to the place a couple of weeks ago, I confirmed everything over the phone first.
Got it back yesterday and it's a mirror.
Put it back into the rubber surround thing and glued it back to the housing last night, installed it today.
I don't let any grass grow under my feet.

I checked the manual and there's a male lead for the light, always hot like the glove compartment.
Never expected to find it but it was right there where it was supposed to be, and it was hot!
That's scary for the way my luck goes.
I'm not sure if it comes off the optional courtesy light harness or they all have it?
I thought it would take all day to do it.

Popping off the headliner molding and running the wire across and down the A pillar was real tough, thankfully the A pillar covers are off for paint already or I would of really had to work.
I did have to take the left A/C duct off to get under the dash to find the connector and plug it into the mirror lead, that was a real challenge?

Tested and works, can see behind me, I finally found an old map to test it and the map light works too.

Finished too fast, story of my life.
I'll have to wait until the sun crosses the yardarm before I can go into the garage and have a self-congratulatory beer/s and "reflect" on my work.

Pacman1507

If the light goes out in the mirror will I have to get a whole new mirror? It was working for a while but it just gave out on me. It feels like the switch has gone bad

Bluevista

The instructions are in something? They're in one of the manuals somewhere.
The later mirrors had a sticker on them on how to replace the bulb.
Explains it better than I can.



The whole switch body drops out, it's just a copper slide deal that contacts the post coming down from the top with the power, sort of like a cheap flashlight.
There's not much to go bad, contacts, wire connection, bulb or the ground is about it.

stlbluesbrother

Sweet. I'm going to give this a go soon, too.

So, how did you keep pressure between the vinyl mirror holder and the stainless steel housing? Lay the mirror flat and put something heavy on the housing? Also, did you use automotive weatherstrip adhesive or some kind of super glue?

Thanks

Bluevista

I used super glue gel, flat like you said, set a couple of service manuals on it.
The glue sets up pretty quick so it doesn't take long.

stevengerard

I got my mirror back and it looks great, one little nick in the glass that I wish I noticed (or they noticed) because now with the perfect mirror backing you can see that tiny tiny imperfection.

I have two of these mirrors so I am refurbishing the extra one, I went to the body shop the other day to see how they handled the one that is on the car now and of course they butchered the plastic wiring end that snaps into the top of the mirror. I'll have to figure out how to handle that because as you say it looks like a pain to rerun the wires. It looks like you can replace the light bulb rather easily once the mirror is apart but it is a special bulb. I'll take a look as mine is still in pieces.

ELECMAN

I finally got the glass to come out not a hard job to do I cleaned up the chrome and looks good. waiting for the glass to be cut by a local guy will post pics when I get the glass

Bluevista

The bulb isn't really anything special, same as the glove compartment light, tube shaped with the hard wire loops on each end.
I got mine at NAPA, lamp type 563, $1.56.
They call it the stereo light bulb for some reason?

The wiring isn't hard at all, just take the A pillar trim off and pull the headliner trim above the windshield halfway off. The wire just sets in the trim to the outside, not in the groove, and you pop it back on. I taped the wire to the A pillar to hold it until I get the trim back on after paint. There's a big opening on the end of the dash it goes through then feed it behind the dash and plugs in at the connector just to the left of the steering column. The one in my car has a female end with an orange with black stripe wire.
It's really pretty easy, I was using embellishment in my earlier post.

cutlassgal

......It's really pretty easy, I was using embellishment in my earlier post.


You?... embellish something??? Nah.....

Bluevista

Who???...Me?

If they can't see their own reflection do vampires get vanity visor mirrors in their cars or delete them for credit.
How about sunroofs?

cutlassgal

Only you would ask a question like that! LOL!!!!

centonze

442 KO

Great to know it is a common bulb as my mirror light quit working also. Didn't want to take it apart if the bulb wasn't available. Thanks!

stevengerard

wow, I new I was slow but looks like I got my mirror redone two years ago and its still sitting on the shelf - I guess part of that is because of the crappy body shop I used. Oh well, I can now get a replacement bulb as well, might as well do that while its open.

Toms cutlass

Reviving an old thread ... Are there any tips or tricks to removing the mirror glass from the inside rear view mirror for re-silvering?

stevengerard

Lots of hot water and even more patience. Its glued on and you slowly have to pry it off, maybe a hairdryer. I was hesitant to use a heat gun even on low.

stevengerard

BTW, I still have yet to install the new mirror. UGH

Toms cutlass

Thanks fellow Chi-towner ... let this thread revival be your incentive to install your new mirror!

RetroRanger

Tom check w oldspackrat (scott) had some refinished ones he was selling

where are you having the silver done and whats the cost ?

Toms cutlass

Thanks for your reply.

I have the inside rear view mirror with the optional map light feature. (I've seen repro's of the non-map light version.) I was going to use the Silver Service shop (listed above) since it's basically a short drive from the in-laws house, and others reported here that they had good results. The re-silver cost was $15 (above post).

RetroRanger

good deal i might do mine !!!

Toms cutlass

Just to clarify Retro, did/does Scott have refinished mirror glass or do you mean he had the entire rear view mirror assembly?

stevengerard

Scott has (had) the whole assemblies, I have seen them, some are really, really nice.

Toms cutlass

I messaged Scott. Thanks.

Toms cutlass

I didn't have the time to mess around and have my mirror glass re-silvered. Oldspackrat hooked me up in only few days with a really beautiful inside rear view mirror assembly (mirror re-silvered) with the map light feature. And, it's already installed. Oldspackrat (Scott) is truly the best Olds parts guy I've dealt with.

Thanks again Stevengerard for steering me to contact Scott.

stevengerard

No Problem, glad to hear!

rand5204

x2 on Scott. I recently sent him my lighted rearview mirror and he redid the whole thing. Great job.