Dismantling door mirrors

[RS2000]

How do you dismantle NB door mirrors (ie remove the guts from the mirror body for painting) ?

Once off the car, & with the base turned, there are 2 screws on the underside which I've removed.
However nothing seems to budge & I don't want to force things. Is there something I've missed?

Thanks

[droo]

Its only the two bolts holding each mirror to the door. The join between the mirror base and the door may be seized a bit and require some wobbling to loosen up?

You'll likely need to remove the door cards to unplug the connectors. I had to remove mine but honestly can't recall why i needed to exactly, maybe because i dropped the electric motor connector.

Then if it's an NB mirror, the glass pops out. Use a flat screw driver (wide tip) and gently pry off the glass.
I didn't document this process entirely but did eventually find some info on other forums, there are four clips - central to the electric motor mechanism which the mirror snaps onto. See the attached photo with arrows to each clip outlined.



It doesn't take much force to unclip each, and just be careful not to prise the glass out too much.. about a cm or so should be enough for each corner.


You won't need to remove the innards of the mirror, just tape up the mechanism.

From when i painted my nb mirrors:
viewtopic.php?f=28&t=56157&p=708135&hilit=mirrors#p708135





(From what i can gather, NA8 mirrors don't pop off the same..

[Mr Morlock]

masking tape

[droo]

Taping off the interior drive mechanism was already written.

If you're referring to masking the mirror, that option isn't remotely ideal.
The mirror must be removed or paint won't reach the interior of the plastic surround.

Priming won't provide suitable coverage, angle of applied paint would be tricky to do, and sanding won't be possible without damaging the mirror's edge bevel if using acrylics.
When the mirror is adjusted for reversing or other views, the original paint colour will be visible behind - easily shown in by the following arrows.




The mirror glass is easy to pop off.
It's not worth not doing that.

[RS2000]

Thanks for replies.

Yes droo thats the reasons I decided against masking the mirror - plus to prevent overspray getting between mirror & body, & getting into motor/mechanism.

The 2 screws I was talking about are not the ones attaching mirror to door - they are between main body & rotating base, & screw up into mechanism.
I will have a go at unclipping mirror - did you have to lever mirror out by levering against mirror body edge (with protection of course) ?

Cheers

[droo]

I wasn't able to separate mine, i sanded back and primed it all joined together.
I tried to suss that out when i was prepping mine, but i didn't have a tool to undo the cir clip which i think was in there..

Its been over 12 months since i've sprayed mine, and no ill effects/longevity issues with the paint at that joining intersection piece. I also regularly fold my mirrors in when parking pretty much anywhere.

The motor mechanism is also pretty well weather and water protected, the only reason you'd mask it up is to stop paint drying and sticking the tilt mechanism.

[RS2000]

Thanks droo

Mirrors popped out easily by using fingers. The second one was easier than the first by starting with the outer top & bottom clips- on the inside there is a small finger type catch as well as the 2 inner clips.

Cheers