Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Rear View Mirrors

This is topic Rear View Mirrors in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 03-24-2012, 08:42 PM:

There's a little keystone shaped metal button that gets SuperGlued or epoxied or glued with some kind of adhesive to the middle of your car's windshield. This button slides into a channel on the back of the rear view mirror mount.

How often does this come loose and fall off?

I have never had one fall off any of my cars. Neither do I remember them falling off my family cars when I was a kid. There was one time when us kids were horsing around and knocked it off but Dad took it to the dealer and they glued it back up.

One time in my life do I remember ANY mirror coming loose.

On the other hand, my wife has lost three of them. The mirror has fallen off every car she has owned since I have known her.

She had a Dodge Shadow when we were dating. That fell off. I remember fixing that for her using a special repair kit purchased at the auto parts store.

The mirror fell off her Dodge Neon. I fixed that one, too.

Just the other day, she came home in a shitty mood because the mirror fell off her Oldsmobile Alero.

The way I see it, the odds are pretty high against that happening to the same person on three different cars over the span of fifteen years.

I think she's pulling on it or hitting it or something. It's the only explanation I can think of.

Those things don't JUST fall off? Do they?

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 03-24-2012, 08:55 PM:

Prob someone was using crappy adhesive stuff.

Head to your local auto parts store for the 'superglue' stuff to adhere the clip mount for the mirror to the windshield.

Costs about 4 bucks for a very tiny tube of the stuff.

Use a razor blade to scrape off the residue from the glass then clean the surface with rubbing alcohol to get the surface super clean. Then the glue is spread evenly over the surface of the clip (and please, make sure that you're gooping the correct side for I was super dumb in gluing the wrong side, stuck the clip on the window and couldn't remove it..to correct it. I just left it up there and got another clip and glued it right above the one I messed up on...) and you stick it to the glass and hold it for a couple of minutes. Leave it alone for 24hrs before putting the mirror back on.

That stuff works ! If you try to take that clip off after gluing it on, you will bust the windshield glass.

Posted by Dominic Espinosa (Member # 2122) on 03-24-2012, 09:01 PM:

Had this happen on 2 Chevy's and a Hyundai.
Kragen/Checker/O'Rielys/whoever they are today sells some kind special glue for it. Works real nice.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 03-24-2012, 09:02 PM:

Yes, I bought a kit at the auto parts store. "Permatex Whidshield Adhesive."

It's a two-part kit. There's an activator that gets rubbed on the glass and a glue that goes on the metal button.

Scrape off the old shit, clean the glass with Windex then pure alcohol. Clean the metal button with alcohol. Wipe the activator solution on the glass and let it dry. Put a drop of glue on the button, press in place, hold for 1 minute and, presto, that shit grabs, right now!

No problem doing the repair.

The mirror has never fallen off ANY car that I or my family have owned unless it was hit. However, the mirror has fallen off THREE different cars of hers.

What's the variable?

Posted by David Favel (Member # 1125) on 03-24-2012, 10:01 PM:

Cigarette smoke can affect some glues.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 03-24-2012, 10:05 PM:

She doesn't smoke.
I have smoked in the car but mine hasn't fallen off.
(I am quitting smoking. I rarely smoke and almost never in the car.)

We both park in the same garage at night and both park outdoors at work.

Up until I lived in my current house, all my cars have been parked outside, summer and winter.

Her car has always been parked in a garage, even before moving to this house.

We both drive in the same parts of town.
i.e. She doesn't drive on rougher roads than I do.
In fact, I probably drive on rougher roads than she does but mine has never fallen off.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 03-24-2012, 10:13 PM:

Maybe the glass in that area isn't flat enough to completely adhere the clip. But dumb question: has she had the windshield replaced .. maybe some "bad glass", or sorts where nothing can make that clip stick to the glass.

Might have to get some good ol' black RTV sealant/adhesive to glue that clip to the glass. That stuff sticks to anything!

My mother had a '88 Shadow (bought new) that the mirror never fell off in the 20 yrs that she had the vehicle.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 03-24-2012, 10:52 PM:

Misshapen glass in three different cars over a span of 15 years?

I owned a Neon. Mirror never fell off.
She owned a Neon. Mirror fell off.

I've been racking my brain for about a week, trying to figure why ALL of her mirrors fall off but NONE of mine do.

Posted by Dominic Espinosa (Member # 2122) on 03-25-2012, 12:07 AM:

Contrary to some stereotypes I think ladies are rougher on cars than your average guy.
It's a big machine, it can handle it. There's not a whole lot of thought put into twisting and pulling on that mirror for some makeup application or whathaveyou and *snap* there it goes.
Meanwhile I set my mirror and never touch it again.

Seen the same thing in the theaters with projection equipment. Some of the girls are really heavy handed with the machines for some reason. Don't know why.

Other than that, I'm completely out of ideas.
More an observation than anything else.

Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 03-25-2012, 12:51 AM:

I had the mirror fall of the windshield of my '94 Plymouth Voyager mini van after I'd had it about 9 years. My mechanic put it back on and it was still there when I sold it three months ago.

Posted by Robert D Hall (Member # 5674) on 03-25-2012, 01:03 AM:

I would say its a woman thing. the only time i have every seen them fall off is in a womans car. have you ever noticed the first thing they do when they get in a car and the last thing they do before getting out? Reach over and turn it so they can see there makeup and hair. I would bet thats why they fall off.

Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 03-25-2012, 08:11 AM:

What Mr. Hall says.

I've ridden with many ladies that constantly monkey with the rear view mirror. I've repaired the mirrors on several cars, and only one of them was my own.

My 1985 Oldsmobile has never had the rear view mirror fall off, but my beater truck '83 Ford has, but has not broken again since the fix.

The DIY autoparts stores charge some good money for the little metal doo-dad that glues to the windshield. I was getting ready to apply the glue to one, and it slipped from my fingers and bounced perfectly down the defroster vent opening. I heard it hit a few things during its fall before I started saying choice words myself.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 03-25-2012, 08:36 AM:

quote: Robert D Hall
I would say its a woman thing. the only time i have every seen them fall off is in a womans car. have you ever noticed the first thing they do when they get in a car and the last thing they do before getting out? Reach over and turn it so they can see there makeup and hair. I would bet thats why they fall off.

I think you're on to something. It's something that I never think about but, now that you mention, it makes sense.

Further, I think that it's the WAY the mirror gets moved that makes a difference.

On rare occasions when I move the mirror, I grip it and turn it so the mirror moves around the axis of rotation of one out of the two ball and socket joints that allow it to move. I'm going to bet that, when she goes to do her preflight makeup check, she just grabs hold and horses it into position without regard to where the joints are. She just pulls it into position, any which way, putting more stress on the joints and the mounting buttons.

I think I'm going to watch more closely the next few times she gets into the car and see if this is what's happening.

For the life of me, I can't believe that those mirrors "just fall off."

Posted by Rick Raskin (Member # 1561) on 03-25-2012, 09:45 AM:

I have found that most glues have strength in an axis perpendicular to the point of attachment, but lateral strength is somewhat lacking. That's why you always see those super glue ads with some guy hanging from the glued point. If you were to pull the mirror straight out it would probably not come loose; but applying force an any other plane can cause the glue to fail. I have had several occasions of car mirrors coming loose and it has always happened when adjusting the mirror. A little JB Weld and some masking tape to hold it in place until the glue dries fixes the problem.

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 03-25-2012, 09:52 AM:

J.B Weld. It's like liquid duct tape!

[Big Grin]

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 03-25-2012, 01:53 PM:

...you can seal up cracked blocks with that stuff.

And what's interesting is, if your a record collector and have broken a shellac "'78" .. JB Weld can glue the shellac together and before the stuff begins to set up, take a sewing needle to follow the grooves out to "groove" the JB Weld with the rest of the grooves. Works pretty good.