C2 (1966) Day/Night Mirror

[George Schaerer]

A recent post by Jack Humphrey outlined the replacement of the interior Day/Night interior mirror for a '67.

My wife and I are the original owners of a 1966 SB Convertible that we are restoring as an "ultimate driver", not a show car. The Day/Night mirror is losing its rear surface and we want to restore it. I have purchased a replacement glass from ZIP Products but am unable to figure out how to get the old glass out. Breaking it seems like the only approach as I cannot figure out how to "peel back" the housing. I am reluctant to break it as I do not know whats behind the glass and do not want to destroy the Day/Night function. The SS housing is in perfect (not scratched) condition.

Can one of the members on this discussion group please help us out or recommend someone who can do this job. We are at our wits end.

Than you in advance for any help you may provide

George and Sue Ann Schaerer

[Wayne K.]

See two posts down. *NM*

[Wayne K.]

See two posts down. *NM*

[Jack H.]

Nope...not right...

The day night mirror used '64-66 differs from '67 and later. BTW, in '64 it was a dealer option, in '65 it came with the Z01 'Convenience' option and in '66 it was a standard feature.

Those who restore these get a reasonable price for their efforts. Why? Well, the glass is crimped into the mirror housing vs. the later era 'Ralph Nader' version of the mirror with it's plastic glass surround.

If you break the glass out of one of these puppy dogs, you'll find a couple of differences. First, there's a piece of die cut cardboard behind the mirror glass that acts to vibration damp the glass from 'rattling' within the silhoutte of the housing's crimp.

That's the 'enemy' that helps accelerate the deterioration of the rear side mirror silvering! Those prior owners who ignored GM's cleaning instruction (use only water) and spritzed the mirrors with ammonia based glass cleaners, wound up with excess cleaning fluid running down the front of the glass, settling in the channel of the SS housing's crimp and 'wicking' into to die cut cardboard. This helped the fluid spread across the back of the mirror surface and EAT into the raw silver!

Next, when you extract the broken original glass after you've cracked it, look closely at the edges. You'll see the differ from the generic replacement glass that's sold for '67 and later mirrors. The difference is both the front an rear edges are gently beveled fit the silhouette of the rolled crimps in the SS mirror housing.

That's why suppliers like Paragon do NOT advertize their '67 and later D/N replacement glass as being applicable to '64-66 mirrors. The glass edges HAVE to be properly beveled to fit into the crimp of the housing!

Now, can you do the replacement chore yourself? Yes, but it takes talent...

First, you have to find a local glass shop with a sanding machine to bevel the edges of the flat/square replacement mirror glass you've purchased. Note, they WILL be warry of doing the rear side because one 'slip' while they're holding the glass against their sander and the existing mirror silver will catch and peal!!!! My hunch is the original glass was beveled BEFORE the rear surface silvering was applied...

Now that you've got the glass shaped correctly to fit the SS housing, go hand cut a piece of cardboard of equivalent thickness to the deterioriated original and test fit it in the mirror's crip contour.

Next, holding the mirror in place, use a form of straight edge to pry and de-crimp the outer edge so your glass will slip inside. Once you've 'popped' it in, the 'fun' begins!

You need to fixture a method to evenly close the outer crimp without leaving telltale wrinkles AND without apply excessive pressure that will crack the replacement glass you've just installed! That's part of the job the rear cardboard serves; absorbing final crimping pressure without cracking the glass.

That's why mirror restoration services get the BIG money they do for their restoration services. They got the 'trade secret' tooling fixture to pull off the final crimping task. But, can you do it yourself? YES, with time, experience and prudence....

[Jack H.]

Nope...not right...

The day night mirror used '64-66 differs from '67 and later. BTW, in '64 it was a dealer option, in '65 it came with the Z01 'Convenience' option and in '66 it was a standard feature.

Those who restore these get a reasonable price for their efforts. Why? Well, the glass is crimped into the mirror housing vs. the later era 'Ralph Nader' version of the mirror with it's plastic glass surround.

If you break the glass out of one of these puppy dogs, you'll find a couple of differences. First, there's a piece of die cut cardboard behind the mirror glass that acts to vibration damp the glass from 'rattling' within the silhoutte of the housing's crimp.

That's the 'enemy' that helps accelerate the deterioration of the rear side mirror silvering! Those prior owners who ignored GM's cleaning instruction (use only water) and spritzed the mirrors with ammonia based glass cleaners, wound up with excess cleaning fluid running down the front of the glass, settling in the channel of the SS housing's crimp and 'wicking' into to die cut cardboard. This helped the fluid spread across the back of the mirror surface and EAT into the raw silver!

Next, when you extract the broken original glass after you've cracked it, look closely at the edges. You'll see the differ from the generic replacement glass that's sold for '67 and later mirrors. The difference is both the front an rear edges are gently beveled fit the silhouette of the rolled crimps in the SS mirror housing.

That's why suppliers like Paragon do NOT advertize their '67 and later D/N replacement glass as being applicable to '64-66 mirrors. The glass edges HAVE to be properly beveled to fit into the crimp of the housing!

Now, can you do the replacement chore yourself? Yes, but it takes talent...

First, you have to find a local glass shop with a sanding machine to bevel the edges of the flat/square replacement mirror glass you've purchased. Note, they WILL be warry of doing the rear side because one 'slip' while they're holding the glass against their sander and the existing mirror silver will catch and peal!!!! My hunch is the original glass was beveled BEFORE the rear surface silvering was applied...

Now that you've got the glass shaped correctly to fit the SS housing, go hand cut a piece of cardboard of equivalent thickness to the deterioriated original and test fit it in the mirror's crip contour.

Next, holding the mirror in place, use a form of straight edge to pry and de-crimp the outer edge so your glass will slip inside. Once you've 'popped' it in, the 'fun' begins!

You need to fixture a method to evenly close the outer crimp without leaving telltale wrinkles AND without apply excessive pressure that will crack the replacement glass you've just installed! That's part of the job the rear cardboard serves; absorbing final crimping pressure without cracking the glass.

That's why mirror restoration services get the BIG money they do for their restoration services. They got the 'trade secret' tooling fixture to pull off the final crimping task. But, can you do it yourself? YES, with time, experience and prudence....

[Gary B.]

64-66 D/N restorers?

Jack,

Now that Carol Fish is no longer restoring these mirrors, do you know who else is doing this work for a fee?

Gary

[Gary B.]

64-66 D/N restorers?

Jack,

Now that Carol Fish is no longer restoring these mirrors, do you know who else is doing this work for a fee?

Gary