"Glue-on" Exterior Mirrors

Steve Wilkinson at Panteras By Wilkinson 562-634-3434 or Dennis Quella at Pantera Performance 303-660-9897

I hate to say this, but I'm not a big fan of glue-on outside mirrors. Its really difficult to get a glass surface clean enough for any glue to hold very well- glass always has a thin layer of water adhering to it very tightly. I've seen several high-buck pro-installed mirrors that fell off, including from Mad Dog Antenucci's Silver State street car.... while it was sitting quietly on display at Monterey a few years ago! He was lucky 'cause when they let go, normally you're moving and the airstream drags it along the side of the body, scratching it like someone keyed the car. If its an inside-adjustable mirror, the damage is often worse 'cause the cables normally don't snap off right away so the mirror bounces off the door skin a couple dozen times before it separates.
For my "glue-ons", I home-fabricate Lexan front quarter windows and DRILL HOLES clear thru the mirror mounts and the Lexan windows for screws and nuts, thus avoiding the risk of periodic bodywork. The windows are easy and cheap to make, too. Just an advisory....

I have glue ons in my car, they were on it when I got it.
They have been fine but I must admit the mounting area is much, much bigger than the ones in your pic, almost half the small 1/4 glass. This is probably why it holds on so well. also the design of the mirror, it is very short, therefore does not have anywhere as much weight hanging off it like your pic. That is probably why it stays on ( hopefully it stays that way !)
However..... as a functioning mirror it is useless ! it how has a couple small curved mirrors in it so I can see behind, and is a pain to back anywhere. Then to top it off some silly fool ( me ) put a carby in the middle of the rear window ! so you cant see through that either !
But life is all about going forwards ! I can live with the small hassles !

I must say for a mirror like your pic I do like Bosswrench's idea, personally if you go that far I would wire up the electrical motors as well and have it all properly !
Good luck

How the mirror is "glued" make a huge difference. Many mirrors just use foam tape.

We use stuff like this to bond metal and glass and the only way to get the stuff apart after is to destroy one of the two (keep that in mind if you like changing mirrors). Ever seen those glass tables with impossibly small contact areas for the legs and wonder why they don't come apart? UV cured glues are exceptionally strong.

http://www.glass1usa.com/UV-GLUE.htm

Mark

You might want to try the following link for mirrors.

http://www.visionhotrod.com/gallery.php

Mark 5481 & 5461

Steve Wilkinson sells these mirrors. I think I paid $70 or $80 for them a couple of years ago. I use double sided tape to affix them to the door window and have had no problems with them becoming loose (I don't drive in the rain though). Don't expect to see much from them unless you glue on the round convex(?) mirrors on.

any suggestions for REMOVING the glued mirrors? One day perhaps I might remove my side view mirrors, but only if it is an 'easy' job and not full of drama. Has anyone tackled removing theirs that were glued on?

Heat gun or safer bet is hairdryer. Heat the plate & backside of the glass. (assuming mirrors are removed from mounting plate) I used a very thin metal shim and putty knife to get between the glass and plate to tell when the adhesive became soft. My mounting plate was slightly wedged under the rubber window mouldings. A push from the front corner, pushing the plate towards the rear of the car, it came off easily. First side took 15 minutes & the second side was about 5 minutes (reduced fear factor). GM adhesive remover did a good job of removing adhesive residue. Once the heat hits a certain temp, the adhesive releases. My mirrors were mounted in 1989.

IndyDave