My mirror went limp....and I decided to do the fix. I could not reuse the spring clip and was not sure of forum member jochen's fix. I had the door apart and the mirror off so I decided on a new fix. I bolted the spring down and then rerouted the wires by lenthening and soldering them and enlarging a hole in the mirror housing. The harness was long enough that I think I could have gotten away with simply cutting and resoldering it back as is. If you bolt the spring, you cannot route the wires through the same hole. I taped all wires and now the mirror is almost perfect. It does not fold forward all the way b/c the wires get in the way, but it folds in towards the door perfectly.

It works well, but I need to loosen the bolt holding the spring. It is too tight and the mirror is a little loose. Will take me 10 minutes. Last week it took me 5 hours, but I saved at least $600. So it was worth it.

Let me know if you need help.

 

Sounds like a good fix!

 

Same thing happened to my driver's mirror a few weeks ago. I assume in order to do the fix the interior of the door must be removed, right? Normally, how is the original spring held on? I did realize all of electrical wires go up through the mirror post and spring, but I guess without removing the interior of the door, I couldn't see how the spring is retained.

Thanks

 

Basically remove the door panel then some wires and a few bolts for the mirror. The spring is held on with a 2 cent metal washer that weakens and fails to hold the spring. There are other fixes, but I feel mine is most permanent and the least dangerous to use. The other fixes require compressing the spring in a tight space. I tried it for an hour and gave up. I did it my way because I refused to put it back together broken. My way is furthest from stock, but you cannot see anything that I did on the outside. Cost was my time, tape, wire, a bolt and nut and a few washers. I used hand tools, a Dremel and a soldering iron. The only thing that may fail for me in the long run may be a wire that gets cut. I taped it well enough that I should be good for years to come. I do need to adjust the tension on the spring as the mirror is a little loose. I overtightend the nut and compressed the spring too much compared to using the stock washer. No big deal. I just need to remove the mirror that is held in place with silicone and loosen the nut. Hope this helps someine else. Also before you solder the wires make sure the harness is through the housing and make sure you label the wires if you tape the harness first. Don't ask how I know this I could do it again in less than 2 hours next time. Hope the passenger door does not need the fix!!!

 

Since you are going to take it apart again. how about a couple of pics? Mine is limp too.

 

I'll take pics if I take it apart, but I hope to only remove the actual mirror while it is still on the car. If you search on driver mirror, jochen has taken pics and vette essentials details removal of the door panel. Good luck.

 

I had the same problem. A new mirror cost me $179 at the dealership, and I had it painted for $30. I put it on myself. Just an FYI.

 

http://97vette.com/howto/mirror/index.html

 

That would have been good to know. Guess I only saved $209. I'm still happy though.

 

So I gather that you followed this procedure....
http://97vette.com/howto/mirror/index.html

But just left the bolt in.... seems like a good idea. I would think if you pulled it out as is suggested, sooner or later, the collar would come off again. Comments?

 

I agree. If I used the original clip, it would fail again. Another fix was to drill two holes and add a nail across the top of the spring. It looks like a good idea, I just got frustrated trying to compress the spring and could not make it work. Even if that worked, I would have fought getting all the wires past the nail that crosses over the hole where the wires feed. I’m sure there are other solutions as well, this one was just trial and error and a bit of persistence. If you can fix it yourself you know it will be done right!