Gearhead Jim

Today the temperature finally got up into the 70's and I installed the wide angle mirror on our driver side. Some notes:

1. If you have small stick-on mirrors installed already, be careful when removing them. On the driver side, it doesn't matter if you scratch the glass but I scratched the passenger side. I used a hair dryer and dental floss to remove the stick on. Not sure if it was the floss or road grit or something else, but I now have some scratches on the passenger side. Not disastrous, but annoying.
When cleaning the original mirrors, blow off the dust first and then again before washing/scrubbing to reduce the chance of scratches.

2. I used some of my wife's skewer sticks as locator pins for the new mirror, our chopsticks are too thick. The gap between the original mirror and the housing is not consistent, so I had to place the sticks where they would fit and stay in position. Even then, it would definitely be possible to stick the new mirror somewhat out of position, do a few "dry runs" before removing the backing that covers the adhesive.
Since the new mirror with adhesive totals about 1/8" thick, I would have been able to see just a bit of the old mirror around inboard edges, so I set the new mirror very slightly to the right so that when looking from the driver seat, the old mirror appears completely covered. Don't overdo this, you don't want the new mirror to scrape on the inside of the housing as you move the adjustments up/down/left/right.

3. Clean and install per the instructions. I'll let the car sit after the installation and pull it into the garage later. Since we still have salt on the roads, I won't drive it for a couple of days. Just sitting there in the driver seat, the mirror looks like a big improvement.

4. The photo shows a thick blue exercise pad I laid on the driveway before starting, the new mirror is glass (duh!) and would probably chip/scratch/break if dropped on the driveway.
The wide-angle photo from my phone makes the sticks look like berserk acupuncture, but they were actually pretty straight. If your technique works on your dry-runs, then it's good.

5. Since other people (wife, mechanics, someday a new owner) will be driving the car, I plan to buy one of those "Objects in Mirror are Closer Than They Appear" decals and stick it on, just like the passenger side has etched. "Objects in Mirror are Losing" is cute but less informative.

Mako72

Thanks for sharing the tips. .

$$$frumnuttin'

Some excellent tips, only one chance at getting it right! Would have been great if you took a 'before ' picture, but maybe the next first responder will😁

Vetteman Jack

Looks good. Let us know how it works out once you get a chance to drive the car.

AORoads

Looks like you were trying to skewer someone, but got the mirror instead, Jim Good write up tho and he lpful.

JakeC7GS

Doesn't the factory mirror pop out? Or is it too easy to break something trying that?

subieworx

Wow, that's a lot of effort for this. I went out, cleaned the mirror and taped it on in about 30 seconds.

c54u

Mirror does pop out. See step 4 and 5.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/how-to...mirrors-375864

Carvin

I used interior panel removal tools to line it up. I'm not sure those were necessary but I figured they would keep any slipping from occurring since I left this Garmin nav mount on overnight.

JakeC7GS

True, and what I plan to do. Just figured for those that need/want a perfect line-up taking the mirror off would be easier.

Thanks for the link!

Harmbru

poker chips work great

0Sandyeggo Designs

That definitely takes the gamble out of the installation.
Dave

Gearhead Jim

Dave-
Now you need to make a similar version for the passenger side, with more "wide angle" than the factory passenger side mirror.

CP

Isn't gap measurement supposed to be made in pennies?

mrclean1

Good Job!! You are going to love it, hands down it is the best mod I've made. It is a lot less stressful merging left when you can finally see right down the whole lane.