308 GTS Mirror

Informative post, Bob. Thank you.

You all would be quite surprised how dirty these mirrors get inside. What a difference after cleaning. You don't really have to cut another mirror. The back of the original mirror can be re-silvered.

Barry

 

The silver on mine was also coming off. I just took it to a glass shop and they cut me a new one. The OEM mirror is real thin, thinner than what the shop carried (1/8" I think), but the thicker mirror worked (just a tight fit). Visibility is much better, all for about $20.

 

I noticed a problem with my mirror but it occurs at night. It doesn't seem to be dirty but there are multiple head light images. Maybe two to three sets of lights.. Is this corrected by cleaning or replacing the glass??

 

Far cheaper/easier just to get another mirror cut.
Mirror is so cheap nowadays, it's hardly worth the resilvering process.

 

Thanks guys. I'll try cleaning it first to see what happens. I tried to vary the angle of the mirror and still got the double lights. BTW is there an adjustment on the mirror to change the glass angle? If no success then I'll go for the new glass. I assume this is regular mirror glass?

 

The front glass angle can't be changed. The mirror in behind is what moves when you go from day to night setting. In the day setting, it is parallel to the glass. In the night setting, it is angled down. The image you see is just from the glass reflection which is why the lights are dimmer.

The mirror is just thinner than what most glass places will have in stock. When I replaced mine, I found a really cheap mirror that was made using thin glass to use.

The new mirror made a world of difference. See http://www.parrotbyte.com/kbc/ferrari/308/Mirror.htm for some pictures (at the bottom of the page.

 

No the dimming action of the mirror is done by a second clear pane of galss in front of the silvered mirror. The clear pane is off set as a slight angle, so that when you click the tab down on the mirror you re-align the frame so that you are viewing a weak image off the plain un-silivered glass.

In a normal car when you the silvered pane in in use the second pane is looking at the dark underside of the roof and you get not stray image. Similarly at night when you dip the mirror the strong reflection from the main silved glass is looking down at teh back seat and again no image.

Trouble is that on an open car you get strong ghost images of the sky through the plain glass pane even when you have the mirror set to use the main silvered pane. Also at night refelections from the engine cover come through the silvered pane.

I took the plain glass pane out altoghter and fitted the silvered mirror at the front. This means I don't have a night-time dip, but equally I get no stray reflections and don't get condensation and much inside the mirror assembly.
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If you find a glass shop that stocks what is called 'shock mirror', that will be the original/correct thickness. The 1/8" thick mirror that is readily available will work fine, but the shock mirror will be the original, thinner thickness.

 

dk
Thanks, now I understand how the mirror works. i think the previous owner may have done the samething you did by removing the clear glass. I don't get the weak image when I tilt the mirror only a view of the back of my seats. Even though the glass is removed I still get the multiple images. I'm going to remove the mirror and check it out. May take it to a mirror/glass to see if they can do something. I'll post if there is any improvement.

 

OK guys:
I think I have solved the mystery of the multiple images. I took the mirror assembly apart by slightly pulling on the flexible Snap On Bezel that goes around the outside of the mirror frame. Just pull down on the bottom of the bezel and it will come off of the two plastic tabs that hold it in place then lift up and it will come off of the top tabs. These tabs can be seen in RJay's pictures above. Now you can remove the bezel, clear glass, and the mirror itself. BTW I tried to remove the mirror from the mounting on the windsheild but I was chicken to pull too hard. I just removed the bezel and left the main mirror framework on the windshield. Well back to the multiple images. It appears the the mirror glass came out of position and was lying flat against or parallel to the clear glass. This was giving four reflections. As DKHudson pointed out in his drawing above you need the mirror to be at a slight angle to the clear glass for the assembly to work properly. When I put the mirror in the correct relationship to the clear glass it worked fine.

Incidentally I used a common glass cleaner which helped but there was still a oily-waxy film on the glass and mirror. Several applications did not remove it and it would just smear. I finally took the three parts to the kitchen sink and used a dish washing liquid to remove the film. Wash the bezel too as it has that oily stuff in it.

Assembly of the parts is simple...first tilt the mirror framework up as far as possible and lay the mirror in the place. It should stay there but be carful it doesn't fall. Mine just layed in there and was not held in place until the bezel was in place. The clear glass goes in position at the front of the bezel held by the four tabs. Now place the bezel and glass carefully over the top of the frame and then pop the bottom into place. (Tabs in the holes top and bottom). The bezel will now hold the mirror in place at the correct angle. Now everything works fine.