Gringo Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 The windscreen frame mounted mirror, the central one inside the Defender, has turned all black. I think that if I can get the glass out, that I can get a piece cut locally and can glue it back in. But it's not obvious from looking at it what it takes to remove it without breaking it into smithereens. I don't want smithereens, if I can help it. Have any of you ever removed that mirror glass? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 try drowning it in hot water [as hot as your hands can put up with] & try to peel the outer ring off, I suspect it's fitted same as the door mirror glass with a rubber seal/retainer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gringo Posted January 23, 2009 Author Share Posted January 23, 2009 try drowning it in hot water [as hot as your hands can put up with] & try to peel the outer ring off, I suspect it's fitted same as the door mirror glass with a rubber seal/retainer. Thanks for the tip. I will try that. I suppose if it breaks, as long as I can fit the pieces together I can get a replacement cut. Working with glass is out of my baliwick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happyoldgit Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 TBH it would be a lot easier getting someone over here to source you a good secondhand one and have it mailed out to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gringo Posted January 24, 2009 Author Share Posted January 24, 2009 TBH it would be a lot easier getting someone over here to source you a good secondhand one and have it mailed out to you. Well, maybe, but probably a lot of bother. Mail doesn't work here, for starters. Not at all. Worst mail I have ever seen, anywhere, bar none. Federal Express, well, it's $50 just to send a letter from the USA, only six hundred miles from here. I did try putting it in a pot, and dumping boiling water on it, and letting it set for a while, but no luck. It did not seem to appreciably affect the flexibility of that plastic band around the edges. I am not actually sure if that holds the glass on in any way, or if there is some adhesive involved. So as of tonight it's still intact. And unusable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gazelle Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Following on from MOG earlier, Dunsfold list new ones (interior mirror assembly) on their website for £22.60 (if I am reading their list right). Assuming it was 2kg, the UK post office charge from £11.09 (surface, 56 days) postage from the UK to Turks and Caicos - or £21.07 airmail (5 days). With the pound as low as it is currently it could be a cheaper way than you thought. Still not cheap though! Martin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gringo Posted January 24, 2009 Author Share Posted January 24, 2009 I appreciate that, but we can forget mail in any form whatsoever. It would be less frustrating to just send the vendor the money and tell them to keep the mirror. At least that way I would not be sitting here for months in anticipation of it showing up. It would never arrive at our PO Box. Packages disappear. Even cards and letters disappear. And the ones that do make it typically take two months to travel 600 miles from the US. It's not the US or UK mail service that is at fault, its the TCI mail. I am not joking. Mail is just not an option. Two CDs sent from Australia, for example, took something like seven months to get here, and I was frankly quite surprised they made it. The postmarks on the package showed me that they had been in Atlanta Georgia, Iceland, and Germany. Figure that one out! I warned him not to mail them! It would have to be FedEx, and while I don't know exactly what Fed-Ex would be from the UK to here, I would guess something on the order of 100-150 US dollars. I could order one through the local LR dealer, but I know the price will be three times what it is in the UK, and they will tell me "three weeks" and if it got here in two months that would be exceptional. This is part of the price we pay for living on a third world tropical island. It's really best if I can just fix things here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulnb57 Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Why not source another mirror from something else and bolt it in place of the old one or alternatively buy a plastic (camping or similar) mirror or a bit of polished stainless steel and cut and shape then glue over your old one...........just a thought............ Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 just had a play on federal express website to send a 3kg package to Blue Hills TCI from Truro Cormwall UK would be £109.80 by fedex FedEx International Priority service. so your rough guess was good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gringo Posted January 24, 2009 Author Share Posted January 24, 2009 just had a play on federal express website to send a 3kg package to Blue Hills TCI from Truro Cormwall UK would be £109.80 by fedex FedEx International Priority service.so your rough guess was good Unfortunately, it was. And local LR prices, for example: A few months back I was here seeking help on a clutch master cylinder that went boobs up. (And thank you all again for the help.) Local dealer, $ 270 for the part, $ 140 for the tow, and the fabled "three weeks" delivery. Reality of it? 270 in parts 140 tow to dealer 400 labor ( estimated, but a good estimate) 1,600 rental for four weeks while waiting on parts for Defender $ 2,410. my real out of pocket costs. my way? 60. for part found on internet, new. 60. Fed Ex from the States 18. import duty for part (free tow, using used rope and a friends truck) ( a Freelander,btw) $ 138. out of pocket, three days without the vehicle waiting on Fed Ex, which I used to ask you guys how to fix it, and maybe four hours of my time to do the repair. I think now you see why fixing the mirror myself is how I would do it. By the way, I stopped by auto parts store to look at aftermarket glue/on mirror, but the angle is all wrong. Those are for slanted windscreens. not enough adjustment for the upright Defender. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landmannnn Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Thanks for the tip. I will try that. I suppose if it breaks, as long as I can fit the pieces together I can get a replacement cut.Working with glass is out of my baliwick. Gringo, I reckon if you break the glass and remove it you should be able to get it apart. If is is clipped together you will be able to get to the clips, I would be surprised if it was glued since it wouldn't make much sense from a manufacturing point of view. Obviously the glass would be in lots of bits so you would have to make the template for the new glass from the plastic casing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crwoody Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 How about getting a peice of mirror glass cut to fit into the existing recess and then glue it on top of the original glass? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 had a play with mine, I can prise back the lower edge of the sirround but not get the glass to 'pop' out, looking at the mirror head moulding, it must come apart somehow, as the balljoint for the arm & the dip lever fits from inside the moulding, so I'd guess it all clips together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gringo Posted January 25, 2009 Author Share Posted January 25, 2009 Yes, I had the same experience. The hot water did eventually seem to allow me to prise back the edge of that hard plastic rim. I even put a little leverage against the edge of the glass in several places, with a flat bladed screwdriver. But the glass did not move. I am loathe to lean on it too hard, still trying not to break it because I don't know if it will break in just a couple of pieces, or shatter into tens of thousands of miniscule slivers of deadly flesh eating glass in an explosive shower of glittering fletchettes... which of course would add an increased level of complexity to the plan of using that piece as a pattern, should I survive the potential blood loss and shock.. well, that's where I am so far with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBMUD Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 How about getting a peice of mirror glass cut to fit into the existing recess and then glue it on top of the original glass? This was going to be my suggestion too. Make a cardboard template the same shape and size as the existing visible mirror area and get a new one cut. Then fit it with numberplate tape, toupé tape, cow gum etc. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landmannnn Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 tens of thousands of miniscule slivers of deadly flesh eating glass in an explosive shower of glittering fletchettes... Stick some clear tape on the glass, this will trap the microscopic monsters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gringo Posted January 27, 2009 Author Share Posted January 27, 2009 Well, if anyone is interested, the glass does indeed shatter into multiple shards, and powder, and sharp bits. It is not safety glass in any form. I also found out that the glass fits into a groove, which is within that band. The band itself seems permanently attached to the housing, so if you ever find yourself in a similar situation, you might save a lot of wasted time by not even trying to take it off. The glass is not glued in. It is a pressure fit into that groove. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 well at least you got the glass out, even if it was in millions of bits, hope you can find a replacement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landmannnn Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Any blood? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted January 27, 2009 Share Posted January 27, 2009 Any blood? what ? are you Dracula Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gringo Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 Not much blood really. I mean, the human body has at least twice that amount, and your bones make more, right? Wanted to let you guys know that it is not so simple as just gluing a piece of flat mirror on the thing, if you want to fix it correctly. The mirror in it is not flat. In cross section,it's a trapezoid. And the grooves around the housing vary in width accordingly. I took the whole bloodstained, lethal mess to the local glass guy and said 'fix it'. Those guys are funny about customers dripping body fluids on their lily white floors, aren't they. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 hope they can fix it for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 can they fix you too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gringo Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 I am thinking I should put shoes on when I try this stuff. But I don't remember where I left them last September when I left the islands.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RILEY Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Never had an int mirror in my 90 what's all the fuss about lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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