side mirror repair

[fflood]

Since I'm new to pig ownership, I thought I would start with a simple repair job. My drivers side door mirror had been damaged in what appears to have been a sideswipe. The PO had saved the mirror so I decided to pop the glass out of the bezel set mirror and have a go at fixing the torn metal so I could reshape things and put it back together. My passenger side mirror had a tear/crack starting around the base of the spherical area that seats in the mirror mount so I figured it was a good time to address this as well.

To begin with, I tried gently lifting the surrounding bezel away from the mirror so I could do the repair and then reinsert. My mirrors had some small stress fractures that fully split when I tried to remove the glass. Regardless, I figure that I can have a glass shop cut new mirrors hopefully. Otherwise this is just a little metalworking practice. I will try to find out about the possibility of having a shop cut new glass.

This is what my backings looked like after removing the glass and getting ready for repair. The following posts will cover the metalwork and procedure for repairing the cracks. I assume most people's mirrors won't be quite as bad as my ripped off mirror, so hopefully this will help some others since new mirrors tend to be high priced.

 

[fflood]

The mirror backs appear to be made from stainless steel. I decided to silver solder (which is actually brazing) the tears/cracks. I reshaped the backing just so I could get the tear closed up. At this point, I was not concerned with the shape of the metal matching the proper dome shape. I just wanted to get this together with little to no gap between the pieces I was bringing together. I used a sandbag and nylon and wood mallets for this along with some non marring flat pliers.

I set the backing piece on a soft firebrick and retrieved some hard silver solder. The silver solder is a white metal so the color match will be close to the stainless steel. Also the silver solder melts at a fairly low temp but much higher than traditional solder which I fear would just crack again if used. I scrubbed the metal and crack area with some fine grit sandpaper to assure that the metal is clean. If the metal is not clean, the silver solder will not flow properly and repair the seam.

 

[fflood]

I use a flux called Handy Flux that will keep the metal clean and keep things from oxidizing when I heat the metal. There is a higher temp flux that is black that is better for steel, but I happened to have the white flux and used it instead. With the white flux you just need to get the metal heated quickly before the flux "burns" away due to long soldering times. I cut my hard silver solder into little snip-its and placed it in the fluxed area in the crack. By the way, I started with the repair of the of the passenger side back since it had a little crack and I thought this would be an easy test of the soldering job. I used a air/acetylene torch to heat the mirror back (note: this was NOT an oxy-actylen torch; that would be too much heat; this torch draws air from outside the torch body). I believe the stainless steel is thin enough that you could use a small butane or propane torch.

The flux will go through three stages. The water will boil out of the flux, the flux will get crusty white, and then the flux will turn clear when the metal is up to temp and solder about to flow. You want to heat both sides of the seam evenly to get the solder to flow between the pieces or in this case in the crack.

 

[fflood]

I soldered both backing pieces and then removed the flux with super hot water/ baking soda (to neutralize the flux as it is acidic and will effect the metal over time). I also used a brass brush to clean the area around where the flux had been. I then worked a on removing any excess solder with a small needle file.

 

[fflood]

I used a small dapping punch to reshape the mirror back that was badly torn. I used a nylon hammer to gently reshape the dome. Then I proceeded to do a little more filing and sanding and then I went to the buffing machine and buffed the mirrors. I could have probably removed a bit more solder with my file, but I figured some additional thickness here might help prolong another repair in the future. I still have a few more scratches left over from the initial sideswipe on the drivers side mirror to clean-up, but I was honestly surprised how well these cleaned up with a little compound on the buffer.

 

[fflood]

I mocked up the mirror backs with the bases and nylon dome that seats inside the metal stamped dome. I think I'll put a little grease in the socket before final assembly and before having some new mirrors cut and installed inside the mirror backing bezel. I'm hoping this lube will help from overstressing this connection and causing any future tears or cracks. Everything seems to rotate nicely and I believe tis repair will hopefully keep me from having to purchase some new expensive mirrors when my originals are useable with just a little bit of care and effort.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Nice skills! I think everyone has a mirror that needs some love. Could you talk some more on your torch set up.

 

[Ol Yeller]

Skillz

 

[fflood]

Nice skills! I think everyone has a mirror that needs some love. Could you talk some more on your torch set up.

My torch is basically a Smith acetylene torch like this:
Amazon.com: Smith 239-193 Outfit Silver Smith Handi-Torch: Home Improvement

I hook the torch to a single "B" acetylene tank.

I have also seen Prest-o-lite torches and B tanks on Craigslist often that are essentially the same thing. Like what you see in the last two photos below.

That said, I think you would be able to use a butane torch to do this repair.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Would you consider using the butane on the base of the mirror, since it's a different metal and a lot heavier.

 

[fflood]

Would you consider using the butane on the base of the mirror, since it's a different metal and a lot heavier.

Good question! I have a few cracks in the base piece of the drivers side mirror as well. I don't think the bases are stainless steel so I'm a little afraid to heat it up honestly. It appears to be made of "pot metal" (usually a low melting temp metal alloy). I have done repairs on pot metal before and learned my lesson when EVERYTHING melts as soon as the flame is introduced. Silver solder will require WAY too hot temps to flow when trying to repair pot metal. I am still trying to figure out what to do about the base repair, but I'll keep you all posted when I figure out what metal it is.

You are correct that there is more mass in the base, but PLEASE DON'T TRY the silver solder on the base as I have a feeling it won't work.

I don't want to be responsible for a ton of ruined mirror bases and create further havoc for all of you fellow pig owners out there. As I said though, I will keep you all posted when I find a suitable repair for the bases. I think a low temp solder will be the best bet for the base. I'll try something similar to solder that you use for soldering electrical wires. I just bent my mirror base back into shape and the slight bend caused further cracking of the plating on the outside of the bend so this repair will also require re-plating if you have a busted base section and we do figure out a low temp repair.

 

[scrapdaddy]

Very good! Look forward to this.

 

[fflood]

The bases are definitely a softer metal; and NOT made of stainless steel. My cracked bases shown here. I am going to groove the crack area so I can flow some low temp solder into the groove and refinish. I used a round file to crete a groove and you can see the plating showing through. It appears to have thin layers of chrome plate, nickel plate, copper plate and then the base metal.

 

[fflood]

Both my DS and PS mirror bases have minor cracking. I'll try a low temp repair first thing tomorrow and post of progress later tomorrow. Hopefully, I won't melt these base pieces!

 

[Gordobe]

Incredible workmanship on those mirror discs. Here is The solution I came up with to keep the bases from continuing to crack. I think they crack because they do not fit to the body shape correctly. They seem to be fitted a bit to high and not seat at the curve of the door. I took JB weld putty and packed in to the base in the area of the curve and crack then attached the mirror with the screws letting the putty squeeze out. Before the putty hardens trim off the excess with a small knife. Etch the inside of the base before hand with a file or course sand paper so the JB sticks better, also but cellophane on the door so the JB doesn't stick. The mirror will never vibrate and continue cracking. That's why they cracked in the first place. I do it to the mirrors before they begin to crack. You'll find that the mirrors will no longer vibrate on rough roads. The grey JB weld blends in and you don't really see it.

 

[fflood]

I determined that the mirror bases are a low melting temp metal similar to pewter. As noted above the silver soldering or brazing would not be suitable for repairing the bases (as the base metal would melt before the silver solder= NOT GOOD!). For the mirror bases I used a tinning/soldering flux called Stay-Clean and I used a filler material that Safe Flo Lead Free Solder. This is a low temperature solder that I figured would be perfect for the mirror bases.

 

[fflood]

I started by brushing on a little tinning flux with a small watercolor brush and then slowly introduced some heat. As the mirror base is heating up, I dipped my small paint brush in the flux and applied a bit more to the warm metal. This helps to make sure there is a proper amount of flux present so that solder will adhere and bond with the base material. You have to be careful as the base material WILL MELT if you have too hot of flame. I moved my flame on and off the base as I then drug my solder wire across the surface. You almost want to heat the tip of the solder wire as you do this (and less on the base of the mirror). If the flux has done it's job you should get a thin trail of solder that looks wet on the surface of the mirror base. I then started melting solder into the area that I had previous ground away with my file. The solder mounded up at first and as the base material heats up, the solder will "sink" into the base material and smooth out a bit. BE CAREFUL HERE...too much heat and the bottom will drop out and you'll have a ruined mirror base! Once I had enough excess solder piled up, I stopped heating and quenched the piece in water. I figured I wanted a bit more material so that I could grind down with my Dremel and a sanding band. to feather and smooth out the form. I also think that the back of the base could stand to have a bit more material as long as it doesn't interfere with mounting to the door. The pics above are from the PS mirror base.

 

[fflood]

Here is the DS mirror base. it had a crack all the way along the piece, so I was a bit generous with the solder. I should be able to feather this out though. NOTE: make sure to file and sand away the chrome plating in the area you will be soldering. You don't want a barrier between the base material and your solder. The mirror bases will need to be rechromed, but I figure I can at least run them for a while without the fear of the mirror falling off as I drive down the road.

AGAIN: Please BE CAREFUL when heating. I propane torch/tank will have MORE than enough heat to do this job even though the base is large.

I'll start the clean-up of these bases and post some pics after I have them filed and sanded.

 

[PabloCruise]

Wonderful skills!

Do you think your base repair would work on the infamous tailgate handle???

 

[tyama]

Nice write up! I've always wanted to learn more about soldering & brazing. Would MAPP gas work for the silver brazing? I've got a small oxyacetylene set up but looks like i'd have to get a new torch for the acetylene tank and hose.

thanks again, ty