So I spend 5 hours today wiring in the external temp sensor and power wires for my new to me Compass/Temp mirror. I took my time and made sure to make everything look stock and very clean. Plug it all in and it looks and works great. So then I realize that, hey I forgot the pretty plastic cover for the wire from the mirror to the headliner. So I go to the workbench and trim it down as necessary, get in the car and go to move the mirror and the darn think falls off the window. Now what I neglected to state is that I was replacing the old mirror as it had fallen off the windshield about 2 weeks ago. I cleaned up the glass and used the 3M mirror adhesive to attach the button to the window 3 days ago. It says to wait at least 15 minutes before attaching the mirror. I waited 48 hours and attached it last night with no problem. Until today and it came off on the last step of my project. Needless to say my car (Missy, short for mistress as my wife calls her) is now having a time out alone in the garage. She will not be getting her Homelink installed for a few days until she changes her attitude.
Does anyone have thoughts on using something else other than the 3M I used.
Mine fell off and took a huge chunk out of the inside of the windshield which eventually cracked the glass the entire width of to car I decided to let the installer of the new windshield deal with it.
The mirror in my S10 fell off last year. I stopped at the local glass place and they charged ne $5 to glue the base back on with an epoxy. 2 part it looked like. No issue since then.
I hope the idiot who thought it was a good idea to glue a heavy mirror to the windshield has one under his back in the grave. The glue for mirrors to windshields in auto parts stores doesn't work or didn't for me numerous times. Cheap Walmart rubber type glue yellow tube I tried in desperation and the mirror was still on when I sold the car.
I hope the idiot who thought it was a good idea to glue a heavy mirror to the windshield has one under his back in the grave. The glue for mirrors to windshields in auto parts stores doesn't work or didn't for me numerous times. Cheap Walmart rubber type glue yellow tube I tried in desperation and the mirror was still on when I sold the car.
As luck would have it I met that guy. I ended up working for the company that supplied most of the mirrors to the auto industry for decades. They thought up the idea to stick the mirror to the glass for a very good reason......vibration. The glass is insulated from the rest of the car, and is a heavy absorber of all kinds of frequencies.....so it works better....You can recognize things in the mirror much faster than if the image was fuzzy. The glue has a very impressive performance record on new cars, but not so much from 3rd parties in franchise auto parts stores..... no surprise there I guess.
The system with the glass veil that you break in the plastic sleeve and apply before the adhesive has NEVER let me down. I keep one in my tool box at all times.
Some cars don't have the mirror attached to the glass, right? Maybe they were older cars, but I remember seeing cars where the mirror attached to the roof...?
I had an old 67 Ford pickup that had the mirror screwed to the top of the cab from the factory. In 68 they changed to the glue on button style and I was told this was done because of new safety regulations that required the mirror give way / brake off in the event of an accident.
I had this problem with my Reatta. Mirror kept falling off, especially in hot weather. I felt the problem was not just the glue but the smoothness/glossy nature of glass. (ie non-porous) Anyways, I masked off the mount/pad area with painters tape and proceeded to roughen up the area with a small, sharp awl. Yes, I scratched up the glass in this small, square patch. Then I used two ton epoxy. It's still holding. Lightly scratching up the glass may seem abnormal but it's only done on the contact patch area. Just my two cents... Kit
I'm going to +2 the Versachem product. I used it and it's hasn't failed me. I also have an auto-dimming rear view mirror in my Fiero so I'm not using the OEM rear view mirror.
The rear view fell of the window of my GT several years ago. I got mirror glue from Kragen (now O'Reilly Auto Parts), cleaned the window and the mirrors mount thoroughly with alcohol, glued it on and let it set for a while.
It's hasn't come loose yet. It been several years.
The set screw has loosened up a few times but that's no big deal.
Some cars don't have the mirror attached to the glass, right? Maybe they were older cars, but I remember seeing cars where the mirror attached to the roof...?
My 60 Pontiac mirror is attached to the roof and some of the Chrysler cars from the late 50s were attached to the top of the dash. No the image was not upside down.....
Spoon
------------------ "Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne." - Kurt Vonnegut
Ok so it looks like VersaChem - Rear View Mirror Adhesive is the winning choice. I picked this up during lunch today and cleaned the worthless stuff off. I have reattached the button and will wait till tomorrow to put the mirror back on. Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. I will post back here in a few weeks to provide the results.
The rear view fell of the window of my GT several years ago. I got mirror glue from Kragen (now O'Reilly Auto Parts), cleaned the window and the mirrors mount thoroughly with alcohol, glued it on and let it set for a while.
It's hasn't come loose yet. It been several years.
The set screw has loosened up a few times but that's no big deal.
i wouldve recommended O'Reilly's but he doesnt have one in his town... however we are always expanding
Iv'e almost exclusively used the Locktite rear view mirror adhesive. Has a small plastic bag/tube and a breaker/glass tube that you can see in the blister package. The breaker/glass tube resembles a smelling salts tube that you crush to allow the contents to flow into the cloth swab in the end. Make sure you install the metal base (not upside down) correctly. Have seen people break windshields, trying to get it back off. The silicon glue type products just suck. With the mirror off the METAL base. If it is a plastic base. Do yourself a favor and throw it away and get a metal one. Take a razor blade and scrap away anything on the windshield and mirror base. Clean the windshield and base with something that does not leave any residue. Take a dry cloth and wipe them off again. Take the base and place it on the windshield. With a marker trace outside the base, so you can't screw up later. Break the glass tube and apply the activator to the windshield and the base. Try to stay inside the mark you made. The activator will clean off the mark if you are not careful and you will have to start over. Take the plastic bag/tube and twist off the cap. Apply just a drop off the adhesive to the base. Quickly put the base on the windshield and hold for about a minute. Yep, that fast. From the outside look at the base. You are looking for bubbles in the adhesive. If there are, you waited too long to place the base or did not have it clean enough and it will come off when you hang the mirror back up. If so, take the razor, work it around the the outside of the base to get it back off. Buy another blister pack and do it again. If you don't see bubbles in at least 70% of the middle of the base, wipe off the marker, wait about 10 minutes and hang the mirror back on. It normally takes years of 95 degree summers and 15 degree winters for this stuff to fail.
[This message has been edited by cmechmann (edited 11-05-2013).]
Ok so I waited another 24 Hours before I attached the mirror using the VersaChem - Rear View Mirror Adhesive. Success- I think not...FAILURE again. Darn thing pulled right off while adjusting it. So I went to an Auto Glass guy and he attached it with Locktite. I waited 24 hours again and attached the mirror and adjusted it like I did the other 2 times and it has not fallen off yet. Only cost $15 for them to do it. I asked him if he thought this time it would work and the glass guy was saying that he has seen where a mirror was bumped hard and it took of a chunk of glass like what happened to Dr W. but has not fallen off for him.
The mirror fell off the windshield in my 77 chevy truck. After driving it for a while without the mirror I was getting annoyed. One day I was standing in front of my toolbox and noticed some JB Weld sitting in a drawer. Mixed some up, stuck the button back on the windshield, and two years later that mirror is still hanging. I never figured JB Weld would hold. From -40 to +40 degrees Celsius and off road driving.
I had a mirror fall off in my '91 Sonoma some years ago. I used a kit that had that glass tube, and it never fell back off. My issue is more with the stupid set screw in the mirror base, keeps coming loose on me.
I decided to let the installer of the new windshield deal with it.
