Racing Style Side View Door Mirror Trivia

[Captain Obvious]

My Z came to me with the "racing style" door mirrors, and like so many others before me, it fell apart because after years of adjustment, the ball stud pulled through the hole in the adjustable shell part. This left me with the shell housing part completely off in my hand and the mounting half still attached to my door. So with nothing to lose, and for the trivia, I figured out how it originally went together.

First, I took the mirror off the door and disassembled it. Looks like this:

Typically like so many others, my failure is that ball pulled through the hole:

But the tricky part is... How do they get that spherical ball stud installed in the first place? The whole mirror assy operates on the principal that the ball is supposed to be larger than the hole in the mirror body and NOT pull through. So after twisting (even twisting with heat) did not work, I discovered that it is simply splined and pressed together. Duh. Like this:

To assemble, you put the ball stud through the mirror body like this:

And then press the ball stud into the mounting arm:

Of course, mine is going to pull through again, but it opens up some repair avenues like putting a steel washer behind the original stud or making a larger stud.

And of course, the trivia.

[Mikes Z car]

Nice pictures, great explanation, wish my camera worked that well.

[Captain Obvious]

Thanks! I wish I had known how that mirror went together before I heated the crap out of it and blackened the paint. I may have even heated it to the point where I messed with the metal as well. Like I said... Nothing to lose. Trying to prevent someone else from making the same mistakes.

I'm not a shutterbug guy and wasn't looking for a lot from my camera, and accordingly, I didn't want to spend a lot. I ended up with a Panasonic Lumix and I continue to be absolutely satisfied. I bought it a few years ago, and I continue to think that it was one of the most satisfying purchases I ever made. That says a lot...