Tips on How to Replace the Glass of Your Side View Mirror

Car mirrors are a difficult thing. If you need to get one replaced it can be difficult and expensive. However, there are a couple of things you can do to attempt a repair yourself. Something extremely complicated can actually be very simple once you realize how to do it. If everything about your mirror is okay except that the glass mirror itself has broken or is missing, there are a couple of tricks you might be able to do to replace it.

First, you might want to carefully remove the old glass mirror. It can be very sharp so be extremely careful when you take it off. Also make sure that all of the glass is placed in a bag or something so that it does not have a chance to cut someone's foot or tire. Once you have all of the mirror pieces removed you will see what the mirror itself was glued to. It may be different depending on the year, make and model of your vehicle so you will have to evaluate some things about it. Now scrape the glue off of where the mirror was attached. Take your time, you do not want to hurry and have your new mirror fly out while you are driving. Once you have removed the glue take rough sandpaper and rough up the parts you just got the glue off of. Once you have done that wash the area and wait for it to dry.

Now all you need is the new mirror, some epoxy, a slice of card board cut roughly in the shape of the mirror, and some masking tape. You can get the mirror pre made. Have it cut by a professional. Or if you are very talented and extremely adventurous you can cut it yourself. Once you have the glass mirror cut to size put the epoxy on the prepared surfaces of where the old mirror used to be attached and squish the new mirror in its place. You will need to tape it up with the card board to push it tight and make sure it stays in place as it dries. You will want to wait a couple hours after the recommended amount of time on the epoxy you choose, just to be safe. Then you should be able to remove the tape and cardboard.

If all went well you should have a brand new mirror that you can be proud of. Remember though. You will probably want to check the price of a new mirror before you do this, just in case you can save yourself some labor by buying a cheap entire new mirror.