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240 Disassembly: 1985 and older 240 Power Side Mirror

dbarton

Dejected by Volvo Corp.
Joined
Nov 17, 2002
Location
Prosper, TX
Has anyone successfully disassembled an early 240 power door mirror? Or at least removed the mirror glass? I've done this on later mirrors and didn't have issues, but this looks different.

Directions from the Greenbook below are pretty light, so I thought I would ask before I begin destroying a mirror. I have a mirror I can sacrifice if needed, but I would rather not ruin things. If it can be done without destroy parts it would be nice. This knowledge may come in handy later. Good mirrors will be rare someday and I'd like to see if a one can be repaired.

Directions:

1. Pry off mirror glass.
So I guess the glass is just glued on and it'll probably break when prying. But it seems to me it's sitting in a metal tray and that tray may get all bent out of shape from prying.

I leave it there for now. Maybe once the glass is removed, further disassembly might become more obvious.

Dave B.
 

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Dave, I hadn't attempted this until this morning. I found the mirror very thick, and its backing still firmly attached to it after 37 years. There are four pins that snap into the positioning gimbal. Photo is poor as the car was facing the early morning sun.

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Dave, I hadn't attempted this until this morning. I found the mirror very thick, and its backing still firmly attached to it after 37 years. There are four pins that snap into the positioning gimbal. Photo is poor as the car was facing the early morning sun.

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Thanks Art.
So you didn't remove the mirror from the metal plate, correct?
And did you just yank on it and it popped out? Could it be so easy?
Dave
 
Looks like Art was able to skip a step, removing the actual mirror from the backing plate. If your intent is to save the glass this may be the way to go. Then you will have to carefully pry the glass away or drip some acetone or something to loosen the bond. Anyway you look at it it 's going to take a tug and prayer. Good luck.
 
Thanks Art.
So you didn't remove the mirror from the metal plate, correct?
And did you just yank on it and it popped out? Could it be so easy?
Dave

The mirrors on the car I was pulling apart looked like they had a coat of enthusiast-grade black paint on them. I wasn't too worried. Just stuck my fingers in there and pulled until it popped loose as you see it. Want me to try the other side too? :)
 
I wouldn't use acetone to remove glass from the backing plate, it tends to eat plastic. Heat gun on low setting to warm the adhesive, perhaps. Then go around the edges prying with something slim. Like removing a cellphone screen these days.

If it keeps re-sticking one can insert thin shims, guitar pick, etc as you go around the perimeter to keep the surfaces separated.
 
The mirrors on the car I was pulling apart looked like they had a coat of enthusiast-grade black paint on them. I wasn't too worried. Just stuck my fingers in there and pulled until it popped loose as you see it. Want me to try the other side too? :)

I wouldn't push it. 35 year old plastic might be brittle and the insides might spew out all over the ground. I appreciate it.

I gave it a try on my mirror. The mirror piece was on a LOT tighter than yours. It took near all the strength I had to get it to pop off and as a result I cracked the glass.

I can see remnants of a clear glue, so perhaps someone assembled mine with Super Glue.

Your rubber boot seems to have come off when you pulled. Mine did not. It's trapped under the motor mechanism, so I flexed the holes in the rubber boot to the side, put a screwdriver in there and removed the two screws.

So I guess breaking the glass is a risk if things are tight.

Dave B.
 

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Now you've got me interested. The sun has the right mirror a lot warmer than the left one was when I pulled it loose the other day. Hard to imagine breaking that small piece of 3/16" thick glass with your fingers. But, I'll put on a pair of gloves this time and give it a try. I like your pictures. Much clearer than mine.

Well, I eased it from above, and then from below, gently at first, then more urgently until it popped. The condom around the joint disintegrated, and the one of the tits broke off.

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Now you've got me interested. The sun has the right mirror a lot warmer than the left one was when I pulled it loose the other day. Hard to imagine breaking that small piece of 3/16" thick glass with your fingers. But, I'll put on a pair of gloves this time and give it a try. I like your pictures. Much clearer than mine.

Well, I eased it from above, and then from below, gently at first, then more urgently until it popped. The condom around the joint disintegrated, and the one of the tits broke off.

I think your technique of pulling from above and below was a better idea. I began pulling alternately from all four directions after it refused to budge during a number of progressively harder attempts. The bad idea turned out to be pulling from the right or left, which is undoubtedly what cracked the glass.
Dave
 
Are you bored? Tell me again why you're wanting to take the mirrors apart.

Dave's motives might be different, but for me, the ONLY reason I play with these old cars is to learn something in a very narrow field and possibly pass it on. Haven't been bored since age 14.
 
Dave's motives might be different, but for me, the ONLY reason I play with these old cars is to learn something in a very narrow field and possibly pass it on. Haven't been bored since age 14.

Exactly. I'll be putting it all into a detailed page along with info on the switches, which is another subject with not nearly as much common knowledge as people assume.
Dave
 
Sorry if I sounded a bit harsh. I thank you both , DB and Art for what you do to help the DIY Volvo community. As parts become harder to find I found it strange that one would risk damaging something that wasn't broken, until now:) I have been know to take apart a broken part to see how it failed and/or repair it. If it couldn't be repaired nothing lost. Good luck with the project. One thing is for sure. A fully disassembled mirror is a lot easier to paint and restore.
 
Thanks. I'll be posting questions on switches sometime soon when I get a bit further along on testing the ones I have. No, I won't take them apart as there's already a great thread on that.
Dave
 
Sorry if I sounded a bit harsh. ...

Didn't seem that way to me, just sounded like the same question I've been getting all my life "Why are you taking apart something that isn't broken?" I'm known to do that with products right out of the box. Take this example of idle curiosity:

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Interesting. FWIW I've always hoped that somebody would come up with a way to tighten up manual remote mirror adjusters. I have two cars that could benefit from that with no new parts (that I know of) available. Something seems to get loose back there and then they shake going down the road for the rest of their lives. Then again, I have a power mirror with the same issue too.
 
I just want to thank you Art + Dave, keeping this Volvo thing interesting. The more I know about today’s production stuff from Ford and Chevy, the more I stay tuned to the vintage Volvo.
Let us know about the switches Dave
 
Interesting. FWIW I've always hoped that somebody would come up with a way to tighten up manual remote mirror adjusters. I have two cars that could benefit from that with no new parts (that I know of) available. Something seems to get loose back there and then they shake going down the road for the rest of their lives. Then again, I have a power mirror with the same issue too.

Somebody here probably has a surplus of manual mirrors. I remember seeing rattly mirrors in salvage yards back in my prime hunting years.
Dave
 
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