New Sideview Mirrors for the Magnum

[Hemissary]

One of the first things I did not like about my ride was the side-view mirrors, stuck out like dog’s balls and are identical on every LX platform. It took a while, and several purchases later I finally found a pair of mirrors that would make decent candidates for modifying to fit. My goals were smaller, flared up, electric, and looked factory when done. I’ll let you folks be the judge:





The pair I really wanted to emulate you can see in this pic, however the local NAPA dealer <hehe> was no help and at ~$4000/pair I kinda changed my mind :^) Anyone care to guess what they reside on?



In this pic you can see the donor pieces from a set of OEM mirrors I used. Essentially I needed the 3-bolt mount (in plastic – as opposed to the metal used on folders), and the triangular fascia to match the rake and angle of the existing glass/door frame. In the second pic you see how I pared down the aftermarket sub-mount that would then be sandwiched between the OEM mount and the OEM fascia:




I then jigged the OEM mount and the aftermarket sub-mount and drilled holes to accept 1/4 x 20 hardware to mechanically secure the two pieces together:



From there, the OEM fascia was re-bolted to the OEM frame (with the sub-mount sandwiched in between), but before this I used PL Premium urethane adhesive to really marry the three parts together…forever (and I do mean forever). The LX Service manual was helpful to determine the exact nature of the plastics used in this area to help figure out what adhesive to employ (Sect. 23 Body, page 5). In this shot you can see that (tan) adhesive).



In this pic I used chopped E-glass and polyester resin to fill the voids and build up the area at the interface between the OEM fascia and the new sub-mount that will eventually support the new mirrors. I did some tests on scrap pieces to determine whether there would be adequate adhesion, there was. The second pic shows the results after rough sanding using a die-grinder with sanding drums (80/120 grit), and application of filler. The third pic is the end-results – and getting close (I’m getting too old for sanding/filling/sanding/filling/etc):






The aftermarket mirrors came with lens with super white LED’s. I debated replacing them and placing a strip of hi-density SMT (surface mount technology) amber LED’s and wiring them up to the signal lights, or maybe even leaving them as-is (white) and “on” all the time (day or night). Then Mr. “Ricey” popped up on my left shoulder spout’ in “…ya man…do the lights man…sweeeeet”. I elected to paint over them with the same SEM 39143 Trim Black I used to paint everything else. In fact that same paint is on the shaker, the inner rim area, everywhere I have had to use the (secondary) color black.





Then came wiring the new mirrors up during assembly; as I had donor mirrors, I had donor connectors! The trick was to find out how similar a configuration the new mirrors are to the old (left/right) units. I used a power supply, printed off the appropriate page from the Service Manual, and then ran the motors looking for proper motor direction when compared to the OEM units. I made a booboo soldering up one mirror, then realizing there is no freak’in way that connector is going to fit through the existing ¼” hole in the sub-mount. Undid/cut off the heat shrink, ran the leads through the new mounting system, luckily I had left enough lead length to solder up and then assemble them:





Done, finally…did I mention I hate sanding?





Both mirror lens are convex, something I actually like. The viewing area of these new mirrors when compared to the OEM units, is similar as a result of that convex nature:






Stay tuned for a functional rear diffuser (cutting the spare tire well out)...

ADDENDUM: Some of you will have seen my thread calling out parts numbers for the various plastic fasteners used on the LX platform, I found an awesome vendor with more than agreeable pricing. Thread is here:

http://lxforums.com/board/showthread.php?t=155573

Anyways, I had not purchased the gray and black push-pins for the door fascias (they all broke as expected during disassembly), so a quick trip to the dealer revealed, hang on to your hats, $5.38 EACH!

Well, needless to say I left without them (need 10 total -6 dark gray/4 black for my particular interior) and came home and went straight to eBay. Here are the parts I ordered...note the quantity and cost I'm paying for the very same parts:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=120312148719
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=150298814026

[eGo]

Pretty Cool Wish I was patient enough to do that kind of stuff.. I have a lot of ideas, but no patience lol

eGo

[pigpen]

Damn you beat me to it!!


Looks awesome though!

[CHARGERTREV]

I wish the 599 GTB mirrors would work for you, there sweet...but cant be cheap.

[Hemissary]

whach-you-doooiin??? I look forward to seeing!!!

	Quote:			Originally Posted by pigpen
	Damn you beat me to it!! Looks awesome though!

[Schen]

HA! Am I the only one that noticed Wayne's World on the TV?

--RS

[Hemissary]

it was on the tube while I was assembling them <grin>, good movie actually...

	Quote:			Originally Posted by SchenPhotography
	HA! Am I the only one that noticed Wayne's World on the TV? --RS

[eGo]

	Quote:			Originally Posted by SchenPhotography
	HA! Am I the only one that noticed Wayne's World on the TV? --RS

I was just scrolling through to the bottom and caught it that time lol

eGo

[Cruisin1966]

Like I said, nice job buddy. Now, see what you can do about getting those carbon fiber mirror housings on my car.

[GoofyTimL]

Way to work for a very unique mod!

[ss3079]

That looks awesome - can't wait to see that beast in person one day.

[Hemissary]

Thanks folks, I appreciate the comments;

	Quote:			Originally Posted by Cruisin1966
	Like I said, nice job buddy. Now, see what you can do about getting those carbon fiber mirror housings on my car.

Again, thank you Cruisin, you can have the CF one's i got if you like...

	Quote:			Originally Posted by ss3079
	That looks awesome - can't wait to see that beast in person one day.

Maybe Saturday..:^)

[oOoDarkKnightoOo]

Good job! But... I HATE HATE HATE IT LOL

[Hemissary]

<grin>

[pukkaSRT8]

Nice to see you finally worked out all the wrinkles and got these done! Glad i could help!