1999 Legacy side mirror glass removal

[danch]

Hi guys,

I just bought a 1999 Legacy and someone shattered my driver-side side mirror already

The housing is ok so I just need to replace the glass.

Apparently Strong for Subaru doesn\'t sell the mirror on its own because it\'s tricky to take the mirror out of its housing without breaking it.

They said they have one with a broken housing which they say I can remove it on my own - for $50 +gst.

Now my question is, is it impossible to remove the mirror out of its housing without breaking it?

Does any1 have experience with this?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[dzk]

I have done one electrical one on a honda civic, the mirror sat on housing by a ball and pivot joint which you could pop off with a little bit of force. Not sure about Legacy. Perhaps local panelbeaters may know what the deal is. Failing that, dependent on price, you could buy the whole unit (Glass and housing) provided you can get a colour match. I know you have the housing etc and just want to replace glass.

[danch]

Thanks for the feedback. I\'ve done it on my civic as well - it was an easy job back then.

I just heard from Strongs, they don\'t have a side mirror with broken housing so I\'d have to get the whole set. I\'m still keen to get the mirror out of it as otherwise I\'ll have to custom paint it.

Does anyone know how to remove it?

[danch]

It looks like I have to know whether my side mirror is heated or not.. How can I tell without removing the side mirror and count the number of pins?

[Andy_Mac]

http://www.clubsub.org.nz/forum/index.php/topic,34323.0.html

[danch]

Cheers Andy_mac, have yoy actually tried it? Did it work alright? I wonder if heated side mirrors have different type of mirror glass..

[Andy_Mac]

Tried but never got it too work. Mine had a damaged casing I was going to fix so I had alot more space to get in behind than you\'d normally have due to the case having snapped mounts but still couldn\'t get it out .

Its prob one of those things where it only needed a tad more force to pop it out but since my glass was still fine I didn\'t want to try too hard and snap the glass. Whereas your glass is already damaged so you got nothing to lose

[danch]

The thing is I can only get a second hand side mirror as a whole. i.e. with the housing+mirror. I don\'t want to pay more to get it repainted so I thought I\'d get a broken housing+fine mirror one and take out the mirror from there and stick to mine. So how did you repair yours in the end?

[Subirex Automotive]

just follow those steps and youll be able to do it with ease. i did it in my b4. but just be careful

[danch]

I decided to take my chances and purchased a second hand side mirror (whole unit) from nz car parts auckland for $70 incl. freight.

Will write up a review soon!

[danch]

Ok, In conclusion, I followed what\'s on (http://www.clubsub.org.nz/forum/index.php/topic,34323.0.html) and it worked a great.

I used a heat gun to heat up the black housing and a flat screwdriver to lift the mirror glass out of its housing.

A small tip is that if the double sided tape is not going off so easily, spray MD40 into the gap.

(Make sure you clean it before applying new double sided tape)

It was a bit tricky to install the mirror onto my car\'s black housing but with a heat gun + time + patience, I got it done.

Thanks for the help guys!