Mix and match mirrors

[skitchin]

I've always admired the mirrors on the 97+ GP's. I had the idea a while back of trying to fit them onto my 95 GP but hadn't thought too seriously till a recent trip to the junkyard. I was scouring the yard for some x-laces when I saw a 94-96 GP sitting there and noticed it actually had the 97 style mirrors. I looked around online and found car-stuff.com (spotty reputation) has 97 power mirrors for sale, primed and only $20 each. For the price I couldn't pass them up - it's worth that much to not go to another junk yard in my mind.

 

Now what I noticed are that the 97 mirrors they sell have the triangle piece where the mirror meets the body, but the 95 mirrors do not. Obviously there are some things to figure out with this, just curious what everyone thinks overall.

 

[white4d96]

The 94-6 mirrors have that triangular piece as well, but it is separate from the mirror itself. If you can't make the 97+ ones fit, I have seen people make their own out of ABS plastic.

[skitchin]

Sweet, I'll definitely keep that in mind. Has anyone seen this done before? What worries me is the 97 mirrors seem to be one piece and if it doesn't line up perfectly. Is there a water seal between the mirror and door? Wondering if I'll be able to play around test fitting before taking them to a paint shop etc.

[Psych0matt]

I've always wanted to do this. I'll be watching this thread

[AL]

I would see how the 97 mirror was mounted to the car you saw it on... That would answer all your questions

[skitchin]

I would see how the 97 mirror was mounted to the car you saw it on... That would answer all your questions

 

It was a shit junk yard and like everything it was just sort of hanging off the car. The mirror was definitely one piece that I saw. Pick n pull in st. louis is in a crap part of town(right across the street from a medium security prison) so as I mentioned earlier, $40 is worth not going back to that place . Couldn't hardly get comfortable inside the place because I had people walking up trying to sell me drugs, heh. Thanks for the interest guys, I'll keep this thread up to date.

[94 olds vert]

I'm definitely interested in this. I much prefer the second gen mirrors.

[jrcuttymann]

I'm not 100% sure but I think the mounting holes don't line up. I tried on a 94 cutlass and it was a no go, but I didn't try the GP though

[skitchin]

So I've got the mirrors now and tried fooling with it all earlier. I've never tried to take my door panels off, nor was I successful . I took out every screw I could find and had the retaining clips all out but the door still felt anchored right around the handle. Kind of disappointing but while I had the rest of it out, I was able to get in to look at the mirror a bit and see some of what was going on - couldn't tell but mounting holes seemed off + the base seems to have different measurements. I'm debating my options but dont really know anything until I can get my door off.

[94 olds vert]

There should be a TORX screw somewhere around the door handle area. Also a screw behind the light/reflector.

Edited October 30, 2011 by 94 olds vert

[white4d96]

T30 screw, underneath the armrest/grab handle area. Took me forever to find that one too.

 

Also another one under the window switches, should be a T15 to pull the switch panel, then, again a t30 securing the panel to the door.

[skitchin]

Bleh, no idea what I was missing because I found both of those . I saw the bolts for the mirror but couldn't tell how the triangle piece was fastened on. One thing I know is when I do get the panel off I've got some plastic clips to replace.

[94 olds vert]

Those are cheap and easy to replace.

[Nick1233]

I was thinking about doing the same thing to my Intrigue, I love the look of those mirrors. I got so far as to re-drill/re-position some of the mounting holes only to have the little "lip" inside the base of the mirror not line up. My stock mirrors still fit so I think sometime this winter I'll have to just dremel out the lip and make a custom fit.

[skitchin]

Gonna have to get crafty to make this work - the standard mirror mounts don't line up, so as Nick mentioned this will take some drilling. More importantly, however, the stock mirror base is larger than the 97 base. Looking for some idea's if anyone has any. About all I can think of is to try and frankenstein the shit together with some magical bondo work:dunno:?

[pshojo]

What about gen 1.5? I always liked the red with the black outside edging. I did think about going to yard and trying to see if they would interchange...

[skitchin]

Let me know if you do! I scrapped this idea because it just wasn't going to work without being ghetto. However, not sure if the mirrors I picked up were for a 2door or 4door 2nd gen - Guessing they're different sizes. Wish I had investigated the one I saw in the junkyard more closely... Was hard to think clearly though with the area/yard I was in, people trying to sell me fake hash ETC. Just was not comfortable

[AL]

Second gen GP mirrors are the same between 2 doors and 4 doors

[skitchin]

Thanks Al. Guess the mirrors on the 1st gen at the JY had either been custom fit, or I failed to notice they didn't line up. Might risk my life and head back to see if the car is still there .

[GnatGoSplat]

I would think you could get some plastic, Bondo, Dremel, and make some custom triangles. Are they plastic on the gen 2? That would make it even easier.

[RobertISaar]

i seem to remember them being plastic on 2G. the 1.5G are as well.

[Z34guy]

i seem to remember them being plastic on 2G. the 1.5G are as well.

yes. gen 1.5 and 2 were plastic. I distinctly remember that about the GTP we used to have.

[GnatGoSplat]

With plastic triangles, it should be a very do-able project.

Although for the amount of effort, I'd probably try to retrofit some Mercedes LED signal mirrors like people do for B-bodies.

[skitchin]

Hmm, could be possible. I just worry that if I do it, it's going to look like -I- used bondo and a dremmel to attach the mirrors...lmao

 

I think my biggest concern though is having to drill new holes. Point of no return there . Donno, will pull the mirrors out later and see what might work.

[GnatGoSplat]

Are the studs on the triangles themselves? If so, you could just relocate them to match the car and not drill into the door metal at all. I don't remember if the gen 2 mirrors are folding or not, but folding mirrors usually have the mounting studs in the triangle and not attached to the mirror housing.

It would definitely take a good amount of work to smooth and sculpt those triangles so they look good. It'd give you something to be proud of if it comes out looking good though.