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MIRROR CONVERSION
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Well I first thought about doing this 4th generation Firebird mirror conversion a few months back after a club meeting. I was parked next to a 4th gen Firebird and I thought "Hmmm...I wonder if those would work on RAIF". As far as I knew, no one had done the conversion yet...
We first took some rough measurements of the angles & size & darn it if the thing did not look like it would work. So we decided to bite the bullet and give it a go...
If we did the conversion we wanted it complete for the TA Nats in OH. John said he could paint the car in the time we had, if we got it to him in the next week. So we called up Speed Automotive in TN. and ordered a set from Scott. He got them to us right away.
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WELDING
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We removed the door panels and took the car to Joe's Dad's. We took off the mirrors and Joe welded up the holes. As with any weld job, we cut some scrap metal to be just shy of the size of the hole.
We then sanded down to bare metal in that area. We then laid cardboard over the glass and b/w the door & the interior. We welded with the door open. W/o the door panel, there was no way to stop sparks & bits of weld from getting in the car w/o this cardboard barrier.
Then Joe welded in the pieces of metal. He had to go slowly with small tack welds, so as not to warp the metal. Little by little he filled in the holes till he got a solid bead. Then he grinded down the raised portion of the weld till it was level with the body. He then checked to be sure there are not any holes. There were, so he welded them and ground again. He continued till there was a good solid weld.
The passenger door was easy, but the driver�s door was another story... Apparently before I got my car, the previous owner had an accident with the driver�s door. It had putted in the outer skin of the door where the mirror was mounted. The previous body shop had worked the metal out as best they could and filled the rest. They did a good job cause in 13 years I never knew...
Well the metal was so thin that it kept blowing out holes as Joe welded. He got it the best he could and we left the rest in the painter�s hands...
Then we shot over any bare metal with a skin of primer that the painter gave us. We had to be sure not to break the surface skin of the primer.
This layer is serving as a barrier to keep any water out till the painter
is ready to fill and prime the area for paint.
There are some further details and pics on welding body panels on my Shaving page
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ADDING THE MIRRORS
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Now it was time to add the mirrors. With the holes welded there was no going back.
I got them and inspected the backs.
I noticed that the mounting plate stuck out well beyond that of the mirror case.
Top view
Bottom View
View from what would be the inside
So no matter what I did, the piece I mounted to would have to have a channel
made into it. This mounting plate would have to be recessed in the mounting surface
So to get an idea how they would fit once recessed, I removed the mounting plate from the mirror.
It was easy, just 3 screws.
We fit the mirror to the car and it was a perfect fit.
It lined up just right in the triangular corner piece of the door.
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PATTERN MAKING
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So with the mounting plate removed from the mirror...I set the surface that would mount to the car down on a piece of cardboard. I traced around its edges. I cut out the pattern.
Now I had a pattern of the base of the mirror where it would mount to the car.
Since I had determined that the mounting plate would have to be recessed into the car...I needed the pattern w/ a hole in it so the mounting plate could come thru. This hole would allow me to have a pattern of what area on the mounting surface of the car would need to be removed for the mounting plate to be recessed for a flush fit. So I reinstalled the mounting plate into the mirror. I took my pattern & lined it up with the outer edges of the mirror as best I could. I then pressed the mounting studs against the cardboard to make indentions where I needed to cut. I made holes where the mounting plate bolts indentions were.
I double checked the placement of the holes against the foam piece that came stuck on the mirrors mounting plate.
With this I was able to get a better idea what shape to cut.
Then I proceeded to slowly & carefully trim the area. I kept checking the outer diameter to be sure it was lining up with the edge of the mirror. I trimmed till the raised potion of the mounting plate fit through the hole in my pattern.
Again, I made sure that the outside diameter of the pattern was still lining up w/ the edge of the mirror mounting surface,
as well as the inside diameter lining up with the outer edges of the mounting plate. I now had a pattern to cut a channel in the triangular door pieces.
Now I was also careful to mark what end was what so I would not place it against the car wrong and cut the wrong area!
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MOCKING IT UP
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Back to the car
First I inspected the mounting point on the car. Again I had chosen the black triangular pieces at the corners of the doors. I looked very closely at how thick these pieces were. We at first thought they were these weak pieces of plastic, but they actually are very thick and very strong. So I determined that they were thick enough to channel into without going through.
*****************NOTE*******************
You may need someone to help hold & situate things, as well as hand you things as you work!
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So the first step was get my pattern in the correct place on the mounting surface. So I took off the mounting plate from the back of the mirror. You want the mirror to sit flush against the car, so this piece must be removed. I situated my pattern on the mirror and held it in place as I lined it and the mirror against the car. Again the cardboard pattern is wedged b/w the mirror base and the mounting surface. I adjusted them till I was happy with the mirror placement.
I removed the mirror, holding & leaving behind the cardboard cut out on the mounting surface. I continued to hold the pattern up to the surface and made a quick outline on the mounting surface of the inner diameter of the pattern...(where the mounting plate will have to be recessed into the surface.)I took the loose mounting plate and oriented it in its hole in the pattern. I marked where the bolt holes had to go thru the mounting surface. I removed the mounting plate.
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BOLT HOLES
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With the area marked on your mounting surface the pattern can be removed. Since I had Joe there to help, I held the pattern & Joe drill the 3 holes for bolts on the mounting plate of the mirror.
Drilling the holes will get you a rough placement for the mirrors. I checked the holes by putting the mounting plate back up to them. I had to make some adjustments with my Dremel. I used a pink grinding stone and mildly enlarged the holes till things lined up right.
*****************Warning****************
Do not turn the speed up so High on the dremel that you start to melt the surface. Just have it high enough to remove material efficiently!
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Now at this point, I got the mirror and reinstalled the mounting plate. I slide the whole assembly on. I made sure the mirror edges were going where I wanted them. As I had thought, the mirror was about a 1/4 to a 1/2 and inch from sitting flush. I took it off and I looked at the mounting plate closely. On the end of the bolt was a thicker piece.
This piece was larger then the hole and was hitting the mounting surface. I again took the dremel and worked on the 3 mounting holes. A few test fits later and they were big enough to clear.
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CHANNEL
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Now the mounting plate was beginning to hit the surface.
I was going to have to channel out this area as I had originally thought. I looked at traced outline I had made of the mounting plates edges on the surface w/ my pattern.
I began to use the Dremel, again with the pink stone to slowly cut away this area. I just went slow and easy. I test fitted the mirror w/ mounting plate & went a little more. Another test fit and a bit more cutting. The whole time being sure the mirror was going to the planned mounting orientation. Finally, I had removed enough material & the mirror sat flush with the triangular piece. So everything was lining up. It lined up perfect in the corner of the door. I had cut a channel to make room for the mounting plate to seat w/in the triangular piece. Amazingly the plastic piece was so thick that I did not go all the way through. There was still enough material left to form a good solid base.
I used the same procedure on the other side and it worked out as well.
Here are some pics of the channels in direct sunlight. The shadows help add some depth for illustration...
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FINAL INSTALL
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The mirrors are made a touch different from side to side, but they still fit just fine.
Here is the passenger side with the door shut.
Amazingly they looked like they were made for the car.
To top it off, they went really well with the lines of the SunCoast Hood�
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PAINTED
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INTERIOR
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Remember the inside bolt holes & nuts...
Well they are supposed to be covered by the 4th gen interior cover planels.
Well this is how I trimmed them out with the 4th gen interior Cover panel.
I had to trim down the door panel and and trim down the cover panels screw hole shaft...
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HOME PAGE
Follow this link to additional information on the car not found on this site!
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DIRECTORY FOR RAIF'S EXTERIOR SITE
01 Site Overview
02 Red Window Tint
03 Red Window Vinyl
04 Stance
05 Bumper Insert Conversion
06 Ground Effects
07 Lower GFX Spoiler
08 SunCoast Hood
09 Shaving
10 Shaving Electronics
11 Antenna Relocation & Gas Tank Filler Neck Reroute
12 Headlight Conversion
13 Clear Front Turn Signals
14 Exterior Underbody Neon
15 Strobes
16 Spoiler
17 4h Gen Mirror Conversion <<<
18 Tailights
19 Primer
20 Paint
21 Emblems
22 Smoothed TA Fender Vents
23 Clear Rear Side Markers
24 Paint: Jam Touch Up
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