Date:         Wed, 7 Jun 2006 08:01:35 -0700
Reply-To:     Richard Koerner <RKoerner@AVANTMEDICAL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Richard Koerner <RKoerner@AVANTMEDICAL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Proper side mirrors?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Here's another alternative to fixing your mirrors for good:  I found
that the threaded rod was merely "pressed" into the metal ball.
Repeated attempts at tightening things didn't work since that just
resulted in pulling the rod further out of the ball.

I fixed it like this:  first, disassembled socket and cleaned things up
with alchohol, used light sanding on ball socket.  Pushed the rod all
the way back into the ball.  Lightly coated the ball and socket with
vaseline, and reassembled. Now, I had to prevent the rod from pulling
out of the ball when tightening the nut; so to do this, using a drill
press and vise I drilled a 1/8" hole completely through the outside
plastic, through the ball, through the rod, through the ball, and out
the other plastic side.  Then, I coated the interior of the hole with
5-min epoxy and immediately inserted a 1/8" dia x 1 1/8 long stainless
dowel pin through the hole to permanently lock the pin to the ball. 

Now I could properly adjust the nut tension so that it holds but doesn't
ever flop when a semi-tractor/trailor comes from the opposite way, and
yet is like brand new (smooth and strong) when it comes to making
adjustments after you've bumped into it.  It worked so well (and by the
way, looks very good--you can only see the ends of the stainless dowel
pin, and they're flush with the plastic so they look like they were
designed that way) that I did the passenger side mirror, too, as a
preventative measure. 

Worked for me!!

Rich
'85 GL, San Diego
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Rex Merriweather [mailto:hihorn@DSLEXTREME.COM] 
Sent: Tuesday, June 06, 2006 10:53 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Proper side mirrors?

Dear Mr. Squirrel:

Try disassembling the mirror and on the round "ball-like" part that the
mirror arm pivots on, file 8-10 vertical grooves into it with a file.
This
is a permanent repair that makes it so you do not have to "crank-down"
on it
and possibly crack the arm socket. I prefer the power mirrors, used
without
the power hooked up. But, this works extremely well.
Rex
82 Turbo Diesel Vanagon
over 20,000 miles on WVO
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Elliott" <j.michael.elliott@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Tuesday, June 06, 2006 7:17 PM
Subject: Proper side mirrors?


> I'm pretty fed up with the side mirrors on Mellow Yellow. They either
> fold back under 60mph wind, or crack when I tighten them. Mrs Squirrel
> is tired of reaching out to push hers back into position. Need
something
> better -- is there a good, sturdy replacement? Stock looks entirely
> unnecessary.
>
> --
>
>
> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
> 71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
> 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
> KG6RCR
>