Date: Wed, 25 Nov 1998 12:22:53 CST
Reply-To: Joel Walker <JWALKER@UA1VM.UA.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Joel Walker <JWALKER@UA1VM.UA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Power Mirror Conversion
In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.3.95.981125104506.21977A-100000@quality.qadas.com>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
On Wed, 25 Nov 1998 Jon Kanas queried:
>I am interested in converting my manual outside rear-view mirrors to
>remote, electric operation. Has anyone on the list done this? Any hints,
>suggestions or gotchas? Any suggestions for obtaining mirrors, wiring
>harness and switch?
yup. been there, done that. not hard at all. but expensive!!! :(
there are THREE wiring harnesses needed:
- one for the left door,
- one for the right door,
- and one in the middle that connects the two, and conects to the fuse box
and the defroster switch on the dash (well, you DO want the mirrors
to defrost, right?) :)
as far as "difficulty", there is one extra hole that you have to drill in the
doors ... no big deal: just bolt the new powered mirrors on the door with the
normal two bolts, and use the third-bolt hole to mark your spot.
oh, and one other new hole for the mirro wires to go through. but this hole
would be covered by the manual plastic mirrors, so it's not a factor if you
ever wanted to go back to manual mirrors.
however ... the third bolt has a funny kind of nut that goes on the inside
of the door. and it's a bitch to reach waaaaay up there to get it started
and tighten it. cause the door is kinda tight in there. window glass much
be rolled up and interior door panel (arm rests, window crank) taken off.
which brings up the power mirror switch. the place for it is already in the
backside of the door panel. all you need do is to carefully cut the cloth
(inside covering) of the door panel and push the switch into place.
one other little Gotcha: the wires from the mirror come with plastic
connectors on them. the connectors will NOT go through the hole in the door
(that you had to drill for the wires). you have to remove the connectors
from the wires. not hard ... you'll need a thin sharp-pointed tool, like a
safety pin. if you look at the connectors from the open end, you'll see a
little plastic tab that is hanging down and keeping the metal connector
from sliding back. you have to pry that tab UP so the metal connector can
slide out backwards (toward the wire). that's it. slip the wires through
the hole, and put the plastic connectors back on the wires/metal-connectors
and you're ready to hook up the harnesses. :)
the cost? figure $220-240 per mirror, $90 per harness (yup. just a bunch of
damned wires! oh, but WITH the plastic-plug-in connectors!! sheesh!). so
that's close to $700. that's what it costs me several years ago.
is it worth it? hell, yes. :) would i do it again? hell, yes. :) would i
advise other folks to do it?? well .... maybe. it IS a LOT of money. and
you could spend it more wisely on other stuff perhaps. but it sure is nice
to be able to adjust the passenger-side mirror without leaning all the way
across the bus and careening all over the road while you are doing that. :)
which is also why power windows would be nice. but that's another story.
good luck!
joel
