If you’ve spent any time in a first generation mirror, you probably have several complaints about the interior rear view mirror because it: a). Is too small; b). Sits too low relative to the windshield and blocks part of your field of view to the right; c). Has that honking large knob on the bottom of it; d). Shakes; or e). All of the above.
Since we don’t really drive the car on the street anymore — except to and from the track — we decided to try to install a racing mirror and see how many of those problems we could solve. And in the process, we created another problem: We killed the remote. Remote door locks aren’t required on a trackcar, but as long as you have the lock actuators, they are a nice feature to still have. You won’t miss the feature until the fifth time you had to climb into the car to unlock the doors manually to open the rear hatch.
Since the circuit board for the remote receiver is located inside of the mirror housing, we thought we’d try to see if we could remove and relocate it without destroying the mirror. The process we used is also helpful if you need to replace the actual mirror glass or just want to try to get inside the housing and stop if from rattling around.
The stock mirror is designed to detach upon impact, so it clamps to this bracket which is bolted to the chassis. To remove the mirror, first disconnect the battery and wait for the electronics to discharge (15 min or so, have a beer or a coffee as appropriate.) This car had the manual “dippable” mirror which has a simple two-piece housing. Use your pry tool to separate the two halves, and unplug the electrical connector in the back. Now you can twist the mirror free of the bracket.
To get to the inside of the housing, carefully pry along the entire upper length of the mirror, taking care not to scratch the plastic. Once you have several inches free, you can use your finger nail to get the rest to release. Be patient and do not use too much pressure. It will release when enough of the clips are free.
Once you’ve removed the mirror glass, you’ll the circuit board that’s attached to the bottom of the dipping mechanism. To free the circuit board, first remove the four screws holding the dipping mechanism to the back half of the mirror housing. Now flip the mirror over so the front is face down.
Gently pull up to release the ball from the socket. Do not pull too hard as the circuit board is still attached. Now you can flip it back, and you will be able to remove the two screws holding the circuit board to the bottom of the dipping mechanism. Unplug the white socket connector and push it back through the mirror housing and the ball socket to free it.
We previously relocated the wiring to the mirror to behind the A pillar trim where the airbag used to be located. This is where we plan to reconnect it.
Attach the circuit board to the connector and reconnect the battery. Put your key in the ignition and turn it to position 1 and then off again to reset your remote. Remove the key from the ignition and test the lock function on the remote. If all works fine, wrap the board and connector in electrical tape and stow it away some place safe. We will eventually relocate it to under the dash, but for now, it’s working fine behind the A pillar trim.
Having previously removed the exterior mirrors to replace the mirror caps, we weren’t expecting the mirror to be made of glass. Given the way it rattles around, we had always assumed it was a plastic mirror sandwiched behind glass or plastic which is how the dipping function worked. It turns out it’s just a piece of wedge shaped mirror glass. It’s the shape of the wedge that gives it the ability to dip at night. It’s a good day when you learn something new.
