Anyone have side view mirrors that are NOT painted?

[DM616]

Alright, it's summer, and my mirrors look like shit in the sun. Really bugs the hell out of me.

Recent pic of drivers side: http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/6111/lolnoaw.jpg

I made a topic looooooong time ago about this, but I'm thinking about buying replacement mirrors online, and NOT painting them. Painting the old mirrors would probably cost more money then buying new ones.

Also Salvage yards want like $100 a piece for mirrors...ridiculous (unpainted too!)

Anyone got OEM like side view mirrors from online and not paint them? You got pictures if so? I'm wondering if it would look like the color I have now...ignoring the terrible spray.

[Mister_Perkins]

Why not paint them yourself man?? Just pull the mirror off, Sand it down, Wet sand the plastic, spray some Sealer on there, wet sand and clean with alcohol, spray with sandable primer and wet sand / clean with alcohol, then get a can of Single Stage car spray paint (Matched at NAPA). Now spray painting is the tricky part. Get yourself two cans of the paint and stand about 2 foot back. Enough to lightly spray the mirror. There is going to be a lot of over-spray so make sure you have it far enough away from anything that will get coated. It seems very In-effective because so much of the paint is not getting on the mirror, but do one light coat so its dusted and wait 15 minutes. Come back and do a second coat wait 15 minutes. Keep applying coats until its completely coated and even looking.

Let it dry over-night (at least 24 hours at a minimum).

Come back to it after 24 hours, and get some 3000 grit wet/dry sand paper and lightly sand any imperfections out of the paint (Fish eyes, dirt, bugs, etc..) After you get it nice and smooth looking grab some car wax and apply 4 coats of wax. Get some buffing compound and a buffer and buff the shit out of it.

Now your mirror looks really shiny, and smooth!

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If you don't want to spray paint it and have access to an air compressor, get a pint of Single Stage paint (color Matched), the hardener, thinner, paint sticks, and stabilizer. Mix the Paint up and dump it into the gun. Spray it with the spray gun hooked to the compressor. Make sure that you put a Water Filter on the air compressor to catch any water in the tank, as this will cause fish eyes in the paint.

Good luck man. Hope that it helps ya out

[DM616]

Haha now I'm considering it since it doesn't seem too bad. It shouldn't cost too much actually. All I would need is sand paper, primer, and the single stage paint (I already got the rubbing compound and wax).

What grit do I need to sand the paint and whatever else is already on it?

[Mister_Perkins]

start from 400 grit wet/dry, get a bucket of soapy water. Meguiar's #00 Hi-Tech Wash is a good soap to use for wet sanding

[Chris Crash]

The CE versions came with black mirrors, so it would look like a CE model...except your car is already black so I doubt it would stand out that much.

Whats wrong with the ones you got? Just paint those instead.

[DM616]

The fact they look like shit and I'm not all that good with spray painting :P I've only spray painted once or twice before...although it did turn out pretty good (wasn't on my car or anything).

I guess I can try it, though I'm sure it can't look any worse then it does now haha. I was just hoping to buy new ones, and out of the box, it would match and not need to be painted (aka laziness)

[slavie]

I actually ordered an aftermarket driver-side mirror off eBay, non-painted (mine is cracked beyond repair, rattles too much). It should be here Friday, so I can update you on the build quality. However, from past experience, any aftermarket mirror will not come close to OEM in quality. So unless your mirror is cracked and whatnot, I would suggest re-painting the OEM one you have.

[xpeed]

Prepping:
Start with a 400-500 grit sand paper to sand the old paint off and the old primer. Then smooth it out using 1000-1500 grit. You can use 2000 grit to get it even smoother.

After that, put on two coats of primer to make sure you have every mm of surface covered for your primary paint. Depending, you can put one or two coats of paint, and one or two coats of clear coating to prevent your paint from oxidizing.

Another thing you might want to do before spray painting it is placing the can in warm water for 5 minutes. This will help with the consistency of the paint and help lessen really bad orange peel.

Don't move your arm side to side when you're painting. This will cause uneven surfaces. Use your wrist and at a slow continuous speed, move it side to side but not too slow where the paint will start pooling and dripping down. Move down slightly and repeat the process. You will have even, smooth paint with minimum wet sanding. After you're done, use a 8000-10000 grit sandpaper and smooth out the surface slowly using just water or slightly soapy water and then use rubbing compound to bring the shine out.

I'm going to paint my mirrors to black because the previous owner did a blotch job on it. I'm guessing they tried to paint-match it and didn't know what they were doing. I rather have it black than the crap paint job.

[DM616]

Thanks Xspeed!

And Slavie, it'd be great if you could take a picture or two, I'd like to just see how it is.

[slavie]

So got the mirror yesterday, bolted it on today, and got some pictures for you. Considering the mirror I got cost me $28.50 shipped off eBay, here are my conclusions:

Build Quality: 9/10. I was pleasantly impressed. It may not be as good as OEM, but it is certainly better than the aftermarket POS I had before. This one feels solid, has some weight to it, and the power mechanism seems to be pretty well protected inside.

Fitment: 8/10. It fits alright, but not quite there to be honest.

Overall, I'm not sure if black is better than painted. If you have other black "stuff" around your car to go with it - maybe. But if the rest is stock, painted will probably look better. Since my other one is painted, imma paint this one as well.



Hope this helps, and you're welcome.

P.S. Yes, I know my hood and roof are shot. The car has been repainted in the cheapest way possible by one of the previous owners, and hood/roof/trunk look like crap now. I may get to them one day...

[Mister_Perkins]

you cant really tell that the hood and roof are shot from the pictures to tell u the truth

[DM616]

I honestly think that will look better than anything I try to do lol.

Link to it in case I go that route? For not being painted, it doesn't look bad, it looks pretty good actually.

Is it actually black or is it a really dark gray?

[slavie]

Here's the eBay page: link

It is as black as they get. What color is your Camry?

Originally Posted by DM616

I honestly think that will look better than anything I try to do lol.

Link to it in case I go that route? For not being painted, it doesn't look bad, it looks pretty good actually.

Is it actually black or is it a really dark gray?

[DM616]

Mine's black but if I do paint my OEM ones... it will be cheaper too...and probably look nicer.