Question on power mirrors mod

[miketyler 15]

I want to add power mirrors to my car. This isn't too common a mod so there aren't a lot of posts about it. I have read in Cruzzars build that Honda/Acura are good donors. What about switches and wiring? I would assume these would typically be 4 wire setups with reversing actuator motors? Or is this done thru a reversing relay?

Edited April 30, 2012 by miketyler

[Mike65 475]

Mike, I thought there was a company that made a kit for our cars, that you just have to swap to the bolt in glass.

Mike.

[miketyler 15]

My bad, I was thinking power windows when I posted that before I left for the office. The question was about power mirrors and the most commonly used circuits and switches. I assume, like most power window motors and circuits, the actuators are reversing type. I am seeing some relay boxes out there for Hondas and Acuras and was wondering if that was a necessary component in the circuit.

[Pakrat 1,043]

My bad, I was thinking power windows when I posted that before I left for the office. The question was about power mirrors and the most commonly used circuits and switches.

 

Fixed the title for ya so it garners the proper attention.

[miketyler 15]

Thanks Pak! It turns out the relay is for folding mirrors. I dont think I will need those. Am still interested in the wiring aspect of this as it relates to the switch. I see some of these mirrors actually have 8-9 pins? I guess, two of those might be for heating elements?

[danno 128]

Mike, you are correct about the motors for the power mirrors I have seen. They use 2 little motors, one for up/down and one for left/right. The switch reverses the polarity of voltage to the motor to change the direction.

 

I remember an article a while back someone wrote on taking a power mirror from a donor car and adapting it for a 70 Mustang. I am looking for it and will reply when and if I find it.

[Pakrat 1,043]

Thanks Pak! It turns out the relay is for folding mirrors. I dont think I will need those. Am still interested in the wiring aspect of this as it relates to the switch. I see some of these mirrors actually have 8-9 pins? I guess, two of those might be for heating elements?

 

Yeah sure. I thought someone here recently did a mod like this on a new set of carbon fiber mirrors, can't recall who but we don't have too many people using CF right now so it should be easy to track down.

[Cruzzar 22]

Miketyler, I would suggest that you obtain the mirror control switches from the donar car that you take the servos from. I used the same power control switch from the Acura that I took the servos from. This switch is nothing more than a 4 wire to each mirror that controls two servos in each mirror by reversing the current to adjust up and down, back and forth and could probably be used to run other makes' of servos.

Here is a pic of my switch in the center counsel.

[miketyler 15]

Thanks for that. I just received my mirrors from a new seller on ebay that likes to sell junk and advertise it as working (Thank you eBay Buyer Protection)

 

I see some cheap aftermarket mirrors for the Acura that I could buy new and rob the guts out of. With my past experience buying used, I cant ignore this. Do any of you think these servos would be up to the task? Generally I have always believed OEM is better than the aftermarket.

Edited May 25, 2012 by miketyler

[MustangChuck 16]

I was junkyard pulling yesterday and found a 98 Mustang that most of the mirror had been ripped apart (just the housing). So, I finished ripping the housing apart. The servo inside is just under 3" in diameter. The 69 sports mirror measures 3" x 4.5". I was able to completely disassemble the 98's mirror without breaking anything else and can do it without breaking the housing next time.

 

The plastic piece that holds the glass to the servo just snaps on and off. The glass itself is just glued on and came off in my hand (without breaking). I figure that I can trim the plastic down (and take the SN95 glass to have trimmed as well).

 

I plan to experiment this weekend with the driver's side mirrors from both cars (I have a 94 GT that is a parts donor). I'll let y'all know how it goes.

 

M/C

[MustangChuck 16]

Ok. I got the driver's side mirror disassembled from my 94 donor and disassembled the 69's passenger side mirror. Here are pictures.

 

The fourth shows the servo inside the 69's mirror housing. Plenty of room. I can even push it back about .5" inside and there is still room for it to clear the housing.

 

The others show how it attaches to the 94's housing, mostly for reference. It's really easy to take apart without braking anything. About a 15 minute job, including removing the door panel.

 

The only downside is that the plug will have to be snipped off and reattached after the wire is fed through the hole. It is too large to fit and too large to expand the existing hole.

 

The servo attaches to a mounting arm with three T-10 Torx screws. I will investigate trimming the mounting arm to attach the servo to the 69 housing.

 

M/C

Edited May 29, 2012 by MustangChuck
spelling

[miketyler 15]

Thanks for posting that up Chuck! Those 90 model Mustangs are fairly plentiful. Maybe I can find a donor car around here. Let me know how you get them fitted. How do you plan to operate them? Are you going to use the Mustang control switch as well?

[MustangChuck 16]

The years are 94-98, probably also 99-04. Base V6 to Cobra. All of them had the same mirrors.

 

I am still working on the bolt-in part. I will most likely do something very similar to Cruzzar and fabricate a bracket. And, yes, I am going to use the switch that came with the Mustang. It's really easy to grab, since it is on the driver's side door panel (which needs to be removed to unplug the driver's side mirror).

 

Once I actually have it done (time frame, unknown), I will post more pictures.

 

M/C

[miketyler 15]

I got my Mustang mirrors last week (with working servos thank you). I am looking for pair of donor sport mirror housings but if I dont find some soon will go ahead and modify mine. How can you remove the remote cable on the drivers side mirror? It looks like they may be swadged in place at the control end.

[tim42 13]

The photos posted look very simular to the Tarus/Sable mirrors I have. I had to replace them on my '99 Sable wagon and got the cheap ones on line. I had the same idea to use the servos from the broken housings in my sport mirrors. After trimming the top and bottom I decided that they didn't go back deep enough to use the way the mirror attaches to the servos. I don't know if Ford used the same motor servos in the Mustang and Sable mirrors during the '90s. It would make sense if they did. Anyone have a parts book to look this up?

[MustangChuck 16]

I will try to dig up the part numbers from my mirrors this evening. I don't remember seeing Ford part numbers, but there was a company name and part number of the back of the servo. I *should* also have a spare Sable ('03) passenger's side mirror somewhere. I should be able to get the part number off that servo.

 

Also, can anyone answer MikeTyler's question? I will need to know this as well. I haven't started trying to feed the cable back through the door and mirror, but I will need to.

 

Thanks,

M/C

[tim42 13]

Following your lead on numbers here is what are on the Sable mirror I was using:

on the right mirror which is heated, on the snap on mirror part:

UTA

CAV - 1

571/08

M

PP E +PS

REV - 00

 

The back of the servo mechinism has no psrt numbers just patent numbers.

one of the motors has:

 

914502 M02 946/007

 

The other has 520-314

 

After looking at you pictures again I can see the Mustang mirrors are smaller than the Sable. They fit inside the mirror housing where as the Sable had to be trimmed top and bottom to fit and when put in the housing the cast boss for the stock Mustang mirror made the Sable servo be flush with the outside edge of the Mustang housing without the mirror on it.

[buening 63]

The cables are swedged/crimped into place at the control knob end. I had a nice mirror but the control had a stripped knob and I tried to swap out the control from a junk mirror and just ended up with two junk mirrors lol.

[MustangChuck 16]

Thanks, buening. I will need to take the cable out, but I will try to be careful.

 

Well, I finally got into the garage and got the numbers of the Mustang servo unit.

There are several patent numbers listed on the back (US #4281899, etc) and a company logo. Looks like "ilcu" or "ilu" perhaps. On the inside, the top servo has number 520-314. The bottom servo has number 4125-1. The brace across the middle has (upside down) 520/306. This was the driver's side servo unit. I did not get a chance to pull numbers from the Sable servo unit.

 

It appears at least one servo is the same between the two units.

 

And, yes, I am able to get the entire servo unit into the mirror housing.

 

M/C

 

EDIT: Revisiting my photos, the servo unit was recessed into the mirror housing as far back as I could get it. Plenty of room. I need to make a template of the mirror and trim the snap-on plastic piece to see if it sticks out any.

Edited June 13, 2012 by MustangChuck

[miketyler 15]

Fortunately the Mustang mirrors can be found cheap but those others maybe cheaper? I wonder if you could cut the late model Mustang mirror down to fit the 69-70?

[MustangChuck 16]

I don't know, as I have VERY little experience with the new S197 Mustangs. :( I do know that 94-98 Mustangs end up in our local junk yard (V6 only) quite often. It's a really simple matter of removing an access cover, disconnecting the pigtail and unscrewing 3 nuts. The mirror comes right off. This yard charges $28 per electric mirror. Not exactly cheap, but they are consistent in their pricing (doesn't matter if it's from a Mustang or a Kia, same price).

 

M/C

[miketyler 15]

You can always resell the housings but yeah, if you can get just the part you need it will save you the trouble. As rare and expensive as 69-70 sport mirrors are, I am reluctant to cut cables on my existing mirror. I sure dont like the idea of destroying a perfect working drivers-side remote assembly.

Edited July 17, 2012 by miketyler

[MustangChuck 16]

I saw someone was selling repops. I thought it was Dynacorn, but their online catalog only shows the standard mirrors. Maxum96 (on this site) purchased a set, but didn't say where he got them. I found some at Laurel Mountain Mustang. They are selling them for $120 each.

 

You can search for "1969 mustang sport mirror" on eBay. I saw some original sets in the $110 to $160 range -- even saw a set of just housings for $60.

 

At the moment, the only mod I see necessary is a hole through the housing, the base and the top of the door on the passenger's side. Not much of a mod and all of it is completely hidden once the mirror is in place. It could be plugged if you want to remove the electronics. I plan to make the mounting bracket screw into the existing bracket screw holes. The two screws holding the housing to the base will get replaced with machine screws.

 

I haven't had a chance to get into the garage to start on this. I was thinking of filling the housing with expanding spray foam and molding the template from that. It should be quick and easy to work with. Once the design looks right, either try to make it myself or take the template to the local machine shops for quotes.

 

M/C

Edited June 14, 2012 by MustangChuck

[miketyler 15]

Saw the housings auction but its only the bodies and not the pedestals. I just need to get over this notion that any changes I make need to be reversible. No guts, no glory eh?

 

Buening - did you have a spare drivers mirror you want to sell?

[buening 63]

From what I recall, my spare that turned to junk was a 71 mirror and I'm not sure if I still have it (may have thrown it away). I think the internals are the same but the housings are different. The other one I had is on my car, with the adjuster knob hole stripped and knobless.