blktransam

Has anyone ever taken power mirrors out of a TA and put them in a TA without power windows? I got a parts car with power mirrors that I would like to put in my '87....

lonsal

iTrader: (2)

What year did the power mirror come from? I did the conversion on my 90 Camaro convertible. On the early power mirrors the plastic frame that holds the mirror glass in place is attached to the motor with a single screw in the center. On this style power mirror you must break the mirror glass to access that screw, then you replace the mirror glass afterward. On the later style power mirrors there is a cross-shaped metal piece that snaps into molded slots in the backside of the plastic frame holding the mirror glass. For this style of power mirror you need to power the mirror to the extreme down and in position, then reach behind the plastic frame to pop that cross-shaped piece free. To re-attach the plastic frame that holds the mirror glass put a towel or cardboard over the mirror glass and forcefully snap it onto the cross-shaped piece. The pot-metal frame that holds the power mirror to the mirror pod can be interchanged from the doner car's pod to yours so you don't need to re-paint the doner pod to add this option to your car.

I got the entire wiring and switches from the doner car along with the power mirror pods to do the conversion to my car.

Good luck with your swap.

Lon

stealtht/a

iTrader: (1)

Check and make sure the power mirrors are in decent shape first. Most of them have broken motors. Also the console switches are really poor quality and don't seem to be any repros. It's possible your 87 already has the wire harness in the console and dash for the power mirrors, they seem to have just included it in the wiring bundle on some years regardless of options. It won't have the harness for power mirrors in the door, you'll need that from the donor.

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

Probably not,..... power mirror 'guts' can't be installed on a non-power mirror housing.

All glass lenses are held on the plastic backing by an adhesive. (to remove glass, smash it and replace.) When the glass is smashed and cleaned out the screws holding the plastic mount to the inner metal frame bracket are exposed. ) These plastic mounting brackets - and the metal frame brackets - are different from manual to power,.... and there are even at least 2 different plastic brackets/frame brackets used for the power mirror motors. (The 'guts' from an 82 power mirror housing will not properly fit into a 92 power mirror housing.) Even the mirror motors mount to the housing in a different way when comparing the early-to-late style.

Also worth mentioning; the mirror plugs changed, I think the years are 82-84 (white plug) and 85+ (black plug). Most Firebird mirror harnesses are also much longer than the Camaro version. ( Camaro button mounted on the door and Firebird button mounted on center console. ) Many times the power mirror wiring harness is wrapped up inside the power lock and power window harness,...... but sometimes it can be found independent of that other wiring too.

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

Found a pic from when I was doing some power mirror work. It shows that the early vs. late power mirrors are build using different parts that are not compatible to each other ( Plastic Mount, Metal Frame, Motor, and Housing are all different )



These are BOTH power mirror mounts ( early vs. late ) and you can clearly see that they are not compatible parts. None of them will properly mount inside a manual housing.

blktransam

Right... I wasn't planning on putting motors in the manual mirrors. I was planning on taking the whole mirror(s) off the 84 and putting them on my 87. But now I'm thinking about replacing both of the 87 doors with the 84 doors! The glass and the seals are nicer on the 84, plus they have the electric mirrors. How hard is it to remove/replace doors?

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

Ya',... my post was info overkill, but I wanted to put it here for others to see that power guts will not fit into a manual housing..... as well as the changes made to the power mirrors from year to year.

I've swapped a few doors in the past and IMO if the doors on your car are GOOD - I'd rather install the better parts on the original door rather than risking the new door not lining up properly.

If the original doors have significant play in the TOP hinge, replacing the door is probably the better option. (IMO; cheaper/easier to replace the whole door rather than trying to replace a bad upper hinge !)

blktransam

how would a new door not line up properly?

I'll check the hinges...

John in RI

iTrader: (167)

I've hung a couple that were bolt on and done, and a couple that needed several hours of work before they "fit" properly.

Every door will basically open/close in every case after a swap,..... but sometimes the door-to-body gaps are not "right" the the door needs to be lifted higher/lower,... or in/out. MANY times the window adjustments are not the same from door to door. This can leave gaps around the cars window/window filler and the seals. (These cars are well know for bad seals and wind "whistle" while driving.)

lonsal

iTrader: (2)

If your door is OK otherwise I'd recommend swapping the mirror and motor, but in your case it may not be possible. I did swap the power mirror and mounting bracket from another 90 Camaro into my 90 Camaro. In your case the mirror pod is likely not compatible for doing the swap. Also it would not surprise me if the 85 had the (have to break it to remove it) style of mirror backing attachment.

None of the pics John attached are of the early style that has a screw mounting the mirror backing plate to the power mirror motor.