I have an '86 Camaro, and wondering how to replace the driver's side mirror. I have purchased a replacement one at a junkyard, and am now wanting to put it on. I'm wondering if the whole door panel has to come off, or if the black strip can just come off seperate. If so, HOW?

Any help would be DEEPLY appreciated. I'm planning a 9 hour trip, and without a driver's side mirror, I'm screwed.

Thanks.

Joshua

 

Yep, you need to pull the door panel. I'm assuming you have the cable-control joystick and not electric mirrors:

A) Pop the door panel off by-

A1. Look at the black trim around the inner door handle. Pop off the rectangle for your mirror control, and pop off the one next to it- it's a blank for a power door lock switch. If you have power door locks then pop it out. Remove the three torx screws holding that trim panel on. Most are fake plastic, there are three real ones- two on the leftmost side of the rectangle (top & bottom), and one under that power-door-lock-blank.

A2. Remove the large torx screws holding the armrest on. There's three of them, two are on the bottom of the armrest.

A3. Pop all the clips off surrounding the left, right, and bottom edge of the door panel. They sell a $10 tool for this, but if you're careful you can use a screwdriver- don't pry on the panel itself, pry on the plastic clips, otherwise you'll rip the cardboard panel.

A4. With the window down, you'll need to fiddle with getting the top black piece to lift straight up. This is the piece that runs across the bottom of your window. Pull the cardboard panel away from the door at an angle, and try to lift the black rectangle "straight" up.

B) Now, look at your side-mirror joystick. There's a clip that holds the joystick to it's black rectangle support. Remove it so there's "just" a joystick, lay the rectangle trim aside.

C) I believe the nuts holding the mirror on are 10mm. You can try to get at them with a ratchet handle and the 10mm bolt, or you can remove the window trim piece (black triangle) from the door. Be aware that the position of the black triangle is important to the window & door seal, so:

C1. Examine the two bolts holding the triangle to the door frame. They are 10mm (i think) with a large washer. Take a sharp icepick or awl or screwdriver or etc, and scribe (etch) around the large washer. An alternative is to take any color spray paint, and spray over the screws. What this does is mark the position of the screws to the door. Once the screws are loosened, you'll see that they have an adjustment to them.. you want to get this adjustment back when you put the triangle back.

D) Remove the side mirror; it's just the two nuts holding it down.

E) "Installation is the reverse of removal"

Good luck.. I don't remember the Torx sizes offhand, so if you spend the $15 for a whole torx set, they should be in there. This isn't a "hard" job, just a pain to do.

-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.v6fbody.com mailbags