Rear view mirror mounting...help!

A month or so ago my '99 Alero was sitting out in extremely hot sunlight for an extended period of time and the adhesive holding the rear view mirror on my windsheild melted and the mirror itself fell off, dangling now by the cord that powers the map reading lights. I bought a mirror remounting kit which has a black plastic bracket and adhesive; the idea is to apply the adhesive to the bracket and glue it to the windsheild, let it set for 18 hours, then simply slide the mirror base into the bracket. However there is a metal piece that is currently in the base of the mirror that I can't seem to remove. This prevents me from using the remounting kit. Is there some trick to removing the metal piece, or should I be using an adhesive only on the metal part and the windsheild? Thanks...

The metal plate that's in your current mirror assembly can be removed by loosening the torx head screw in the mirror base. Once that's done, you should use a mirror adhesive kit with only the adhesive and a primer that comes with it. (Available at Autozone or other local parts stores) You shouldn't need to use any bracket supplied with the kit. Glue your original metal plate directly to the windshield and after allowing the cure time, slide the mirror onto the plate and re-tighten the screw.

Be sure to clean the window before and remove any old adhesive from your original metal plate before you glue it. Also, be sure you orient the plate with the same end to the top and same side against the window as original. It's been a while, but I believe it will only work one way.

Thanks!