re: side view mirror re-attach

[ooterman]

My stupid gate at my house decided to break its latch and slam into my car. I broke off my mirror and did a number on my paint job. I have it rigged so I can drive with it but I need a good way to reattach it soon. Is there a car epoxy or something that will do the job?

[fishcounter]

When I bought my 2004 Taurus, the previous owner had ran the side of the car into a tracter trailer. The car drove ok, but it tore up the fender and left a big dent on both doors and rear quarter. I got this car cheap and got a friend of mine who has a body shop to fix it, the car now looks and runs great and cost me very little.

The mirror was also only partialy attached, it still held onto the car, but you could lift up the bottom and remove it without any tools. My friend used some contact cement to glue the mirror back to the door. Everything has held in place great so far, even through automatic touch free car wash.

I hope this helps.

[Willyum]

Imagine it depends upon if you want to fix it right or glue it back together. I damaged my mirror and found an exact replacement part @ www.discountbodyparts.com. Was about 40% off dealer price.

[ooterman]

I looked at the link you put and found my cars mirrors. I will look around to see if that is a good price. I take it I will have to paint the part myself? Or get a body shop to do it? How much do you think that will run me?

[Willyum]

I've been astounded how much body shops charge to paint parts. I was charged $350 to have my rear bumper refinished. The shop guy said that they normally charge $650. I'm not special, don't know why I was charged less. My car is white so I thought that would be easier but the guy told me that white is often as hard to match as metalic.
Someone told me he bought matching paint at an auto part store and did some touch ups that he was satisfied with. Would be worth a try if your painted part is ruined, otherwise can use the old back. I suppose you could easily paint the other side black to match the new one.
I hope it turns out well for you.

[drdisque]

www.car-part.com has a lot more salvage parts, since the taurus didn't come in many colors, you can probably find one that's the correct color.

Also, if you tell me what year your car is I can give you directions how to replace it the right way.

[ooterman]

Its a 01', Its hard to guess the actual color shade. I want to say like a silver matalic or platnium or something.

[drdisque]

ya, then you can just remove your door skin (do a search on here for instructions how), remove the sail panel, and then unbolt the mirror from there, I did it in less than an hour.