Rusting Rear View Mirror

[israndy]

Is anyone facing this but me?



I checked for replacements and Velvac is charging $907 EACH !!!

Other solutions?

-Randy

[bobmiller1]

Your Skydeck most probably spent most of it's life by the ocean as did my 2001 390XL. Check with Colaw's salvage ....they have the factory mirrors you need off of wrecked Airstreams...they even have a wrecked Skydeck. or maybe that was another salvage yard. If you can't find them let me know. I will check my search history and let you know.

[israndy]

Originally Posted by bobmiller1

Check with Colaw's salvage ....they have the factory mirrors you need off of wrecked Airstreams...they even have a wrecked Skydeck. or maybe that was another salvage yard. If you can't find them let me know. I will check my search history and let you know.

The only Airstream at Colaw's is a trailer. I didn't see any mirrors that fit.

Were you thinking of VisoneRV. They have an Airstream Sky Deck all burnt up.



Didn't see mirrors but they have parts that I can buy NEW for less than what they want for their parts...

-Randy

[PSchw]

Clean it up and paint it. I see them also in black.
Peter

[israndy]

I like it, black is in the paint scheme, but I don't have to worry about matching the RED which is what they did on the Nomad Skydeck. This will give me a chance to work with Plastidip too! Thanks for the great suggestion!

-Randy

[israndy]

Tried to take off the mirrors, they have 4 BIG phillips screws going into the body thru a mounting bracket. I contacted Velvac about replacing just the part that connects to the body. Looks like they do sell the part, but I need to get them the model number to find out the part number. Next weekend...



The real question is:

How Do You Unscrew The Mirrors From The Body??

I got one of those 18" Phillips #3's and turned with all my might and did not budge. My power drill just slipped, it has an adjustable slip and even at full it would not turn. Lot of corrosion, not sure if that's the issue.

-Randy

[israndy]

Hmm... Thinking about getting support from an RV shop to get the mirror fixed, since I cannot remove it. So I got the number to them from the bottom of the mirror



and they said

The base only would be part C7095840, price $192.78. The arm would be part C709481, price $454.68. To order direct from Velvac you could contact our customer service team at 1 800 783 8871 or we also list dealer distributors at our website www.velvac.com under the where to buy tab.


Tim La Bonte
Velvac Inc
Technical Solutions / Warranty
800 783-8871 x 7202

So Still need to look into sand blasting the unit and either getting it re-chromed or painted.

-Randy

[israndy]

OK, figured out how to get the mirrors off, for those curious:

The mirror is attached with a bolt, washer and locknut. Mine was SO corroded that I had to hit it with a hammer and LOTS of WD-40 to remove the HUGE buildup of aluminum rust. I also had to get a #3 Philips as my #2, the biggest I owned, was starting to strip the faces.



Happily it FINALLY started to turn, unhappily it turned forever. That's when I realized that it was held in by those locknuts. How to stop them from spinning free?



I see them, but I don't know how to get to them. My arm is only so long. I got my vice-grips and I reached as FAR as I could, figured out how open they needed to be and finally clamped them on the locknut. Awkwardly unscrewing and hearing the vice grips bang around. Finally they fell to the ground. One down.

I managed to do it all 4 times but there wasn't enough slack in the wires to put the mirror down when I removed it. I had to re-hang it by one of the bolts and go behind the fiberglass one more time to undo the blue inline connector so I could take the mirror down. There was another wire going into the mirror, perhaps the turn signal? It let the mirror reach the ground so I set it down and tried to unhook the wire, but it was permanently crimped. Got my wire cutters and cut it at the original splice. Will have to put that back when I get the mirror re-finished.

-Randy

[israndy]

Oh, I had already posted this... Sorry

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f313...ir-156418.html

-Randy

[israndy]

OK, took a while to figure out. The trick is a mallet!

I found directions on disassembly of the Velvac mirror at their website:

a) Remove the light (marker lamp) by prying from either end and unhook the mirror wire connectors. Loosen the set screw and pull the mirror fixture out of the arm. There is a clamp that the screw holds against the mirror post that is now free, keep track of it.
b) Loosen the set screws to allow the arm to turn, then remove the round cap in the bottom and remove the locknut holding the arm to the base. The arm must be at 90° to the base to allow the tab on the arm to pass out of the mount.

Unfortunately I was unable to get the mirror to move, it was too corroded. WD40 was not enough to get the mirror to spin. Got a big 3/16" allen wrench and BROKE off the ball tip trying to loosen or tighten the set screws. That was good, as it made me want to hit it. One rubber mallet later the base was spinning and allowed me to remove the arm from the base.



Lots of aluminum corrosion on the inside of the cast base



This is the way the tab fits between the arm and the base



This is the lamp removed, I ended up removing the wires from the arm and will have to fish it back in when I get the mirror's arm and base sand blasted and powder coated.

-Randy

[cb23]

Did you end up redoing the mirror/bases in the end? Did they turn out well?

[israndy]

I did buy the base online, using the same arm and mirror, just need another person to help put it back together, so it isn't together yet.

-Randy

[cb23]

So, mine are not as bad as yours are yet. I may just put that one off a bit then. I wish these were a full front slide. I need to work on my Dash AC and do not look forward to it. I did the front headlights, that alone was a pain to reach for.

[bobmiller1]

Dash AC not difficult...let me know if you need any info, Regards, Bob

[cb23]

I am always looking for info. So far, I contacted ACME (I have the bubble unit) and they said I can get parts to rebuild it. Going to be cheaper than buying the whole unit.
I have found the leak in the AC; in the evaporator. The best I can tell the heater core started leaking and took out the AC coil as well. I just cut and reconnected the lines and looped it back for now.
Any advice on getting the thing out of there would be great. It looks like it is going to be a bear to get a tool to pull the unit out.

[israndy]

Since I am unable to post photos here I am looking for a site that allows me to upload photos and link them here. My first attempt is Postimage.org:







The base for the mirror was the worst of the corrosion, I replaced it and used the original arm, the two together was too expensive, but just replacing the base was less than $200. I believe I contacted http://www.pacificrvmirrors.com and they sold me the base though it was not on their site.

-Randy

[bobmiller1]

Thanks for the info, mine is a 2007 so no problems yet. Good pictures. How have you been ?

[israndy]

Doing well, I think I lost some of the thrill of working on the Skydeck and posting here when my photo access went away. It looks like the photos I uploaded when I was paying to the site are now removed. This makes me VERY unhappy with this site. I was still posting when freezing weather came along. Now that good weather is back I have less interest in posting.

Doesn't hurt that I got my Tesla. Taking my attention.

Glad to see you are still here after selling your Skydeck.

-Randy