Alfa Romeo Owners Club of Australia Forum

Technical => 116 Series (Alfetta Sedan/GT/GTV & Giulietta Sedan) => Topic started by: GTVeloce on October 12, 2021, 01:38:09 PM

Title: GTV/6 mirror...bugger!
Post by: GTVeloce on October 12, 2021, 01:38:09 PM
Was refurbishing one of my passenger side mirrors when this happened  :'(

Can anyone think of a way it might be salvageable? It is otherwise an excellent LHS GTV/6 mirror.
Title: Re: GTV/6 mirror...bugger!
Post by: Alfetta77 on October 12, 2021, 01:54:14 PM
Bugger indeed. Perhaps a shrink-fitted sleeve? Imagine re-shaping after welding or brazing would be really difficult, plus these processes would probably melt the plastic via heat transfer. Good luck with it!
Title: Re: GTV/6 mirror...bugger!
Post by: Alfetta77 on October 12, 2021, 01:55:04 PM
Or you could glue a sleeve in using a really strong epoxy.
Title: Re: GTV/6 mirror...bugger!
Post by: kartone on October 12, 2021, 03:08:09 PM
tap the inside and screw in a sleeve with outside thread to match existing outside thread that broke off!
Title: Re: GTV/6 mirror...bugger!
Post by: GTVeloce on October 14, 2021, 03:43:13 PM
I'm liking the sleeve idea, my only concern is I still need to get four wires through the inside so the sleeve can't be too thick.

I have a second LHS mirror piece exactly like this one (except it is not broken!) however, it has been painted Rosso Red all over which is not to my taste and doesn't match the rest of my car. I'm thinking paint stripper might work without damaging the plastic finish underneath? I don't want to repaint - I want the standard, original plastic finish. Is it feasible to strip the paint without damaging the plastic?

I still want to fix this anyway. There are too few LHS GTV6 mirrors!
Title: Re: GTV/6 mirror...bugger!
Post by: Alfetta77 on October 14, 2021, 08:08:23 PM
I have used paint stripper on a few 116 plastic parts - front grilles for example, with no dramas. Suggest the usual rule of trying a small area just in case.
Title: Re: GTV/6 mirror...bugger!
Post by: Western Veloce on October 25, 2021, 09:39:15 PM
The internal sleeve will give you mechanical strength and Loctite have some pretty strong adhesives. (406) A thin sleeve from a strong steel (may have to be machined down to an interference fit) and if the i.d. is a problem reduce the cable sizes for the last 100mm. The volt drop from this will be negligible.  Et Voila! It even looks standard.   :-)
Excesior!