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joecitizennn · Joined: 12 Sep 2005 Posts: 2096 Location: no mans land

Porsche power mirrors are easy to take apart.
First pop the glass off with gentile prying, (careful here, according to haynes later cars actually require inserting a screwdriver through the bottom to unfasten the glass. Mine just poped right off.) Unplug the heating element wires. Unbolt the motor assembly and remove. Unplug the connector behind it. Flip the mirror forward to expose the allen head bolt. Remove the bolt. Now the only thing holding the mirror to the car is the wire harness. I tried unsuccessfully to push the pins back through the connector so the wires could be pulled through the hole in the mirror hinge. Since it was a parts car i just cut the wires. I did however cut them so there was plenty on each side for a splice.

This photo shows the hinge of the mirror. The outer body has been removed.

In this photo, you are actually looking at a hollow bolt that holds the hinge together. The wires are routed through it.

The bolt is removed with a 12 spline torqx type tool. You can get a set of these from Autozone for 12 bucks or so.

With the hinge apart you can see the detents that position the mirror.

Here is a picture showing all the parts. Notice the large hinge bolt and the spring that keeps the tension on the detents.

Reassembly requires some force to compress the spring. I used my legs to help press everything together while I turned the bolt. It takes a little grunt work to get the threads to catch.

Everything goes back the same way it came apart. If you figure out a way to take the connector off the wires without cutting (please post) good for you. If you took the lazy approach and cut the wires, then you will have to splice. Crimp-on insulated splices would work nicely.

924guy · Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 8:23 am Post subject:

good job!! curious- which part of the mirror carries most of the weight?

it is not uncommon for the spring clips on the early mirrors to break off when removing the mirror. in most cases you can "save" it with a bit of heavy duty epoxy.
_________________
Eric
78 924
82 931 SE "smokey"
99' VehiCross
Y2K Honda Insight
http://www.cardomain.com/id/924Guy
Performance by Pasha

joecitizennn · Joined: 12 Sep 2005 Posts: 2096 Location: no mans land

If I understand your question correctly, you are asking what the weakest point might be if force was exerted down on the mirror. The mirror itself weighs very little. I would guess that the two bottom tabs that tuck into the hole in the door take most of the weight. I would expect, based on the design that upward pulling on the mirror would possibly break these tabs, wheras pressing down on the mirror would not be as likely to.

The structure of the swiveling hinge seems very heavy duty.

924guy · Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 10:00 am Post subject:

actually, i wanted to know what part of the mirror was heaviest, a complete unit weighs quite a bit and im curious if one part weighs substantially more than the rest..
the stress point info is also useful though, thanks!
_________________
Eric
78 924
82 931 SE "smokey"
99' VehiCross
Y2K Honda Insight
http://www.cardomain.com/id/924Guy
Performance by Pasha

joecitizennn · Joined: 12 Sep 2005 Posts: 2096 Location: no mans land

Oh. I misunderstood your question. By "light" I just meant that it seems robust enough that its weight would have little effect on breakage. I guess the heaviest part is the outer body or the motorized unit with glass. I didnt really weigh the parts. It was probably a month ago when I had it apart.

Have seen one break under its own weight or inertia? That would be interesting!