Fletch

Having a kit car I wanted to make as many improvements as I could to the actual car with newer technology, the rear view mirror was a place for improvement that I think can be done.

This is what I have learned about "mirrors"... there is a difference between the mirror glass that is in your bathroom and the mirror that sits on the side of your car. The difference is that the automotive side view mirror is not regular mirror glass. It’s actually a dual reflective mirror. That means both sides of the glass are mirrored (giving the name “reflective mirror”. The reason for this is to cut the glare and reflective properties that you don't need when your driving at night and the cars headlights are blinding you from in the other lanes. I also learned that is costs more to have the reflective mirror.

A side view mirror is made of 1/8 inch curved dual mirror properties. It is usually installed using automotive silicon or double sided sticky tape or butyl to a plastic frame plate. I am going to try using normal bathroom silicone adhesive (which was suggested by a glass company - but I will keep you informed to what I use).

Ordering the Mirror Glass

This is the mirror glass that I ordered from a OEM mirror glass company called Muth (1-800-844-6616 ask for Chris).

MUTH's mirrors have the LED inside the glass and mirror warmers (the warmers did not end up working, because I had to cut them down to fit the Lamborghini shell - don't order the glass with warmers). The mirror glass that will need is for a Dodge Dakota (6x10) part number 200-0135-0 and the cost is $219.00, this will include both the left & right side and wiring kit.

This is what I received from Muth, mirrors, wiring kit and instructions.

This photo shows the mirror shell to compare the size of the mirror glass (before getting cut) and there is plenty of room to trim down this new glass. I now that the glass will fit in the shell, but I am going to have to rework the warmer.

The next collection of photos are to show you that you can not see the LED behind the mirror from different angles. The last photo shows if you catch the angle and the lighting just right you can see the LED placement (but I really don't think it is that big of a deal.

The MUTH company sells them as a pair (right and left side). They will also tell you that if you cut the mirrors that you will have NO warrantee (so what, it's a piece of glass and an LED - what's going to go wrong).

I talked to Chris at MUTH and he told me that they are going to discontinue making this style of mirror glass which is Dichroic and they are going with a Chrome backing. The reason is that GM is developing a new dimming style exterior mirror that uses the Chrome mirror.

The problem with the new Chrome glass is that you CAN NOT move the LED's as I did on the Dichroic mirrors. The glass installer at Action Glass not only has to cut the glass, but he also relocates the LED's and moves them towards the center (fixing and patching the silkscreen backing)... as seen in the photos below. This not only gives the LED more room (away from the mirror edge), but the rear backing of the LED (if left in the far outside edge) would hit or rub on the mirror shell.

Template

The next step is to make a template for the glass that will fit into the mirror shell. I made this out of 1/8" masonite.

I then gave this wood template to the local glass shop and they cut my MUTH mirrors to match the template.

Let me also throw this in... I went to MANY different glass shops, and NO ONE would touch this project. After a few weeks of calling and running down to each shop to show them what I wanted them to cut, I was finally lucky to find a shop that would do this work.

You can see by the photos below that the glass has NO straight edges, all four sides are contoured.. because that is the way my mirror shell is.

Cutting the Glass.. I had the mirror glass cut to fit the Lamborghini shell.

When I took the mirrors to Action Glass to have them cut, they told me before I had the glass cut, that they would NOT guarantee that both mirrors might break (in the cutting process). With no guarantees, I still pushed forward... and they did end up breaking the passenger mirror. They told me that it broke because it was not flat like the drivers side (it was contoured).

If the glass breaks, what do you do, call back MUTH. They will look up your account and since you are an existing customer they will then sell you just the single drivers side at half the kit price. Dichroic Glass Drivers side - 100-0135-L ($109.50)

I will pass along the phone number of Action Glass in case you want to send them your glass (to have cut) and they will cut it and ship it back. Action Glass 1-800-696-9009 (ask for Lee), they charged me $80.00 for each mirror cut.

The end result

You can not see the LED's behind the glass... until it is lit up! The interesting design of the LED is that they are angled and also the mirror backing is cut so that the LED shine bright from straight on or more from the outside angle (or where a car in the other lane would be). You can see as I move the camera more towards the drivers view the LED are not as bright... this is a great feature.

With these LED's the other cars can see that you are turning... so this is a big safety feature. We have all heard the stories that the other cars are not watching the road, they are looking at your Lambroghini... so this is a great way to let them know that your moving over!