Side mirror adhesive?

[jonnycat]

Howdy, my driver's side mirror popped off the other day when I went to fold it inwards. Fortunately, I had the window open, and it landed harmlessly on the carpet.

Now, I need to come up with an adhesive to glue it back onto the mounting plate.

Anyone know what adhesive would be appropriate for this application?

The stuff I scraped off of the back of the mirror is clear and flexible, and seems to be a lot like some sort of Silicone, but is there any specific type for this application?

Thanks.

 

[scottmcneal]

Parts house has what you need, just did my ram pickup

 

[jonnycat]

We don't have a "Parts House" in this vicinity, but thanks for the suggestion.

Anyone know what adhesive would work for this application?

 

[5-90]

I've seen replacement mirror glass come with two-sided tape, although I'd imagine it was a fairly heavy-duty adhesive. You could probably find a weather-resistant silicone as well.

I'd be wary of using anything too permanent - after all, you need to be able to scrape it off if you need to replace the glass again. Got a hardware store handy? They usually have a decent selection of adhesives, and a good DIY house will have people who actually know something about what they're selling...

 

[old_man]

I would use trim and moulding adhesive.

 

[my2monkeys]

Don't use a silicone product as the curing process will eat the silvering off the back. Double sided tape to hold it on until a urethane type adhesive sets up.

 

[jonnycat]

5-90, thanks, I will look into the double-sided tape.

Old_man, great suggestion, thanks; I will see if my local parts store has that.

Monkeys, I hadn't thought of that reaction, but it makes sense (acid + silver = bad). I'm guessing urethane would be like a polyurethane, like a liquid nails type of product? Thanks!

 

[Kiefer316]

I would use trim and moulding adhesive.

Thats what i used when mine fell out.

 

[xcm]

Don't use a silicone product as the curing process will eat the silvering off the back. Double sided tape to hold it on until a urethane type adhesive sets up.

have you had this happen? maybe you got a real cheap mirror, autozone style....

silicone is used on full size, non-car mirror's all the time, allthough its not the right thing to use. the right stuff for non car mirror is this stuff called mirro-mastic. if you use silicone, and the mirror breaks, its a real pain to get the shards out of the silicone, on a small 4"x4" mirror, its not a big deal, when you're pulling a 4 foot by 8 foot tall, full size mirror, it can take HOURS to get it all off the silicone, GOOD LUCK removing the broken mirror in large peices! you gotta break it out! silicone just holds too well. mastic has 'give', you can pry, peel, and just plain pull, and it'll release, but IS highly affected by heat, so it may release on a real hot day when used outdoors.

as far as double sided tape, when it gets wet, it will drop the mirror... despite what 5-90 says about 'weather resistant' silicone... i laughed at that. silicone is by nature... weatherproof. it may degrade under UV exposure, but not quickly, considering its hidden behind a mirror, INSIDE a mirror bowl. White silicone willl 'weather' in that the cheap white silicone turns yellow over years (when exposed to direct sunlight)


and for the record, i am a commercial glazer, i caulk for a living. clean it with alcohol, and caulk that bitch on with a decent (GE or better) silicone.

 

[xcm]

i could DEFINATELY see liquid nails messing things up. my company used it on a metal panel job, and the curing process caused the flat, aluminum panels to look like stone work a couple days later, or like a kid methodically hit it all over (everywhere we globbed on liquid nails) with a ball peen hammer... it expands as it cure's, dont use it near a mirror!

(we used it prior to this one instance without problems, so maybe they changed their formula about a year ago)

 

[jonnycat]

and for the record, i am a commercial glazer, i caulk for a living. clean it with alcohol, and caulk that bitch on with a decent (GE or better) silicone.

Thanks XCM, very much appreciated. Would you go with GE I or GE II Silicone?

 

[xcm]

my company typically hate using GE, its hard to get good, clean, consistant butt joints. we use dow corning or CRL. its expensive, and hard to locate if your buying less than a case.... GE is the best of the stuff available at home depot, and should be plenty fine for this! long story short, i couldnt tell you the differance between the two ge products! either should be fine.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW, if you get any cracks.... maybe the small cheap car mirrors are differant than full size, glass mirror. if im wrong, i want to know!

 

[jonnycat]

Thanks again XCM. Basically, GE I is the traditional acetic-acid releasing formula, while the GE II doesn't have the vinegar smell when it cures (I use the GE II for tile jobs, sets up in a couple of hours).

Not too sure which one makes the best adhesive, though.