Hi.

 

The rear vision mirror on my 98 Forester fell off. The glue gave way. (why they glue these things on, I will never know)

 

I have taken the base plate off the mirror, cleaned up the area and glued the small base back on.

 

The question is, how to I re attach the rest of the mirror. There is this silver wire that needs to clip in. Getting the thing apart when the mirror had fallen off, was difficult. Now that part of it is re glued to the windscreen, this task seems impossible.

 

What tools do I need? What is the procedure? How must strength does it take?

 

Thanks

I hope you used an epoxy rather than the typical rear view mirror adhesive you buy at the auto parts store? Was there a black area on the glass where the mirror mounted? If it does and you did not use epoxy, you risk the glass breaking in the future. The epoxy allows flex which is required due to the black "frit" in the mounting area. The regular adhesive does not allow the flex and will more than likely break the glass.

 

As far as putting it back on. If you look at the mount on the mirror itself, you will see a oval shaped piece of metal protruding off. Hold the mirror just as it will be when it is on the windshield. Now turn it 90 degrees so that the longest points of the oval are at the top and bottom. Keeping it flush with the bracket on the glass, start pushing it up into the bracket on the glass causing the oval to catch under the silver ring. As you push up, slowly turn the mirror back 90 degrees and it will slide into place. If it gives you trouble, start over but this time, rotate it 90 degrees in the other direction.

Thanks so much for the details. I read your reply, walked out to the car, and it took me all of about 3 seconds to get the mirror back on. I would never have thought to turn the thing sideways. :-\

 

As for the glue, yes, I used epoxy.

 

Thanks again.

see thats why i love the way mine is attached,no glue just bolted to the roof.now of course it's a 94 legacy gt