I made some aero mirrors

[JRMichler]

Looks nice.

Epoxy sticks to foam without dissolving it. But epoxy is expensive.

[3dplane]

Thanks all!
Rokeby thanks for the FL law quote! I would feel"naked" driving down the road with no side mirrors. I spend a lot of time eyeballing the mirrors while driving.
Plus in the morning when I take off,the rear windshield is fogged up,or it might be iced up too in the winter time so I can't see nothing in the interior mirror for a few miles of driving.

California98Civic: Why do you have police attention? And what would they say about the small mirrors? As long as you can see whatever feet behind the law says!?

NachtRitter: Thanks! I did not take construction pics but I try to explain with crude drawings in the images.

JRMichler: Thx! I have DP40 primer which is an epoxy primer. I tried it on a scrap piece of foam and it ate into it. That's with no thinning just the primer and the hardener mix. Must have other chemicals in it to chew the foam!?

Barna

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by 3dplane

California98Civic: Why do you have police attention? And what would they say about the small mirrors? As long as you can see whatever feet behind the law says!?

They look cool. But they are so small that with my luck I'll run into a cop who will want to get a closer look, which means I get pulled over. That happened with my 9 year old in the car. She was so embarrassed! Then I can easily imagine an officer debating whether I really can see the statute's required 200 ft behind the car. I might get a fix-it ticket from that debate alone. But lastly, when they have me sitting there, they might just decide to write a "fix-it" ticket for my tint, which is a bit darker than permitted on the forward side windows. It's just a balance I try to strike. After my second traffic stop and warning for the dual mirror delete, I replaced the driver's side and deleted the passenger mirror and left it at that. The passenger mirror is not required in Cali.

But I love your mod. The paint and the fit are really excellent in these pics!

Congrats!

[66sprint6]

Looks awesome!!! Alot of us Escort guys swap our square mirrors for your Protege mirrors...now I might have to look into doin your mod instead!! Let us know what you think about it driving around and if its worth the trouble.
Matt

[deathtrain]

what type of mirrors did you use?

[3dplane]

After driving my to work today I think the mirrors are usable. I get surprised every time I look into them and not see what I'm used to seeing (large mirror)but still useful. Can not see directly behind the car with them until some distance back but definitely see what's next to my car.

For mirror glass I used an actual convex truck mirror glass that I saved from a mirror job and was able to peel the glass off the plastic retainer. Then I cut it with a glass cutter and crumbled the excess off the edges with the notched part of the same glass cutter. Tried grinding the edges but it was knocking off the silver coating or what ever the reflective surface is.

Barna

[COcyclist]

Originally Posted by 3dplane

I have DP40 primer which is an epoxy primer. I tried it on a scrap piece of foam and it ate into it. That's with no thinning just the primer and the hardener mix. Must have other chemicals in it to chew the foam!?

I think he was referring to epoxy resin, if you were to use that over foam. I have read that a coat of latex house paint seals out the solvents in your bondo or other coating.

Looks good! I have a small convex mirror on my folded mirror. It seems to work well in highway use.

[3dplane]

Originally Posted by COcyclist

I think he was referring to epoxy resin, if you were to use that over foam. I have read that a coat of latex house paint seals out the solvents in your bondo or other coating.

Looks good! I have a small convex mirror on my folded mirror. It seems to work well in highway use.

You're right I'm sure he was referring to epoxy resin. It's not even the price of it but more the fact that I would have to go after it to find some.I have never seen it on a shelf next to the polyester resin for example. (or I'm not paying attention to see it).

Ok after more driving with the mirrors I think they are good enough. At night time I don't get the blinding misadjusted lights of the cars and trucks from behind me either like I did with the OEM mirrors.
Also it has been raining here for a couple of days and I am happy that it did not leak water inside my car despite the fact that I'm not using any gasket between the mirrors and the door frame. (better than most GM vehicles I have to deal with at work : ))

Barna

[deathtrain]

so you just used 3M or something to reattach the mirror? I like this mod and will be trying to get it done. I am just going to wrap mine with fiberglass and be done with it.

[cfg83]

3dplane -

Great job! It reminds me of a slimmer version of the aftermarket ones I see on VW Golfs. What I really like about this is that one can tailor the execution to their own aesthetic. For instance, I would probably tailor it to a fisheye mirror, so my version would be rounder.

We've talked about foam stuff in the past, aka the Russian foam exoticars. This is a great application of the technique.

CarloSW2