[WANTED] Left side outside mirror for 1973 Duster. Not remote control

[timk225]

The drivers side outside mirror on my 1973 Duster has never been adjustable, the exposed ball / socket joint is all rusted up. I managed to break the mirror stand yesterday, and to my surprise, it was all plastic. I thought it was pot metal, I've been hanging my wrist on the mirror while driving for a long time.

I thought I'd check and see if anyone has a replacement sitting around. Here is my mirror, looking for one like it. I could fix it with a couple metal rods and a bunch of RTV, but the ball socket joint would still be all rusted up.

 

[Wvbuzzmaster]

I’ve been down the road of looking for a good used manual mirror for my Duster, and most ended up in rough shape like mine, so I ended up buying a new reproduction mirror for about $50 I think it cost me, but seems good quality.

 

[GUMM B]

The mirror stand is plastic? And that's factory? I'll check my junkyard's '73 Duster next time I'm there. What tools do I need to bring?

By the way, the rusted up joint is totally fixable with some rust treatment. I followed some instructions before on how to pop my mirror glass out in order to tighten up my mirror so you can totally access both sides of that ball joint. If you say you can fix the broken mirror stand, I'd give it a shot.

FYI, here is how to make Evapo-Rust yourself for super cheap:

Rust Remover (Evapo-Rust) Formula:

Measure out 38 grams of Disodium EDTA, add to 1 gallon of distilled water. Shake water jug until dissolved. Warm water helps to do this but isn't necessary. Next, add 285 grams of Citric Acid to the gallon of water, shake until dissolved. Add one or two drops of dish soap to the gallon jug. Remember, chemistry isn't linear. Adding more citric acid or Disodium EDTA may not improve your results. Just because you add more, that doesn't make it better. Chemistry isn't linear like that...

 

[timk225]

I can't be sure these are the OEM mirrors, they are the same on both sides of the car, so I assumed they were.

I "fixed" my broken mirror by cleaning it out with isopropyl alcohol, then filling the insides with RTV silicone, scotch taping the 2 halves together in place, then pushing 2 3-1/2 inch long nails in through the RTV. Once the RTV dries, that ought to be pretty solid.

 

[GUMM B]

Wow. That sounds rough. Can you post a picture when you're done?

 

[toolmanmike]

The drivers side outside mirror on my 1973 Duster has never been adjustable, the exposed ball / socket joint is all rusted up. I managed to break the mirror stand yesterday, and to my surprise, it was all plastic. I thought it was pot metal, I've been hanging my wrist on the mirror while driving for a long time.

I thought I'd check and see if anyone has a replacement sitting around. Here is my mirror, looking for one like it. I could fix it with a couple metal rods and a bunch of RTV, but the ball socket joint would still be all rusted up.

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Not OEM, probably dealer installed. actory mirrors weren't plastic and didn't have screws on the back. Mirror Right or Left With Pentastar 1967-76 A-Body, 1967-70 B-Body, Mirror A-Body, 102-OSM834 Reproduction, NOS and Used Mopar Muscle Car Parts

 

[GUMM B]

Not OEM, probably dealer installed. actory mirrors weren't plastic and didn't have screws on the back. Mirror Right or Left With Pentastar 1967-76 A-Body, 1967-70 B-Body, Mirror A-Body, 102-OSM834 Reproduction, NOS and Used Mopar Muscle Car Parts

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That's sad. How common was it for these cars to come to the dealer without mirrors and then the dealer put on plastic ones from the autoparts store?

 

[toolmanmike]

That's sad. How common was it for these cars to come to the dealer without mirrors and then the dealer put on plastic ones from the autoparts store?

Pretty common. We used to do that with GMC pick ups. Order a stripped truck and add all sorts of accessories on it. Used to drive us nuts in the shop when there was an issue.