I want to have my side mirrors painted. I can't seem to find a Ford body shop to do the work. I did find one that told me that if there has ever been any thing put on the mirrors, ex. shine up, armoral, wax, anything, then they can't paint it. When the dealer receives the car, of course dealer prep creates this problem. I priced out buying the side mirrors to have them painted. $230 each. I thought that was a bit expensive, so, I will either wait or just have someone paint them without the liablility of paint failure. If the mirrors get ruined along the line, I guess they just get replaced. Anyone have better luck trying to get this done?

 

If the weather holds out (don't want to drive in snow) I'm having the mirrors painted Monday. Only having the top half and I believe this can be done with them on the car. Any solvents should be able to be cleaned off with prep-sol solvent. I have a torch red. I'll let you know and posts some shots.

 

I was considering just having the inlay/upper half painted as well. I am kindof concerned with the flexibility in the whole painted mirror thing. I also want to get the lower grill painted-less the grates. That part is only $38 from the dealer. I will be seeing the parts guy tomorrow a.m. to verify that he is quoting me the correct part.

 

Flexability is no longer a problem. Ever since around 1973 they have been profecting this process because of the urathane bumpers. These mirrors won't flex that much. They just use the right stuff for plastic.

 

Do the color keyed side mirror "caps" from the 500/Freestyle fit on the mustang mirrors?

The mirror shape looks identical, looks like they are glued on.

 

I don't know if they fit. I would be surprised if they did. Karpro can you help?

 

I went ahead and took the side mirrors off. Very simple to do. Inside door, pop off the mirror cover, unplug the mirror motor harness, and remove the 3 nuts (7/16"). I'm going to go ahead and bite the bullett and get the entire mirror painted. If it chips or peels, I'll just get it painted again.
I also popped out the lower valence insert (grill below the front bumper) and will have that painted (all except the grates) as well. The dealership is charging me only $100 to paint it. If I had him remove the parts, it would have added 2.5 hrs for labor @ ?$. I'll post pics as soon as I get it back. I will be dropping the parts off Thurs. to get painted.

 

you get it painted yet???

I WANNA SEE PICS!!!

 

 

here are a few

 

I have 3 coats of Zainos on, but of course, none on the mirrors yet-1 more week for that.

 

painted mirrors are the way to go

 

WOW

Would like a close up picture if you have it.

 

Did you remove the actual mirror too? It would be necessary because the body shop will need to paint then inside. If you don't do this, it will look bad because there will be an unnatural mating of the plastic and paint.

 

Yes I did, and it is very simple. Read back in this topic and you'll see my play by play.

 

OMG that looks good. Well that convinced me to get mine painted now.

 

I will have to do that as well

 

169Stang .. that looks perfect. Thanks for the info. My mirros are off , prepped
and being painted tomorrow when my front bumper gets refinished. Did the paint
come out smooth or is there some texture? Did they remove the glass (I am told it just pops out) or just mask around it?

 

The paint did come out very smooth. He used some sort of bonding agent so the paint would adhere to the plastic better. They masked around the mirror itself. I wish they would have removed it, or now that you said it comes out, I wish I had taken it out. Each mirror costs about $225 EACH, so I was treating it like it was extremely fragile!

 

Thanks for the info. I won't get my car back until Weds. I'll post pics then.