Mirror studs spinning any solutions?

[Outlaw]

Car is currently in the shop to get the mirror and door stripped (shitty Ford paint delaminating). I was called a little bit ago and told that they are unable to complete repairs to either part due to the studs that secure the mirror to the door being loose and spinning in place and the only option is to cut them off and grind it down and replace the entire mirror at a much higher cost than originally estimated. Is there any fix to both remove the mirror and to save it without needing an entire new mirror? I should go by tomorrow or later this week to see the issue in person but I want to ask if anyone else has had this issue and what the fixes are?

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[Joe Gonsalves]

See if they can grab the stud portion sticking out past the nut with a pair of vise grips. And then break the nut loose. Once the mirror is off then you can investigate why it spins. Maybe some JB weld can hold the stud.

 

[Outlaw]

See if they can grab the stud portion sticking out past the nut with a pair of vise grips. And then break the nut loose. Once the mirror is off then you can investigate why it spins. Maybe some JB weld can hold the stud.

I looked up a video of removal and it looks like there's 2 bolts into rivnuts in plastic and 1 stud with a nut. They said all 3 are spinning and the bolt into rivnut has nothing to grab besides the bolthead so it would have to be cut off? I'm stopping by later in the week hopefully tmr morning or the next day but not sure I can get off work. The bolts I can grind flat myself that's not an issue for me. But are the rivnuts replaceable? I believe they are melt in style which I have no way to replace which sucks and even the cheap Chinese replacement mirrors are still 160-200$ alone just for the mirror.

 

[Joe Gonsalves]

Yes, once you have the mirror off you can heat the threaded inserts with a soldering iron and that will reflow the plastic. Be careful and keep them straight. If the plastic shows cracks around the insert then it's done. You will never get it to hold. Rivnuts, on the other hand, are nuts combined with a rivet that are riveted in place. You need a special tool to compress the rivnut. The tool isn't all that expensive. And if they are indeed rivnuts then you could attempt to re-compress them.

 

[Outlaw]

Yes, once you have the mirror off you can heat the threaded inserts with a soldering iron and that will reflow the plastic. Be careful and keep them straight. If the plastic shows cracks around the insert then it's done. You will never get it to hold. Rivnuts, on the other hand, are nuts combined with a rivet that are riveted in place. You need a special tool to compress the rivnut. The tool isn't all that expensive. And if they are indeed rivnuts then you could attempt to re-compress them.

Rivnuts I'm fine with we got a tool at work and I can order them at work. The heat up style are the only ones I don't have tooling for. (Fabrication shop) Grinding em off and whatnot is easy. And it really just needs to hold because ideally that mirror will never be removed again.

 

[Outlaw]

Yes, once you have the mirror off you can heat the threaded inserts with a soldering iron and that will reflow the plastic. Be careful and keep them straight. If the plastic shows cracks around the insert then it's done. You will never get it to hold. Rivnuts, on the other hand, are nuts combined with a rivet that are riveted in place. You need a special tool to compress the rivnut. The tool isn't all that expensive. And if they are indeed rivnuts then you could attempt to re-compress them.

I found these photos online of what it looks like, very odd for melt in nuts and I'm not sure they can be remelted or resecured? Some images online also show them surrounded by rubber and some are all silver

 

[Joe Gonsalves]

I found these photos online of what it looks like, very odd for melt in nuts and I'm not sure they can be remelted or resecured? Some images online also show them surrounded by rubber and some are all silver

Those look to be actual rivnuts. I suspect that the rivnuts are attached to a metal backing plate and the plastic is molded around them. When you get the mirrors off I would still try the rivnut install tool to see if you can tighten them up.

 

[petronix]

Unless that mirror took a hit and was wobbly when you brought it in, it is highly likely that the shop hit the fasteners with an impact gun and "broke em" loose. Is it wobbly on the door now?

If it is the impact gun (wrong tool for the job) scenario, it should be on them to rectify.

 

[Outlaw]

Unless that mirror took a hit and was wobbly when you brought it in, it is highly likely that the shop hit the fasteners with an impact gun and "broke em" loose. Is it wobbly on the door now?

If it is the impact gun (wrong tool for the job) scenario, it should be on them to rectify.

No. Mirror did not take any hits that I know of besides a tree branch that scratched the mirror cap but didn't even bend the mirror closed. Mirror is tight as can be on the car currently and won't budge or wiggle. They need it removed to do the repairs and they are currently declining repairs now since they don't want to get involved in cutting and drilling my door as they don't think they can do it in a cost effective way or in a way that saves the door that is otherwise good.

 

[Outlaw]

Those look to be actual rivnuts. I suspect that the rivnuts are attached to a metal backing plate and the plastic is molded around them. When you get the mirrors off I would still try the rivnut install tool to see if you can tighten them up.

The issue is remove the mirrors. The only ways so far that haven't been tried according to the shop are destructive. Grinding/cutting/drilling the bolts which will probably damage the rivnuts and the stud will definitely be ruined. Or smashing the mirror to pieces from the outside until you can access the bolts from the outside

 

[petronix]

As someone else mentioned, should be able to remove the nut by holding the stud with a needle nose vicegrip to get it started. Once the nut removal is successful, then the bolt heads can then be drilled out with a drill as long as there is relatively straight access, which appears to be the case in the pics.

This should not be that difficult and door should not be damaged.

The other option is to cut the base of the mirror with a sawzall away from the door a bit with something protecting the door. Should then be able to proceed further from there once its opened up and you can see what needs cutting / grinding next.

Neither sounds like much fun, but there should be no reason for door damage. At this point you will need a new mirror though, can probably get one from an online salvage yard / ebay.

 

[Outlaw]

As someone else mentioned, should be able to remove the nut by holding the stud with a needle nose vicegrip to get it started. Once the nut removal is successful, then the bolt heads can then be drilled out with a drill as long as there is relatively straight access, which appears to be the case in the pics.

This should not be that difficult and door should not be damaged.

The other option is to cut the base of the mirror with a sawzall away from the door a bit with something protecting the door. Should then be able to proceed further from there once its opened up and you can see what needs cutting / grinding next.

Neither sounds like much fun, but there should be no reason for door damage. At this point you will need a new mirror though, can probably get one from an online salvage yard / ebay.

Yeah I figure either way the mirror is toast since it won't be able to be retightened

 

[SHOdaddy68]

I've been in a body shop for nearly 30 years. I've seen situations like this many times. It doesn't matter if you use a socket on a hand ratchet or a battery powered impact. If the nut/stud is a little loose in the mirror housing it's going to spin either way. The shop will not replace the mirror at their cost. They may/should agree to charge you their cost for a replacement if necessary.

If I was doing the job, I'd have a guy on the outside pulling on the mirror housing while a couple other guys spin the nuts/bolts in the inside and try to get them to release from the housing. Then they can grab the studs from the outside once the mirror is removed and get them out of the door frame. If the mirror housing is not too damaged, the studs may be able to be reinstalled with some strong epoxy.

Good luck!

 

[Outlaw]

I've been in a body shop for nearly 30 years. I've seen situations like this many times. It doesn't matter if you use a socket on a hand ratchet or a battery powered impact. If the nut/stud is a little loose in the mirror housing it's going to spin either way. The shop will not replace the mirror at their cost. They may/should agree to charge you their cost for a replacement if necessary.

If I was doing the job, I'd have a guy on the outside pulling on the mirror housing while a couple other guys spin the nuts/bolts in the inside and try to get them to release from the housing. Then they can grab the studs from the outside once the mirror is removed and get them out of the door frame. If the mirror housing is not too damaged, the studs may be able to be reinstalled with some strong epoxy.

Good luck!

I'm fine buying a mirror at this point I just want it fixed. (The door painted which was the original issue). They claim they tried pulling and twisting while unbolting and nothing helped. So I'm at the point where I need to pickup the car (they won't cut the bolts out since they said they can't do it without damaging the door). And get the mirror off. How likely am I to fuckup if I just sawzaw the mirror off and either chop away the plastic slowly and carefully or as carefully as I can, it's gunna need paint either way, or just saying fuck it and grabbing a torch and melting the mirror until it's a liquid plastic and can no longer hold. I'm assuming the threaded inserts have a flat backing plate molded into the plastic which means they won't release but will spin?. They spin freely but won't pull out. the shop even said they used a ratchet strap and pulled right to the point that any.mroe force would bend the door.

 

[Gen 6 Mach1]

A body shop can't do body work , they can straight a frame on a frame rack , but refuses to remove 2 stripped studs and nuts . Take it to another shop . Absolutely ridiculous. Good luck

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