Interior rear view mirror - who’s parts bin?

[Gjk]

Does anyone know where the interior rear view mirror (part# A079U6044F) originated from?

Mine is starting to de-lam and whilst I have the trim panel out of the car I would like to replace.

SJ’s is asking £105 plus vat and shipping which I think is way over the top. GM owned Lotus at the time but I have no idea which model the mirror came from.

thanks in advance.

 

[TAR]

It's a really old style of mirror, likely used on many cars. An online search for Winguard 1107 may return some further information.

Hope this is helpful  

edit: I did find this, but it's for sale in Italy so import duty may bump up the price? Interior Mirror (lotuswebstore.it)

[CarBuff]

1 hour ago, TAR said:

It's a really old style of mirror

BUT it's the DeLuxe high-end mirror, has a day/night setting and everything! 😅

 

I'd love to find a mirror that either mounts as original (with an arm), or mounts to the glass, and includes automatic day/night modes and a Homelink controller.

 

(Just dreaming) 🤑

[Gjk]

Thanks for the pointers @TAR. I wish I could understand Italian!

[Chillidoggy]

Is it from GM? Carlton, Cavalier, etc?

[NG5]

My mirror arm was cracked when I bought my SE. New ones are available from the usual specialists but at about £120 ! ouch. So did quite a bit of hunting on this and the complete mirror seems to be unique to Lotus. Possibly also used on the Reliant Scimitar, but they are rarer than esprits! So ended up spending the money.

If it's only the mirror and not the arm that you need then do a google on the numbers on the back of the mirror. I found a few matching mirrors but on different arms. Mostly old fords from memory. The ball size seems reasonably standard and if not bothered about originality I think the Summit after market mirrors will fit the ball. They are readily available and only about £10. I had one at the time and visually compared the balls, but never actually tried the swap.

 

[Gjk]

I did wonder about a Vauxhall model but a Google search didn’t come up with any positive results.

Many thanks @NG5.

It is just the mirror I require.

I have taken a £6.50 punt on a summit mirror from eBay.

I just hope my ball is the right size!

[NG5]

After my recommendation I do hope it fits, otherwise I probably owe you £6.50 😂

I think the mirror is standard from Series 1 to the V8, so if it is from another car it will be 1960's or 70's. I suspect Lotus had to have a special made because of the extreme rake of the esprit screen, particularly compared to other cars of the era, that would also explain the high price. 

[Gjk]

I’m not going to chase you for £6.50… 🤣

the part number does seem to cross ref over quite a few model years.

I’d be a bit peeved if the ball size was a one off just for lotus !

[snowrx]

20 hours ago, CarBuff said:

I'd love to find a mirror that either mounts as original (with an arm), or mounts to the glass, and includes automatic day/night modes and a Homelink controller.

 

(Just dreaming) 🤑

No need to dream, CarBuff. Auto-dimming Homelink mirrors start a $25 on Ebay, but you'll need to be careful selecting/adapting the mount to get one that articulates enough to cope with our windshield slope, and glue on a mirror shoe. Gentex universal mirrors I think are 200-250 new, with a variety of mounts available.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/154983094217?hash=item2415b657c9:g:iDYAAOSwkmBideRP&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAABEOm8JNGeXbnNrTcHxIJ71asPzEP7%2FQPAvMpk6Q8zr1ZM2bZHvXx%2F9ig0n2nZprOjeF1S4xzKAd%2BA3tJ2sAmoHYGIx7SqZBFoZRYodUJTydI%2Bim6VLNXilcDlJHcpqo4FkClj0veQ%2BfpM8fnNggzy4i%2FBuY3O8P9bAjEePgIsrHAVQ7Iql7wqpum0Kq%2BHO5ItCi2KLGiNO3i7glmvBUNbObC627uD7Ip6RZ1muluNMlKj9gbEr0AW1y24w%2BrhQu79ccYQ%2Bg8GRGPUXEJj69Ao6JyROA8QeRcrBqUfs%2FxoZ4EXNnKz7k9%2BqWhlptrshf1nvFDbkpjVNGiUATJqKBC0Noq6kG6IGCky0sEnZcJL45Bw|tkp%3ABk9SR4LPr839YQ

[Gjk]

How would you hide the wires @snowrx ?

[CarBuff]

18 hours ago, Gjk said:

How would you hide the wires @snowrx ?

That's easy.. .a piece of U-channel attached to the windshield does a great job. They are often used on new cars to hide wires going to mirrors (and these days, safety cameras and moisture sensors for automatic wipers).

[Gjk]

Would you use the original lotus bracket?

[snowrx]

I think seeing the wire is the cost of the added functions, unless you find an OEM mount that has the wire through the mount.

On my older car the only plus for the existing mount was originality, it vibrated a bit even after preloading the windscreen brace rubber a bit.

I was going another direction with my mirror, seeking more field of view with a camera monitor mirror, so I've not looked into the dimming/homelink stuff.

This pic is a mess, as this particular monitor had power, rear camera and GPS module cables, and the grey RJ-11 was for my radar detector, but here's the generic mount I used, which still needed a little fettling to get enough angle.

 

[drdoom]

Handy info Thomas, thanks. What sort of cabling is required for a camera integral mirror? Looking at side and rear view options without adding a dedicated monitor. 

[Gjk]

I’m sorry @snowrx, all those cables are just a bit too messy for my liking. I am a little old school where by the rear view mirror is only for seeing what I have just overtaken!

[snowrx]

@Gjk Yes, this $90USD mirror was poorly designed, they should have integrated all the wiring into one cable and split out the harness options hidden elsewhere. I was hoping to illustrate a sample mount.

@drdoom Just a forward facing camera with an integral DVR would only need a power and ground through a slim cable. But when you add a rear camera that's usually another cable. I assume some vendors offer better wiring integration than mine, which I picked for having a full width display and better cameras rather than appearance. The GPS module was free so I stuck it in, but it just adds speed data to your logs and flashes an annoying warning if you exceed 100mph, so that's one less cable I'd use in the future. If I was hurting for projects, I suppose I could open up the mirror and solder in a single multi wire harness to the existing sockets and clean it up, but then I'd have less time to drive!

[drdoom]

Thanks @snowrx, I should have referred to a monitor integrated mirror, as I've minimal interest in a forward facing camera. It's the rear and side view aspects which interest me.

Cheers

[Gjk]

Replacement Summit mirror arrived today. Alas the ball size of the replacement was nearly half a millimetre bigger than the Lotus original and made for a very wobbly mirror when fitted to the original bracket. As I’m not willing to pay SJ prices for a new mirror and bracket I will just put up with the de-lam.

thanks to all who have posted and helped.

[NG5]

B****r, that's what comes of looking not measuring. Sorry 🙁

[Gjk]

Not your fault. I did say I was taking a punt.

I will see how the pennies are when I start putting the interior back in and if I can stretch to the SJ price I might treat myself.

[andydclements]

Coat the ball in black epoxy (after suitably roughing it) and so re-size it?

[drdoom]

Some version of thread sealant ( eg Loctite ) between ball and socket?

[snowrx]

@drdoom Here's what the full-width monitor looked like with the 2K camera above the license plate. (just clipped to the OE mirror) vs the mirror view.  Nice concept , but there are issues with reflections washing out the image on bright days, which makes you want to tilt the mirror towards the headliner, which compounds the issue of having enough articulation in the mount. This ToGaurd model has a on/off switch on the bottom so you can easily disable the monitor if you want.

 

 

[Gjk]

Just received a big pay rise at work so at the end of the month I will be ordering from SJ’s.

many thanks for all the responses but, I’ve found my solution.

if anyone needs a mirror bracket-I have a spare…