I'll try to keep it to the point.
I finally gave up the fight with the 'ol lady closing the door too hard on the passenger side so I bit the bullet and fixed it today.
Tools and parts needed
1500 watt hair dryer
2 small blade regular screwdrivers
Piece of paper
Razor scraper
Silicone I or II caulking (or other adhesive that will bond to glass and plastic, and take heat and vibration)
Hot glue gun or lock tite
Clamps
3/8 x 24 die for threading
Wrench
3/8 x 24 nut
1" washer with at least 5/8 hole in center
Patience
It used the hair dryer to evenly heat the entire surface of the glass for about 5 minutes. Then starting at the outside top corner, I used the first screwdriver to GENTLY pry between the glass and the plastic housing. Keeping even pressure while levering out the glass, I then started the second screwdriver about 1" from the first and started levering it. After a couple of minutes, I could see between the glass and the housing and where the glue was adhering. Alternating between the two screwdrivers, I worked the entire outside edge loose and using one screwdriver on the top, and bottom I worked my way to the other edge. After I got about 2/3 of the glass separated, I took the piece of paper and slid it between the glass and the housing so the glue did not re-attach itself, then I started on the inside edge the same way I did the outside edge. It took about 10 minutes before it finally came lose. Be sure to have something soft on the ground for the glass to fall on if you can't catch it.
The glue on the glass looked and felt like a silicone base caulking so that is what I chose to use to put it back on.
Tools and parts
Glass and glue pattern. The nasty looking thing on the bottom right corner is a $2 spot mirror from checker to cover the OEM convex mirror.
The star shaped thing in the center of the housing is the source of all our woes. I pushed it back as far as I could on the plastic stud in the center, then I took the die and started the threading. Make sure you get it started straight and square.
Once I got as close as I could to the star brace (for lack of a better description) I turned the die over and kept threading the stud all the way to the brace.
I put the washer on, then tightened the nut. The wrist-o-matic torque wrench guessed about 10 ft pounds. DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN! You do not want to strip the threads or break the stud. It is plastic. I had to put a second washer on this one, as I slightly cross threaded the nut and I did not want to take the chance of chasing the threads with the die. The drivers side went perfect.
Before you put the glass back on, check the movement of your mirror. I had to loosen mine up a tad after the first attempt. Once I was satisfied, I put some hot glue on the end of the stud around the nut to help keep it from backing off. Some lock tite would work too.
I scraped the old glue off the back of the glass and cleaned it with some alcohol. I then put a bead of silicone II caulking on all of the glue ridges on the glass housing and pressed the glass back into position, and clamped it in place for a couple of hours. I took a few shop rags and folded them up to the size of the glass, placed them over the glass, and wrapped the entire mirror housing with some cord as tight as I could to put even pressure over the whole surface.
Thats my story. A home job, and so far so good.
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