Write-Up: Exterior Mirror Disassembly

BMD wrote:

Looks great Larry, nice find. If you don't want the added thickness, another option is too swipe a mirror from an Aurora with the correct backing plate to pop it into the original housing on the RIv.

I'll definitely keep that in mind. The Burco mirror is very thin. You really don't notice the added thickness unless you look closely for it.

Hey, I may have sourced a mirror assembly to replace mine. It's a pull from 1995 Olds Aurora with the heated glass, but no tinting. It's the entire assembly, though, and I can get it for $50. Will this work with my 99 Riv?

An Aurora mirror unit should work. Here, taken from Z-Type's Back in Black thread...

Z-type wrote:

Thanks Dave! How about we meet up at some point and you can take me for a ride in that Reatta . Arizona isn't THAT far from Pennsylvania...

Small update, y'all. Went to the junk yard today with my friend who needed some front end parts for his Lumina. I ended up finding an Aurora with a REALLY nice driver's side mirror. As you might remember, mine is somewhat of a lackluster glass oval rather than a mirror for whatever reason. The one I picked up hasn't turned gold from a failed autodim, and is heated! It's a shame I won't be able to use the heat. I have a feeling the connector for the mirror motor is different than what's on the Riv, but I'll have to check it out once my mirror comes out.

Obviously my Riv isn't white, so paint was in order.


Then primer, and two coats of satin black:


And three coats of clear:



I'm going to let it cure for a few days then probably install it Sunday or so. I have to sand and buff it too. It's not a huge rush but it will be nice to see clearly from the driver's side again.

I changed my driver's side mirror today finally. Had a little change of plans though. I never used the mirror I so tediously painted from the Aurora. The wiring harness was just way too different. I ended up swapping the glass from the Aurora onto my original mirror/motor casing. It's nice to finally have a mirror I can see in, but no autodim for now . Evidently this Aurora didn't have that feature, just the heating. That's ok though. As long as my interior rearview works, I'm happy!

Here's a question.  My son not only broke the light sensitive mirror (heated-non memory) on his '98, but actually broke some of the internal mount points where the mirror screws in.  While I can get a replacement mirror (easy part), apparently the powers that be "changed" something between '95-'97 and the '98-'99 assemblies.  Question.  Can you take the housing from a '96 (in the junkyard NOW) and graft what is currently in the '98 to the older '96 housing.  Likely there are plastic tabs inside the housing, but who know, GM may have moved them or came up with something different. Take a look about 4 pictures up and you'll see the "innards" of a mirror housing. I just wanna know if this will work on a '98, because that's all I got in the junkyard at present...August, 2022. (Pick 'n Pull-Portland OR)