Power Mirror Upgrade

[84cutlasssupreme]

Cool!

Is there an option for this on olds, Buick or Pontiac with the other sport style mirrors?

I had a thought about this for my '84 Cutlass. A friend of mine suggested late 70s or early 80s Corvette mirrors. Similar housing & a single switch on the driver's door. Never pursued it though.

 

[pagrunt]

I had a thought about this for my '84 Cutlass. A friend of mine suggested late 70s or early 80s Corvette mirrors. Similar housing & a single switch on the driver's door. Never pursued it though.

The C3 mirrors are the best ones to convert the sport mirrors to power. Just swap the mount base from yours to the C3 heads. I want to do the same but no luck finding a pair or finding a pair with out the Vette tax added.

 

[JAMCAR223]

I've been reading the posts in this thread for a couple weeks, but have been too lazy to post. It's my understanding that the 86-87 Monte/Elco, Fiero, and 3rd Gen Fbody mirror housings are the same. When I put my set together a couple years back, I used 86 Elco mirrors... Fbody motors, and the Caprice controller that mounts into the Gbody bezel. I then bought new glass off Ebay to complete them. All this is good info, but in all honesty, this is old info from the MonteCarloSS forum. The reason most people don't do this conversion, is that the "aero style" mirrors need to be mounted further forward on the door to somewhat match the angle of the A pillar.Most people get turned off with this conversion, because to do it right, it involves drilling new holes, welding up the old ones, body work and paint. If you mount the aero mirrors in the stock location of most GBody cars, they look out of place. BUT if you have an 86-87 Monte or Elco, then this upgrade makes more sense. Just my opinion...

 

[Rktpwrd]

I did a junkyard crawl on the weekend and was looking at aero mirrors with renewed interest after reading this thread. I came across 2 sets of F body mirrors with the power motors in them, and 2 or 3 Fiero ones. NONE of them had the switches or controls for them, and Caprices with aero mirrors are like looking for hens teeth here, never mind Corvette.

If I were to go to all the trouble of pulling the mirrors and as much wiring as possible, what are my options on hooking up any sort of controls? Anybody have access to any controls they’d be willing to sell me if I go back and grab them??

 

[5spdCab]

I did a junkyard crawl on the weekend and was looking at aero mirrors with renewed interest after reading this thread. I came across 2 sets of F body mirrors with the power motors in them, and 2 or 3 Fiero ones. NONE of them had the switches or controls for them, and Caprices with aero mirrors are like looking for hens teeth here, never mind Corvette.

If I were to go to all the trouble of pulling the mirrors and as much wiring as possible, what are my options on hooking up any sort of controls? Anybody have access to any controls they’d be willing to sell me if I go back and grab them??

I have not finished checking schematics for the power mirrors yet, but as I was looking for parts for my wife's Taurus, I picked up the power window, door lock, and mirror controls. I will compare the two sets of schematics to see if the switches can be customized to work. My personal objective is to mount the Taurus switches in a custom console if I am able to get them to work properly.

 

[88AZSS]

I did a junkyard crawl on the weekend and was looking at aero mirrors with renewed interest after reading this thread. I came across 2 sets of F body mirrors with the power motors in them, and 2 or 3 Fiero ones. NONE of them had the switches or controls for them, and Caprices with aero mirrors are like looking for hens teeth here, never mind Corvette.

If I were to go to all the trouble of pulling the mirrors and as much wiring as possible, what are my options on hooking up any sort of controls? Anybody have access to any controls they’d be willing to sell me if I go back and grab them??

I have some extra controls that will work with this, I will take some pictures and PM you in a while.

 

[5spdCab]

I’m a sucker for adding options that didn’t originally come with our cars while still using GM sourced parts. Here’s a quick write up on how I upgraded to power mirrors on my Monte Carlo SS. This is specific to Monte Carlos for the most part because of the mirror housing.
Edit: Corvette, Camaro, Firebird mirrors are unconfirmed to be the exact same housing. Monte Carlo and Fiero are confirmed via part number.
80s Corvettes, Camaros, Firebirds, and Fieros MAY have all used the same “sport” mirror housing across the board. I pulled the mirrors used from a Fiero and confirmed part numbers stamped in the housing are the same as originally on my Monte. If the mirror wasn’t power or adjustable, there is a small piece of tape covering the hole the wiring came through. The difference being the gasket that went between the mirror housing and the door panel. This is what gave the curve needed to match the different body lines of the doors.
View attachment 138876
View attachment 138877
Once I realized they were the same, I opted to just use the Fiero mirrors and swap the Monte Carlo gasket over. I used the control switch from a 90s Caprice which fit perfect in the stock mirror adjuster bezel. I didn’t take a photo of that but the one below is one I found that shows the exact same thing.
View attachment 138878
I then pulled the pig tails needed from the car and tied it all together. I used the following diagram that I found on another forum to help get a simple idea on how it should look. I do not take credit for this diagram and give credit to whoever made it.
View attachment 138879
I tied in the pig tails and cleaned them up with some heat shrink. Made sure there was enough wiring to make it to the opening in the door panel while still clearing the window glass. I tucked the harness into the same “holder” as the original adjustment cable went through.
View attachment 138880
View attachment 138881
I ran the wiring under the dash and to the passenger door, did the same wiring tucking so it would clear the glass on that side too. I left a pig tail on that side too so the mirror can be removed if needed. I ran a ground to the spot used for the other power options in the drivers door. Ran the power line to the fuse box and spliced in a stock end so it’ll click right into one of the accessory spots.
View attachment 138882
All in all it can be done easily in one afternoon if you have all the parts already. I suggest greasing the motors, they’re old and dusty. Otherwise very straightforward. I’ll be happy to answer and questions and help anyone who’s doing this upgrade too.

Does the Caprice mirror switch have a right/left mirror select option? I do not see a switch to change from right mirror to left mirror in the photo. The schematic you posted shows both right and left side mirrors from the one switch, is the right/left selector internal?
I was able to get a driver side power mirror from a 3rd gen fbody, the passenger side had already been removed, so I will still be looking for one of those. I will move the motor from the fbody mirror frame to the Monte frame that I acquired a couple of months ago, because the Monte frame is very close in color to my Caballero.

 

[stuckincincy]

Does the Caprice mirror switch have a right/left mirror select option? I do not see a switch to change from right mirror to left mirror in the photo. The schematic you posted shows both right and left side mirrors from the one switch, is the right/left selector internal?
I was able to get a driver side power mirror from a 3rd gen fbody, the passenger side had already been removed, so I will still be looking for one of those. I will move the motor from the fbody mirror frame to the Monte frame that I acquired a couple of months ago, because the Monte frame is very close in color to my Caballero.

With the Caprice switches you just turn the joystick itself, to the left for drivers side and right for passenger side. I'm getting ready to do this myself but plan on using two separate switches in the factory locations. (armrest and dash bezel)

 

[5spdCab]

With the Caprice switches you just turn the joystick itself, to the left for drivers side and right for passenger side. I'm getting ready to do this myself but plan on using two separate switches in the factory locations. (armrest and dash bezel)

Thank you for the reply, and info. I will begin searching for a '90s Caprice switch.

P.S. I dig your F4U avatar. The Museum of Flight here in Seattle has two examples.

 

[liquidh8]

This is a great mod. Did this on the wagon some time ago.! Thanks for sharing.