Removing the Glass from Original Caterham Mirrors

TL;DR : easy-peasy with the right tools

Having replaced the mirrors with SPA design ones, the originals were left laying on the desk downstairs. I thought it would be a good idea to remove them from their arms to save space and set them aside in a slim cardboard box.

That was a mistake : once you remove the screw from the ball joint, there's not way to get it back, and all the hardware is left loose inside behind the glass.

I knew from the first 2 minutes of this video of the build series by Kyle Townend that it could be a pain to deal with. He broke one and got the second out with a hot air gun.  I also read Lee's build blog where he states that Caterham advised him to submerge the mirrors in hot water to soften the glue.

In both instances they had to get the mirrors on stalks attached to the windscreen stanchions, as the IVA does not allow the side screens for some reason (my guess is that the plastic windows are the actual concern as they can scratch easily).

Anyway, as heat seemed to be the solution, I thought I might give it a shot on the heated bed of my 3D printer. Basically a 280x240mm sheet of ceramic glass with a super precise PWM control of the temperature.

I got the print head all the way to the top and laid the mirror face-down on the build plate. I set the temperature to 110°C for a while then worried the shell could be made of ABS, with a transition temperature of 105°C; so got the heated plate down to 100°C. 

I left it cooking for maybe 15 to 20 minutes, then gently lifted one side of the glass with a plastic spudger. All nice and easy.

Two kinds of glue were used on the 4 plastic posts : a translucent very soft one and an opaque more rigid one; alternating in a diagonal pattern.

Inside were the metal cup from the ball joint, a spring, washer and a nut. I got everything back together as quickly as I could so the glue would still be warm and soft.

In the re-assembly, don't forget the plastic cup that sits between the arm and the mirror shell; then make sure it's tight enough compared to the other mirror.

To properly re-seat the glass, I got 4 M8 nuts on the build plate of the 3D printer, and got the mirror cooking face-down. This time the glass was supported by the nuts with the full weight of the shell and arm pressing everything together.  I left it for 15-20 minutes again; this time covering everything with a t-shirt to retain as much heat as possible.

After that I did let it cool down slowly, and got everything in a cardboard box that is much bigger than what I would have wanted.

The picture below is re-enactment for this blog post...