Countach Door mirror bases
Discussion
Being an idiot I accidental knocked the near side mirror against a ladder whilst manoeuvring my car.
The base plate on these is a cheap alloy casting with a 'lug' on top into which the mirror bolts on.
I understand the base plates are not available from anywhere nor are the mirrors. Someone in the US has about 2 new sets and wants $1000 approx. for them.
I have hopefully located a S/H pair with intact base plates.
I have seen thee mirrors break at the lug by people walking into them.
As it is a cheap light alloy it cant be welded using conventional welds, nor will most 'liquid metal' glues work due to the fracture point, which is usually the base of the 'lug'.I tired using low temp weld Alutight which didn't work and the heat melted the base.
I am thinking of getting the base plates 3D scanned and either hard ABS plastic ones made with proper metal inserts, or new ones cast.
Would any owners be interested in a spare pair of base plates? Due to set up costs and small numbers manufactured my guess is about £100 a pair.
I am just testing the water here, to see if there would be interest, due to the costs of getting these 3D scanned and someone to make these.
Let me know your thoughts.
Paul
The base plate on these is a cheap alloy casting with a 'lug' on top into which the mirror bolts on.
I understand the base plates are not available from anywhere nor are the mirrors. Someone in the US has about 2 new sets and wants $1000 approx. for them.
I have hopefully located a S/H pair with intact base plates.
I have seen thee mirrors break at the lug by people walking into them.
As it is a cheap light alloy it cant be welded using conventional welds, nor will most 'liquid metal' glues work due to the fracture point, which is usually the base of the 'lug'.I tired using low temp weld Alutight which didn't work and the heat melted the base.
I am thinking of getting the base plates 3D scanned and either hard ABS plastic ones made with proper metal inserts, or new ones cast.
Would any owners be interested in a spare pair of base plates? Due to set up costs and small numbers manufactured my guess is about £100 a pair.
I am just testing the water here, to see if there would be interest, due to the costs of getting these 3D scanned and someone to make these.
Let me know your thoughts.
Paul
Can't say I'd be interested to be honest Paul, I have already bought parts for cars "just in case" and never needed them 
Post a picture of the part up though, as it sounds like something a decent small engineering shop could make for less than 100. I have used a place near me to make a new throttle linkage tube (the one that goes from the pedal to the gear tunnel) using bearings rather than bushes, took a bit of fabricating too and cost well under 100. It's often amazing what some of the one-man band engineering companies can do.
Post a picture of the part up though, as it sounds like something a decent small engineering shop could make for less than 100. I have used a place near me to make a new throttle linkage tube (the one that goes from the pedal to the gear tunnel) using bearings rather than bushes, took a bit of fabricating too and cost well under 100. It's often amazing what some of the one-man band engineering companies can do.
paulqv said:
Being an idiot I accidental knocked the near side mirror against a ladder whilst manoeuvring my car.
The base plate on these is a cheap alloy casting with a 'lug' on top into which the mirror bolts on.
I understand the base plates are not available from anywhere nor are the mirrors. Someone in the US has about 2 new sets and wants $1000 approx. for them.
I have hopefully located a S/H pair with intact base plates.
I have seen thee mirrors break at the lug by people walking into them.
As it is a cheap light alloy it cant be welded using conventional welds, nor will most 'liquid metal' glues work due to the fracture point, which is usually the base of the 'lug'.I tired using low temp weld Alutight which didn't work and the heat melted the base.
I am thinking of getting the base plates 3D scanned and either hard ABS plastic ones made with proper metal inserts, or new ones cast.
Would any owners be interested in a spare pair of base plates? Due to set up costs and small numbers manufactured my guess is about 100 a pair.
I am just testing the water here, to see if there would be interest, due to the costs of getting these 3D scanned and someone to make these.
Let me know your thoughts.
Paul
Don't be too hard on yourself, it's easily done, I knocked over a driveway bollard which had been sitting on the garage floor for months, and watched as it fell over in slow motion, right down the side of the car door... cost a few hundred pounds to fix and I was kicking myself around for days afterwards like Basil Fawlty.The base plate on these is a cheap alloy casting with a 'lug' on top into which the mirror bolts on.
I understand the base plates are not available from anywhere nor are the mirrors. Someone in the US has about 2 new sets and wants $1000 approx. for them.
I have hopefully located a S/H pair with intact base plates.
I have seen thee mirrors break at the lug by people walking into them.
As it is a cheap light alloy it cant be welded using conventional welds, nor will most 'liquid metal' glues work due to the fracture point, which is usually the base of the 'lug'.I tired using low temp weld Alutight which didn't work and the heat melted the base.
I am thinking of getting the base plates 3D scanned and either hard ABS plastic ones made with proper metal inserts, or new ones cast.
Would any owners be interested in a spare pair of base plates? Due to set up costs and small numbers manufactured my guess is about 100 a pair.
I am just testing the water here, to see if there would be interest, due to the costs of getting these 3D scanned and someone to make these.
Let me know your thoughts.
Paul
In terms of printing the component, take a look at the www.shapeways.com website which provides a relatively inexpensive way to 3D print components in a variety of materials, if you upload a component in the correct format they will provide a quote in various materials in a matter of minutes.
I purchased a copy of the 3D software from www.geomagic.com for work several months ago, and am struggling to master it, but when I do it will be a life-saver.
Old post and a bit of a long shot I know but did the bases ever get made, failing that did you keep the old broken one ?
There is a guy on eBay uk making these
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1973-89-Ferrari-308-328...
There is a guy on eBay uk making these
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1973-89-Ferrari-308-328...
Edited by Lambo1989 on Tuesday 10th March 19:15
Gassing Station | Lamborghini Classics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff