Ever since I saw the 03/04 Cobra mirrors, I fell in love. The regular ol' black mirror just didn't look good to me. I loved that mixture of black and the car's color. The mirrors just popped with that look. Well I started looking for some cheap Cobra mirrors and just couldn't put myself to pay up to $300 for mirrors (including shipping). Especially if I'd have to paint them! I looked more and more and noticed that some people had painted their stock mirrors the car's color. I thought that was pretty creative but decided that it didn't like that look. I really like the Cobra mirrors. I started searching for people that painted their mirrors to look like Cobra mirrors A.K.A. "fake" Cobra mirrors. I searched for nearly 4 hours and gave up. I then thought to myself that I should be the first one to post up a HOW-TO on making your very own "fake" Cobra mirrors. They look like them, they just don't fold. And honestly, I'll never need them to fold. From 10 feet away you think "DAMN! Nice mirrors." but then you get close and realize they're just regular mirrors painted to look like them.
I know, most of you might not like that idea. It's either the real thing or don't do it at all. But cars are to be customized to one's liking and sometimes you have to be the first one to try something (at least I believe I'm the first one to try this). I was luckily given an old mirror by a friend for free to try out to see if this idea would work and even look half decent before paying money and using my time going through all of this. I was also helped and given tips by another friend that paints cars for a living. He took the time to explain every detail and dealt with my amateur experience in prepping car parts. I only prepped the mirrors and then brought them to a painter locally to have them professionally painted. Even though experienced painters will say that using all (or even some) rattle can products can ruin a good set of mirrors, I still decided to prep and prime them with rattle can products myself. I only ended up spending around $45 after all was said and done since I had nearly everything to do this. You can get most of these parts at an local hardware and car parts store. I was lucky enough to have a buddy in the painting business near me that would paint both mirrors for $30. If this project had cost anymore than $45, I wouldn't have done it since I didn't have an thing to confirm or settle my nerves that this would actually look good.
What you need:
I started off by removing both mirrors from the vehicle. I don't use my car daily so I was able to do this project and take my time. You can always put your extra mirrors on your car if you needed to get around.
Once the mirrors were removed, I set them aside. The good thing about having extra mirrors is that I was able to practice with them and not be worried if something didn't work out. For example, I read that you could "easily" remove the glass from the mirror by just slightly pulling outwards until you heard a pop which indicated that it was detaching from the mount. I heard one pop and two snaps. I had broken the mount behind the glass and I was glad that I had done so on the practice mirror. Here is the practice mirror painted with some extra metallic spray paint I had laying around. I wanted to get an idea of how it would look on the car. Of course, this is just to get an idea, the final product will not look like this. It will be painted the same color (color code) as the vehicle.
Mind you, this mirror is NOT painted the same color code. It's just some silver spray paint I had laying around. That's why it looks sort of odd.
Because of this incident, I decided to just tape off the glass instead of removing the glass first. I taped around and over the glass entirely to protect from any sanding, primer and/or paint. I used ajax and a scotch brite to clean the mirrors with a little water to remove any grease and dirt. Be extra careful to not get any water inside the actual mirror's housing. There are electrical components in there that if wet, they might no longer function properly. Once I had washed both mirrors, I began sanding down the entire mirror. If you have ever seen Cobra mirrors, you would notice that the mirrors on the Cobra are smooth compared to the textured mirror of a stock GT or V6.
To achieve this smooth finish, I used 220 grit sand paper to remove the texture and get a rather smooth finish. It doesn't have to be absolutely perfect since you'll be wet-sanding it with 800 grit shortly. Once I had a achieved the desired texture on each mirror, I proceeded to using the 800 grit and wet-sanding to a silky smooth texture on the mirror. You can use which ever type of sandpaper grit you'd like, I just decided on 220 and 800 from previous experience. After sanding I used a wet paper towel and wiped off the dust from the mirror. Once I had removed all the dust, I began taping off the mirror.
I taped the entire housing of the mirror up to about the middle of the glass. I did this so that I could use the razor blade knife to cut out the lines which give that 03/04 Cobra look. You can see what I'm talking about in the photos below. Make sure that the edges where the tape ends and the black plastic housing begins is secured against the mirror or you will get paint underneath the tape. When the entire mirror was taped, I drew the contours of the Cobra mirror on the masking tape and then cut off the extra tape to reveal a mirror that had only the desired portion to be painted showing. I cut the masking tape by looking at photos of Cobra mirrors online and just free handing it. You can do it whichever way you'd like, it just worked better for me to freehand it.
Once I had them taped off and the masking tape was situated how I liked it, I went outside and sprayed. First, I sprayed 2-3 coats of adhesion promoter. It... promotes the adhesion. I honestly don't know the scientific details behind the use of this product, but I was specifically recommended this product by my friend so I did as he said since he's a skilled and experienced painter. The directions on the back say to wait between 2-3 minutes between each coat, so I did exactly that. After 3 coats, I sprayed on the primer in 2-3 very gentle coats. I wanted to avoid runs or sag so I took my time with primer. I let it dry for 24 hours (in this Texas heat they basically baked outside). Once they were dry, I removed the tape.
I know you're thinking, "If you remove the tape, how will you be able to paint only over the primer without getting onto the black portion as well?". Well I have some bad news, you'll have to re-tape the mirror after wet-sanding the primer coat. Do NOT cut through this step and just wet-sand with the tape on. The tape will get wet and most likely allow paint to get underneath the tape ending in an ugly product. Once I removed all of the tape, I took the 800 grit sandpaper and wet-sanded the primer and the revealed black housing to make a single smooth texture. Once sanded, you should get a smooth and slightly glossy look to the mirror.
Left (after wet-sanding) & Right (before wet-sanding)
Both (after wet-sanding)
After wet-sanding each one and wiping it off with a wet paper towel, I had the joy of re-taping the entire mirror and being EXTRA careful to mask the exact same outline. Once I had that achieved, I sent them off to paint.
They will be painted silver (color code YN) then the entire mirror will get a clear coat. I get the final product tomorrow and it should look good! I'm crossing my fingers. I'll post pictures of the final product as soon as I get them.
I know, most of you might not like that idea. It's either the real thing or don't do it at all. But cars are to be customized to one's liking and sometimes you have to be the first one to try something (at least I believe I'm the first one to try this). I was luckily given an old mirror by a friend for free to try out to see if this idea would work and even look half decent before paying money and using my time going through all of this. I was also helped and given tips by another friend that paints cars for a living. He took the time to explain every detail and dealt with my amateur experience in prepping car parts. I only prepped the mirrors and then brought them to a painter locally to have them professionally painted. Even though experienced painters will say that using all (or even some) rattle can products can ruin a good set of mirrors, I still decided to prep and prime them with rattle can products myself. I only ended up spending around $45 after all was said and done since I had nearly everything to do this. You can get most of these parts at an local hardware and car parts store. I was lucky enough to have a buddy in the painting business near me that would paint both mirrors for $30. If this project had cost anymore than $45, I wouldn't have done it since I didn't have an thing to confirm or settle my nerves that this would actually look good.
What you need:
- 2 or more mirrors (it's helpful to have extra incase you mess up)
- 1/2" razor blade knife
- 220 grit sandpaper
- 800 grit sandpaper
- bowl of water (for wet-sanding)
- paper towels
- masking tape
- sharpee
- (1) can of automobile primer
- (1) can of adhesion promoter
I started off by removing both mirrors from the vehicle. I don't use my car daily so I was able to do this project and take my time. You can always put your extra mirrors on your car if you needed to get around.
Mirrors are removed
Once the mirrors were removed, I set them aside. The good thing about having extra mirrors is that I was able to practice with them and not be worried if something didn't work out. For example, I read that you could "easily" remove the glass from the mirror by just slightly pulling outwards until you heard a pop which indicated that it was detaching from the mount. I heard one pop and two snaps. I had broken the mount behind the glass and I was glad that I had done so on the practice mirror. Here is the practice mirror painted with some extra metallic spray paint I had laying around. I wanted to get an idea of how it would look on the car. Of course, this is just to get an idea, the final product will not look like this. It will be painted the same color (color code) as the vehicle.
Mind you, this mirror is NOT painted the same color code. It's just some silver spray paint I had laying around. That's why it looks sort of odd.
Because of this incident, I decided to just tape off the glass instead of removing the glass first. I taped around and over the glass entirely to protect from any sanding, primer and/or paint. I used ajax and a scotch brite to clean the mirrors with a little water to remove any grease and dirt. Be extra careful to not get any water inside the actual mirror's housing. There are electrical components in there that if wet, they might no longer function properly. Once I had washed both mirrors, I began sanding down the entire mirror. If you have ever seen Cobra mirrors, you would notice that the mirrors on the Cobra are smooth compared to the textured mirror of a stock GT or V6.
GT:
COBRA:
COBRA:
To achieve this smooth finish, I used 220 grit sand paper to remove the texture and get a rather smooth finish. It doesn't have to be absolutely perfect since you'll be wet-sanding it with 800 grit shortly. Once I had a achieved the desired texture on each mirror, I proceeded to using the 800 grit and wet-sanding to a silky smooth texture on the mirror. You can use which ever type of sandpaper grit you'd like, I just decided on 220 and 800 from previous experience. After sanding I used a wet paper towel and wiped off the dust from the mirror. Once I had removed all the dust, I began taping off the mirror.
I taped the entire housing of the mirror up to about the middle of the glass. I did this so that I could use the razor blade knife to cut out the lines which give that 03/04 Cobra look. You can see what I'm talking about in the photos below. Make sure that the edges where the tape ends and the black plastic housing begins is secured against the mirror or you will get paint underneath the tape. When the entire mirror was taped, I drew the contours of the Cobra mirror on the masking tape and then cut off the extra tape to reveal a mirror that had only the desired portion to be painted showing. I cut the masking tape by looking at photos of Cobra mirrors online and just free handing it. You can do it whichever way you'd like, it just worked better for me to freehand it.
Once I had them taped off and the masking tape was situated how I liked it, I went outside and sprayed. First, I sprayed 2-3 coats of adhesion promoter. It... promotes the adhesion. I honestly don't know the scientific details behind the use of this product, but I was specifically recommended this product by my friend so I did as he said since he's a skilled and experienced painter. The directions on the back say to wait between 2-3 minutes between each coat, so I did exactly that. After 3 coats, I sprayed on the primer in 2-3 very gentle coats. I wanted to avoid runs or sag so I took my time with primer. I let it dry for 24 hours (in this Texas heat they basically baked outside). Once they were dry, I removed the tape.
I know you're thinking, "If you remove the tape, how will you be able to paint only over the primer without getting onto the black portion as well?". Well I have some bad news, you'll have to re-tape the mirror after wet-sanding the primer coat. Do NOT cut through this step and just wet-sand with the tape on. The tape will get wet and most likely allow paint to get underneath the tape ending in an ugly product. Once I removed all of the tape, I took the 800 grit sandpaper and wet-sanded the primer and the revealed black housing to make a single smooth texture. Once sanded, you should get a smooth and slightly glossy look to the mirror.
Left (after wet-sanding) & Right (before wet-sanding)
Both (after wet-sanding)
After wet-sanding each one and wiping it off with a wet paper towel, I had the joy of re-taping the entire mirror and being EXTRA careful to mask the exact same outline. Once I had that achieved, I sent them off to paint.
They will be painted silver (color code YN) then the entire mirror will get a clear coat. I get the final product tomorrow and it should look good! I'm crossing my fingers. I'll post pictures of the final product as soon as I get them.
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