LannyL81

I have manual sport mirror on my '81 and am thinking about converting these to power and also adding power door locks (in order to cover the hole).

Are the housings the same between manual and power?
Do the "guts" interchange?
Has anyone done this swap that could give me some hints?

Thanks,
LannyL81

texasbaehr

I'm not sure if the guts will swap out unless someone has done that. however, if your car was not equiped with PM you have a lot of work to do since the controls for the mirrors are mounted in the center console. Yuo will have to replce the shifetr console plate and if the cr was not prewired for the mirrors from the factory you'll need to run all the wiring from each door to the console.

Easy Mike

Yes.

Maybe, but the problem is getting the old mirrors succesfully out of the housings without breaking them. Buy a pair of electric mirrors. Post your standard mirrors in the For Sale section.

Purchase the 81 AIM and follow the directions for the factory installation of the electric mirrors. AIM shows how it was done and lists the original part numbers for what you're going to need. AIM also shows the power dook lock installation.

The backside of your shifter plate probably has the locations marked for the switches. You'll have to open the holes. The original dash harness will have the take off plugs for the mirror and lock wiring. You may need a couple of optional pigtails for mirrors and locks.

LannyL81

Have the AIM....but after going through it twice did not see the harness connection to the mirror switches in the console nor could I find the connection in the door.

And yep the center console has the spot marked for the mirror switches...I would just have to cut them out.

But since I posted this I did further searching and found that I was wrong about the location of the power door lock switch. I though it was where the manual mirror joystick was located. I also thought that power locks and power mirrors were always together. But I found a car that had power locks, but manual mirrors.

Since I do not want to buy new door panels, looks like I will be scraping this idea. That and getting all the parts was going to be $500!

Thanks for the replies.

doctorgene

Those Power Mirror sets are getting hard to find. I have not seen any Mfg. offer replacement parts for them either. Good Luck on your project of power locks. Have a great one. Gene

Easy Mike

You shouldn't need new door panels. The backside of your panels will have a spot for the mirror switches to mount. You will need to trim the vinyl, then mount the switches.

LannyL81

The reason I say I would need new or different door panels is the location of the power door lock switch is different from where the manual mirror control bezel is.
If I add power mirrors and remove the manual mirrors and their control bezel there would be a hole in the door panel. The power door lock switch bezel is below the manual control bezel in the sample of one that I saw.

I will check the Assembly Maunal again to see if there is a diagram on this that I missed.

Gale Banks 80'

I Just did this on my 80'. Turned out to be a bigger and more costly project than I planed on. My Car is a Custom so I had no need to do it as it was done originaly. The Original Power Mirror Switch is in demand and the only Used one I was able to find was $300. I ended up useing a Late C4 Switch wich worked well in the original location but I had to lower the Trans Hump a little bit for clearance. I used C5 Mirrors and had to get the complete C5 Door wireing harness to get the Plugs needed. Then the Wireing Codes changed three times from the Mirrors to the Switch wich was a bit confusing. And as said above I had to replace the Door Panels.

doctorgene

I happen to have a complete extra set of power mirrors, With complete wiring loom, with switches. I have not wanted to sell them, as I might need them someday to replace something in my own system, if they ever go bad. I also have a couple of extra mirror units, one with missing mirror face, not sure what the other one is lacking. Have a great day. Gene

holtzsh

Originally Posted by holtzsh
Hi, I saw one of your threads mentioning that you had spare power mirrors for an 82 corvette? Would you still have them and if so would you consider selling the set or just the driver side? Please let me know. Thanks!
[QUOTE=doctorgene;1580629067]
Yes Sir; I do have a complete set, with wire looms, & switches. I've had an offer of 1200.00, How much you have. LOL I do have a driver side lacking the Mirror, It hit a pole & poped out of the two rubbers that hold it to the power set up. I also have a driver side complete, I would have to think about selling Price. Have a great day. Gene

Maybe you should take that complete set and place a mirror on either side of your bed so in the morning when you wake up you can look at your self in the mirror and you will feel good about yourself trying to rip off a disabled veteran with one leg who is just trying to restore my dads vette which was left to me after he died from the war.