Ghetto Wing Mirror Fix Up

My left-side wing mirror was in a very bad shape when i bought The Dog. The spring inside the housing had lost its anchoring tab so the mirror wouldn't stay in position. That and the mirror glass itself was broken. Perhaps the previous owner fell in love so much with The Dog and decided to test its strength by hitting a pole with the mirror.

When i was in Kumala Motor, i gave the mirror to the seller and asked if he has a new one. It took him a while to check his stock but finally he came up with this..


That is part number 87940-12500, a Toyota original wing mirror for KE70 or TE71 and i can assure you, it's NOT CHEAP. Those f*ckers in Kumala charged me 100 bucks for it. After i wiped my mouth from coughing blood from paying so much for a wing mirror, i took it to The Dog and you know what? It didn't fit! The triangular shape that attached to the door is a bit too large. Didn't i compare it first with my old mirror before i bought it? I did and have noticed that possible problem. That's why i made an agreement with Kumala to return the mirror if it doesn't fit. I sure am glad i did that!

So now i am back to square one after i returned the mirror and got a refund: a busted Charmant wing mirror on my hands. I need to get it fixed before i leave Jakarta for work again!

On my way to Kumala on Dec 26th 2009, i saw these ghetto kiosks of wing mirror sellers on Sawah Besar area. I thought perhaps these guys could help me fix it. So the next day i decided to try my luck, visit one of them and after some discussion and negotiation, I agreed to trade 6 dollars for their service. Yes, 6 dollars!

Basically there are two problems with my mirror: shattered mirror glass and broken anchoring tab for the spring. The broken glass was easy to fix. First they cut a new mirror to size.

and glue it in place..

That's a glue stick for glue guns, heated with a lighter and spread over the mounting plate like making a PB&J.

The second problem was a bit tricky.. The anchoring tab for the spring is broken so the mirror cover would flop around under movement. Here's my awful illustration of the spring.

When you're done laughing at my illustration, here's what they do to fix it.. First they take a motorcycle chain link and fold it to make an L-shape. The first hole is for bolting to the mirror housing and the second hole is for the anchoring tab.

Next they drilled a hole for the bolt to hold the new tab.

Finally, they bolt the chain link in place and there you go.. A new anchoring tab for the spring!


It took them around 2 hours to fix it. The hardest part was determining how to make the new anchoring hole and putting it all back together. Finally, i end up with this..


LOL, they've just saved me US$94 and all done from this crappy.. uuummm.. wonderful kiosk..


Now, let's hope the mirror stays intact before i can find a scrapped Charmant with better left wing mirror.