NCReatta Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Has anyone figured out how to polish their outside mirror housings to make them look nice and shiny, short of painting them? I'd like to get mine nice and shiny like they were from the Craft Centre. Any suggestions?Thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89REATTAJIM Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Marck, are you sure that they were "bright & shiney" when new? Seems that there have been posts on here that debate the issue. Granted that neither of my '89's were bought new, but both are "flat black". Maybe changed from '88 to '91?..... Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 I use Armorall or any tire gloss product. It's only tempotary I know, but I do it everytime as I wash the car and do the tires. It works for me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barney Eaton Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Wax does a pretty good job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 I use Turtle Wax - ICE Liquid Polish on the mirrors and the plastic and rubber parts. It works great and doesn't leave any chalky residue in the cracks and crevices around the moldings.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kitskaboodle Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 I have polished up a few pair over the last year and this is what I did:I bought an orbital buffer (palm sized) and some plastic polish thathad some mild abrasive in it. Of course it helps to remove the mirrorsfrom the car first. You simply put some plastic polish on the orbital pad and some on the mirrorbody itself. Then as you hold the mirror with one hand you go over the contours of the mirror with the buffer in the other hand.After this you change over to regular wax and do the same thing with the buffer. I would like to point out one dissapointing reality and that is most of the Reatta mirrors I have pulled off cars in the local yards have varying degreesof sunburn and most of it cannot be polished out. You will see that the sunburn goes right down to the base paint. Or....maybe it just affects California cars???Kit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Booreatta Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Marck from what I have been able to find out the mirrors were not a shiny black when new. I think they were more of a satin finish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCReatta Posted January 7, 2011 Author Share Posted January 7, 2011 Thanks for all the replys! I don't have "sunburned" mirrors, on my '89 at least (the two '90 coupes are a different story). I've tried a few differnet types of wax, and never quite gotten the look I wanted. I'm going to try the tire gloss products. I have seen at least 3 low milage (under 35k) cars with glossy mirrors. Weather they've been painted by the owner, I don't know. But I don't think they were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rawja Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 I've always believed the finish for the mirrors was satin.If you look at the launch brochure for the Reatta the mirrors look to be pretty clearly satin.I took a look at the "Go ahead. You deserve it." advert and the mirrors look kinda glossy.Not definitive either way as obviously the brochure (and likely the advert) was undoubtably made using a pre-production Reatta... I mean with old-school production techniques the generation of the brochures was probably a multi-month project at best and you wouldn't wait for production of the vehicle to start before getting started on the brochure, right?My '90 maui with 29K and seemingly no sun or other environmental degradation (glass encapsulations look showroom-fresh) has what appears to be satin-finish mirrors.I'd go with whatever your preference is and be done with it. My '88 has glossy red mirrors and I really like 'em. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wws944 Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 ...My '90 maui with 29K and seemingly no sun or other environmental degradation (glass encapsulations look showroom-fresh) has what appears to be satin-finish mirrors.My car (12k miles, almost always garage kept) is the same way. Definitely not a glossy finish.I'd go with whatever your preference is and be done with it. My '88 has glossy red mirrors and I really like 'em.They look really nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCReatta Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 (edited) Looked at my vert's mirrors closer today. I was mistaken. it's more of a semi-gloss. I think the otehr low milage cars I've seen must have been painted.So new question. Is there a way to make the semi-gloss stand out more? make it shine like a semi-gloss should? Not so much make it a high-gloss, but just make the semi pop?P.S. Is there a SPID sticker code for color-keyed mirrors? I know a few came from the Craft Centre that way, and I just thought there might be a code for it.And is it hard to color key the mirrors? I've considered doing it on my '89, but I can't decide if I like it in white. Edited January 9, 2011 by NCReatta (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rawja Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 To the best of my knowledge the Craft Centre didn't do any cars with color-keyed mirrors.I've never seen it done with white, but given that you've got parts cars there's no reason you couldn't do one and see who you like it. If you don't well like the way it looks then just paint it and it's mate black and you're set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 To the best of my knowledge the Craft Centre didn't do any cars with color-keyed mirrors.I've never seen it done with white, but given that you've got parts cars there's no reason you couldn't do one and see who you like it. If you don't well like the way it looks then just paint it and it's mate black and you're set. My black is color keyed! lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rawja Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 I stand corrected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCReatta Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 Haha you guys, but in all seriousness, I have information from a few sources (which shall remain un-named), that they did come that way, and that their cars have been like that from day one. And some of them had them ordered that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Kingsley Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 I have replaced two exterior mirrors using 3M rubbing compound which seems to bring the finish down to the natural basic material - no paint - with a nice satin finish. I have never seen OE but this certainly looks nice. No polish on top just waiting to see how the current finish weathers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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