Fix your broken swoopies.

[bravekozak]

My idea of fixed means using only mirror motors with unbroken ears and mounting them on Festiva sail plates. They will be in like new condition. You will appreciate being able to turn your mirrors in when you leave your vehicle in a mall or narrow space.

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Just got this a second ago.

Dear edsbasement,

I only need to know if the plastic ears on the power mirror motor housing are still intact and not broken. Please check for me. I do not want to waste our time returning it if there is some homemade patch inside or if the mirror is wobbly. Please peek with a flashlight on both sides behind the mirror. It would be easy if you could hook it to a battery and pivot the mirror from one side to the other.


Dear bravekozak,

yes it is good

- edsbasement

[Prafeston]

How much for a fixed set? I feel like I've asked this before...too lazy to go searching

[bravekozak]

From these eBay buys + my junkyard buys + shipping from the east coast or the west coast, you are looking at $80 + shipping at cost from 14092. They will be like new. even better than new, because I will apply anti-seize compound to the screw threads, wire wheel and lubricate the pivot spring so that it does not make any sound. I am discarding the Protege sails and using only Festiva swoopy sails for a perfect fit.

I will document everything with pictures and objective evidence.

You have to admit. Swoopies look better than any manual mirrors or fixed power mirrors. Look at the picture in post #11 again.

Someday I will install gas struts under my hood too.

[Twistiva]

The U.S. had a different type of power mirror on the 88 and 89 models.
It was one piece that did not pivot. That power mirror was never available in Canada. The power mirror that was made available on later models was designed based on the Protege mirror. It was more aerodynamic and it pivoted. The Festiva and Protege shared the same mirror housings and internals. The only difference being the sail plate. It appears more swoopies were sold in Canada than the United States for some strange reason.

Brave - So what was the year range of the Mazda Protoge 323s with the 'Swoopies'?

Or.....maybe I'm still confused.....did the Protege and the Festiva share the same "internals" but only the 1990-93 powered Festiva mirrors had the actual 'Swoopie' shape???

My idea of fixed means using only mirror motors with unbroken ears and mounting them on Festiva sail plates. They will be in like new condition.

Awesome! Lookin' forward to buying a set!

[Prafeston]

Cool!

[bravekozak]

Twist is wasn't Mazda 323s. Only Mazda Proteges with the same internals (mirror housing + motors). The pigtail wires were about an inch longer. The sail plate (where the mirror attaches to the body, is a different aluminum diecasting. To fish the wires out you need to remove the connectors. I use a Hero pin extractor. There are documented procedures on the search engine. I believe the Protege years were 90-93.
The hard part is getting the Festiva swoopies for at least their rare sails. I tried to salvage as many as I could. One place had just thrown them out a week before I called. Sad.

[Prafeston]

I think the years were 90-94. I passed on a set of Festiva mirrors in the yard cause the were painted really bad and the mirrors were flopping around like crazy and they yard wouldn't come down on the price.

[bravekozak]

Was the yard pick and pull? If so, I would have disected the sails from the mirror housings. and took just that. The sails could be stripped and repainted thirty degree trim black. Just find a dood set of Protege mirrors, take them apart, thirty degree them, and then marry them to the Festiva sails.
I really confuse the guys up here. I open up Protege mirrors and take just the half of the motor housing with the ears and leave the rest behind. They have no idea what the part is for. I just throw it in with some wiring or other junky parts. I usually get them for free. Gold in disguise.

[Prafeston]

Didn't know or even think to do that at the time. Pretty sure it's long gone now.

[bravekozak]

Who in their right mind would spend that much money for a piece of junk? Someone who does not know how to ask questions.
California yes. Michigan no. The ears usually break when scraping ice and snow off in the winter time. The plastic approaches its glass transition point.

Dear onestopautopartscenter,

What is the condition of the mirror motor housing? Are both plastic hanging ears intact and not broken or repaired with silicone? I do not want a wobbly mirror. Please check by shining a flashlight inside both sides to see if there is any damage to the ears. I don't want to buy it and then have to send it back. Thanks.

- bravekozak

Dear bravekozak,

There are no hanging ears on the mirror, but there is 4 bolt hole mounts that are intact. The housing does have some corrosion on it. Thank you

Krista

- onestopautopartscenter

[bravekozak]

Had to send two white Protege mirrors back to Washington state. The ears were broken off inside both of them. Seller said they were fine. He lied.
Also picked up a blue Protege drivers mirror. Both ears intact, screws were not rusted. Only problem was that it cost $53. I will pass the cost on when I assemble a couple of perfect sets of swoopies.

[Prafeston]

P.S. I managed to do this fix on 3 mirrors and I did not have a torch thing like the OP did. I lit a candle and used the flame. Worked pretty well, but I would have liked to go the metal a bit hotter before trying to stick them into the plastic.

[bravekozak]

The purpose of the tool made by Mr. Dickmeyer, is to compress the spring on either side of the retaining clip, so that it can be removed from it's slot. Then the 5mm ball bearings can be replaced with stainless balls.

[bravekozak]

Here is a pic of a brand new mirror pivot without any score marks from seized, rusted ball bearings. As I suspected, the bowls are as cast with no finish machining. The shallower stop bowls were also present. The original bearings were lightly greased and did rotate. Two were able to be extracted with a magnet. The last one needed a little bit of additional persuasion.

[Larry Hampton]

When you say Festiva sails, you don't mean the regular sails, you mean swoopy sails, right?

I have yet to see any Festiva swoopies locally.