Vacuum Fluorescent Display in Rear View Mirror - Page 2

Saab9-5 · 04-06-2005, 06:25 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Bugbyte

Thanks for the supplier info! I can see you are a local!

Yep. 15 years in Springfield - just a stone's throw from you. Now I'm on the other side of the world for another year and a half.

Quote: Originally Posted by Bugbyte

I'm thinking I'll get some "practice" mirrors from the hardware store and try various grades of ultra fine sandpaper on them to see if I can uniformly remove some, but not all of the silvering.

I've got one more supplier for you that will be better than the hardware store. Its a bit of a drive from your area but Brandywine has a foreign car yard in Upper Marlboro that has VWs, Audis, and Porches. They also are the only reasonably priced yard that has Saabs which is how I know them. You could get a couple of real VW mirrors to practice on. Non-electronic mirrors are usually $5.

The address is:

2810 Brown Station Road
Upper Marlboro, MD 20772
301-627-4265
http://www.brandywineparts.com/foreignparts.htm

The last time I was there, about 7 months ago, they had 3 VW New Beetles so you may be able to get the exact mirror you have to test/practice on.

Bugbyte · 04-06-2005, 09:02 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Saab9-5

Yep. 15 years in Springfield - just a stone's throw from you. Now I'm on the other side of the world for another year and a half.

I've got one more supplier for you that will be better than the hardware store. Its a bit of a drive from your area but Brandywine has a foreign car yard in Upper Marlboro that has VWs, Audis, and Porches. They also are the only reasonably priced yard that has Saabs which is how I know them. You could get a couple of real VW mirrors to practice on. Non-electronic mirrors are usually $5.

The address is:

2810 Brown Station Road
Upper Marlboro, MD 20772
301-627-4265
http://www.brandywineparts.com/foreignparts.htm

The last time I was there, about 7 months ago, they had 3 VW New Beetles so you may be able to get the exact mirror you have to test/practice on.

Cool. I know where they are, just a short distance from my father-in-law's house. I may make a trip over there next time we visit!

ddn · 04-07-2005, 04:07 PM

Use a razor to remove the silvering. I did it to a mirror on my bed headboard to put an alarm clock behind it.

tj!2k4 · 04-07-2005, 04:40 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Bugbyte

I'm thinking I'll get some "practice" mirrors from the hardware store and try various grades of ultra fine sandpaper on them to see if I can uniformly remove some, but not all of the silvering.

Use a fairly heavy object with a flat surface on top of the sandpaper and let gravity do the work, kinda like lapping a heatsink..

Question · 04-07-2005, 06:08 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by tj!2k4

Use a fairly heavy with a flat surface on top of the sandpaper and let gravity do the work, kinda like lapping a heatsink..

a fairly heavy...?

tj!2k4 · 04-07-2005, 06:26 PM

Yes, it's a typo, sorry. Fairly heavy object.

scott_fx · 04-07-2005, 08:04 PM

sorry for being lame on this thread, i totally lost track of it. I was planning on using a plexi one way mirror because it can be easily cut and shaped.
I was planning on purchasing it through this store:
http://www.seethroughmirrors.com/

but since i have a spare mirror right here, i'm going to try your guys' suggestions about sanding the back of it. Time to research this technique.

`s

scott_fx · 04-07-2005, 08:12 PM

also, another thing i was pondering...the amount that a one way mirror reflects is dependent on how dark the area behind the mirror is. so could you adjust the reflectivity (for night time driving) by putting a led behind the morror to illuminate that area?

tj!2k4 · 04-07-2005, 09:07 PM

For those who aren't familiar with heatsink lapping.. http://www.overclockersclub.com/guid...ppingguide.php

Bugbyte · 04-07-2005, 09:44 PM

I thought lapping a heatsink had something to do with licking it's naughty parts.

tj!2k4 · 04-07-2005, 09:47 PM

See, that's why I thought I needed to post the link and clear it up

scott_fx · 04-07-2005, 11:17 PM

ah...crap, i did it wrong then...are you sure?

chiark · 04-08-2005, 12:18 PM

Hey folks, not been on this forum for a long while. Changed cars from a Subaru WRX to a BMW 330 diesel... Lots has changed. Including now having an 18 month old son

I'm working on installing a VFD in the rear view right now... I bought a spare mirror from a scrap yard, and am currently working out how to get the 256x32 Noritake graphic VFD installed.

I've been advised *not* to remove the original paint backing and mirroring physically, but to do it with caustic soda (removes the paint) then nitric acid (removing the silver)... Apparently resilvering a mirror with small scratches makes the scratches very obvious? I'd be interested to know people's experience here! Does the lapping work?

Just for a challenge, my mirror auto-dims as it's electrochromatic, and I'm trying to retain that feature

. I need to move a bunch of electronics out of the mirror and into the head lining to make space for the VFD.

Once I get the mirror cleaned, I'll try painting it with one way stuff -
http://www.lockpicks.co.uk/twoway.htm

Bugbyte · 04-08-2005, 04:22 PM

I didn't know about that paint! That's a great find. So my question is...why not replace your mirror with a piece of glass that you spray with that stuff. Or is the electrochromatic coating right on the surface of the mirror?

scott_fx · 04-08-2005, 05:18 PM

cutting glass in that shape may be really hard. probably using lexan would be your best bet