Rearview Repair

Remember how my rearview mirror broke off? The mirror repair began on the weekend, and I must say it was almost as fast and easy as Xcel claimed, although the process might lead me to an early death. I'll let you know in about 40 years if the WARNING was appropriate: "This product contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause Cancer."

Yeah, that's a fair trade-off.

The package claimed the job would be complete in minutes, but I suspected it would take hours. Even if the job took 2 hours, that's still 120 minutes, so technically the company isn't wrong.

Step 1. I removed the button from the mirror. This proved to be quite difficult, as I didn't realize the button was secured with a screw. Sheer force prevailed, the screw bent, and the button popped free. Huzzah! Eat it, screw.

Step 2. Using my teeth, I began to remove the layer of old epoxy from the button. This part sucked. Like a telemarketer, the epoxy would not give up. So I hung up on it.

Once that was complete, I took everything I would need outside to my car. I trudged through the snow with sandpaper, duct tape, the epoxy glue kit, the button, newspaper, my hairdryer, and of course, my camera.

Step 3. On the outside, I marked the old location of the mirror on the windshield with a piece of duct tape. I sanded the button to make sure the epoxy would hold. Then I cleaned the windshield with the 1"x1" alcohol wipe supplied in the kit.

Step 4. Suck the alcohol wipe dry, and continue the job drunk.

Step 5. I like to figure things out for myself, and as such, I rarely read instructions. But, if you've ever used epoxy before, you know it is one of the most vile, horrible, evil things on this planet. Evil is strong, so I guess that's why we use it.

Against my instincts I carefully read the instructions for mixing the epoxy. After cautiously squeezing equal portions onto the newspaper, I made sure I mixed them for no more than 10 seconds. I then had less than 25 seconds to spread the epoxy on the button and stick it to the windshield. I had to hold it there for 45 seconds while the epoxy set, then because of the cold, I blasted it with the hairdryer for a few minutes, until the windshield was warm to the touch.

I used the duct tape to hold the button to the windshield overnight. The entire work I did only amounted to about 5 or 6 minutes. But because of the cold, and my desire to only do this job once, I left the tape on for about 36 hours.


I slid my mirror on this morning, completing Step 6, and am happy to report that it stayed in place, and the Xcel Rear View Mirror Adhesive Kit worked as promised. Today Xcel gets two thumbs up. If my mirror falls off tomorrow, I'll have something a little different to post.