Has anybody recovered their sun visors?
07-01-2008, 07:45 PM
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Has anybody recovered their sun visors? I just had my driver's visor fall out again. It did it under warranty and they replaced it, and now years later it's out. I saw the threads on replacing the swaged part with a screw and big washer so it doesn't happen again, but after 9 years of sun my visors look like crap anyway. So now its time to replace or repair & recover.
I saw an interesting thread on another forum about this:
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/arti...sunvisors.html
Just wondering if you have done it on a 4th gen or replaced it with one for another car. It would be nice to have one with one of those hold down points on the inside so it doesn't vibrate all the time. With the top down and the cam they never stay put.
I saw an interesting thread on another forum about this:
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/arti...sunvisors.html
Just wondering if you have done it on a 4th gen or replaced it with one for another car. It would be nice to have one with one of those hold down points on the inside so it doesn't vibrate all the time. With the top down and the cam they never stay put.
07-02-2008, 07:35 AM
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Well I lost patience and disassembled the driver's side last night. 
I took photos I'll post up sometime this weekend. The only trick is getting the mirror off. There are big metal clips that go through the whole thing that are actually part of the hinges of the mirror lid. Once you see how to get it out, its no big deal.
Inside there's a peg-board type core piece with glorified "paper" folded over it. That's why the little wing will break so easily. Its just paper. The paper was of course in rough shape and my central peg-board piece was warped as well so I have decided to just get a new pair of some kind. I'll post up photos later for those who want to take on the task. It's actually not very different from the link I posted earlier.
I took photos I'll post up sometime this weekend. The only trick is getting the mirror off. There are big metal clips that go through the whole thing that are actually part of the hinges of the mirror lid. Once you see how to get it out, its no big deal. Inside there's a peg-board type core piece with glorified "paper" folded over it. That's why the little wing will break so easily. Its just paper. The paper was of course in rough shape and my central peg-board piece was warped as well so I have decided to just get a new pair of some kind. I'll post up photos later for those who want to take on the task. It's actually not very different from the link I posted earlier.
Last edited by RCowan; 07-02-2008 at 07:40 AM.
07-02-2008, 09:03 AM
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Yea that part is broken on mine too but thats not what pisses me off about it. The thing that makes it sway/turn is loose (not the screws) and it always moves forward or backward when i accel/decel, sometimes flying right in my face
07-02-2008, 04:53 PM
#7
on a diff. car I used to own I cut a piece of carboard into the shape as the piece that screws up into the head liner, but just a hair smaller. I then put it in that piece and screwed the visor back up. It seemed to make it a bit stiffer for the visor to swing. Sooner or later it will wear out but hell for a freebie fix it worked great. If the visor still swings easily try adding another piece on that of that one.
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07-02-2008, 08:27 PM
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For the loose rotating visor, check out this thread:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...g+visor&page=3
This mod was really meant as fix for when the visor comes apart at the attachment point and falls off in your lap, but I bet if you do it so that the spring is compressed a little more, it will be harder to rotate as well. All you need is a self tapping screw and a washer. Fixed for less than $1 in parts and less than 1 hour of work. When you pull it out and look at the spring/washer assembly don't be intimidated by the fact that the washer is swaged in place. The pot metal is so soft on the end of the thing that you can "eat it off with pliers" (I did!) to remove the existing washer and with very little force (if yours hasn't come apart already). Then file the end down smooth, put your washers on and screw it down nice and snug as shown in the thread. You don't need a grinder or anything. You could probably cut the metal with a kitchen knife. I swear they used the cheapest Zamac they could buy. At least now good old aluminum is cheaper than Zamac. Good point is that since this metal is like butter, your self-tapping screw will probably not back out.
Its pretty disappointing how cheap these things are. I guess it was left-over technology from the 3rd gens. The folding mirror is fairly well done and everything for its day, and its cool how they designed the clips to both hold the lid down inside and be the hinges at the same time, but when you open this thing up and see the cheap-*** paper inside it pisses you off. If you are going to go to the trouble to recover it, do what Creed420 said and replace the "guts" as well. I'd make a thin plexiglas skeleton for it along with foam backed fabric.
I'm sure this one was a softball for improvement requests for the 5th gen: "Please GM give me sunvisors that aren't made of f*n paper!"
https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...g+visor&page=3
This mod was really meant as fix for when the visor comes apart at the attachment point and falls off in your lap, but I bet if you do it so that the spring is compressed a little more, it will be harder to rotate as well. All you need is a self tapping screw and a washer. Fixed for less than $1 in parts and less than 1 hour of work. When you pull it out and look at the spring/washer assembly don't be intimidated by the fact that the washer is swaged in place. The pot metal is so soft on the end of the thing that you can "eat it off with pliers" (I did!) to remove the existing washer and with very little force (if yours hasn't come apart already). Then file the end down smooth, put your washers on and screw it down nice and snug as shown in the thread. You don't need a grinder or anything. You could probably cut the metal with a kitchen knife. I swear they used the cheapest Zamac they could buy. At least now good old aluminum is cheaper than Zamac. Good point is that since this metal is like butter, your self-tapping screw will probably not back out.
Its pretty disappointing how cheap these things are. I guess it was left-over technology from the 3rd gens. The folding mirror is fairly well done and everything for its day, and its cool how they designed the clips to both hold the lid down inside and be the hinges at the same time, but when you open this thing up and see the cheap-*** paper inside it pisses you off. If you are going to go to the trouble to recover it, do what Creed420 said and replace the "guts" as well. I'd make a thin plexiglas skeleton for it along with foam backed fabric.
I'm sure this one was a softball for improvement requests for the 5th gen: "Please GM give me sunvisors that aren't made of f*n paper!"
07-03-2008, 10:04 PM
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Here are the pics of the sun visor in no particular order. First remove the stiching on the outside edge to open and unfold the sunvisor like an oyster. The fabrics glued to the paper on the edges.
To remove the mirror, first you have to cut the melted ends of the legs of the mirror frame on the inside as shown in the image. cut carefully with a razor. Now you can open the mirror on the outside and carefully work the glass and the mirror frame free from the visor leaving just the fold down lid. with the lid fully open, pry open the metal clips slightly, which form part of the hinges, just enough to free the lid. Now the lid is removed. Those big metal clips are now free to fall out and you can disassemble the rest of the visor as shown in the photos.
Note that the driver's side visor shown in the images already has the washer/spring assembly removed with bracket where it bolted to the car. If your visor is intact, all that stuff will be attached.
Good luck! I am currently running !sunvisors with the holes covered by the stock triangle brackets on both sides, now disassembled from their visors. I think recovering these is too much of a pain in the ***... but then again, paying $130 for a new pair of the same paper crap doesn't exactly seem worth it, either.
To remove the mirror, first you have to cut the melted ends of the legs of the mirror frame on the inside as shown in the image. cut carefully with a razor. Now you can open the mirror on the outside and carefully work the glass and the mirror frame free from the visor leaving just the fold down lid. with the lid fully open, pry open the metal clips slightly, which form part of the hinges, just enough to free the lid. Now the lid is removed. Those big metal clips are now free to fall out and you can disassemble the rest of the visor as shown in the photos.
Note that the driver's side visor shown in the images already has the washer/spring assembly removed with bracket where it bolted to the car. If your visor is intact, all that stuff will be attached.
Good luck! I am currently running !sunvisors with the holes covered by the stock triangle brackets on both sides, now disassembled from their visors. I think recovering these is too much of a pain in the ***... but then again, paying $130 for a new pair of the same paper crap doesn't exactly seem worth it, either.
07-04-2008, 04:44 PM
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I've recovered the visors in my daily driver saturn. I used the card board as a template and traced them out on thick card stock and my mother sew the fabric back around them.
11-13-2016, 09:48 AM
#11
A slight necro...
Anybody have experience with recovering these while retaining the mirror? What method was used to re-attach the mirror?
Also my '01 neutral / taupe sun visors weren't entirely constructed as the pics above with respect to the mirror. The entire mirror assembly was just held to the visor via the plastic posts / feet. The hinge clips attached the door to the mirror and mirror frame and did not hold to the fiberboard core.
I attempted to replace the plastic feet using plastic welding rods attached to the previous locations and then cut. They are a little large in diameter, but the holes can be enlarged. I am not confident they are going to hold up though. The only real surface at the back of the assembly is the mirror itself, so not sure glue is much of an option, but might try a bit of it anyway. The glue would just be going to fabric though.
Also my vanity mirror covers have always been really stiff to open. Should the hinges be greased with something? Don't know what would work well without making a mess of the visor or the mirror, and be safe for the plastic and mirror.
Anybody have experience with recovering these while retaining the mirror? What method was used to re-attach the mirror?
Also my '01 neutral / taupe sun visors weren't entirely constructed as the pics above with respect to the mirror. The entire mirror assembly was just held to the visor via the plastic posts / feet. The hinge clips attached the door to the mirror and mirror frame and did not hold to the fiberboard core.
I attempted to replace the plastic feet using plastic welding rods attached to the previous locations and then cut. They are a little large in diameter, but the holes can be enlarged. I am not confident they are going to hold up though. The only real surface at the back of the assembly is the mirror itself, so not sure glue is much of an option, but might try a bit of it anyway. The glue would just be going to fabric though.
Also my vanity mirror covers have always been really stiff to open. Should the hinges be greased with something? Don't know what would work well without making a mess of the visor or the mirror, and be safe for the plastic and mirror.
11-25-2016, 09:21 PM
#12
Here are the pics of the sun visor in no particular order. First remove the stiching on the outside edge to open and unfold the sunvisor like an oyster. The fabrics glued to the paper on the edges.
To remove the mirror, first you have to cut the melted ends of the legs of the mirror frame on the inside as shown in the image. cut carefully with a razor. Now you can open the mirror on the outside and carefully work the glass and the mirror frame free from the visor leaving just the fold down lid. with the lid fully open, pry open the metal clips slightly, which form part of the hinges, just enough to free the lid. Now the lid is removed. Those big metal clips are now free to fall out and you can disassemble the rest of the visor as shown in the photos.
Note that the driver's side visor shown in the images already has the washer/spring assembly removed with bracket where it bolted to the car. If your visor is intact, all that stuff will be attached.
Good luck! I am currently running !sunvisors with the holes covered by the stock triangle brackets on both sides, now disassembled from their visors. I think recovering these is too much of a pain in the ***... but then again, paying $130 for a new pair of the same paper crap doesn't exactly seem worth it, either.
To remove the mirror, first you have to cut the melted ends of the legs of the mirror frame on the inside as shown in the image. cut carefully with a razor. Now you can open the mirror on the outside and carefully work the glass and the mirror frame free from the visor leaving just the fold down lid. with the lid fully open, pry open the metal clips slightly, which form part of the hinges, just enough to free the lid. Now the lid is removed. Those big metal clips are now free to fall out and you can disassemble the rest of the visor as shown in the photos.
Note that the driver's side visor shown in the images already has the washer/spring assembly removed with bracket where it bolted to the car. If your visor is intact, all that stuff will be attached.
Good luck! I am currently running !sunvisors with the holes covered by the stock triangle brackets on both sides, now disassembled from their visors. I think recovering these is too much of a pain in the ***... but then again, paying $130 for a new pair of the same paper crap doesn't exactly seem worth it, either.
11-29-2016, 06:26 AM
#13
I have flappy ends on my visors as well...they are otherwise in great shape. From the pics, it seems like I could just cut the stitching and the visor opens up into 2 halves. I am thinking if some thin plastic - like those blue translucent plastic folders - were sandwiched between the two pieces of card stock, it'd be flexible in the broken joint of the flap, yet give support, and would just require restitching by hand through the same holes.
Does that make sense/seem feasible?
Does that make sense/seem feasible?
