The Windshield & Rearview Mirror Saga

Try "threw."

Uh...try moving the base plate up or down to avoid the chip? Permatex mirror adhesive works well as long as you prep the glass as per directions with 94% isopropyl alcohol, available at most pharmacies. Don't just "Windex" the glass, as it does leave deposits, as does 70% "rubbing" alcohol. Properly prepped, I've never had Permatex adhesive fail on these repairs.

My experience was that a Las Cruces summer would cause it to fail; I was putting it back on annually. JB Weld fixed it permanently.

I don't know where DesertBob is... if he's somewhere hotter than here then I wasn't prepping it as well as I thought I was; if he's somewhere cooler, then the Permatex adhesive doesn't stand up to extreme heat.

Really, PERMATEX works on glass-to-glass as well as metal-to-glass?

JB Weld for metal-to-glass and glass-to-glass...

That's good to know!

Thanks,

Joe

Of course, be aware that it *isn't* transparent.

Been to Las Cruces...mild there!

Edge of the Mojave Desert.

115° here isn't uncommon, and the 2500 ft elevation provides excessive UV year 'round.

If you used "rubbing alcohol" to prep the glass, that was your undoing. "Rubbing alcohol" contains 5% glycerine by volume and is unsuitable for industrial/mechanical cleaning purposes. It also contains 25% water by volume.

Permatex REAR VIEW MIRROR ADHESIVE, yes. Permatex RTV or #2, no way.

Another Permatex product that works, but it a bit fragile: Rear window defogger repair goop.

Thanks!

You didnt' seem to think that I really did live in a "desert," and I assure you that I do!

Las Cruces has a very dry desert climate, making summer cooling via adiabatic means a snap. We enjoy that same benefit, although are foiled when monsoonal flow from Mexico messed things up. As I remember it, it's a very nice town all around...certainly a bit more likable than Alamogordo to the north!

Seattle's a great city as well as it Portland, but that constant parade of Pacific storms anytime other than in summer is enough to drive one to the antidepressants.

So you're a little hotter than here (105 is common, 115 is uncommon but not unheard of), and we're a little higher than you (4000 ft). Don't know which difference is more significant.

Looking around a bit, it looks like the amount of water varies by brand; I haven't found a brand that admits to having any glycerine in it, though about the only thing various brands of rubbing alcohol seem to have in common is that they have some amount of isopropyl alcohol. Frankly, it's been enough years since I last had to put the mirror back on that I don't remember what I used to clean it with... rubbing alcohol is a possibility.