Runabout order placed

2278 Views 17 Replies 10 Participants Last post by freedomgli, Nov 1, 2006

black roadster

Discussion Starter · Oct 30, 2006

This may be the last mod to my exterior.

I can't wait to get them. I ordered them from Leni. Best thing is they were free! I won a Magnaflow exhaust at Miatas at Hallett and I did a bit of bartering with a friend. I already have FM Duals.

Some questions for Runabout owners.

1. I have power mirrors. How complicated will the install be?

2. I know I'm losing lots of mirror surface but is it easy to get used to?

3. Do I need to swap the mirrors because I have a LHD car as has been mentioned in other threads?

4. Anyone concerned with theft?

5. Anything else you don't like or I need to know about?

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freedomgli

· #2 · Oct 30, 2006

black roadster @ Sun Oct 29 said:
I won a Magnaflow exhaust at Miatas at Hallett

Congratulations! That's an awesome prize.

1. Sorry, I can't help here as I had oem manual mirrors.

2. It's quite a dramatic change at first but you get used to them very quickly. I don't miss the larger mirror surface area of the factory mirrors one bit. I can see very well with them and never have worries about blind spots or heavy traffic. They get the job done quite well.

3. No. I swapped lenses from left to right and I didn't notice any difference. The Runabout optics are a little different than oem so it fools your eye a bit but you will get used to it.

4. My car was usually garaged but the mirrors didn't stop me from going about my daily life. If you park outside there is additional risk of theft because they are desireable and the hardware is exposed. Fortunately there are much fewer Roadster owners and even fewer who know what a Runabout mirror is which reduces the liklihood of theft.

5. Get them before they're gone. I love them and think they're one of my most favorite mods I ever did to the car.

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jux

· #3 · Oct 30, 2006

Great to read you're finally getting your mirrors!! I think it was almost exactly a year ago when you told me about wanting a certain style of mirror...and now you're getting them. =D>
Nicely done, sir, nicely done.

black roadster

Discussion Starter · #4 · Oct 30, 2006

jux @ Sun Oct 29 said:
Great to read you're finally getting your mirrors!! I think it was almost exactly a year ago when you told me about wanting a certain style of mirror...and now you're getting them. =D>
Nicely done, sir, nicely done.

I was really wanting Talbot style mirrors but since these bolt up directly that is a major plus. Thanks for the kudos though.

black roadster

Discussion Starter · #5 · Oct 30, 2006

freedomgli @ Sun Oct 29 said:
black roadster @ Sun Oct 29 said:

I won a Magnaflow exhaust at Miatas at Hallett

Click to expand...

Congratulations! That's an awesome prize.

Thanks for the info. I was quite surprised to win. Good thing is my friend gets to use the prize for an exhaust on his Mazdaspeed Miata and I get something that was totally not in the budget. I also stocked up on some Zaino products.

Greg G

· #6 · Oct 30, 2006

black roadster @ Mon Oct 30 said:
This may be the last mod to my exterior.

If I had a dollar for everytime i said that to myself... :lol:

boogie van

· #7 · Oct 30, 2006

you should not have a problem replacing your power mirrors. what do you do want to do when removing them is to take off your interior door panels, and inside the door there is actually a plug in the wiring you can disconnect when you want to remove the mirrors. this way if you ever need to re-install them, its just plug and play so to speak.

black roadster

Discussion Starter · #8 · Oct 30, 2006

Thanks for the info!

JDMC

· #9 · Oct 30, 2006

=D> Congrats on the purchase.. install is a breeze, though mine were manual.

They will take a few days to get used to.. as they are quite a bit small than stock, but once you do they won't bother you a bit.

Like freedomgli said, no need to worry about swapping, both mirrors seem pretty close to being the same.

I wouldn't worry to much about theft (unless it's Wednesday night @ Escape) no one else around here knows what the hell the are or what they are worth.

druz

· #10 · Oct 30, 2006

M2 used these bolts (at least on the 1028 mirrors), which I guess would help security a little. You might be able to find something locally similar.

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freedomgli

· #11 · Oct 30, 2006

That is a cool tidbit. Thanks for sharing.

timallen

· #12 · Oct 30, 2006

One thing about replacing the OEM power mirrors.

The footprint is larger than the Runabout mirrors' footprint.

As far as the removal of the power mirrors, take the door panel off and remove the speaker. You'll then be able to fish and grasp the connector for the power mirror. Disconnect this before removing the screws up top! Zip tie the plug to the speaker wires so they don't get in the way of the window.

Make sure to clean very well the area where the mirror was. I used a light rubbing compound to get rid of any wax residue or markings. Then I followed up with a couple coats of wax before installing the mirrors.

Also, you wanna make sure not to tighten down the bolts too much or you will end up with faint dents :shock: below the mirror from the extra pressure.

black roadster

Discussion Starter · #13 · Oct 31, 2006

Wow!

DHL just delivered the mirrors. Order placed on Sunday. Received on Tuesday in Texas! =D>

Sadly, I have to wait until the wifey gets home to install them. She drove it to work today. #-o

I'll post pics later after the car gets a bath. She's dirty!

Phatmiata

· #14 · Oct 31, 2006

mmmmmm yummy i can see the infamous RED M2 baggy in the background................

JDMC

· #15 · Oct 31, 2006

black roadster @ Tue Oct 31 said:
Wow! DHL just delivered the mirrors. Order placed on Sunday. Received on Tuesday in Texas!!

Yea, Leni is pretty quick.. I've always liked ordering from him.

black roadster

Discussion Starter · #16 · Nov 1, 2006

Installed with no problems but the mirrors will take some getting used to. They look bad ass though!

roadsternut

· #17 · Nov 1, 2006

druz @ Mon Oct 30 said:
M2 used these bolts (at least on the 1028 mirrors), which I guess would help security a little. You might be able to find something locally similar.

Torx screws.

Anyone know how the mirror comes out? I have a ding in one of my M2-1002 mirrors, but I need to take the mirror out to beat it. Otherwise, at a show at the weekend, I found a lot of mirrors, cheap, with identical heads,

freedomgli

· #18 · Nov 1, 2006

I'm not sure if the M2 mirrors are the same but on the Runabout M2 style mirrors there is a black rubber gasket around the edge of the mirror glass. Carefully pry this gasket out with a thin blade flat screwdriver. Once the gasket is out the mirror will fall out so be sure to catch it! On my Runabouts the reflective coating on the back of the mirror was very fragile and scratched easily so be careful. If I recall correctly there is also a spring behind the mirror glass that pushes it into the gasket and keeps everything in place. You may need to apply gentle pressure to the mirror glass to compress the spring to get the gasket started.

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