Repaint and thin no more
 

My kid nearly scraped the driver's side mirror off as she backed into a light pole. I bought one on eBay that is the right model but wrong color.

So, whadda I do? Lightly sand the whole thing then primer it? Then sand the primer (after it's dried) with a fine grit, like a 220?

Then paint flat black for several coats (I don't know how to match the color of oxidized, faded black so I'm thinking, WTF, it's the kid's bumper car until she quits hitting things).

Oh '88 300E. Burgundy with (apparently) black mirrors.

Use a brush and roller and tape it up for overbrushing. Reinforce with fiberglass as it will get hit again. Put up a chart with checks on it and see how many she can accumulate in a limited amount of time.

Grab a beer, a lawnchair and enjoy seeing that disaster.

CHEERS!!!

Peter

Forget the painting. Buy another mirror housing in the color that matches your car.

Oh, a wise guy, eh? May you have many teenage daughters, is my curse on you.

I sanded the mirror (housing) with a 150# and then smoothed it with a 220#. Damp clothed it to get the particles off. Let it dry for about 1/2 hr. Then sprayed the primer. Waited 15 minutes and re-applied. Got some lumpy stuff so let it dry for about 1/2 hr and sanded with 400#. Reapplied primer and it looks okay. Waited an hour (according to directions and sprayed paint (flat black). Looks like I should have damp wiped it again because of some particles that I didn't see so I'm now waiting for it to dry so I can sand those spots down and repaint. Work in progress.

a couple of suggestions
 

hello

1. 150-220 grit is considered roughing steps. you must finish at least 400 or maybe 800 if you're anal like me.

2. know that the quality of paint you're buying. 1.00 to 2.99 $ paint is thin and crappy. lower amount of solids. dries faster but least quality. if you're using rustoleum or krylon that stuff needs to dry 24 hrs before repaint. i don't care what their instructions are. those brands have the highest level of solids. remember that if recoat before the last coat has fully dried you'll be waiting for 2 coats to dry and so on.

3. if you are serious i'd say stop by an automotive paint supply and get them to fill up a spray can [ just like the store ] with what ever range of flat black. this could cost 7.50 to 10.00 per can but...... you'd have automotive paint quality. they'll add the thinner at the right mix levels. you might also ask about dryers or other additives.

4. and the last suggestion is paint it where stuff flying around won't land and ruin the finish. you want to not have to redo at this last step. maybe you could paint outside garage whatever and then bring it in and leave in the stove or bathroom.

good luck

I lucked into doing a couple of your steps correctly. Too bad I didn't have patience to wait a couple of days to get started.

I noticed the roughened look of the coarser grits and have been using 400 since. 800 does seem pretty excessive, but then, I'm repairing a bumper car for teenagers to learn to drive.

The spray paint came from AutoZone. I looked at the blacks they had and chose one that looked closest. Yep, you're right, cheap is cheap in every way. I think if I were doing this on my E320 I would sand it down and start over with higher quality paint.

It takes a lot of spraying and a lot of waiting until it dries. Maybe an hour between coats unless I want to touch-up with sanding then I'm waiting a little longer. I'm painting in a enclosed area where I keep my garbage cans so it isn't perfect but there's no wind and it is a concrete floor. I should've thought of that before. That's probably where those tiny specks or bumps are coming from that I have had to sand off.

Even so, it looks okay and is pretty close to the black of the rest of the car. I'm hoping it will fade a bit (gray) and then it will match very well.

$20 for the mirror and I guess $10 for the primer and paint.