Mirror arms rechromed

[Doug and Nicki]

Last year, we were fortunate in winning the grand prize in the drawing while at the gathering. We sent the mirror arms to Spacecoast Plating and Metal Refinishing a couple weeks ago and received these today. 
  
Their work is incredible! I highly recommend them if your mirror arms are experiencing chrome bubbles. Everyone there was professional and they turned these around fast. 
 

Removing and reinstalling everything takes some time, but the result is impressive.

I am not affiliated with this company. Just want to recognize them for incredible quality, all the way around.

Their number is 321-254-2880. They are in Melbourne,Florida. 

[LakeBob]

Looking good!  Did you only have the arms done? 
My mirrors are in decent shape but the arms and mounting bases could use some help.  
 

I would be interested in having my arms and bases done. 

[Chargerman]

   I had mine done maybe three years ago now. I also continue to be very happy with the quality. They had a matching set of mine finished and in stock at the time so the turnaround was only the shipping time. Great folks and top shelf work. 
   I agree that getting them off and disassembled takes a little time but it is so worth it. I continue to be satisfied every time I walk by what used to be an eyesore. 

[Doug and Nicki]

On 12/26/2022 at 9:53 PM, LakeBob said:

Looking good!  Did you only have the arms done? 
My mirrors are in decent shape but the arms and mounting bases could use some help.  
 

I would be interested in having my arms and bases done. 

Yes, just the arms.

[LakeBob]

Thanks! Do you love your coach?  We are fans!!

3 hours ago, Doug and Nicki said:

Yes, just the arms.

 

[throgmartin]

Dave's SpaceCoast Plating company is the best in the country. Their chrome process far exceeds any other chrome plating company.

If you need chrome plating done, especially mirror arms and parts, Dave is the man to contact.

[Paul J A]

Reliable Plating in Milwaukee, Wi. is an OEM for HD. IF it's convenient, you may want to consider them for plating needs. 

[planodp]

Any tips or things to watch out for when removing the arm and mirror? Thanks 

[throgmartin]

On 1/12/2023 at 12:44 PM, Paul A. said:

Reliable Plating in Milwaukee, Wi. is an OEM for HD. If it's convenient, you may want to consider them for plating needs. 

Paul:

As you know, I am passionate about supporting companies who support all of us. Some companies go out of their way to support Monaco brand owners. I will gladly pay a little more and support a company that has supported me or our Monaco group. My company has been dedicated to supporting Monaco owners since its first day of operation. I have traveled the country clocking over 80,000 miles giving seminars, working with coach owners and have conducted over 2,000 free inspections. I truly appreciate it when one of our members supports my small company.

In the case of you suggesting Reliable Plating, I felt it was a slap in the face to a man who lives and breathes Monaco and lending support, especially to this group. Dave Pratt, owner of Spacecoast Plating also owns this forum. He writes checks monthly out of his own pocket to keep this forum going. He works tirelessly putting together the Annual Monocoers Gathering. He has assisted in building one of the best Monaco technical files section in the country. Since Dave is a very dear and personal friend I know he spends countless hours on the phone consulting to owners on their coach problems..........For free. Him and I have taken calls at all hours of the day and night and even on holidays to help a stranded Monaco owner.

On Facebook and here you have a habit of touting and mentioning businesses that have never held a seminar, supported Monaco owners or spent a dime traveling to a Monaco rally to lend support. In this case I felt it was a huge slap in the face to Dave for mentioning a competitor on a forum that he owns. Dave and I both give a great deal of our time to Monaco owners and you recommending competitors who could care less about Monaco, HR, Safari and Beaver owners and who never jump on Facebook or this Forum to answer technical questions or assist an owner with a problem is a real kick in the ass.

In regards to our mirror's, not one individual in the plating industry knows more about the problems with our mirrors then Dave Pratt. While Reliable may be an HD - OEM supplier, it doesn't make them experts on our mirrors. The mirror's we run on our coaches have an inherent problem with flaking and rusting and Dave knows the reason why and his plating process corrects this issue.

 

[1nolaguy]

On 1/18/2023 at 5:09 PM, throgmartin said:

Paul:

As you know, I am passionate about supporting companies who support all of us. Some companies go out of their way to support Monaco brand owners. I will gladly pay a little more and support a company that has supported me or our Monaco group. My company has been dedicated to supporting Monaco owners since its first day of operation. I have traveled the country clocking over 80,000 miles giving seminars, working with coach owners and have conducted over 2,000 free inspections. I truly appreciate it when one of our members supports my small company.

In the case of you suggesting Reliable Plating, I felt it was a slap in the face to a man who lives and breathes Monaco and lending support, especially to this group. Dave Pratt, owner of Spacecoast Plating also owns this forum. He writes checks monthly out of his own pocket to keep this forum going. He works tirelessly putting together the Annual Monocoers Gathering. He has assisted in building one of the best Monaco technical files section in the country. Since Dave is a very dear and personal friend I know he spends countless hours on the phone consulting to owners on their coach problems..........For free. Him and I have taken calls at all hours of the day and night and even on holidays to help a stranded Monaco owner.

On Facebook and here you have a habit of touting and mentioning businesses that have never held a seminar, supported Monaco owners or spent a dime traveling to a Monaco rally to lend support. In this case I felt it was a huge slap in the face to Dave for mentioning a competitor on a forum that he owns. Dave and I both give a great deal of our time to Monaco owners and you recommending competitors who could care less about Monaco, HR, Safari and Beaver owners and who never jump on Facebook or this Forum to answer technical questions or assist an owner with a problem is a real kick in the ass.

In regards to our mirror's, not one individual in the plating industry knows more about the problems with our mirrors then Dave Pratt. While Reliable may be an HD - OEM supplier, it doesn't make them experts on our mirrors. The mirror's we run on our coaches have an inherent problem with flaking and rusting and Dave knows the reason why and his plating process corrects this issue.

 

Chris, I do not know if I should direct this question to you or Dave. I have mirrors that are just starting to show blisters in the plating. I do not know if it makes a difference whether you deal with re-plating now or when the issue becomes more obvious. What is a bigger issue is not being able to remove the mirror arm from the coach. The arm, which sits in a socket that is attached to the front cap with lags. The lags are starting to back out or wallow out the wood, This I can fix as I had to do so on the passenger side. The problem is that even when I remove the bolt that holds the mirror arm on the socket I can not remove the arm or move it. THe arm will not budge, even when I "coax" it with a rubber mallet.  How do I safely remove the mirror arm from the socket?

[David Pratt]

Are your mirrors Velvac or Ramco??? If they are Velvac they will also have two Allen set screws on the bases that you have to loosen to get the arm to turn on the base. Ramco mirrors do not have the Allen set screws. In most cases the arm and base has corroded together making it difficult to separate them. If you can post a picture of the arm and base will help identify what mirror you have to proceed.

[1nolaguy]

Here is a pic of the mirror in profile. not sure the brand but only see two allen screws at the other end to hold the mirror in position.

[David Pratt]

Your mirrors are Ramco's. They will have only the bolt to hold the arm in the base. You can try spraying something like PB Blaster around the arm at the base and let it soak in over nite and that may help loosen the corrosion and allow you to turn and separate them. Another method is to use a propane torch and heat the base and not the arm and that should allow you to get the arm to turn and get it out.

If that fails, remove the head and wiring and send them to me and we can get them apart for you.

[1nolaguy]

I will try PB Blaster overnight and if that does not work I do not have a torch but do have a heat gun so I'll try that. FYI the problem is at the base plate that mounts to the coach body. This is actually a poor design, IMO, as there is no water shield and the fitting forms a well to collect water between two metal surfaces. That invites corrosion.

Also, out of curiosity, is the yellow reflector on the arm just a reflector or a light that should react to the turn signal activation? If the latter, neither side appears to work.

[David Pratt]

Yes it is a poor design. A heat gun should work.

That light on the bottom of the arm should flash with the turn signal activated. The wire connectors will get corroded and prevent them from working. They will just pop out, just gently pry down on either end to remove them.

[Chargerman]

Just a suggestion…. I had Dave’s firm do my mirrors a few years ago. I had them do the bases also even I had replaced them not too long before the arms started failing. Those cost in doing the bases is negligible in my opinion since you already have them apart. Guaranteed the bases will start to fail before long so why not take care of it now?

BTW. My mirrors still look perfect and Space Coasts customer service was excellent!

[1nolaguy]

In my case the bases are plastic. Are they to be re-chromed?

1 hour ago, David Pratt said:

Yes it is a poor design. A heat gun should work.

That light on the bottom of the arm should flash with the turn signal activated. The wire connectors will get corroded and prevent them from working. They will just pop out, just gently pry down on either end to remove them.

Thanks, will do.

[David Pratt]

If the chrome is in good shape, NO. We cannot chrome plastic and you can purchase replacements from RAMCO.

[Dr4Film]

On 6/26/2023 at 6:48 PM, 1nolaguy said:

Chris, I do not know if I should direct this question to you or Dave. I have mirrors that are just starting to show blisters in the plating. I do not know if it makes a difference whether you deal with re-plating now or when the issue becomes more obvious. What is a bigger issue is not being able to remove the mirror arm from the coach. The arm, which sits in a socket that is attached to the front cap with lags. The lags are starting to back out or wallow out the wood, This I can fix as I had to do so on the passenger side. The problem is that even when I remove the bolt that holds the mirror arm on the socket I can not remove the arm or move it. THe arm will not budge, even when I "coax" it with a rubber mallet.  How do I safely remove the mirror arm from the socket?

I was able to remove the Ramco arms from the base by soaking the joint with PB Blaster for a couple of days. Then remove the cap covering the bolt head from the bottom of the arm. Go to the hardware and purchase the same size bolt diameter and thread but it has to be 6 inches long. Remove the original bolt, then screw the 6 inch bolt all the way in until it stops and its nice and tight. Using a sledge plus another person on a ladder holding the mirror head, give the bolt head a good whack. The arm will pop right out.

[1nolaguy]

1 hour ago, Dr4Film said:

I was able to remove the Ramco arms from the base by soaking the joint with PB Blaster for a couple of days. Then remove the cap covering the bolt head from the bottom of the arm. Go to the hardware and purchase the same size bolt diameter and thread but it has to be 6 inches long. Remove the original bolt, then screw the 6 inch bolt all the way in until it stops and its nice and tight. Using a sledge plus another person on a ladder holding the mirror head, give the bolt head a good whack. The arm will pop right out.

Thanks Richard. Will give that a try. Soaked with PB Blaster for about 8 hr and tried heat but still won;t budge. Will look for a bolt later today or tomorrow. BTW- found it weird that it is a 14mm head on the bolt. would have thought it to be std. Do you know if the bolt is metric? That would help narrow the search.

[Dr4Film]

I don't remember. Just remove the one that is there and match it with a 6 inch one from the hardware store.

[Viper04]

Have a 2000 Dynasty with Velvac mirrors. Are the mirror backs metal or plastic. Mine feel like Very thin pot metal or plastic. If Plastic can Dave plate them as well as the rest of the assembly? How do you disassemble the mirror backs and remove the mirrors. Mine do not have a Top Hat but would like to add one if possible. 
 

thx

Tim

Viper04

[Dr4Film]

@Viper04 As Dave had stated in a previous post, his shop cannot re-chrome the plastic mirror housings. I have read where there may be shops located somewhere in the country that can. You would need to do some Googling to find them.

Top Hats are available from Velvac.

Edited June 29, 2023 by Dr4Film

[Viper04]

Thx

Tim

[Tom Cherry]

1 hour ago, Dr4Film said:

@Viper04 As Dave had stated in a previous post, his shop cannot re-chrome the plastic mirror housings. I have read where there may be hops located somewhere in the country that can. You would need to do some Googling to find them.

Top Hats are available from Velvac.

As a Certified Electro Finisher (American Electroplaters Society), I would be cautious of replating plastic heads. I have considerable experience as my company had one of the first "plating lines", developed by the chemical vendor that was a (THE) leader in electroplating of plastics. TRY as we did, with their assistance, salvaging plastic parts and replating them was not successful. I would be VERY careful about doing this.  YES, David is a dear friend....but this is a FACT...  He is the ONLY person in the US that I would trust for replating (or plating) new something.

NOW, maybe the technology has changed.  I would do the cost analysis of new heads versus trying to have plastic heads replated.  Odds are, I would opt for NEW and get on with it and not have to disassemble and repeat in a few years as the second plating job, on PLASTIC, will be far inferior to the OEM.

NOW....that is my take from over 30 years of finishing and 20 years of being an internal plating consultant to my company and spending about $5 Million on new or upgrading plating lines....BUT...things may have changed....  FWIW...