Does anyone know how to go about dismantling the plastic housing on the mirror from the glass mirror and metal stem? Is it possible? The ANIML went down recently and the mirror housing got scratched, among other damage. I'm hoping I can take them apart to prep and paint in pieces before reassembling.

Same damage happened to mine when I dropped it. I took off the whole mirror, sanded down the scratch, taped right along that pointed edge between the bottom and the top of the mirror housing, taped off the mirror glass, shot a light coat of primer trying not to hit the edge of the tape too much (so there would not be an edge where the paint was masked off), sprayed a couple light coats of Krylon Satin Black. Feather off the edge where you masked with a super fine polishing compound applied with your finger, fresh paint polishes off very easy. It will be a tad bit glossier than the OEM finish but after a week, it will match perfectly.

The only thing was that I did not sand deep enough to level out the entire scratch. I don't even know it's there now though. It's on the bottom. If I don't see it, no way anyone will.

You might try NOT masking the edge between the top and bottom. That way no paint edge. You will easily be able to polish off any overspray that hits the top if you do it within a day.

These are the paints I used.

This stuff is very fine, I use it once or twice/year all over my fairings. The Scratch remover is a little finer than the rubbing compound.

* Last updated by: Rook on 8/4/2014 @ 9:47 PM *

You could do the whole mirror housing. My touchup held up perfectly for 4 years, then I removed the mirrors altogether.

* Last updated by: Rook on 8/4/2014 @ 9:49 PM *

Thanks Rook. I've got a compressor, spray guns, automotive paints and loads of polishes. If I have to spray them at all, I am hoping to upgrade them and spray them jet black gloss while I'm at it. Luckily the scratches are only paint deep and didn't damage the plastic. They're just a bugger of a shape for spraying the whole thing. I'm not very experienced with spraying complex shapes. That's why I'd like to pull them apart if I can and spray the components individually.