Technical "Glass" made of plastic near the rear mirrors

[eolonano]

I would like to buy a used multipla 1.6 petrol from year 2006 till the end of production....

Today I've checked my first car and I've discovered the gunge on the dashboard:bang: and those little AWFUL pieces of plastic on the front-side doors, all cracked and yellowed....
Anyone knows something about how much do they cost, or has any clues on how to do the job? (I suspect that they are glued using PU, but they are a separate piece from the mirror itself, right?).

And if you have any suggestion on things I would better check before buying it will be appreciated!
(for example, are there differences between model year 2006 and 2010 or it's the exact same car?)

 

[eolonano]

Sorry, in the title I said rear mirrors, I think wing mirrors is the correct word, but it seems I can't edit it myself....

 

[widemouthfrog]

They cost a hell of a lot (last time I enquired, over £100 each but there was no stock available), they are as you say bonded to the door frame with some sort of PU adhesive and they are entirely separate from the door mirror assemblies.

It would be fairly simple to machine a mould to drape-form new polycarbonate windows, pre-screenprinted with the black obscuration border, then cnc rout them to shape. Not the work of a moment, but it could well be the only way to get replacements now.

 

[eolonano]

Thank you... so the options here are to create a new panel (non an easy job) or to desperately search for spare parts that are out of stock (I'm wondering if here in Italy...but I didn't found the part on eper, in the anterior door section.... no OEM number ??!!?);

In case of DIY, what do think of a "completely black" solution? less problem in the future, and, for what I saw, I don't think that through that panel you can see some useful information that can support your driving, am I right?

Perhaps, when new, you can see something through it, but the one that I saw, all cracked and yellowed, it was almost completely opaque....

 

[widemouthfrog]

I'm pretty sure that the small window panels are the same for the facelift as for the original roundnose. Try looking for part numbers 735393393 & 735393395. Also 735347297 & 735347298 (which on ePER have a note saying "E070 - darkened rear windows" so presumably they are tinted ones). Let me know if you find any, as I too would be interested in buying a pair!


Taking the homemade option, a good quality polycarbonate would resist weather for many years without yellowing or cracking.


A couple of years ago, FIAT sent out a directive to dealers to clear stock of most infrequently-ordered parts for the Multipla. This was to clear stock centrally, not just those items sat on the shelves at dealers. There was a UK dealer group (Desira Fiat) that through their website made this 'public' in some small way - on their online parts ordering pages, for 30 days you could type in any part number and if it was part of the stock that FIAT had earmarked for clearance, then you could order that part at huge discount (typically around 70-80% off). The only problem was, they didn't have a list of all the discounted parts, so it was literally a case of typing in as many part numbers as you could think of and seeing if you got lucky. I spent about £270 on a pile of bits, many of which I had no immediate need for, but I knew that "when it's gone, it's gone, and gone for good" so it was worth buying them. I bought speaker grilles, airboxes, battery shelves, leather gear knob, air vents, cup holders, sound deadening mats - literally anything I could think of. When I phoned them, Desira told me that any stock unsold at the end of that September (2016?) would probably be scrapped

 

[eolonano]

You certainly did your homework!!!
Thanks for all the useful information;

It seems that it would be like searching for a needle in the haystack....
And, even if I found them, I imagine I'll end up paying a stratospheric price! I've seen some listings, now out-of-stock, that were pricing the item around 200 euro each!

So, it seems that only the DIY solution is doable; is it possible for you to check for the thickness of the material used?

Is it a planar surface straight applied or is it bended/curved to follow the profile of the car?

If it is not a complex shape, i think is better to try to find a DIY solution because, if I understand right, that piece holds the wing mirror, and in case of any violent impact of the mirror itself, I can expect it would crack again (and, after that, another treasure hunt ending up with 400 euro less in my wallet...)

 

[widemouthfrog]

There's a new one of one of the tinted versions (I can't remember which side, but there's a photo of it in the listing) on ebay Italy at the moment for €45. Only the one side unfortunately. Searching for those part numbers on google, there have been 2 or 3 sold on ebay this year, so it may be using the part numbers as a saved search, then wait and see if anything comes up.


As regards the DIY solution, the outer panel is compound curved (i.e. curved in two directions). That is why a DIY version would have to be drape formed - that's heating the plastic in an oven until it becomes soft, then laying it over a form of the right shape so that it 'drapes' itself to that form. Thinking about it, the curvature is not severe (but it is enough to rule out just using a flat sheet) so it may be possible to stick some baize (like the fabric that's used on snooker and pool tables - it's the stuff normally used for drape forming tools as it's soft and won't mark the surface of the heated sheet of plastic) onto the outside of an old "Glass", then use that as the form. Baize can be bought on ebay. The self-adhesive stuff is simple to use. It wouldn't be quite the right curvature because the inside face of the new part would have the curvature of the outside face of the old one, but it would be close enough I reckon. You could then trace the outlines onto the inside of the sheet by drawing around the old part, while the two are still held together. Polycarbonate is quite tough and durable (crash helmet visors are made from it) and it's a bit tedious to cut by hand, but it can be done and it won't shatter like some other plastics can.


Polycarbonate can be heated to a soft ("plastic") state very easily in a normal kitchen oven. Heat it slowly or it will warp badly and don't exceed the melting point (155C) or it will get out of hand and very smelly (toxic smelly, too ). Get the oven to a steady 125-130C and gradually increase the temperature until you can see the plastic starting to droop.


The DIY approach will only give you the outer clear panel. I think you'd have to cut the old "glass" off of the inner frame and bond the new one in place with a PU mastic or similar.

 

[eolonano]

Thank you very much for all the information you gave me; I'm going through some of the cars listed in my area, and I've found different state of wear for that particular piece of plastic.

I'll keep that in mind when discussing the price.

 

[MultipleMultis]

Would these plastics not polish clear again like cloudy headlights ? Has anyone tried?

 

[eolonano]

no, you can't do that: when they become old, they tend to crack internally, and you can see all the cracks. lots of them.

 

[MultipleMultis]

I just had a go at one of mine with rubbing compound and a pad on the drill. Cleaned up really well like a headlight would.
No internal cracks yet though. I think my 2002 did internally craze. This 2004 kid ok.
UV protector might be the thing for me next as a preventer for cracks? Does anybody know of anything that works for this?

Photo shows one done and one not.

 

[chris3234]

I just had a go at one of mine with rubbing compound and a pad on the drill. Cleaned up really well like a headlight would.
No internal cracks yet though. I think my 2002 did internally craze. This 2004 kid ok.
UV protector might be the thing for me next as a preventer for cracks? Does anybody know of anything that works for this?

Photo shows one done and one not.

Clear lacquer is what they normally use for headlights do see why it wouldn't work here

 

[eolonano]

Yes, I think a specific laquer for headlight might work.

In that case, you have first to sand the surface (or it will peel away)