Interior door mirror cover (Triangle trim repair)

[dds28]

One of the interior door mirror trim covers on my car had a missing tab. Must’ve broken off when it was removed. It’s been bothering me since the top was loose so I decided to experiment with repairing it. I used the other side which was a good part as a template. I went to my office and used my dental intraoral scanner that I use for teeth and scanned the tab. Since I only have a printer for dental use, I used it to print the missing tab in clear resin that I use to print night guards. I have other dental resins that I use for crowns but was too lazy to change the vat. I then trimmed the tab to fit as close to the original dimensions and JB welded to the cover. I was surprised it actually held the piece in place and fits quite well. Saved me from buying one from eBay.

 

[gsxr]

Nice work!

Tip: I've found these tabs tend to break because they stick too tightly into the receiver clip. I file the locking edge of the tab slightly so it will pop out with less force in the future. This stays in place fine but allows removal with less chance of breakage.

 

[Glen]

If you print in ABS or ASA, you can chemically weld the tabs to the base, creating a connection about as strong as original. But of course, you’d need an FDM printer.

 

[dds28]

I wish I had the appropriate printer. I only have a DLP printer that I use for work. If anyone wants the STL scan file I can upload it. Hopefully file not too large to upload.

 

[Glen]

Please post the .stl. You can attach it to this thread by adding a '.txt' extension to the file name. I posted my versions for the tab and peg in another thread some time ago. Would love to compare.

Here's my old post:

Post in thread 'Making usable 3D parts for our cars'

Feb 25, 2025

Interior mirror trim triangle repair. The original part appears to be made of ABS which is easy to chemically weld with off the shelf ABS cement or homemade ABS slurry (ABS pieces dissolved in acetone). I drew and printed replacement tabs to fix the driver side panel in my S124. Result is really strong! If you have the original tabs you can reattach the same way. This is significantly stronger than using super glue or traditional plastic welding via heat. With a slurry mixture you can also repair larger areas.




I'm attaching the .stl files ( as .txt...

• Glen

• 
• 

 

[dds28]

That looks good, Definitely a more professional repair than mine! I am not sure how to attach a .txt to the stl file to upload.

 

[gerryvz]

You can also upload it as a ZIP file, I believe.

If it doesn't work, please let me know.

 

[dds28]

Hope the STL went through

 

[Glen]

You have a very nice scanner. The model is very detailed! Here's a picture of your scan next to what I drew in Fusion.

 

[Glen]

Playing around in Fusion...here's the two models combined:


I've also attached the combined peg .stl in case anyone wants to try it. Be sure to print it solid, on it's side so the layers run along the length or it won't be strong enough.

 

[dds28]

Nice combination of the scans. I wasn't sure if the scanner would pick up the details since it was designed for teeth. We do work within microns so I know the scanner itself for its intended use is super accurate.

 

[dds28]

Thank you for cleaning up the stl. Looks great!

 

[duuder]

I glued a paper clip and bent it into shape, that was about 10 years ago - still pretty good