75ZT Community

I think others have tried before me to find a manufacturer who could supply or manufacture worm gear for the powerfold mirrors as when they fail that is invariably the part that is worn and renders the mirror inoperative - see picture below.



This normally means a replacement mirror which we all know are expensive and cost around £100 each when if we could find someone to make the worm gear the mirrors could be saved and repaired for a lot less once we have the tooling costs paid.

As time goes on i guess the powerfolds, which are already fairly scarce will become even more difficult to source so it makes sense to find another and cheaper solution to keep them going.

So far i have found 6 UK companies who make worm gear and e mailed them
about a week ago and so far only one has replied who cannot help.

This is therefore a plea to any members who know any engineering companies who have the capability to make these to let me know who they are so i can make contact.

Presumably the Chinese are fitting powerfolds on the MG and Roewe and maybe even using the same worm gear and design so the ideal situation would be to find out who supplies them and " buy them off the shelf " but that’s probably a tall order

I'm in contact with a company in Dusselsorf who might be able to help Rob, but they aren't very enthusiastic

even if theres a spark there Paul keep going or if you want me to do anything let me know and please keep me posted if you get anywhere, there will likely be tooling costs but they can be shared by interested members if not too great

I was given to understand that they probably have suitable parts available in a parts bin Rob. I'm just waiting for them to let me know if it is OK for me to send the sample over there.

As I said though, they don't seem too enthusiastic

ok maybe we should fly over and give them a nudge !

Not knocking what Paul has produced but that is why I posted on another topic about the danger of the plastic cog wearing like above if they open and close each time the car is used. Fine if there are replacements but if not then the mirros become no longer powerfolds.

Presumably plastic has been used as an intentional weak point should the mirros be obstructed from opening or closing.

Would have thought that they would not have been specifically produced for the mirros but an off the shelf item - the fun finding the shelf.

If all else fails then remaunfacture will need to be commissioned.

Paul

"If all else fails then remaunfacture will need to be commissioned."

and thats why i am opening up the problem to the members to see who knows who and what so that remanufacture can be done

How do BMW ones operate?

yes going down the BMW route is a possibility but it is not the type of part that would be listed separately as they will probably sell the whole mirror, so i still need to find the supplier

If you can find who supplies BMW with the mirrors then they may supply the gear of point towards the part supplier.

And my sash has slipped to the side

Good luck Rob! I'm finding the biggest problem with custom parts is the tooling cost. The pins I've been looking for I got quoted a production cost of approx 23p and 17p but the tooling cost was £5k! If you can find the original manufacturer you'll be on to a winner!

when i was sourcing the bespoke Rover badges for the MG7 Grille i had tooloing quotes from a few granddown to about £300 which was dooable

That's good news, encouragement for me to keep on the search for a company to do them!

Well I can now give you all an update on this with good news and bad news !

I have found a specialist gear company who can make them for us, but each one has to be done by hand which makes it a long process and not cheap.

The quote I have will make each gear just under £40 when VAT is added and that is a minimum order of 100

It is expensive but as time goes on if that is the only option to save mirrors which sell for around over £200 a pair it might be an option.

I have other irons in the fire and will continue with my quest !

I don't have clue on the sizes here ( No powerfolds )

Any thing here of use, http://tinyurl.com/boms6qp or modify able ?

thanks for the link but in my experience companies will not have anything off the shelf, so if they agree to make them, it will involve tooling costs which sometimes run into thousands but I will give them a try nevertheless

That's a tad more than I expected Rob. PLUS you need to get 100

I know Paul so I will continue looking

I used to deal with these people, they were quite reasonable at the time.-
http://www.muffettgears.co.uk/

thanks for the link Bernard will try them too