OK, that's without labor...

1) Go to local sign shop, get vinyl in the contract color you want. I wanted black, so I could have silver/black checkmate mirrors.

2) You could cut it in squares and stick it on, but the mirror's a curved surface and I wanted a "checkered dripping over the mirror" look, so I had to make liquid squares...

3) Wrap mirror in that sticky-back saran wrap (I suppose saran wrap would work too... I used Press N Seal)

4) Get the trusty laser level (mine was $1 at the dollar store) and make some lines 2" apart - using WATER-SOLUBLE marker. You do NOT want to use the permanent stuff or it'll bleed through and make a permanent mess.





5) I coloerd in the "squares" and transferred them to paper by wetting the paper and pressing it against the WATER-SOLUBLE marked plastic wrap.

6) Letting the paper dry (so it doesn't tear when you cut through it), I placed the vinyl face up ona large cutting board, and cut out the shapes (I have a .pdf template that I can send, but it's crude) If you print this out on an 8.5x11 it'll be close... If you want to see the orientation of the checkers, rotate the below image 90 degrees anti-clockwise (counter clockwise, or "lefty-loosey") and you're looking at the pattern for the DRIVER's mirror. Use a mirror image of the below for the passenger's mirror (or just use the same pattern but cut it out from the back of the decal material).



7) Starting with a center piece, gently peel back the plastic wrap and apply, then work your way around, applying the other pieces and trimming as necessary. Most of these trimmings are from the first mirror...



8) If you take your time, here's what you get:





Apologies for some poor picture quality, I'm tired (this took an hour or two and it's late).

Enjoy!

 

That is aweome! What a great job you did.

 

Great idea, great execution. I am totally impressed. Not to mention the very clear presentation.

 

Holy cow! That looks really good. Congratulations!

 

Fantastic I was gonna do my Cabrio roll bars now I have means to make it happen.

 

I'm not much on anything that isn't stealthy, but that's a beautiful job. And you did it yourself. And it wasn't expensive. =o)

 

Oustanding!

So if we send you our mirrors and 6 bucks - you'll do these for us?

 

Well Done! Great technique really clever.

 

excellent job! the "laser level/saran wrap" trick blew me away!

 

Very nice!!

 

Oooh that looks nice!

 

Excellent! Checkers are wonderful. What a great touch for the Checkmate package. Mini should make 'em!

 

that is completely amazing

 

Stop, stop, stop... you're making me blush!

I'm not really one for the non-stealthy, but let's face it, even a black on black on black mini wouldn't be stealthy, it's a mini!

 

WOW, that looks AMAZING. Great Job! I wish I had the patience to do that lol...

 

They look great. I could never do something like that, I gots no skills.

 

True. People are always asking me about mine.

 

Wow, that is an awesome job!!! Very nice!

 

Dixon- was it snowing already out there in PA?

 

Yeah, I know - dirty car - mortal sin! It was just fall leaves and rain. I cleaned the mirrors to decal them but it was raining out so the rest of the car didn't get fully washed/waxed until the next morning...

Flurries this morning though...! Brrrrr. Getting my snow tires delivered tonight...

 

very nice work. I was actually wondering if a vendor would offer silver/black checkered mirrorcaps for those of us with a silver roof. Your solution was very well executed. Thanks for the how-to.

 

Good job!! Are you taking order?

 

That is excellent work!

 

wow those look great!

 

you should sell your idea.