yes it was for a taurus, the same principle will work for a contour....or any mirror for that reason. This is dimmer than the professional ones for the following reason:
a side videw mirror is a 2-way mirror. The reason for this is this: you would get a double reflection from the wide viewing angle if it was a normal mirror.
normal mirror: you are looking THRU a piece of glass looking at a reflective coating. this is to protect the reflective coating.your rear view mirror works this way, and when viewed from an angle, you will get a double reflection that is apparent especially at night. Another proof o this is they use this principle for the day/night mode swich on your mirror!
Another example.....go to your bathroom, place your fingernail so the tip is touching the mirror. it will look as is you are about 1/4 in away from the mirror. No matter what you do, it never looks like your are touching the mirror.
Now go to your side view mirror and do the same thing, and you will find that you can "touch" the mirror surface. Another proof of this is the fact that you can easly scrach the mirror surface on your side view mirrors.
Now that ive flogged the dead horse, on with the story.
so now you understand how the mirrors work and why....
all mirrors have to have a dar backing because the reflective surfaces are always transparent.....so the only diffrence between a 2-way mirror and a normal mirror, is that a normal mirror has a black paint on the back or some black backing.
Now since your side view irrors have the reflecive surface on the front, the only place they can put the black backing is on the BACKSIDE of the mirror. So most automotive mirrors have a black piece of plastic instad of a black coat of paint.
END RESULT: alll you have to do is drill thru the black plastic backin, and the led will shine thru!
Brad
