Category Archives: Tips and Tricks

Gridfinity 2: Ratchet Test

Posted on June 17, 2025 by RussD

By this point you should be familiar with my approach to something new: start with a simple test piece, iterate until I’m happy, and then move through progressively more complex designs until I get what I want. So, instead of … Continue reading →

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Gridfinity Rabbit Hole

Posted on June 9, 2025 by RussD

One of the reasons for getting a 3D printer was to print out various types of organizers for the workshop. There are literally thousands of different designs floating around. A search for organizers quickly leads you to the modular Gridfinity … Continue reading →

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Speaker Spacing

Posted on May 6, 2025 by RussD

Plans for a future radio upgrade included adding a pair of speakers to the package shelf behind the rear seat. Time to actually install them while the interior was apart. Turns out that there were already cutouts in the package … Continue reading →

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Electrical 22: Retain that Switch!

Posted on April 28, 2025 by RussD

The power window switches on old Chryslers have a fatal weakness – the spring clips that hold them in place break easily. The window switches are inserted into the door cards. Every time the door card is removed the switch … Continue reading →

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Electrical 21: New HVAC Dimmer

Posted on April 21, 2025 by RussD

I’m moderately proud of figuring out a way to use modern LED technology to replace the 60 year old electroluminescent technology in the HVAC (Heater Ventilation and Air Conditioning) controls. On the other hand, the mounting for the dimmer control … Continue reading →

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Tuning the Milling Machine

Posted on September 16, 2024 by RussD

I recently made a couple of parts on the milling machine. The first was for mounting a Quick Change Tool Post (QCTP) on the lathe. A QCTP makes it quick and easy to change cutting tools on a lathe and … Continue reading →

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Electrical 16: Heater Illumination

Posted on August 19, 2024 by RussD

The Imperial uses electroluminescent lighting for the instrument panel, heater controls and transmission controls. The heater and transmission use plastic pushbuttons with a panel beside them to light the button caps. Unfortunately these panels degrade over time and now barely … Continue reading →

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Learning with Cechaflo

Posted on May 28, 2024 by RussD

Tackling upholstery has been a learning experience in many ways. My usual approach when tackling a new skill is to get some books on the subject, see if any classes are available, start with practice pieces, and then tackle a … Continue reading →

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Re-Trimming the Car

Posted on May 2, 2023 by RussD

With the paint finally finished the next step was to reinstall all of the trim on the car – all 873 pieces of it. There are three types of trim pieces on this car – steel (mainly the bumpers), cast … Continue reading →

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Electrical 16: Headlighting

Posted on April 19, 2023 by RussD

Previous electrical: Electrical 15: Factory Wiring Diagrams. With the beautifully chromed headlight buckets ready to install it is time to complete the job of upgrading headlight wiring. You may recall from a previous post that I left the original factory … Continue reading →

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