Imperial Journey - a Restoration Saga

[Ohmthis]

Freaking slide rules and compasses to the rescue!!!! When you said drafting set, I said the **** is getting real! My dad has a ton of drafting tools that I have used and keep in my tool box. That was a great idea to make a series of radii to match what was there. I may make a set on poster board and keep with my fab tools!

 

[rdoty]

I still have my first slide rule <digs it out of drawer> - a Pickett N4-ES Vector-type Log Log Dual Base Speed Rule... Slide rules make nice decoration, but I don't miss using them at all!

I find it fascinating how much modern solid modeling CAD systems are built on drafting style geometric construction. Almost everything I do while building complex solid models is based on drafting techniques I learned <way to many> years ago! Plus drafting based design really forces you to get good at visualizing parts.

While CAD is great you need physical tools to measure physical parts. And there is still a place for manual layout and classic Cardboard Aided Design!

 

[dscheidt]

Freaking slide rules and compasses to the rescue!!!! When you said drafting set, I said the **** is getting real! My dad has a ton of drafting tools that I have used and keep in my tool box. That was a great idea to make a series of radii to match what was there. I may make a set on poster board and keep with my fab tools!

There are adjustable radius gauges, which you adjust to match the radius you're copying, and and then read the result off the scale. They're not cheap, and you need an inside and outside, but they're very handy.

 

[Ohmthis]

There are adjustable radius gauges, which you adjust to match the radius you're copying, and and then read the result off the scale. They're not cheap, and you need an inside and outside, but they're very handy.

Yep, my late stepdad (a tool and die maker) had radius gauges. A few minutes and some card board and I could make several. It’s an idea I guess. Thank you for the info.

 

[rdoty]

There are adjustable radius gauges, which you adjust to match the radius you're copying, and and then read the result off the scale. They're not cheap, and you need an inside and outside, but they're very handy.

Interesting! I wasn't familiar with them and had to look it up. Fascinating, elegant, and somewhat complex gadgets. The people who made the industrial revolution weren't dummies! I've got a huge amount to learn about machining, fabrication, and metrology. Thanks for the reference!

 

[dscheidt]

This is the sort I've used. (I don't know if they were this exactly, but they were similar). different from the fixed sort of radius gauges that machinists use.

RG-750, Arc Master Small Radius Gauge Set

This pair of small inside and outside radius measuring gauges are great to measure bent tubes ranging from a 2.5 inch to 30 inch radius.

www.trick-tools.com

Interesting! I wasn't familiar with them and had to look it up. Fascinating, elegant, and somewhat complex gadgets. The people who made the industrial revolution weren't dummies! I've got a huge amount to learn about machining, fabrication, and metrology. Thanks for the reference!

No kidding. The number of amazing machines and mechanisms that came out of the 18th and 19th centuries are mind boggling, as are the ways they figured out how to make stuff with pretty basic machine tooling.

 

[rdoty]

Unfortunately we aren’t done yet. Three back panels are required – two sides and a center piece. These panels fit around the mounting brackets for the seat back and arm rest. Unlike the factory cover, these will be seat material instead of carpet. Measure each panel, cut it out, sew it together, test fit, and then sew to the rest of the seat cover.

Finally we are ready to fit the entire cover. With some pushing, pulling, tweaking, and cursing the complete cover is in place and looking good. Flip the seat over the use hog rings to secure the seat cover to the frame. Then flip it back upright and check the overall fit. Not bad, not bad at all! Since everything is in its final position, cut out the holes for all of the mounting points.

Being thoroughly paranoid at this point, completely assemble the entire seat – including arm rest and seat backs – and check the whole seat over for any last problems. Everything still looks good…

Time to take the seat back apart, drag the engine hoist out of the corner, hook everything up, and call She Who Must Be Obeyed for help.

The seat base went back into the car smoothly. The mounting bolts slipped into their holes in the bottom of the car – everything still fits. Run the nuts onto the mounting bolts and tighten everything up. The next moment of truth – plug in the power seat and see if it works. It does! It moves in all six directions. So far, so good…

Install the arm rest with its cover. Install both seat backs. Install the trim pieces on the sides of the seats. Everything is still looking good.

Now for the real moment of truth – run the seat back to its correct position, slide in, and sit on it.

Wait for it, wait for it…

It is good! The seat is now firm and comfortable. Much better support and it doesn’t feel squishy. It even looks good! And there was much rejoicing!


New front seat

We’re not quiet finished – the front door cards still need to be done and I need to do some tweaking around the windows. But the car is usable and even looks good. We may eventually get a Thursday that isn’t raining so I can take it to a local car show!

 

[ChefRex]

Very nice work!

 

[rdoty]

Very nice work!

It is amazing what you can do when you have limited sense of self preservation, willingness to try something new, and sheer pig-headed stubbornness!

 

[rdoty]

In yet another demonstration of a lack of common sense I decided it was time to tackle the front door cards.

Unlike the replacement hardboard panels on the rear doors, the front doors still had the factory door cards. These were made from a cardboard like compressed paper material. Which was fragile when new. It doesn’t age well. If exposed to water it basically falls apart. I’ve been afraid to touch it…

But the job has to be done. Sometime. Sigh, it looks like sometime is now….

Pop the first door card off and plop it on the workbench. Carefully take the arm rest off. The Imperial has a trim piece directly above the arm rest – an aluminum sheet with a sort of floral pattern and a chrome plated metal surround. This was also carefully removed. The repeated use of "carefully" should convey my belief that this whole armrest was just looking for an excuse to collapse into a dozen pieces.


Original front door card

The first view of what we have to work with is a bit of a mixed bag:


Front Door Card, arm rest and trim panel removed.

The first thing you can see is the (f)ugly carpet along the bottom of the door. This absolutely has to go. What was Chrysler thinking??? (Yes, I'm actually aware of why Chrysler did this. I still think it is incredibly ugly!)

The second is that the door card is molded – you can see how the trim panel is partially recessed. This means that you will have trouble fitting things back together if you replace the factory panel with a flat piece of hardboard. This explains some of the challenges I had with the rear door cards. OK, I really need to save the factory pieces.

Time to carefully peal the old vinyl and carpet off. A heat gun softens the old adhesive and minimizes damage.


Front Door Card stripped

I’ve seen worse… It is actually in reasonably good shape except for the holes around the edges for the mounting clips. If I’m careful installing it should be OK.

 

[rdoty]

The initial steps are like the rear door cards: cut and fit 1/4″ SewFoam to go over the whole panel. Double stitch the foam to the vinyl in 6″ squares – making sure that they line up with the stitching on the back doors. Spray the door card and cover with spray adhesive, fit the cover to the door, and staple on the back. The fit around the molded indents wasn’t great – but the arm rest and trim panel would pull everything into place.

The first major difference is the aluminum trim panel. These were worn and dirty. And ugly from the factory. Again, what was Chrysler thinking? I considered covering them with a nice walnut veneer. This would look rich – it was what Chrysler should have done in the first place.

I ultimately decided to just use some of the darker vinyl – I was already using it other places for accent. A round of spray adhesive, some fitting and trimming, and the updated trim panels were ready to go.

On the rear door cards the mounting of the arm rest and trim panels was a mystery. On the front doors taking them apart showed all of the mounting hardware and tricks.

First was to position the aluminum trim panel and the chrome trim. The chrome trim had a series of “nails” sticking out the back when went through holes in the door card and were then bent over. The arm rest used a combination of nuts and bolts, sheet metal screws, and the “nails”.

There was a bit of fiddling to deal with the thicker foam backed vinyl, but everything eventually went together. The last step on the workbench was to carefully install the retaining clips around the edge.

Time to cross my fingers, cart the refurbished door card over to the car, and attempt to install it. After a few gyrations the door card clipped into place. Install the courtesy light into the door and verify that it works. So far, so good. The last step was to install the power window switch and see if the window still goes up and down.

The window goes up. The window goes back down. The window goes up again. The door closes. The door opens. The door closes again. And there was much rejoicing!

Spend a few minutes admiring my work. Then on to the remaining door.


Front Door Card finished

I’m rather happy with how this turned out! The old fiberboard held up better than I expected. The trim panel above the arm rest adds a nice bit of contrast. Walnut would have been nicer, but this is fine. This task went better than I expected going into it – always good when that happens! I’m beginning to look forward to cruise nights this summer.