Imperial Journey

You know when you have a sweater with a thread hanging loose and you pull on it? And you keep getting more and more thread until your former sweater is nothing but a pile of sheep fur on the floor?

I decided it was time to get the air conditioning charged again and see if I could make the Imperial even cooler than it already is. Something about a black car and the hottest July on record.

First order of business: flush out the AC evaporator, condenser, and hoses with AC flush. This went fairly smoothly and flushed out less crud than expected. OK, that’s a good sign! Call the garage and schedule the re-charge.

One of the idiosyncrasies of the new generic heater control is that it engages the AC compressor clutch when selecting MaxCool, Cool, or Heat. The temporary expedient was to unplug the compressor clutch over the winter. So I needed to plug the compressor clutch back in. And check to make sure it still worked. As you probably guessed, nothing.

Well, dogbreath!

First question: is it the clutch or the wiring? Hook up a temporary jumper to the clutch, connect it to the battery, and be rewarded with a solid clunk of clutch engagement. OK, wiring it is.

Next, check the fuses and make sure that power is going to the heater control. Yup, power is good at the fusebox. Sigh… Nothing left but one of my most dreaded jobs – remove the heater control!

Remove the glove box. Remove the ash tray. Remove the right hand defroster vent and hose. Remove the radio. Now start blindly reaching into the back of the dashboard to unbolt and remove the heater control. Yup, buried just as deeply as it used to be. Yup, just as awkward to get to as it used to be. Yup, just as many sharp edges in there as there used to be. Yup, I still have trouble finding things by braille.

With the heater control finally out, wipe the blood off and start electrical trouble shooting. Hmm, no power to the clutch circuit. There was a similar problem last time. Fine, be that way! I have plenty of spare power circuits in the new fuse box, so just run a new dedicated power line directly from the fuse box to the heater control.

Try the compressor clutch again. This time I’m rewarded with a solid clunk when I push the button. Out of paranoia check the fan (which is the other part of the heater control): low, medium, and high, check. And the new LED lighting panels work (separate post on that). Reinstall the heater control. Check that everything is working. Still good!

You know, I should probably check the power antenna switch while the radio is out since the radio completely blocks access to this switch. Hmm, only goes down… OK, dig out the factory service manual and check the wiring. Three wires: power, up, and down. Of course the wires are different colors on both sides of the connectors…

Grab the multimeter and check all three wires. OK, this wire has 12V on it, so it goes to the center of the switch. The other two wires go to the other two connectors. And the antenna now goes up as well as down!

Reinstall the radio. Wrestle with the defrost vent and hose until they cooperate. Reinstall the ash tray and glove compartment and then sit back and admire a difficult job completed. Just to be sure, check out the compressor clutch and the fan. Satisfying clunk from the compressor, and fan works on low, medium, and… No high speed on the fan.

Well, carp! I can’t leave it like that.

Pull everything apart and start checking with the heater control now hanging under the dash. Everything works… OK, maybe a loose connector? Re-seat all connectors, re-install the heater control, wipe off the blood, and check. Everything works.

Re-install the radio. Check everything again before going any further. No high speed on the fan.

Pull the radio out. Check the fan. Works on Low, Medium and Hi.

What the freaking Hades is going on here?!? There is NO connection between the radio and the heater control. There is no way for the radio to interact with the heater or fan. This physically cannot be happening!

Pull everything apart. With the heater control hanging under the dash test all functions. Yup, with the radio removed the fan works on Hi.

As an alternative to an exorcism of the car I dragged out the wiring diagrams and multimeter and started tracing and checking each part of the heater circuit from the fusebox all the way to the fan.

Hmmm, this is odd.. This connector near the fan feels like it has a broken wire. This is a butt connector covered with heat shrink tubing that should be one of the most solid and reliable parts of the entire circuit. And, of course, it is on the high speed circuit. This part of the wiring harness goes from the heater control, under the radio, and to the fan. Where it would be moved and jostled when installing the radio. No, no – this is just circumstantial evidence – don’t jump to conclusions!

The usual test is to tug on a wire and see if it comes out of the connector. This doesn’t work when marine grade heat shrink tubing glues everything together. The situation is suspicious enough that it makes sense to just cut the connector out and replace it.

With the old connector cut out might as well take it over to the workbench and slice off the heat shrink tubing to check the wire. Yup, damaged wire and a bad crimp. Moving the wire would make and break the connection. This evidence is more than just a smoking gun – it is like having surveillance video of the crime scene! The worst part is that these wires are new – I made them as part of installing the new heater motor. Yup, the usual idiot is to blame.

Double check and triple check the crimps when installing the new connectors. Make absolutely sure they are solid this time.

As part of the detailed trouble shooting I reviewed the heater control switches. I had wired the new switch just like the original factory switch, which meant (with this new universal switch) that the AC was running when heat was selected. Connect it differently and AC only came on for Cool and MaxCool, so I went ahead and hooked it up that way.

Check all functions — all good. Re-install the heater control. Check all functions — all good. Re-install the radio. Check all functions — all good. Re-install the defrost hose and vent. Check all functions — all good. Re-install the ash tray and glove compartment. Check all functions. Wait for it, wait for it…

All good! Not there yet – fire the car up and take it for a test drive. Check all functions — all good.

OK, I’m getting cautiously optimistic.

The AC recharge is now scheduled for next week.

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. Each panel is measured, cut, sewn, test fitted, and then sewn to the 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, the complete seat is assembled – arm rest and seat backs – and the whole seat is checked 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.

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. There is much better support and it doesn’t feel squishy. It even looks good! And there was much rejoicing!

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 the local car show!

I’ve been working on the interior more or less non stop since the first of February – three and a half months so far. The front door cards still need to be done and there is some trim work left to do. And the success on the interior has inspired me to consider some additional projects – yeah, potentially a bit of foreshadowing. The car is ready for the road, so I really should spend some time driving it instead of working on it. I sometimes forget that this is a car to be driven, not just a never ending money sucking series of projects on a static display… That this is a vehicle, not an art project!

She Who Must Be Obeyed has graciously reminded me that some projects on the house need to be worked on, so I’m going to shift gears for a while. But I’m happy with where the car is now!

Today is a new day. Returning to the debacle of the seat cover that doesn’t fit the first thing is to cast aside all assumptions and do a systematic trouble shooting of everything.

The first thing I discovered is that the sides of the seat aren’t at right angles to the front – they are actually at 83 degrees, not 90 degrees. OK, that makes a difference. There is an inward jog at the back of the seat. OK, that needs to be included in the template

While the factory seat covers aren’t suitable for making templates they can give you a rough idea. Working against the seat frame I had made the corners with a 3″ radius. Looking at the original covers they had a much larger radius.

But how to make a large radius? Well, the drafting set I’m using (a professional set from my days as an aerospace draftsman) has an extension bar for the compass. Let’s make circles with radii from 5″ to 10″ , cut them out of cardboard, and see which one fits best. After trying all of them it looks like an 8″ radius is the best fit.

Taking this information we create a new template.

As long as we have the seat backs mounted on the base let’s mark the foam with the edges of the seat backs and the seat inserts. We can then use this to fit the top seat cover and precisely locate the seat inserts and center panel.

With this information we can position the seat inserts, add filler strips on the outside edges, and determine the exact size for the center panel between the inserts.

Based on the new template I was able to save and re-work the seat inserts – all other pieces had to be discarded and done from scratch. This wasn’t completely bad – the inserts required the most work to make so I was glad to be able to use them. All of the other pieces were simply cut out and sewn together.

The new template is used to mark the outside edges and the radius for the corner. This corner radius goes into the insert, so the insert is trimmed to fit. After the entire top panel is sewn together it is draped over the seat base and test fitted.

The front and sides were made using the original front and sides as templates. Despite the problems with the first seat cover these pieces seemed to fit OK, so we will use the same templates to make the new ones. To correct the problems with the seam we sew the front and side panels together and pin them in place on the seat base and foam. We then use the edge of the side and front to mark the top panel, add seam allowances, and mark this on the top panel. Hopefully this will give us a consistent seam around the entire seat rather than one that dips around the ends.

Taking a deep breath, sew the top and sides together. With considerable trepidation test fit the new cover.

And it fits! Maybe not perfect, but much better than the first cover.

Encouraged by the results so far I started working on templates for the seat cover. Unlike the rest of the seats, I wasn’t able to use the original front seat covers to make templates. The front and sides were OK, but the top was just too messed up to use.

No problem! All that I need to do is make a template from scratch. Dig out the construction paper, take measurements from the seat frame and foam, lay it out on the paper, cut it out, and lay the paper on the seat. Yeah, that looks pretty good!

Transfer the template from paper to vinyl, cut it out, sew it together, and fit it over the seat.

And it fits like crap. Very loose corners which just can’t be made tight no matter what I do. Both front corners and back corners don’t fit. The seams between the top and sides droop badly where they should form a consistent line all the way around.

After trying everything I could think of to make it fit the realization slowly crept in: this just wasn’t going to work. It wasn’t acceptable. I couldn’t live with it. For the first time on the interior work I had done something that was bad.

Trying to fix this mess while frustrated and tired is a prescription for making things worse.Turn everything off, lock the door, and come back another day.

I’m not happy with the replacement foam on the back seat. I need to do something better for the front seat – after all, this is where I will be sitting! OK, drag out the new foam, cut it over size, plop it on top of the seat frame, and start studying the situation.

The challenge is how to wrap it over the edge of the seat frame and have it hold its shape. The soft foam previously used on the front seat wrapped over the edge easily; it provided no guidance.

Unlike the seat covers you can’t use hog rings to secure the foam to the seat frame. There isn’t enough surface area on the seat frame to use contact cement. Welding is out – I didn’t even try. Maybe loop rope or cord through the foam and around the frame?

Just a minute – what about sewing the foam to the frame? All of my sewing has been using the machine which clearly won’t work here. But what about old school needle and thread? I have plenty of heavy thread. But what about a needle? Just a minute – they make heavy duty needles for sewing things like carpet and leather! Would that work here?

It turned out that She Who Must Be Obeyed actually had a package of heavy duty needles which she graciously allowed me to use. Let’s do this!

Trying the novel approach of thinking before acting I realized that the foam was likely to move when I started wrapping it over the front edge of the frame. OK, just start by sewing it to the back of the frame first. Trying a few different approaches I discovered that the large needle easily penetrated the foam and that it was better to do a separate loop for each connection to the frame rather than trying to sew a seam.

With the back secure I tackled the front, starting from the middle and working out. Wrap the foam over the front of the frame, select a point on the frame to loop the thread around, and knot it in place.

Not so fast! I can’t seem to hold the foam securely in place while running a needle through the foam, around the frame, back through the foam, and tightly knot it. If only there were some way to clamp it in place… Oh, wait – I have clamps!

Well, would you look at that! The foam is actually wrapped nicely over the front of the frame and ready to fit and secure the cover.

The next question is whether or not the cover will work. The first check is to take the panels and drape them over the seat to see if they look like they will fit.

A really rough fit of the cover panels is encouraging – it looks like this will fit after some trimming and adjustment.

I can’t be sure until the job is done, but it looks like this is going to work!

Good thing this was saved for last – the base of the front seat was trashed! Once the aftermarket covers were removed you could see that the factory covers were completely shot – worn out, shredded, stretched, and basically horrible. The factory foam was completely missing; this is the one place where they had completely replaced the factory foam with new foam. And they didn’t use automotive foam – they used a regular foam that is quite soft. This would explain why the front seat never felt right and why it had such poor support!

This is going to be a job. I need to replace the foam as well as the seat covers. I don’t know why Chrysler used carpet on the seat base as well as the door cards, but I hate it – that has to go!

Wish me luck – I suspect I’ll need it…

The seat backs were much like the rear seats with a few differences. Since all sides are visible the covers must cover everything. Unlike many cars there is a separate flat panel on the back of the seat – this should simplify the job.Like the rear seat, the seat back is in surprisingly good shape.

The job should be familiar by now: take apart the seat cover, use it to make templates, cut out and sew the new cover, and fit it into place. Easier said than done, but by now fairly routine. The only really tricky part is that the back of the seat turns in near the top – this makes the corner seams rather tricky to sew. Good thing I tackled the rear seat first! This would have been a major headache a few months ago.

The cover for the seat back fit surprisingly well. Time to pat myself on the back and move on to the next part – the back panel. This panel is much like the door cards: 1/4″ foam padding, double stitching on a six inch grid, fold around the back and staple in place. The panels fit nicely – the whole seat back looks good!

The arm rest was the same process as the rear arm rest: strip off the factory cover, make templates, cut and sew the vinyl, and unroll the new cover over the foam, turning it from inside out to outside out. By some miracle this cover also fit well.

The end result was two seat backs and an arm rest ready to install.

With the rear seat done it was time to turn to the front seat with high hopes and expectations of replicating the successful work on the rear seat. Yeah, that is a bit of forsehadowing…

The front seat had to come out. Unlike the back seat, the seat bottom and seat back are all part of one assembly and come out as a unit. Or do they?

I had removed the front seat once before and did not look forward to doing it again. It is a 6-way power adjustable seat, weighs well over 100 lbs, and barely fits through the door. The last time it was out was before the car was painted; I’m now rather paranoid about scratches.

Since the seat backs have to come off anyway I decided to try removing them in place. Well, what do you know! Take off the side cover, remove one bolt, and you can wiggle the seat back off of its retainers. With both seat backs off it just takes undoing two bolts to remove the arm rest. Eyeballing the situation it looks like just the seat base will be quite a bit easier.

As mentioned, the front seat is heavy. Even with pieces removed. When I try to apply brute force I just do not have the brute I did in my younger days. No problem – drag the engine hoist out of its place of honor and hook it to one end of the front seat.

Since no lifting was required on that end She Who Must Be Obeyed agreed to guide the engine hoist and keep that end of the seat from hitting anything. I was able to lift the other end of the seat and guide it out, moving it about six inches at a time. After a few minutes the seat was safely on the garage floor with no damage, no drama, and no injuries.

Now with unwarranted confidence let’s dive into the actual work!

In addition to the seat covers the door cards need to be replaced. Someone had started to do this job on the rear doors – the factory cardboard door cards had been replaced with hardboard, but had not been covered. The arm rests and door handles were in the trunk.

The front door cards still had the covers on them, so I had a reference to work from.

The door card itself is fairly straightforward – just use it as a pattern and trace it onto the vinyl. For a more luxurious appearance the vinyl will be backed with some of the 1/4″ sewfoam. I decided to sew through the vinyl and foam for a richer appearance, similar to the factory. The factory door cards had a double stitch, so I tried that on a test piece. I liked the way that looked and decided to use it.

The arm rests were a bit of a project. I started off trying to make a template from scratch, but quickly became frustrated. Fortunately I was able to salvage the cover from one of the rear arm rests, separate it into its three component pieces, and use these to create a template.

From there it was the usual routine of sewing the pieces together, fitting the new cover to the arm rest, and stapling it to the back. The end result wasn’t perfect, but I deemed it acceptable. Certainly better than what was there before!

The arm rests were done in the tan vinyl, same color as the seat inserts, to provide a bit of contrast.

With this the back seat project it done. I’m rather happy with the way this turned out!

Now to move on to the front seats, using the lessons learned so far.