1969 Imperial progress thread

*waving hand in air*....
Having recently converted an Imperial ATC to manual I can atest the Imperial bezel nor the alum frame behind it are not the same ..
Took a decent amount of work to drill and file to get manual controls into dash .....
 
*waving hand in air*....
Having recently converted an Imperial ATC to manual I can atest the Imperial bezel nor the alum frame behind it are not the same ..
Took a decent amount of work to drill and file to get manual controls into dash .....
Good! But you did it!
 
*waving hand in air*....
Having recently converted an Imperial ATC to manual I can atest the Imperial bezel nor the alum frame behind it are not the same ..
Took a decent amount of work to drill and file to get manual controls into dash .....
 
I'll have to cede to Vodka. If he says it's impossible, I believe him. I've seen him do the near impossible.
It's not impossible in general, but as for my understanding, it would need a major company like Vintage Air to build such control panel with all new circuit boards, plastic and metal parts and so on.
Or a trained electrical mechanic with a lot of time and passion to spare. Unfortunately I'm neither of it.
 
*waving hand in air*....
Having recently converted an Imperial ATC to manual I can atest the Imperial bezel nor the alum frame behind it are not the same ..
Took a decent amount of work to drill and file to get manual controls into dash .....
Do you have pictures of the conversion AND a few detail photos of the manual A/C control panel? Would be interesting!
 
Just spit balling here... But I think it can be done without that much drama.

The unit looks fairly compact. It does fit in the ash tray, so it can't be too big.
2021-01-14-17-33-49-jpg.jpg


The front panel looks about the same size. I would cut this out and make a panel for the knobs.

speedometer_63-jpg.jpg


This control would mount here. The shafts could easily be extended to meet the new front panel.

speedometer_61-jpg.jpg
 
Better yet, I'll bet those knobs are just mounted and soldered. A little wire and some really good soldering, you might be able to remotely mount the control and put the knobs in the panel.
 
With a little work one could replace the controls with Slide Potentiometers.
The shaft on this one moves in/out 0.5"
f_000180.jpg



Alan
 
Just spit balling here... But I think it can be done without that much drama.

The unit looks fairly compact. It does fit in the ash tray, so it can't be too big.
View attachment 437951

The front panel looks about the same size. I would cut this out and make a panel for the knobs.

View attachment 437952

This control would mount here. The shafts could easily be extended to meet the new front panel.

View attachment 437953
Just to be clear. The photo of the ashtray with the controls was just a fitment test. It's not going to look that exposed when I'm done!
The only visible thing will be the knobs, but hidden in the ashtray!

I'm sure, I could fit the knobs into the original bezel, but I don't want the modern knobs to be seen in the car. They would look out of place.

I thought about desoldering the potis from the cirsuit board for the ashtray too, but the LEDs on it are SMD and not relocatable.
 
Just to be clear. The photo of the ashtray with the controls was just a fitment test. It's not going to look that exposed when I'm done!
The only visible thing will be the knobs, but hidden in the ashtray!

I'm sure, I could fit the knobs into the original bezel, but I don't want the modern knobs to be seen in the car. They would look out of place.

I thought about desoldering the potis from the cirsuit board for the ashtray too, but the LEDs on it are SMD and not relocatable.

The LED relocation would be an issue. The knobs though... Those are really generic half round shafts, probably 1/4" in diameter. Lot's of options either premade or have some printed (resin printing looks fascinating!) for a OEM look.
 
Back
Top