Sunday, November 7, 2010

Interior switches all match now

I feel better now. I spent a little time in the shop this weekend installing that antenna switch so it would match the others. Good riddance to that stupid knob switch.

The original switches are held on by a lock ring. The lock ring is completely round and has two small notches in the face. I assume that there is a special tool somewhere that mates with this ring, but I certainly don't have it. I decided to make a tool out of some scrap aluminum so I could tighten the ring.



I used aluminum because it's easy to work with and it's soft enough to not harm the chrome plating on the ring. A bit of cutting and filing and it was ready to go. My homemade tool worked perfectly and I was able to get the new antenna switch installed.



While I was at it, I removed the lock rings from the other three switches so I could replace the aluminum plate underneath. Several months ago, I bought a used plate that still had the switch markings on them. The markings on my plate were gone and it was nice to put the new plate on. My antenna switch plate is blank and I'll be good to replace that one too someday.

Just look at that bank of switches. A row of matching, Mickey Mouse ear goodness!