I occasionally leave vintage parts/boxes in the trunk. I have bought lots of NOS parts that come in vintage boxes for my '41 Plymouth. I like the "Auto-Lite" boxes the best. I also have some old metal gas cans for the trunk. I also have purchased two vintage suit cases that match the age of the car. One even still has a Northwest Orient Airlines tag on it. I have an aftermarket turn signal system for that car as well. Turn signals were optional on that car. It also has an aftermarket heater. Apparently the original owner wanted the cheapest car he could order. Another accessory I added was a backup lite. This was not available from the manufacturer. The one I used was purchased by my dad. He never got around to mounting it on his '41 Plymouth, so I was able to install it on mine. I purchased a "universal" backup light switch that was supposed to mount on the transmission for that car on eBay. Alas, it was not compatible, so I came up with my own. ... View more

Radar detectors were illegal in Connecticut. They would confiscate the detector. That's why I installed detectors behind the grill with a discrete switch box under the dash. I even went so far as to hinge the switch box so it could be flipped up under the dash. It was said that the cops could confiscate the whole car if you had a hidden type like I used. ... View more

Bought a 2004 Dodge Ram pickup in "as is" condition. The car salesman showed me how everything worked including the heater. When I got it home I found out air only came out of the dash vents, and it would not select either the floor vents or the defroster vents. With the aid of the shop manual, I was able to determine the plastic diverter door was broken inside the heater. I would have to remove the airbags, drop the steering wheel, remove the A pillar covers, remove the radio, remove the glovebox, drop the dashboard, then disassemble the heater.  When I started this job I discovered that someone had tried to do this without the aid of a service manual. I could see where they took a sawzall to structural steel that held up the dash. They also managed to cut some other wires by accident. When they tried to remove the airbag controller, they bent some pins on the connector, then plugged it in again causing a 12 volt short circuit the vaporized some pins. Apparently, they gave up and reassembled the mess. I spent four full days on this job. Eventually I was able to get at the heater and replace the plastic part. I also was able to repair the airbag controller. No wonder they sold this truck "as-is". ... View more