Category Archives: Fabrication

Sprinter: ‘Upfitted’

Progress on the VW & Mercedes Benz mash up last week. Josh Sorenson of ‘Sorenson Auto Body’ wrapped up the seat rail bracket fabrication on Tuesday, having it painted and bolted in Wednesday gave me the chance to debut the van to family and guests on Thanksgiving day. Tradition dictates that we load up family and friends for a trip into the Stillwater National Forest to harvest a Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. The 4×4 mobil base camp is taking shape.

Next steps involve adjusting the rials forward in the van, adding a stand alone diesel heater, ski storage boxes in the back, bike mounts, re-install the vinyl floor and insulation, sleeping solution for two people, custom lower wall panels to accommodate the needs of the back seat passengers, LED lighting, USB plugs, sub woofer etc…

 

iPhone 4S Display Assembly Replacement

My Problem

My opportunity to learn about the inside of an iPhone has user error written all over it, one poor decision after the next.

1) The “phone” pocket in my shorts was to shallow… and I knew it.

2) The phone did not have a case on it.

3) I had dropped the phone out of the same pair of shorts multiple times… never learned my lesson… until now.

My display screen was broken when the phone was dropped and the metal band around the edge of the phone contacted a rock and bent into the screen. This created the opportunity for me to revert back to a 4th grade habit of taking everything apart.

My Fix

Thanks to the great step by step directions on ifixit, the parts and tools also available on ifixit, the display replacement went perfectly.

My Advice

I was amazed that it worked based on a complete lack of prior experience with tiny electronics. The best advice I would offer to inexperienced folks like me, do not be intimidated by the opportunity and pay very close attention to the instructions. Take your time, I moved very slowly, taking almost two hours to complete the process Ifixit gives the task a 1 hour estimate for comparison.

Small but significant detail, I used a non-static foam to place all the parts on, labeling each step and the specific part / size of screw etc to make the reassembly easier.photo (10)