The wonders of digital cameras!

[MissouriLarry]

Being a Gen X'er I am a little age on me.  I find it difficult anymore to remember exactly how certain things on my car go back together.  Some of the multi-part linkages that we have on these old cars contain a lot of pieces.  I was working last night on my parking brake hardware and went to put it back together.  Thank goodness for the digital cameras that most of us happily carry around in our pockets.  With my 52 Cranbrook I have been taking photos heavily during each step and I am thankful that I have.  I resort back to them often.  In my younger days I could take stuff apart and put it back together weeks later.  I started messing with old cars when I was 16 but back then all we had available was film cameras.  The game has certainly changed now that we can take as many photos as we want, share them to whoever we choose, and reference them anywhere we are.

[JBNeal]

I have found that digital camera phone has aided not only in taking paperless notes for reassembly but in replacing a mirror while working in tight spaces on the Laramie, most car engine compartments, a washer n dryer, several farm tractors, and many pieces of industrial equipment...I've even recorded several videos by putting the phone on a big piece of cardboard and sliding the cardboard under low slung vehicles instead of jacking up them buggies and crawling underneath...this has irritated several coworkers and elderly neighbors who grunted that they coulda done that (but didn't think to do it) 😁

[Plymouthy Adams]

I use a digital camera to record all the steps in my builds, document before and after so that like many here....have a record to fall back on to refresh my mind.  Sometimes it is a quite a span of time between tear down and going back together.   As for the smart phone and camera, they nice, high resolution but would have to resize every picture for e-mail and forums....I use a Canon Power Shot and it has the default format for my purposes.  My newer camera is just way too many pixels for shop work.  The camera on my phone, I never drag it out of my pocket....just not used to it I guess.  

[JBNeal]

My recent preventative maintenance on The Laramie required the replacement of the turbocharger coolant return hose, tucked behind the engine, located above the crossover exhaust pipe, inches away from the firewall.  Not even a mirror would be helpful in viewing this because of the limited space, so my phone's camera was tucked in the tight space to take a peek before working by feel, then take another peek to verify completion of hose replacement.  The camera also verified that one of the hose clamps slipped off of the hose when trying to finagle it into position...OOPS 👀

 

 

 

Edited December 2, 2025 by JBNeal
added pic