Teardown
This is where the poject really begins, and it was the scariest part! I started by removing the interior because I wanted to get the best idea of what (if any) rust there would be in the floors. Let me tell you, the most frightening part was removing the seats; when the seats come out, the car officially goes from driver to PROJECT. I didn't have any references here, I just started tearing into it with a screwdriver and wrench.
Interior Teardown
The top came off first to give me room to move around. The top was toast, so I saved the frame and header rail and tossed the rest in a dumpster.
I grabbed some tools and started going at it. This picture is after I stripped the sound proofing mat from the floor with a putty knife and hammer. What a nasty job!
There was very little rust in the floors!
This is the ONLY rust I found in the floor; it was under the seat rails. Should be easy to patch, which is good because I don't want to replace floor panels.
In thie picture you can also see the remaining bits of the tar-like sondproofing. It either came of in little chips with a hammer or in long strips with a putty knife.
I pulled the carpet out of the trunk and found some rust, but after 30 minutes of poking and prodding it seems none of it has gone through and is all on the surface.
Pretty good considering this is a Washington car!
Bumpers
The bumpers were a PITA to remove becasue the studs coming out of the bumper were just spinning inside of the mount. I had to hold on to the end of the bolt with a pair of vice grips and wrench on the nuts. For reference, there were 5 bolts in back- 2 outside and 3 inside.
The front bumper had the same spinning issue as the back and I ended up sawing one off in a fit of rage.
By the way, these things are heavy so it helps to have somebody else to help lift up on them while you wrench away underneath.
03/2010
Every piece of trim has now been removed from the car, including lights, doors and hoods.
I have been licky so far and have only found a small amount of rust. The rockers have been replaced already and they're still solid. I did find some rust under the front right fender and I am in the process of making a patch panel to weld in place.
With a little help from Dad and Grandpa, the engine removal went a lot smoother than it would have if I were alone!
It would have been a lot easier if the engine lift wasn't rapidly losing pressure while we were trying to pull the engine out. Not to mention the feet on the lift were too wide to fit between the wheels. But we were determined to get it out and we did!
Notice the odd angle of the lift. Too wide to fit between the tires so we had to come sideways! Me on the floor and Grandpa in back.
Don't forget to disconnect the clutch slave before you pull the engine...
My grandparents picked the right time to visit Phoenix.. July! Probably didn't expect to pull an engine in 110 degree heat!
Our chain didn't work out, so we ended up using a strap.
Three generations working together!
