8/17/2003: Removing the carpet and seats
I began by vacuuming out the trunk and removing the rubber mat and spare tire covers. I was happy to see that the trunk floor looks perfect, other than some rust down in the pockets behind the rear wheels (this was visible from the outside, so no surprise there).
Then I removed the two sill plates and the front pockets, both of which were on top of the delightful red house carpet someone had installed in the 70s.
I got them out without breaking any of the rusty screws, which is a good omen. I’m using PB’Laster for the first time, and it seems to be really good for getting into rusty fasteners and loosening them up. I’ve seen it recommended several times in various forums, and so far, i’m impressed. It’s available at wal-mart, and it has an incredibly cheesy looking can, but hey, if it works..
With these trim pieces out of the way, the carpet came out pretty easily. Since I wouldn’t be saving it, i just cut it in half to make it easier to get out.
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| Zoe checks it out |
The floor underneath is somewhat rusty, but really seems reasonably solid, on the whole. Hard to say until I clean it up though.
After that I removed both seats. This was surprisingly easy- just two screws hold each seat in, and then the hook into notches on the front.
Underneath the driver’s seat, I found a lost screwdriver that I recognized from my childhood :) I removed the rubber mats that were under the seats and took a look at the floors. Unfortunately, these look a little worse than the front sections. The driver’s side has been repainted with something green, and is less rusty on the surface. Both sides are essentially solid, though they will probably need some patching at least. It depends on what disolves when I try to remove the undercoating and clean them up though.
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