This past week, I got cracking on Project Dixie (so named by my wife based on the registration number):
It looks extremely ratty but the fundamentals are very straight and solid. Aside from the surface rust where paint has baked off, there is minimal structural rust. I wanted to start by focussing on exactly what rust repairs would be needed though so removed the factory tar mat sound deadening on the floor pans. These clearly have a tendency to lift and are actually applied over bare metal, so floors that look good can actually be much worse than expected. Luckily, the majority of the floors are solid and straight with limited surface rust only. Alas, the tar mats had lifted under the seats though and also sand and muck had accumulated in the under floor rails leading to some holes. However, these are limited in scope - new floors not necessary, although I may replace the under floor rails to eliminate the issue of the aforementioned dirt accumulations. The lesson here is if you buy a car with visible surface rust on the floors around the edges of the insulation, remove it to find out the extent of the problem.
I also managed to open up a couple of small holes under the battery tray after spotting a tiny pinhole there, but again, this will be a limited repair. Anyway, the car is being RHD converted anyway and the battery relocated to behind the passenger seat, so there will be ample opportunity to sort that area once the LHD battery tray is removed.
The seats are comedy gold. Eaten by the same rodents who made a nest behind the RH rear quarter trim panel! Lots of sh1t to shovel - literally! :lol:
I was going to bin the seats, but may keep the structural components as they could be rebuilt with the new foam and vinyl covering kits available. I'm more likely to use the JDM Sports Option style bucket seats in this car in the end though.
Oh, and hot climates bake interior plastics. This is what happened when I tried to remove the trim panels...
Good job I was going to replace them all with new anyway! On the plus side, the transmission tunnel vinyl is in really good condition, so I may actually reuse that to keep something from the original trim in the car.
I'm going to try and strip it down as much as possible this week around other stuff.