crashfab

The headliner is in GREAT shape and from what I can tell unlike the rest of the interior(that has either been painted or dyed black) it was origionally black. The only issue was some mold/mildew on it(just surface from what I can tell).







So I cleaned it with a toothbrush and got it about 80% clean on the first round and the odor is now gone. I will do it again one more time and pay close attention to the few spots left behind.

crashfab

I got the exhaust manifold all cleaned up and it was a task--thank god for files lol. The metal portion of the gasket had rusted to the manifold side and I had to file it off every post but it turned out better than I thought it would. Hopefully it don't leak.







All bolted down with new bolts(and anti-sieze on all the bolts just in case,lol)







I still have to get the exhaust pipe fixed/portion replaced where it mates to the manifold. My dad said he thinks he bought some exhaust parts for the car a number of years ago. He is going to look thru his stuff to see before I look at fixing it.



I went and pulled the carb off to clean it out. Doesn't look too awfully bad but it still needs cleaned out along with the fuel drained from the fuel tank.

crashfab

Here are the seats that came out of the car. One thing that was odd that I never noticed was the material is different on the front seats to the rear bench. The new covers we ordered will make them all the same.







So I decided to dig into the rear seats first last night. I started with the upper part of the bench.







Started by removing the cover/padding and inspecting everything. The spring assembly was is decent shape with some rust from moisture.







I found 2 places where the main frame had broken the welds. So I cleaned them and welded it back together and had to do some work to make it all straight but turned out pretty good.







Once done I scraped what rust I could off the frame and then painted it to not only protect it but hold what rust was there to the frame/keep it from flaking off. I also figured it could help with killing any odors (old smells).







The padding was in great shape still and I spayed it down to kill any odors as well. This old stuff is certainly allot different than what we use in the industry these days.







The next part made me VERY nervouse. I am by no means an upolstery guy and I had second thoughts about doing the seats. But I know my dad would be happier if I did them vs. somebody else. So I dug in and I think I did a faily good job on my first seat.







So I got the cover off the bottom bench seat and thats where I made it last night.

crashfab

Well the bottom was certainly harder and I was even more nervous doing it,lol. The lower frame was is perfect shape/nothing broken like the top frame. But I was able to get a great fitment on the cover.







So now time to dig into the drivers front seat. These will need more work to get them right but I hopefully should be able to pull it off.

crashfab

Ok so I was informed we have hit just about the 2 week mark for the car to head to the bodyman for the body work/paint. So we have in our stash a new hood, both rear quarters, replacement decklid, filler panel between the rear window/deck lid and my dad got a pair of doors (thanks for the link tony).



So I am shifting up a gear or 2 to get it ready.



So I was wrong I started with the passenger front seat--doh..



So I got the seat back all stripped and frame cleaned and painted. Besides the rust it was in great shape.







The cushion was also in really good shape. To pull the seat face around inward around the material seam they use wire thats looped around a seam on the inside of the cover. I had to sand the wire smooth and it was still tough to work it into the new cover.







And here is how the seat back turned out. I was pretty happy with the outcome and I think I got it pulled just right.

crashfab

I got the seat base stripped down. The shop looks like a war zone with pieces of hop ring clips everywhere,lol...







Can you tell which one the new one is,lol. The drivers side was broken so we ordered a new one.

crashfab

So I changed gears and decided to get back to the floor since I need to get that done and sealed up.



Here was one of the damaged areas for the drivers seat mount(LH rear).







All fixed up.







The Rh front







All fixed up







The only access on the back side was like 1 1/2" thru hole under the car since the seat basicly sit on a riser off the floor. I ended up bringing my air hammer home from work and working the sheetmetal back up into place/working it flat and welding it up.

crashfab

And now some fun REALLY begins. This was as of last friday(getting the project up to date)



Here is the start of the mess---flinstone mobile...







And here is where I got tonight with it. With the understructure of the car and the fact the spot welds are kinda hidden by the deep rust its been slow and I have been removing the floor pan in sections.







So its up bright and early and back at it..

crashfab

So it was another good productive day on sunday. And a big thanks to my best friend kyle for coming out and lending a hand taking care of a bunch of small odds/ends--thanks bud..



So I continued to cut away at the floor to where I got rid of the natsy nasty.. But here is the floor with 99% of the material removed that is going to be.

crashfab

Here is the new floor pan. Its a bit different than whats on the car in 2 places. There is a panel for the firewall that overlaps the floor pan and on the far left front corner the pan reverses how its spot welded on the rocker. This was not a big deal but made it a bit trickier.







I had kyle pull the rear driveshaft so I could replace the rear u-joint. I am amazed at how tiny they are (seen bigger joints on steering shafts,lol).







New u-joint in and kyle threw the driveshaft back in.