Life In Plastic, It's Fantastic

This weekend we decided we needed to clean up the work area and find a place to store the interior plastics. Sara cleaned all the trim pieces while I removed and vacuumed some of the loose debris from the inside of the car. (This post's title lends a nod to the 90's music we listened to while cleaning.) I also removed both the door panels. As you can see from the pictures they need to be replaced. I have found sources for both new panels and the upper black window trim. Now that all the pieces are dry they are being stored above the garage door. We covered the car seats in plastic to keep them clean until I take them to be reupholstered. We also took the time to dry the floor and sweep out the garage before rolling the car back in.

Clues From The Past

Sara made a list of everything we found under the car seats and center console. Although we made some money, unfortunately we did not find the build sheet.

• Jolly Rancher package
• "Made Especially For You By Chris Sawyer" clothing label
• church bulletin from the Church of St. Andrew in Granite Falls, MN dated June 10, 1990
• blue elastic hair band
• credit card receipt for $17.08 dated October 8, 1997
• 2 Wrigley's gum wrappers
• "Shelled Roasted Sunflower Nuts" package
• $2.26 in change
• plastic reflective lens
• various screws and bolts
• empty package of iodized salt
• wrapper from an anise-flavored cough drop
• 3 Coors Light bottle caps
• pink Christmas light
• Blast Off breath freshener (3/4 full)
• the side of a plastic CD case
• strip of black electrical tape
• the sticky seal part of a business envelope
• two dime-sized rubber bands
• Werther's candy wrappers
• wire splice
• washer ring for a fuse
• Subway Sub Club card
• 2 interior light bulbs
• State Farm Minnesota Insurance card registered to Shane D. Christensen for a policy dated June 1991 - July 1992 issued by agent Dolly Olson
• lemon warhead candy still in its package
• blown fuse
• 2 terminal connectors
• Allen wrench
• Hardee's straw wrapper
• toothpick
• pen from South Central Technical College Albert Lea/Mankato
• red elastic hair band
• the now-deteriorated instructions for the jack and spare tire

Turning Inside Out

With the weather in the mid 50's this last weekend, I decided it was a perfect time to tackle removing the interior. I wanted to start with the console, but after I figured out I would lose my stereo in the process I decided to just remove the console top plate and leave the rest until just before I take out the carpet. I have to have music while I work! It turns out that the previous owner did not seem to care what he broke in the process of doing whatever it was he thought he was doing. The console lid is not salvageable as most of the mounting points are destroyed or cracked and missing. On a positive note though, the electric mirror controls which I had believed to be non-functional (as in not belonging to this car) actually have factory wiring hooked to them! That means with a little troubleshooting I should be able to get those operational again.

My Plates Have Arrived!

This Weekend's Headliner: Gone

This weekend Sara and I removed the headliner in order to find out the extent of the damage caused by the leaking T-top. Even though the headliner itself was totally water damaged and deteriorating we were pleasantly surprised to find the roof's interior virtually rust-free. My theory is the headliner caught the leaking water and kept it away from the metal inside because it no longer fit properly and was drooping. The outside was not so lucky and the passenger side front rail has some pretty extensive rusting between the seals and the front lip of the car. So far in the areas I have checked the rust does not appear to have spread under the seals or to the irreplaceable U-channel. I have been doing some research into replacing the T-top seals. From what I have read there is supposed to be an adheasive under the seals to keep them in place and to keep water from getting trapped underneath the seals. The seals currently on the car do not have any adhesive as I was able to easily separate them from the metal. It appears that without the adhesive water was trapped between the seals and the body of the car (as you can see in the picture where I am pulling back the seal). From what I have inspected so far this seems to have only affected the passenger side. Here are some before and after pictures followed by some shots of the problem areas.