Cleaning

I have a confession to make. Every entry before this one was reconstructed from memory and photographs, since I just recently got the idea to do this blog. From now on, things will get more detailed (read boring), but it should be a good way for me to keep notes on the process.

So, now that the body's off it's the perfect opportunity to inspect all the parts that are otherwise hard to get to. This involves cleaning off 37 years of grime, which is time consuming, but satisfying. I started at the front end, cleaning off the old gunk and inspecting for any damage or corrosion. All looks good, with only minor surface corrosion in some spots. A bit of paint and we'll be good as new.

Next, I removed the pedal assembly to get access to that area of the floor pan and to lube and inspect the pedal assembly itself. It turned out that it's easier if the master cylinder is out, so I removed that too. Turned out not to be a bad idea because it makes it easier to clean up the area around the master cylinder. I did a little bit of scrubbing on the top of the floor pan - it needs more, but I'll need to get the right tool for the job - the cup-shaped wire brush drill adapter I'm using just ain't getting the job done. I think I may use this as an excuse to buy an angle grinder. It also looks like I'll have to reapply seam sealer to the existing floor pan. The old seam sealer is missing in parts. Maybe this is part of the water leakage problem?

Underneath the floor pan there is so much grime that I'm waiting to see if I can get some of it off with a high pressure wash first. I was not too excited about scraping it all off by hand. Skipping this part brought me to the back of the car. Again, some cleaning and inspection. Same issue, mostly surface rust that a bit of scraping and paint ought to take care of. The cable for the reverse light coming from the transmission is in bad shape, so that one will have to get changed, but everything else looks good.

This brings me to the engine. I started removing the shroud pieces. I'll either get them powdercoated or buy new ones, depending on price and amount of wear (all in the interest of aesthetics). A few of them will have to get replaced...

... and then I realized it was getting late, and I got a call to meet a friend for dinner, so the rest of this will have to wait till next time.