The teardown begins with disassembly of the interior...

January 3,2006

I actually had a chance to begin this a couple weeks ago. My big stumbling block at first was getting the hatch open. Obviously nothing could start until I did. The PO didn't give me a key for it. However he had also apparently tried to get it open by prying the panels inside the back out to get to the latch mechanism from the inside. I followed up and did the same, finally getting a small screwdriver stuck into the slot and turning it to release the hatch. This was harder than it sounds, in fact I was beginning to wonder if there was another problem with the latch and it wasn't going to go, but it did finally work.

Now that I had access to the car I could begin disassembly by removing the rear fold-down seat. They are in excellent condition, so I carefully unbolted them. The seat bottom was bolted to the floor in the front, and then the seat lifted out. The back is really two parts - the metal back, and the cushioned front. The metal back unbolts with the seatback down, then set it up and unbolt the cushion from the front at the bottom. The two pieces come apart easily, and I put them in a safe place for storage. There is a third piece, which is the carpeted part. It bolts to the floor of the hatch with four bolts. The carpet is torn off of it already, so it's pretty clean.

The front seats unbolt from under the car. I was happy to find the underside of the car clean and undamaged. The nuts came off easy, and the seats lifted right out.

The short console was held down by two black screws in the coin tray. Then the console (with a little wiggling) unsnaps and flips forward, where it is hinged to the bottom plate. The bottom plate is held in by four silver screws. Inside the console the plastic retainer for the rubber boot around the brake handle had broken loose. I think I can epoxy that back together when the time comes. Otherwise the console and rubber are all in excellent condition.

Once I had the big stuff out, I got a good look at the carpet. I was surprised by how black the parts that had been protected were. The exposed parts were shaggy and green! Yuk! But that was the least of it, the PO had spilled oil on the passenger side, and there was sticky goop everywhere from long lost candies and gum that had found their way under the seat and melted over the years. Also lots of sunflower seeds packed away, which usually means mice, though I saw no mouse poop. Either way, Ewww. There was also about $2 in change under the seats - heck, this resto is going to pay for itself!

I removed the sill plates, and then pulled out the speaker wires to the back which didn't go anywhere anymore. Along the way I pulled the carpet up out of the way and it ripped. I hadn't pulled that hard! I pulled a little more. I stopped to put on a respirator mask. Next thing I knew I was pulling it out in big sections - easily, by hand. It was seriously dry rotted. New carpet is one of the few things the interior needs, so I didn't feel bad. I just kept going until I had a bare floor except for the sound deadener.

That's when it got interesting.

Hey, what's that?

An electrical inspection checklist, in absolutely perfect condition. Sitting under the sound deadener under the driver's feet all this time! COOOOOL! Apparently someone with a red stamp reading 'RUSS3' checked off some of the lights on my car.

And on the Passenger side...

Unfortunately that's the side where someone spilled oil, because there, punctured by the seat mounting bolt, was the build sheet. The holy grail for restorers, the sign of a truly untouched car. It even still has a little piece of masking tape which must have held it to the car before they tore it off and tossed it inside to get covered by the carpet. Next to the build sheet was a clear plastic bag that looked like a giant door hanger bag, like salespeople leave hanging on your door knob, which must have gone down the assembly line at the same time, because it is trapped under the seatbelt mounting bolt.

So I carefully removed the build sheet and put it in a plastic cover. It's oily, and damaged, but it's there, and somewhat readable (though it's all in code), so I think it's pretty darn cool.

I need to go buy a big torx bit before I can get the seatbelts out, so I guess that's work for tomorrow. If it doesn't rain, I'll probably go bring the engine hoist and stand up from the bottom shed and look at starting to pull the engine.

stefrobrts@stephanies-mustang.com