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After the interior was removed I found a number of problems:
- the steering column mounting plate at the firewall was completely rusted out (yikes!!)
- light surface rust on the floor pans
- a large hole in the passenger side of the firewall just above the footwell
- a worn-out hood-release cable grommet
- a worn-out gasket/seal on the bulkhead electrical plug
- a fair-sized hole on the driver-side of the firewall just beside where the hood-relase cable grommet is located
- the bottom of the passenger door had rusted out beyond repair and there was a quarter-size rusted out hole I found on the door skin by tapping on a bubbled-up area of paint with a screwdriver
- the T-Top weatherstripping also had a lot of wear and tear, so I needed to replace it as well
- the front of the underside of the hood was rusted out beyond repair and so it also had to be replaced
The first order of business was to resolve the steering column issue. The difficult part of removal was to get to the two bolts inside the engine compartment. The first was found by moving back the protective sheath near the gearbox and the second was located up near where the actual steering column enters through the firewall. By means of a crow bar and hammer I gently worked the column off of the gear box. All that was left were the three mounting screws and the two mounting/support nuts/washers to the underside of the dash to remove the column. After removing the old column I was pleased to find that the firewall behind the mounting plate was intact without any rust at all. Next I had to do a good bit of searching to find a steering column that met my requirements. These requirements being cruise control and a tilt steering option. All I had to do then was install the replacement column in the reverse order I described above.
My next step was to repair the hole in the passenger side of the firewall. How I did this was to first grind away the rusted metal until I had good metal all around. Then I measured the size of the hole I had to patch/repair. I happened to have an old storm door on hand, and the bottom section of it was aluminum. So, I measured out the dimensions on the section of aluminum, cut out the plate needed, form-fitted it, drilled mounting holes in the firewall for mounting screws, applied a generous bead of clear silicone caulk around the perimeter of the hole and aluminum plate, and then attached the plate to the firewall with the mounting screws. I then went back around the edge of the plate and sealed it with more clear silicone caulk. I allowed it to set-up and checked for water leaks, which there were none.
Next I repaired the hole in the driver side of the firewall and replaced the hood release cable. Since the hole was so close to the hood release cable, I first removed it. Then I went through the same procedure as before and grinded away the rust until I had good metal. However, this is where the repair process changed. It was not practical to try to use alumninum here, so I went to fiberglass. Also after having had grinded away the rust, I found that the rusted metal went all the way over and included the area where the hood-release cable was located. As I said, I used fiberglass for this repair and a new hood-release cable. So, I went and cut a washer from sheet metal that the new hood-relase cable would screw into securely, and then when I installed the eight layers of fiberglass, I simply installed the washer I cut after having installed the first three layers of fiberglass. After this had set-up I went back and drilled out the fiberglass from the washer, and installed the new hood-release cable.
I then moved on to the bulkhead electrical connector, which had water leaking in around it. I found out from talking to a fellow knowledgable about these cars that I needed a new gasket that fit in the plug, and I needed to run a new bead of butyl around where the two parts of the plug met and around the perimeter of the plug where it met the firewall. The butyl (or dumb dumb) I purchased along with gasket material at a local auto parts house (CarQuest Auto Parts). Then I did as I described above, checked for water leaks, and there were none.
Next was the passenger door. As it was beyond repair I first dissconected the wires from the accessories in the door and worked them back into the car, and then removed the door (after having first removed the front fender to get to the hinge bolts). I purchased a replacement power equipped passenger side door from a local salvage yard and installed it to the car. Then I just re-ran the wires to the door and reconnected the power accessories in the door. One more thing I did to do was swap out the door glass as the replacement door did not have the factory tinted glass, which the original door had. While working with this I also replaced the hood with another hood I also bought at a salvage yard. Also, as the rear bumper fascia had holes in it from the ground effects I replaced it with a rear bumper fascia from a car at a local junkyard without ground effects.
Lastly was the light surface rust on the floor pans. To resolve this I sanded the floor pans until I had good metal, and then I sprayed them with anti-rust paint.
