For the past few weeks I've been stripping out the inside of the car, to prevent damaging anything when the major work starts, and to get a good look at the car to see what needs doing.
The seats are leather and a bit tired, so I cleaned and treated them before putting them into storage. Everything else should be fine until I'm ready to clean them - I can do this indoors, so will probably leave this for winter when the garage is freezing cold.
I removed the steering wheel because it was getting in my way, and since its in such good nick, I didnt want to risk breaking it by bumping it. The car isnt going anywhere so it wont be needed anyway. To get a good look at the bulkhead from the inside and get good access behind the dash, I had to remove the parcelshelf, which meant removing the steering column, and the heater. To make sure everything goes back in the right place, I've taken photographs of everything before I removed it, and attached tags to cables, pipes, and wires to make sure I connect them back correctly.
With everything out, its easier to get a look at the state of the floor, and have a good poke at the small cracks that were there (which are now big holes). The floor above the main crossmember is rotten through (below the driver and front passenger seat), and the crossmember itself which supports the floor has also corroded at both ends.
Both front footwells are rusted through, the rear passenger footwells are also rusted through near the doors, and the sill beneath the centre door pillar (both sides) is also rusted. I'm wondering if I should just replace the whole floorpan, instead of patching the existing one. Removing the whole floor would make it easier to repair the cross member, and a whole new floor will give me peace of mind, so maybe I will. But on the other hand, I'm tight. The jury's still out on that one.
Here's some photos of current status, and closeups of the holy floor.
The seats are leather and a bit tired, so I cleaned and treated them before putting them into storage. Everything else should be fine until I'm ready to clean them - I can do this indoors, so will probably leave this for winter when the garage is freezing cold.
I removed the steering wheel because it was getting in my way, and since its in such good nick, I didnt want to risk breaking it by bumping it. The car isnt going anywhere so it wont be needed anyway. To get a good look at the bulkhead from the inside and get good access behind the dash, I had to remove the parcelshelf, which meant removing the steering column, and the heater. To make sure everything goes back in the right place, I've taken photographs of everything before I removed it, and attached tags to cables, pipes, and wires to make sure I connect them back correctly.
With everything out, its easier to get a look at the state of the floor, and have a good poke at the small cracks that were there (which are now big holes). The floor above the main crossmember is rotten through (below the driver and front passenger seat), and the crossmember itself which supports the floor has also corroded at both ends.
Both front footwells are rusted through, the rear passenger footwells are also rusted through near the doors, and the sill beneath the centre door pillar (both sides) is also rusted. I'm wondering if I should just replace the whole floorpan, instead of patching the existing one. Removing the whole floor would make it easier to repair the cross member, and a whole new floor will give me peace of mind, so maybe I will. But on the other hand, I'm tight. The jury's still out on that one.
Here's some photos of current status, and closeups of the holy floor.
Looking through the back seat into the boot
Both nearside doors with the door cards removed
Steering wheel removed, glove boxes, parcel shelf, heater, last bits of tatty old carpet, and the seats all out.
An attempt at being a bit arty. One of the spare wheels. It has two, I dunno why.
Hole in the floor beside drivers door above the main crossmember
Hole below the rear off-side door. It has these on both sides.
View looking into the car from the boot 
I found this 2 shilling coin when I removed the back seat.
