FINALLY a weekend without rain, and I have some time to work on OY. It has been just sitting OUTSIDE since the beginning of August driving me crazy. I had put a tarp over it at Poly's suggestion above and this is how it looked waiting patiently for me:
I was pleased to see that it had only leaked a tiny bit at each front corner of the floor pan given the monsoon type rains we have had in the past two months. I removed the seats and shifter in July, so OY hasn't moved or even been started in all that time. The carpet has been laying inside, untrimmed, all this time to keep it's shape. So, Saturday was the day to trim the carpet to fit, and drill holes for the 60/40 seats.
I was relieved to find that the passenger side seat tracks fit the catalytic converter floor hump perfectly. I wasn't sure they would because I believe the floor hump design changed in size somehow from the earlier floor pan dimensions to the later models. The 60/40 Highlander plaid seats I have to put in are from a '77 Volare Premier, and OY is a '78, so I was concerned that the change might have happened between 1977 and 1978 model years, but fortunately, the track fits fine! It was actually quite easy to locate and drill the inner seat track holes for both passenger and driver seats. There were dimples already located in the floors. When I test fit each seat by putting the outer track studs in the holes already used for the former bench seat, the inner track studs on each seat exactly lined up with the dimples in the floor. There were already pre-formed holes in the catalytic converter floor shield, so no interference there either with the shield or the cat itself.
Next was the job of trimming the carpet to fit. What a job! I got the upgraded "mass backing" carpet which means that it has a coating of rubber like stuff on the back in addition to the felt, to make it quieter. It also makes it very difficult to manipulate and fold, so trying to get it in position and also under the pedals was not easy at all. I originally planned to use the old carpet as a pattern laid on top of the new carpet, but decided that was too risky. So, I started by locating the four speed floor hump as perfectly with the hump in the molded carpet as possible and then used heavy shears to trim away the extra around the edges. It was a job and a half, particularly up under the dash where you have to cut around the steering column and heater ducts! I bent and contorted myself into positions I didn't know I was able to. Ibuprofin to the rescue. But, it seems to have come out pretty well, and I left a little more carpet than was there originally.
Next, it was time to address the minor surface rust in some spots on the floor pans, so out came the carpet again for that job. I used an electric drill with metal brush head which cleaned up the floors very nicely. The floors were very lightly painted originally, and the little channels in the floor pan seemed to have had been painted with debris in them or something, because the paint just flaked up very easily. I wire brushed the entire floor and eliminated every trace of rust.
Next up, paint, carpet reinstall and cut out for shifter and dimmer switch, and finally, seats to be installed.