restoring interior flooring

[htchevyii]

looks like you found a keeper there! Keep it dry

[thechadzone]

Thanks for the heads-up on the T-9. I'll have to eBay for some. I finished chipping away the tar coating from the passenger's side front area, and the tar coating everywhere else looks to be in excellent shape, including the factory paint over top of it. I'll still have a look-see at the floor pans from below to make sure they're sealed from both sides. I have two tall cans of undercoating for the underside of the floor pans, and the insides of the fender wells. I also coated what surface rust there was with a rust reverser called "Ospho", which is said to turn iron oxide to iron sulfate (?) or some-such non corrosive compound. It's good stuff that I've used before on other cars.

The Coupe's carpet got a couple cans of carpet dye today, after being beaten out and vacuumed for quite a while. It wasn't in the best of shape, but it' looks a lot better now:

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/thech ... .jpg[/img]
Fiat coupe floor pans 10 by thechadzone, on Flickr[/url]

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/thech ... .jpg[/img]
Fiat Coupe Floor Pans 11 by thechadzone, on Flickr[/url]

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/thech ... .jpg[/img]
Fiat Coupe Floor Pans 12 by thechadzone, on Flickr[/url]

My Coupe is a '72 that I bought for the excellent price of $1500. It's engine runs fine and it drives, but it needs things like 4th gear, and a new brake master. It's been largely off the road since its epic return from the mirafiori Oregon event last month. I've got some pics of it on my Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/thechadzone/page2/

[jimmycakes401]

How did you guys remove your rubber pads from your floor? Is their an "easy" way. LOL. Probably not. I'll be needing to do my floor soon and I believe I should remove those pads so I can really see what I'm up against.

[azruss]

removing the asphalt like soundproofing is a pain. examine your floorboards around the edge to see what kind of rust issues you have. if you have a minimum, see if you can clean that up and leave the floorboards alone. If this is not the case, the best is to wait for a cold day and chip it off with an air chisel. it is a PITA regardless of how you do it. once done you need to replace it with stick-on sound deadener sheets, which is not cheap stuff.

[Divers]

Hammer and chisel.....I hate this stuff, but am glad I have removed it all. Found lots of surface rust lurking under it.

[jimmycakes401]

nery little surface rust. that's about it.

[124JOE]

be sure to treat that rust

[dantye]

How did you guys remove your rubber pads from your floor? Is their an "easy" way. LOL. Probably not. I'll be needing to do my floor soon and I believe I should remove those pads so I can really see what I'm up against.

1. You don't know about rust until the asphalt stuff is removed.
2. I found that cold weather is when it works best: chisel it out with a sharp wood chisel. Heating it is a real pain.
4. After rust proofing, seam sealer on any welded patches, then prime and spray with truck bed coating - not the kind with kevlar or other grit.

[jimmycakes401]

That's what I figured. All my rust has already been hit with an inhibitor. It was applied years ago and has kept all the surface rust at bay. I was surprised. The floor seems solid. Looks like I'll have to wait a few months to tackle that if I need cold. It's in the 90s here now. LOL

[donerehart]

This is one of the most helpful posts I have seen. Thanks for everyone's help in chipping in. Plan on tackling mine this winter!
Don

[jimmycakes401]

http://www.harborfreight.com/variable-s ... 67537.html

I just picked this up today. Spent five minutes with it and it pulled up the nasty pretty easy. I used the scraper attachment. Still left a little gunk, but I'm sure i could wire brush it off or something.

[donerehart]

I know this is a dated post, but it is priceless...thanks... This will be my winter project...I have no idea what is under there!

[wikkid]

Also good to add to a thread like this, that someone else posted a while back regarding cleaning/restoration of original carpet: Griot's Garage Interior Cleaner apparently works wonders to restore dirty original carpeting. I plan to try it on mine to see if I can re-use the original.

[jimmycakes401]

Hmmm... I have some really bad old carpet. Maybe I should try and bring it back. It's tan though and I'd like to go black.

I just got some master series silver to hit the interior after I get all my gunk off. Was going to start soon but a bunch of projects just popped up.

[dantye]

Here is what I did for carpet, using the old carpet as patterns - overcutting size to leave some trim. The weave pattern is very similar to original carpet:

Olefin Indoor/Outdoor carpet. Be sure to get the type with marine rubber back that prevents unraveling; no edge binding required. About 1/4 to 1/6 cost of custom carpet sets. At Sears, Home Depot or Fleet Farm Stores. Downside for some may be limited color selection.