Couple of Questions on Floor Renovation

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RRoller123
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Couple of Questions on Floor Renovation

Post by RRoller123 »

I am finally getting around to renovation of the interior floor and have a couple of questions: Please feel free to pipe up, anyone!

In this pic, is there anything I should do (other than cleaning it) to adjust the shift linkage before I button everything back up? I will be replacing the foam sound shield and the inner rubber boot.

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I need the foam gasket marked in this picture. It goes under the center console on top of the transmission, cushions the console and seals things in and out. Can't seem to find a supplier that has it. Anyone have a good one or know who sells it?

Image

Both of my seatbelt ends have crappy plastic shield as marked in this pic. On one side the shield is completely missing. Does anyone have good ones to sell or know which supplier sells them? (any color ok, as I will dye them black, which is my preferred color)

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Now the big question: I have removed all the jute and foam junk and cleaned the floor up nicely. The original factory hard coating is in great shape and the entire interior of the car has absolutely no rust, even at the weep drain holes. So at this point I have absolutely no intention of removing all that hard insulation that is on the floor. I am thinking of coating it with truck bed liner (brush or spray) and then applying the EZ Cool material that we have been discussing for awhile. Any comments on this?

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And finally, my back seats have returned from the upholsterer, the fronts are due in a little while. I had them done in genuine faux authentic imitation leather. Think it will go great with the rest of the decor and especially the madrone burl dash!

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'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle
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124JOE
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Your car is a: 1978 124 fiat spider sport 1800
Location: SO. WI

Re: Couple of Questions on Floor Renovation

Post by 124JOE »

looking good so far ! for the foam pad you can go to a second hand shop and look for an old chair and use the foam under the seat.or a fabric store looking for a pad.
have you seen that rubber spray stuff?leak ender?
use that on the bottom side to whether proof it

you could use neoprine like a scuba dive sute

i think i used window insulator a "closed cell foam" on that area and the gas tank
and i would paint the floor before the pad goes in

hope this helps
when you do everything correct people arent sure youve done anything at all (futurama)
ul1joe@yahoo.com 124joe@gmail.com
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4uall
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Re: Couple of Questions on Floor Renovation

Post by 4uall »

Jay

Fiona
1980 FI 2000 Spider
ITZEBTZE

https://goo.gl/photos/eNKaX7hrXhBu9fmp6

FINN (FN-2187)
2014 Jeep Wrangler Sport
MYTHERPY
Exit98

Re: Couple of Questions on Floor Renovation

Post by Exit98 »

Hi Pete,

The foam under the metal transmission cover thing, I don't think I had one when I pulled things apart to do my floors. Here's what I did and I think it worked out great. I used my ez cool stuff (I used a different brand) self-adhesive and foil backed, and took a piece of it and attached it to the underside of the metal transmission cover, foil side facing down toward the transmission, cutting the holes as necessary. So it sandwiched between the cover and tunnel. Gotta be better than that flimsy foam stuff. Afterwards I insulated the entire outside of the tunnel quite heavily. All summer I got no heat off the tunnel at all. What a difference. Here’s my floor post:

http://www.fiatspider.com/f08/viewtopic ... 30&t=18105

I agree your floors look real good. You can see how shiny the footwells are. I definitely had rust under my tar. If by chance you do have some underneath, bed liner on top will just cover it up. Just to be sure I’d suggest you chip off the tar where the rear trailing arm support reinforcements are behind the seats to be sure there isn’t any hidden rust there. It’s probably clean but you’ll be glad you checked. If things look good I’d imagine the bed liner stuff would seal up the old tar pretty good.

Good luck, it’s one of those jobs that are give a lot of satisfaction.
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azruss
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Re: Couple of Questions on Floor Renovation

Post by azruss »

thanks for the pix. I was just trying to figure out how all that went. One issue, my metal inner plate has an oblong hole and i cant find a plug to fit it. I'm sure its supposed to be plugged on an FI car. Any suggestions. closed cell foam would probably do the trick.
supplyguy

Re: Couple of Questions on Floor Renovation

Post by supplyguy »

When I started to replace my carpet I read everyone's posts here and reluctantly starting chipping away the coating on the floor. I had second thoughts when all I saw was clean, nice steel. But heeding the wisdom of others here I pushed on. And found rust. Small holes and some surface rust, but it was there. I am so pleased to have completed the POR-15, fiberglass, Dynamat (Home Depot version) and Ezcool (okay I may have overdone it). I like knowing that the floor pans are 100% clean now...or as close as I'm going to get without new ones.

I will say it was discouraging to chip away with a chisel inch by inch while the multitool I just bought charged. Then the multitool froze up and I switched the mallet others advocated and was stunned. Took me an hour and a half to do one rear floor section by chisel. Then 30-40 minutes to do one side of the front floor with the multitool. Then... less than 10 minutes to break up the other driver side with a mallet. Anyway - you've come a long way and I would recommend, FWIW, to finish the whole shebang.
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RRoller123
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Re: Couple of Questions on Floor Renovation

Post by RRoller123 »

Thanks for all the great suggestions! I love this forum. As we say around heyuh, wickhud pissah help.

Pete
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle
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RRoller123
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Re: Couple of Questions on Floor Renovation

Post by RRoller123 »

One more thing, a tip really... You can't quite see it in my first picture, but I got so frustrated when I first started sorting through the wiring rat's (or is it rats.. hmmmm) nest that I started marking every connector systematically with indelible marker as I identified it on the schematic, C35, C36, etc etc. The next time I needed to go in there it was a heckuva lot easier to see where everything belonged, and it made removing the excess wiring, for chimes, seat belt buzzer, etc a whole lot less stressful.
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle
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seabeelt
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Re: Couple of Questions on Floor Renovation

Post by seabeelt »

Pete, Who in the area are you using for an upholstry shop? I was looking at partiot down in Portsmouth, RI
Michael and Deborah Williamson
1971 Spider -Tropie’ - w screaming IDFs
1971 Spider - Vesper -scrapped
1979 Spider - Seraphina - our son's car now sold
1972 Spider - Tortellini- our son's current
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RRoller123
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Re: Couple of Questions on Floor Renovation

Post by RRoller123 »

The jury is still out until I get the fronts back, then I would be happy to give an endorsement! (I hope)
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle
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124JOE
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Your car is a: 1978 124 fiat spider sport 1800
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Re: Couple of Questions on Floor Renovation

Post by 124JOE »

on upholstery i went to a shop near me and they charged me $100 per panel

thats $600 to have leather seating i brought them cut down to size and fit to my stock seats
when you do everything correct people arent sure youve done anything at all (futurama)
ul1joe@yahoo.com 124joe@gmail.com
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RRoller123
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Re: Couple of Questions on Floor Renovation

Post by RRoller123 »

Coated the cleaned up floor with truck bed liner, brushed on. Should seal any water out like King Tutankhamun's tomb. Carpets and EZ Cool should be here middle of this coming week. Spring is close, but I just got 15+" of snow today in Foxboro!

Pete

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'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle
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RRoller123
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Re: Couple of Questions on Floor Renovation

Post by RRoller123 »

Another question for you fellows:

Do you guys typically put any secondary padding between the EZ-Cool (or similar insulation) and the carpeting? Or is the EZ Cool and the carpet enough? When I bought it, my car had a thick (~3/4") rubber closed cell foam pad between the floor and carpet, and all on top of the jute, which was excessive. It certainly deadened sound and heat, but was way too thick.

And I just got a call that the front seats are ready, will pick 'em up on Monday. Yeah!
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle
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Razooli
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Re: Couple of Questions on Floor Renovation

Post by Razooli »

I'd do a little bit of padding ... I skipped it on my resto of my old '51 Chevy and I was sorry I did. I think just a little padding (1/4 or 3/8) will add a little "plush" that you'll appreciate.
Can't wait to see the seats!
Lynn Shuler
1982 Spider 2000
Remember, this hobby is supposed to be your therapy, not the reason you need therapy.
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RRoller123
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Re: Couple of Questions on Floor Renovation

Post by RRoller123 »

Thanks Lynn, I think I will do that. It would be a shame to put it all back together and regret not having enough padding, or to actually have it louder than it was! Picking seats up Monday, will post pics (if they look good).

Pete
'80 FI Spider 2000
'74 and '79 X1/9 (past)
'75 BMW R75/6
2011 Chevy Malibu (daily driver)
2010 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Ext Cab 4WD/STD BED
2002 Edgewater 175CC 80HP 4-Stroke Yamaha
2003 Jaguar XK8
2003 Jaguar XKR
2021 Jayco 22RB
2019 Bianchi Torino Bicycle
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