I didn't believe it, until I tried it!
SANDING FOAM RUBBER! Holy smokes,...sure works great! How very cool!!
I used a 40 grit pad that I had on my 6" sander, but I think that an 80 grit sanding pad might work better - I think the material removal would be easier to regulate. And I found that a moderate rotational speed was best - too slow, and things 'grab', too fast, and you'll remove too much material too quickly.
But YES, you can sand foam rubber! Smooths it nicely,...
I'll touch-up a couple of spots (it's my first foam repair,...) and the old buns will be ready for re-installation.

Application of new upholstery will be covered when I can afford to do that. Hopefully in the next month, or so.
One yard of the dark red sierra vinyl that the upholstery will be made of is on it's way, so that I can inspect the material and cover the rear side-panels.
I was able to peel the old upholstery off of my original panels with just my fingers. They are washed, and I'll try to remove as much of the old contact cement as I can, before I install the new vinyl.
More soon.
Hope all of you have recovered from last night, and I hope you have a great 2020!
Happy Motoring!
Todd.

My gosh! This #5110, Sierra vinyl - dark red, from carupholsteryguys.com is absolutely the PERFECT match to my original 1979 red upholstery! It's truly pretty,...
Well into covering my rear side-panels, and they are just beautiful. I've cemented the 'flat' center and wrapped the front edge only, and I'm allowing the contact cement to dry overnight (with clothes-pin clamps in place). I'll finish tomorrow.
Also used the "Foam Lock" spray adhesive to 'fix' my new, plastic boot hooks into their boot pockets,...nice! Especially since this 1979 boot is STILL functioning and looking nice after 40+ years!

EDIT: Use Weldwood Contact Cement (or similar) for the vinyl. I find that Foam Lock works OK over flat surfaces, but I had to re-seal edges of the vinyl in spots,...

Finally finished 'em.
Some tight corners to pull vinyl over, on these rear panels! But I'm pleased with the result,...WHAT an improvement!



Isn't that some beautiful red vinyl,...?!!
I think I can order upholstery next week. Then comes the GIGANTIC waiting period, while they put the upholstery together,...!

That looks fantastic!

Spectacular!!!! and looks great. I will send you my consoles for wrapping!

well done
dinghyguy

Thanks, guys!
I've been trying to figure out if I can get vinyl to smooth to all the angles on the consoles,...probably not.
I HAVE been toying with the idea of covering the dash with black sierra vinyl. It's a thought that's still rolling around in my head,...
I sure hope that the new upholstery is sewn well. If so, it should come out looking just as nice!
Best of all,...doing this costs very little!

Yahoo! Order finally placed. Upholstery has been months in the planning (years in the wishlist!),...!
I'm curious how long this might take. Actually, I got my yard of dark red vinyl from them pretty quickly.
Wish me luck!

MAN! And I thought the passenger seat upholstery stunk?!
I pulled the vinyl off of the rear seat bottom and found the only real rust on the car, and the real stink! Like an old, wet ashtray,...plus a smell I can't quite identify (ick!). Rear seat back was not much better,...
The frames required a good dousing with rust stabilizer spray, due to surface rust, but both foam buns are in perfect shape.
I found a couple of places where the factory glues the upholstery to the foam bun - so I used a putty knife to GENTLY lift the upholstery away from the foam - but I'll cover that point more on re-assembly. Otherwise disassembly of the rear seat upper and lower are very straightforward. No surprises.
I found some PERFECT dark red spray paint for the plastic seat belt guides, and some 2mil drop-cloth plastic that will replace the factory's installation plastic for the front seat upholstery.
I need to rust-stabilize my old upholstery wires and replace some cord in the rear seat frame. One lower mounting tab on the rear seat back needs to be repaired.
Nearly ready for the new upholstery! Back into the long wait,...

That smell may be residue rodentia? Spray some bleach around there?

Guaranteed, the mice have been there before - I have a whole thread on this forum (from awhile back, and can be found via searchword 'mouseproofing') - but I was able to clean everything up nicely, back then (and my interventions were successful, BTW). The upholstery could not be done at that time.
Didn't seem like it smelled THAT bad, since then, until I removed the upholstery!
Luckily, the bad smell went with the old vinyl! Sure smelled like a soaking wet, full ashtray, but after so many years, how knows what it may have come from,...there was some dark, sticky stuff in some of the hidden areas,...YUK!
The Spider is sure going to smell a lot better after this! Airing out as we speak,...old upholstery in a pile in the small garage (until I complete installation, it's for reference).

Had a very similar experience. Awfully musty smell coming from the foam.

What I did was hang them up on my clothesline, then spray them down with vinegar. One misting in the morning, one in the evening. Did this for about a week.

The smell is gone now (I'm sure the new carpet helped a lot as well).

Only feasible with a solid week of no rain, obviously.

I treat any areas, contaminated by the little beggars, with lots of dish-soap washings. I let that dry and apply dilute bleach solution. Once that dries, I rinse and treat the moist area with baking soda overnight. Finally, I wash that away.
Luckily, it is my old upholstery that stinks, not the buns. I think my old upholstery got wet and spilled on too many times, without ever drying fully, long before I got it. Anyway, the buns are fine,...and I repaired each of them!
I must have been lucky, because it's the slower season, and my new upholstery has been completed and shipped. That's good, because the suspense is killing me! I know what to expect as far as the vinyl goes,...but I hope stitching and fit will be as beautiful! I'll know soon,...!
Then it will be time for INSTALLATION. I will post pics of my steps, as I go,...front seats, rear, and headrests.
More soon.

Sometimes just putting them in a closet or box along with an uncovered bowl of clear ammonia can do wonders to clear out organic odors. A good malador treatment such as OdoBan can also be a great final treatment.

If its mold or mildew then best is to treat first with a fog or mist of Concrobium which soaks into the mold spores and bursts them at a cellular level making it so they won't be able to come back to life once they get some moisture again without getting into something thats highly caustic or corrosive being made with food safe ingredients its not harmful to humans or pets either and its main ingredient can be found in many foods we eat daily.

Just a note of caution NOT to mix bleach and ammonia, or cleaning solutions in general. Depending on the relative amounts and the specific formulations, nasty stuff like chlorine, cloramine, and even hydrazine (an explosive) can be produced.

Yes, it's my chemistry background speaking here, but just be careful folks.

-Bryan

I've heard lots of folks try all kinds of things to get rid of odors, but I know that this works,...and I like to stick to the REALLY non-dangerous stuff,...especially in the interior, or vent system, of a car.
BTW, best solution to start with is a lot of airing out,...
Gotta get a mounting tab welded on the rear seat upper and replace the heavy cord in the rear seat lower before upholstery gets here on Tuesday,...I think everything else is ready.
Wow, it seems like I'm making major steps in getting this Spider finished,...after 20 years of ownership!