Tuesday, June 17, 2014

RS Revival: Pick up the Pieces

After half a year of working on this car, I thought I would've found all the issues with it.  Suspension, Exhaust, Engine, Quarter Panel Rust, leaking windshield, broken power-window motor, the list is long.  However, as I prepped the car today to take a look at repairing portions of the body, I found something interesting on the underside of the car.  The instant I found it, I remembered another issue that the car had that should've been a tell-tale sign.  The interior.

The original drivers seat was in pretty rough shape, as the metal frame inside the bolsters was sticking through the fabric and foam padding, poking the driver in the side.  The rear seat was also pretty ruined with automotive fluids it had absorbed over the years.  When they were replaced with the JDM STI Version 2 seats, I noticed a ton of little white papers all underneath the seats and coming through holes in the floor carpet.  I figured that, at some point, there must have been water inside and these were used in an attempt to soak up water.  What I should have also realized at that point was that water could've easily pooled up underneath the floorboards.  The result is the pictures to the left.

 The car was up on jack stands when I was inspecting the car.  This whole section was already falling out when I went underneath, as I heard a light "ping" under the car.  In the middle of the second picture, you can see what made that "ping".  It's a rusted-beyond-recognition penny... from the inside of the car, surrounded by pieces of the undercoating that was still bonded to what used to be metal.  Just another bit to address as this car gets put back together!

No comments:

Post a Comment