Interior Disassembly

First on my list of tasks is to carefully strip everything from the inside. It's easy to lose patience and I've already broken a couple of rusty bolts taking off the door hinges. I was trying to film a time lapse, so maybe I was less focused than usual. Not to worry however, as I break things all the time. If nothing ever broke why would we ever fix anything?
Decent condition inside the spare tire well and cargo hatches 

Note about the interior panel fasteners: 

This plastic expansion type has a small dowel or pin running through its centre. To remove these safely, use a straight pick or punch and tap the pin through. You'll hear it fall out. Remember to fish these out later or forever wonder why your car rattles. Over time the panels can and will become brittle and its very very easy to crack or scratch them when removing fasteners. Use a plastic set of interior panel removal tools and take your time. The plastic fasteners are simple if the pin is removed first and if not, they will be the cause of much swearing. 
Photo Credit: https://zcardepot.com/collections/interior-panels/products/interior-panel-plastic-rivet-red-240z-260z-280z


The previous owner had replaced many of the original fasteners with a handful of metal push-in fasteners in strategic places where the panels overlap and stresses are higher. These are no fun and I have yet to figure out a safe method for removing the two on on the upper most roof panel at the overlaps. These are recessed just enough that my forked plastic tool can't get at them and the rounded heads on the fasteners effectively prohibit needle nosed pliers from gripping. More research needed. (UPDATE: I was able to remove the metal fasteners with a 90ยบ pick hooked under and a hearty yank)
Jute Underlay


The seats are simple to remove but require a 12mm wrench for the rear nuts due to tight spacing. A ratcheting wrench might be ideal here. The carpets are no trouble, though mine have gone brittle on the underside and made snapping and cracking noises whenever folded. Beneath the carpet is a jute or other natural fibre underlay. The dust from this was quite nasty which sent me to Google to learn if I was dealing with something more sinister like asbestos. It was just nasty old dust thankfully. 

There are a few asbestos components to watch for like brake shoes and clutch plates and possibly some fire guard materials on the engine side of the fire wall. Otherwise just your standard dust. The floor pans are rusty and also quite dented from many years of misplaced jacks so I'm also removing the old bitumen insulation to fully expose everything. I've been luck so far as most of it simply chips off. To save a little dough I'll be using the messy but free method of applying heat while scraping and cleaning up with solvent for the remainder. 

I got a little ahead of myself and stripped the valence and battery/washer fluid covers from the bonnet to have a break from the bent over interior work.

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