So I had to replace my heater core, and figured since I had the dash out, it'd be a good time to make a number of other changes (new seats, carpet, headliner, roll bar, instrument bulbs, gauge pods, alarm system, dash speakers, etc.). I'm learning a lot in the process, and a had a couple of questions:
1) Almost all of the sound deadening/heat insulation that was on the floorboards is cracked and literally peels right off when I pull on it. Because of this, I'm in the process of pulling it all out. Are there safety considerations to take into account to determine if I need to replace it? Safety is really my only concern. The car has no A/C, so I only really drive it during the winter, so some extra heat getting into the cockpit is fine by me. It's a weekend driver, so I don't mind the added noise or fumes from the exhaust either. If that's all that stuff was doing, then I'll plan on leaving it bare metal, but are there other considerations I'm not thinking about? (i.e. - will the floorboards rust sooner, etc.?) Also, is the sound deadener painted on at the factory, or has my car's interior been painted?
2) The guy who built the car before I bought it installed Autometer gauges, and now my factory water temp and oil pressure gauges don't work (even though he also installed a tach and the factory tach works). I've pulled up numerous wiring diagrams online but can't seem to figure out how he disconnected the factory units to plug in the aftermarket ones. I'd like both gauges to work, even if they give me conflicting signals. Where would I find the factory sending units for oil pressure and water temp? I've tried tracing the factory instrument cluster connectors to the source, but get lost in the spider web of wiring. I plan to splice them and send to both gauges if at all possible.
3) I've cut most of my old 4-pt cage out, as it had awful welds that would prevent me from passing tech, and am finishing up grinding down the old welds from the floorboards. I didn't know enough about welding before I bought the car, so didn't know this would be an issue - live and learn people! live and learn. I've got a new cage in the mail already (Maximum Motorsports' 6-pt), and am wondering if anyone has installed one, how simple the directions are. I will be taking it to a professional, but if there any additional steps to prep the car for the welder, I'd like to do it to save myself added cost of his time. That said, as it sits right now, the welder will be getting a car with minimal dash, no seats or carpet, and the old weld spots ground down and cleansed of any prior work.
4) Are there other things I should be doing while I have the car apart that I haven't thought about? I'd love to hear what else would save me time later.
Cheers,
Danno
Some pics below, and more to follow tomorrow when I get them off of my DSLR:
Old Carpet:
![Image]()
An example of the crap welding (these are the subframe connectors):
![Image]()
Another example of crap welding:
![Image]()
A pic of the dash being painted:
![Image]()
1) Almost all of the sound deadening/heat insulation that was on the floorboards is cracked and literally peels right off when I pull on it. Because of this, I'm in the process of pulling it all out. Are there safety considerations to take into account to determine if I need to replace it? Safety is really my only concern. The car has no A/C, so I only really drive it during the winter, so some extra heat getting into the cockpit is fine by me. It's a weekend driver, so I don't mind the added noise or fumes from the exhaust either. If that's all that stuff was doing, then I'll plan on leaving it bare metal, but are there other considerations I'm not thinking about? (i.e. - will the floorboards rust sooner, etc.?) Also, is the sound deadener painted on at the factory, or has my car's interior been painted?
2) The guy who built the car before I bought it installed Autometer gauges, and now my factory water temp and oil pressure gauges don't work (even though he also installed a tach and the factory tach works). I've pulled up numerous wiring diagrams online but can't seem to figure out how he disconnected the factory units to plug in the aftermarket ones. I'd like both gauges to work, even if they give me conflicting signals. Where would I find the factory sending units for oil pressure and water temp? I've tried tracing the factory instrument cluster connectors to the source, but get lost in the spider web of wiring. I plan to splice them and send to both gauges if at all possible.
3) I've cut most of my old 4-pt cage out, as it had awful welds that would prevent me from passing tech, and am finishing up grinding down the old welds from the floorboards. I didn't know enough about welding before I bought the car, so didn't know this would be an issue - live and learn people! live and learn. I've got a new cage in the mail already (Maximum Motorsports' 6-pt), and am wondering if anyone has installed one, how simple the directions are. I will be taking it to a professional, but if there any additional steps to prep the car for the welder, I'd like to do it to save myself added cost of his time. That said, as it sits right now, the welder will be getting a car with minimal dash, no seats or carpet, and the old weld spots ground down and cleansed of any prior work.
4) Are there other things I should be doing while I have the car apart that I haven't thought about? I'd love to hear what else would save me time later.
Cheers,
Danno
Some pics below, and more to follow tomorrow when I get them off of my DSLR:
Old Carpet:
An example of the crap welding (these are the subframe connectors):
Another example of crap welding:
A pic of the dash being painted:
