Interior Stripped, Engine Tear Down Continues

Today was a wildly productive day here at the MattCave, though not all of it was focused on the tear down

I started the day off strong, by finishing off the interior. The last thing to go was the heating/AC module that is mounted to the inside of the firewall. What I didn't realize initially is that it's hooked up to all kinds of hoses and stuff in the engine compartment.

Here's how the interior looks as of right now. The only thing remaining is the steering column. And the only reason that's still there is because I cannot figure out how to disconnect it. Yet.



Here's the pile of wires that came out of the interior. This will not be a fun mess to untangle once it comes time to re-wire the interior. I wonder how much of it I will actually need?



It only took me about an hour to get that far, and then I got diverted. I spent about ninety minutes editing together the latest episode of "Rise of The MattMobile," which should be posted sometime tomorrow. I will of course include a link here when it goes up.

And then it was back to work, this time on the engine. This is where I'm getting a little nervous. I took a lot of time to label a bunch of stuff, and took TONS of reference photos of how everything looks. But it's like an onion. Or an Ogre. Both have layers. Right? For each wire, tube, hose, or component I remove, it reveals new details that I could not see before. Which means more photos.

Just for kicks, I started off on the passenger side. I removed the A/C coolant reservoir, the power steering fluid reservoir, and some other A/C related component that I cannot name. Taking pics and labeling everything along the way slows down the process, but it's well worth it. Not only do I get to learn a lot about how the car is built, but this will help me put it all back together.



Here's how it looks as of right now.

After that, it was cleaning time. The garage has gotten pretty cluttered AND dirty over the past two weeks, so I moved a bunch of stuff out of the way, and mopped the floor. With all the fluids coming out of the engine, it's getting pretty gross, even though I'm capturing most of it in a drip tray. Without it, I'm sure the garage would be a catastrophe. Best nine dollars spent on the project so far.

Then I loaded up some parts into the Chyrsler, and took them to the dumpster. MUCH better. Much more breathing room in the garage now.

Tomorrow I will continue with the engine dismantle, and maybe do some more saw work on the body. I'm definitely getting closer!