71 Newport..it begins...

So after yanking the rear seats...to get into the trunk, as the rear lock cylinder failed....I decided to wait for a skinnier friend..to squeeze into the opening...I began to see a lot of sealant spread out in all the joints.. its cracked and pretty much dried out...most of if simply lifts off..my question is, once I have it cleaned out..what do you recommend I replace it with? The floor boards are solid with minimal wear...I plan to paint them with a heavy product, perhaps bed liner...then install new carpeting...still trying to figure out posting pics...

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That caulking looks like the one that comes from the factory. I painted my floors with 2 coats of rust paint but some members have different ways.

[img][/img]I kinda figured, it comes off pretty easy, and the metal underneath is pristine...Im likely going to paint it and cover it with sound deadener..

Reseal the joints. 
There are multiple products on the market, 3m is one, black Sikoflex.

Thanks for the advice.

The old sealant hardens and then cracks allowing moisture into the seams. Reseal it and then put a couple of coats of rust paint on the entire floor.
By the way that's a nice looking ride.

Trunks cleaned...sanded, primed...rough paint...waiting for new carpet and sound deadening...

Looking good so far. Did you reseal where the old caulking was?

Not yet, Im getting the new sealant this week, thats the next step.

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Seats are out, carpets gone...floor boards seem to be in great shape....

GREAT shape is right!!!
Where is the rust hole in the floor and the rest of the rust marks?

It really is a very clean car.

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Floors done, ready for fresh seam sealant and then carpets...

wow - far northern car - no salt!

Must be nice to have clean floors.

I am pleased with the progress, once I can seal up the seams I can move onto reinstall of the new carpets...

Looking good, keep the pictures coming as you progress.

So after replacing the thermostat....flushing the rad...She was still getting way to hot, so the rad had to come out...this is what the bottom tubes look like,....so Im thinking a recore is required.

On a similar note, I notices that the water pump input shaft has some play in it...there is slight movement in and out...the bearings seem good..maybe the amount of play is normal..Im not sure...I have a question, it appears that if I were to remove the 4 bolts from the front of the pump the impeller would come out...If I replaces that in essence that should solve any pump issues...Since its accessible Im thinking it would be a good idea...

Those 4 bolts are what holds the water pump in place. If you have a radiator shop near by, take the rad and see if they will try boiling it out.

Sadly there are no rad shops in town and even the dealers only replace...seems the days or repairing things are becoming uncommon..I did find a shop in Grande Prairie Alberta...so time to pack it up and ship it off...

You could try to clean it up yourself. Make up some kind of caps to plug of the hose outlets, fill the rad with clean cold water and put a half a cup of LYE in it, and just let the lye do its job. Maybe an hour or so remove the lower cap on the hose outlet, drain the rad and flush really well with a garden hose. Do not get the lye on your hands or in your eyes, wear safety glasses and rubber gloves.

That sounds like a great idea....Thanks

Cross wrote:That sounds like a great idea....Thanks

I've actually used this method for cleaning out plugged heater cores, which is something else you should flush out using lye.