FTO Soundproofing project

[waynebowden]

Hey Guys

Looking to undertake a combined rust treating/soundproofing project to pass the remainder of the winter/spring.

Do any of you guys know where I can find a comprehensive guide to striping the car interior step by step?

I found a reference to an old post on the same topic on the forum

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1395

But the link is now dead

Any help much appreciated

Wayne

[goz_83]

I don't think there is a step by step guide, but it's actually pretty easy. Get all the seats out first to make access easier. How much do you want stripped out? If you're removing the dash, it makes things a bit tricky.

[waynebowden]

Hey Goz,

Thanks for the reply.

I looking to strip front and back seats, centre console and floor carpet.

But leave the dash in place, I was hoping with all the above mentioned removed id have as much space as needed

Thank you

Wayne

[goz_83]

No problem. That makes it easy then. I would start with the front pillars. They just unclip. Careful not to lose the clips and takes notes and photos and separate screws and bolts into marked containers to make reassembly easier. Im not in the car, so this is just from memory.

The door card is also easy to remove. Start with the door handle surround and then pop the plastic screw covers to remove the screws at the door edges. There is a hidden screw just above the storage compartment, plugged with a grommet. The door card is then unclipped easily. You will need to disconnect the window switch wiring before pulling the door card off.

To remove the roof liner, you need to remove the rear panels (as far as i remember). There may be 4 screws, 1 at each corner. The third brake light cover is removed by pressing in the centre clip, which looks like a grommet. The outer section comes loose and you pull the clip out and remove the cover. Then disconnect the wires and unscrew the brake light unit. You need to remove the sun visors/flaps too. Easy. Becareful removing the liner, as it is sometimes glued at 2 points in the front and back. You may need to scrape it off as you remove the liner, being careful to not crease it. If there is glue, thoroughly remove it and clean the area where it adhered to the roof. It's actually the cause of those common rust bubbles on the roof.

The FLOOR console is what you'll be removing. Open the arm rest. Remove the screws at the base. Pull out the cup holder and remove screws that connect the arm rest/storage to the rest of the floor console. Remove the screws from the sides of the console and unclip (with absolute care) the centre console surround. You may need to unscrew the gaiter from the console if its a manual, otherwise there is a rubber surround you just pull out. The floor console should then pull away from the centre console and you'll be free to unclip the carpet trim and remove the carpet.

Don't forget to consider sound proofing in the boot, at least just behind the seat. Thats all i can think of off the top of my head.

[waynebowden]

Thank you Goz

What a comprehensive guide.

Im in the market for a garage or shed to work in, so all work is happening on my drive at the moment.

Hoping for a dry day tomorrow to tackle the boot.

Stripped the boot out last week in preparation of sound proofing and found a lot of surface rust.

Picked up 500ml of brush on Scotia white today, going to sand down, paint, clear waxoyl the flashband from top to bottom

Wayne

[goz_83]

If all the interior is removed, i would just work from inside the car. You have access to the boot once the seats are out and it wont matter if the rain is bucketing down, because you will be inside the car. Just a thought.