Took some added incentive in the form a little morning pick-me-up for the somewhat decrepit old Zenith Stromberg carburettor, courtesy of Carb Cleaner, the Spitfire has been awakened from winter hibernation successfully, roaring/(clattering) back to life.
The downside of liberating the seats: A soon-to-be ex-floorpan. Reckon I’ll want to upgrade something with a little less rust & no daylight shining thru it between my ass and the pavement. Time to order some new floorpans and either learn how to weld, or book some shop time…
Given my sadistic determination to inspect what may (or may not) be left of the floorpans, coupled with the intervening 3+ decades having rendered the ’74 Spitfire 1500’s seats non-adjustable, it was time to evict them and see what gives (or doesn’t give)…
Not surprisingly, there was the obligatory one godforsaken rusty bolt that wouldn’t come along quietly. This last one had to sheared off with a mallet blow.
Also, not shockingly, removal of the seats and seat frames yielded more evidence that the previous owner hadn’t gotten the memo on rust that winter(s) he apparently left the Spitfire un-garaged with the top down. In Vermont. So much for that floorpan.
One down, one to go: Seat frames, prepare to meet your new pal, Rustoleum. After a generous helping of elbow grease and a thorough bout with a range of abrasives (ranging down from 100 grit sandpaper to steel wool), I was pleased to find there was still some actual steel left in the Spitfire’s seat frames. All things considered, they cleaned up nice!
