Well, good news (I think). I went to get the requested photos, and went ahead and removed the old water-stained headlining. I wasn't sure what I'd find. Underneath--original red primer, original New British Racing Green paint, original soundproofing and glue overspray. It settles the question of "is this the original shell?" once and for all.
I was also pleasantly surprised by what I found today. While there is a bit of rust to contend with, none of it is serious and the lingering questions I had have mostly been resolved. I went after the rust aggressively with a sharp blade, to really see how much metal was left, etc. Since I have petrol tanks out, headlining out, etc., I am able to access the opposite side of much of the questionable sections, and the news there was really good overall.
Photos to follow, but here's the summary:
The Good--
--a, b, c pillars are totally smooth inside, not a bit of rust anywhere. The bubbles in the rain gutters (on the roof) are surface only
--the sills are dead solid and perfect also, as are the doors and skins
--the car overall is very solid and rust-free
The Bad--
--Perforations in the front left floor pan corner, rear seat bulkhead directly forward of the battery, right fender, upper right a-panel, lower right a-panel
--Surface rust on rear body seams (this is actually good news, but something to be dealt with)
--Nose panel had surface rust covered over with bondo, so panel must be replaced or covered with bondo again
--Flange covers front and rear show some swelling, but all rust is coming from the outside in--the inside seams are dry and clean
--When I removed the ball of bondo behind the front wheel, it is covering a hole of rust that is in the a-panel box section. The sill just behind this is totally solid, but it leaves a question mark on whether there is some rust on the inside of the sill on the right
The Ugly--
--None really, except perhaps the nose panel already mentioned. It's the wrong nose panel anyway, so perhaps not such a big deal. Just replace it and move on
Photos--
Here's the left front floorpan, with two perforations:
This is the front right a-panel, with bondo filling a hole at the lower:
Here is the same location, with the bondo removed:
This is that same panel, with the hole at the top:
And here is the hole in the right front fender--it is the same location as the previous photo--this area was packed with mud/dirt, and I'm sure it rusted through the a-panel and the fender, and then water collected in the lower a-panel and rusted the lower hole after that. The left side has no holes in these locations:
It's hard to see, but this is the hole in the rear seat bulkhead. It is at the bottom, and I can insert a knife blade under the bulkhead, but that's about it. I'm sure this is from acid:
Here's the rear seam with surface rust. The bubbling is only on the outside--the inner seams are dry and flat, no rust at all. The battery box is of course trashed, and will be replaced. The other side is the same as this one:
That's it for the rust. Here's a money shot, just for kicks, of the right front inside roof. You can see primer overspray, New British Racing Green overspray, and glue overspray, along with the soundproofing. The headliner had 3" waterstain all the way around its bottom edge, so I was really concerned I'd find rust under it. Not a single bit:
OK, hit me with your opinions. I am mostly very encouraged by the news today, but let me know what of these jobs seem really hard; which ones are well within reach, etc. As I tear it down more and more, I can't help but think about how much of a pain in the butt it is to get this far down, and don't want to have to re-do everything again in a few years. So I hope to make it a solid daily driver instead of just doing the minimum, even if that means I have to go a bit slower to finance the project.
Thanks as always for the help and advice!
bmc
