This afternoon I continued preparing the body for bodywork by starting to address the rust spots inside the cabin.
In the footwells there were several areas where it was clear water had rested on the floorpans and caused rust. Some of this I'd characterize as "surface rust" while some of it was less superficial in its penetration of the metal. On the driver's side the floorpan was still very solid (thankfully). The worst area was around the drain plug but there were several rusty patches. I began by using a coarse wirewheel on my drill to remove the surface of the rusty patches.
For the most part much of the rust came off leaving pitted steel, but in some areas there was rust I couldn't get off mechanically.
In one area the metal had thinned enough such that my rust removal opened a small hole in the floorpan. I continued underneath the car with a more aggressive abrasive wheel where the rust was accumulated on the outside of the metal.
I was able to thoroughly clear the rust away from the area around the hole.
And I got the majority of the rust on the underside, leaving just the pitted steel and some rust-colored dust.
On the passenger's side there were a similar collection of rust spots, though not as bad as on the driver's side--the rust had not spread to the underside of the body on that side.
