Mold - 09/08/2021

Today I learned what can happen if you store a car in the dark for 1+ years in Mississippi. At the time, this was an enormous punch in the gut as it meant I had to do a hazmat style complete disassembly of my interior + a thorough antifungal (vinegar mix) cleaning / soak of everything inside the car. In the end, it turned out for the best. 20 year old cars aren't the best smelling thing in the world. After this deep clean all I smell now is leather :D

• Removed the rear main seal and retainer. While removing the retainer, one of the T30 bolts broke my T30 security bit and marred the bolt head. More on this later. Additionally, when removing the retainer, I misunderstood how its seal worked and accidentally thought the upper oil pan seal was part of the retainer seal. With this misunderstanding I removed a portion of the upper oil pan seal locking me in for an upper oil pan seal replacement
  
• Next I took the rear main retainer, removed the rear main seal, then tried to press in a new one. This resulted in me over-pressing the new seal and ruining the piece. I’ve ordered a whole new retainer with seal pre-pressed + new T30 screws. In the meantime I’ve covered the opening of the rear main retainer with shop towels
  
• I noted the engine block cover + seal was leaky. Ordered a new seal
  
• Mounted the engine on the engine stand with M10x1.5x90mm bolts. Removing the upper and lower oil pans will require removal from the engine stand
  
• Opened the car to condition my leather seats and found that the interior was covered in mold