I thought about simply removing the carpet, but that meant just painted metal for the interior, with the attendant increase in noise and the fact that things would be constantly rattling around. There was the additional problem of that asphalt sound-deadening covering on the front floor pans to contend with as well, which I was just sure to be wearing on my shoes as soon as the weather got warm.

I'd never heard of -- and couldn't locate -- any sort of aftermarket Samurai drop-in liner. Having one of the spray-in liners applied didn't seem workable. I'd have to disassemble and prep the interior, then put at least part of it together again to drive to a coating shop, then be without my daily driver for at least a day while it was done. We're not even gonna talk about how much a shop wanted to actually do the job.

There had to be something else.

I wanted something that was waterproof after application, slip-resistant so things wouldn't be sliding around the back, had some sound-deadening properties, wasn't gonna burn like a torch, and was easy to apply for a do-it-yourselfer. It would be nice if it also looked good when I was finished.

I got lucky. ORC's Dave Gray sent out a message that we'd added a new advertiser, and that there were a couple of gallons of their product available to distribute for review. The advertiser is Cote-L Distribution, and the product is Durabak.

Ever the skeptic, I reviewed the information available on the web about the product. It sure looked like it would fill the bill. Then I heard from Miles Oliver, one of our readers, about his experience with the product. The Cote-L Distribution web site had pretty much already convinced me, and Miles' experience was the clincher. I asked Dave to send one of the gallons to me.

Ever heard of El Ni?o? Assuming you haven't been locked in a closet for the last year, you know all about it, probably to the point of nausea. Suffice to say that what I sued to use for a driveway was now a "seasonal stream" that you could just about kayak down.

Unfortunately, my gallon of Durabak arrived just before El Ni?o did? Four months later, we finally got a prediction of a sunny weekend. If I worked fast?

Thursday afternoon: Still raining? Pick up a couple of quarts of Xylene, a putty knife, a natural bristle brush, and some single-edge razor blades.

Friday: Sun! Pull out all the interior of Suzushi. Seats, carpeting and the miscellaneous junk I always seem to be carrying with me. Remove carpet snaps and body drain plugs. Get all my junk together, and get the rear of the SunPort off Suzushi. Work my butt off all day removing the top bow and hardware, roll bar and the lower seat-belt mounts, cutting off the "bead" of sealant that is squeezed out when Suzushi was originally assembled removing the shifter boots, chipping the asphalt off the front floor pans, sanding all interior surfaces with 60-grit paper and grinding rust off the places where water had seeped under the sealant beads and started to rust the floor pans. Nothing bad, but I can see where if I lived in a wetter climate, I'd have been in for some serious, and initially hidden, body rot.

Saturday: Vacuum up all the sanding dust, dirt and metal particles. Clean all surfaces with Xylene and start applying the Durabak. By 9pm I'm done.

Sunday: The Durabak is dry. Spray-paint roll-bar, shifter-boot bezels, and lower front seat-belt mounting plates. Uh-oh! It's getting a little cloudy! Reinstall bezels and boots, roll-bar and seatbelts. Reinstall seats. Reinstall body drain plugs. I'm gonna have to figure out what to do about those small holes from the carpet snaps... Hey! It's way foggy! And? whoa? starting to rain. Remount the doors. Hustle inside and get the top bow and reinstall it, remount the top? whew! Just in time. Back to more rain, snow and El Ni?o shenanigans, but I've got a cool new coated interior!