I've really been fiddling with the car for a few months, but the serious gutting started in September so I'll start the chronology there.
The MS Galaxie has taken up semi-permanent residence in the garage. It's not going anywhere: the accelerator-pump diaphragm in the carb has rotted, so any attempt to start the car pumps gasoline out onto the intake manifold.
I'm gradually preparing the car for a trip to a body shop, stripping trim, interior, and other bits. Given the current rate of progress this will probably take until Christmas. The carpet and padding are shot; they now sit under the car on the garage floor in case I need them as patterns for new ones. The headliner - in wagons it's perforated Masonite - has been removed, cleaned, rolled up, and stashed in the spare bedroom. The interior door panels and back seat are there too. Surface rust has formed on a whole lot of bare metal surfaces inside the car, courtesy of an unnoticed water leak, followed by some warm weather, while the car was sitting outside. The front seat is pretty well trashed, and the embossed linoleum Ford used on the rear load floor is cracked and curled.
The left-front fender has been showing rust under sheets of Bondo for years, courtesy of some really cheesy bodywork done after, uh, I, uh, bent it 20 years ago. Fortunately, out of a sense of guilt, I've had a replacement fender on hand for 10 years assuming I'd end up with the car sooner or later.
Where to go from here? It's got to be moveable, so the carburetor obviously needs some attention. There's minor surface rust here and there, especially inside. There's also a whole lot of rubber bits and some exterior trim I'd like to replace. Time to grab a new issue of Hemmings.