anyone know how to remove that adhesive that holds the carpets in place? the ****'s bein a bitch!

Where are you running into adhesive? None of the 3rd gens I've run have had the carpet glued down. There's always the possibility that the original owner replaced the carpet and decided to glue things down. In that case, you're a bit out of luck. However, I would try a heat gun/blow dryer, just be careful to not put it too close to the carpet or you may melt things.

The underpadding is glued on the front floorboard.

Guess I've lucked out or got defective cars (could be either one ). I would say try the heat gun deal and use a putty knife/scraper

currently working on installing t-top storage in the rear well of my 88 iroc and, as the original owner, i can say that the rear carpet has spots of adhesive used. yes, a heat gun and a plastic scraper are the op's best bet.

(btw: in removing the rear carpet, there are two roughly 1.5" "plugs" on the rear deck covered with what seems to be "bees wax" type material. what are those?)