66 Carpet install advice

[Keith B.]

Gentlemen: I want to replace my org 66 sivler carpet. I have a sample from Al Knock and am awaiting another from ACC as I found this color is hard to match(silver/grey/pewter). Can someone point me in the right direction on instructions or a video of "How to install a carpet set" in a convertible. I have never done this before, should I leave it to the pro's?? I would rather try myself and learn. I have the Restorer CD and have searched this site..no luck.

Lastly, do you recommend changing the underlay after 38yrs?? I just looked at it and it's soft, dry well padded from the factory......is it common practice to change this when one changes the carpet?? Any thoughts on also installing the heat barrier insulation. I have the 427 and it does get hot inside the interior.... ANy other advice is again greatly appreciated..........Cheers...

[Larry S.]

[James W.]

[Richard S.]

Re: 66 Carpet install advice

Keith,
Very good advice given by Larry and James. I would add:
1) Use only Al Knock carpeting.
2) The carpeting will come in a box folded up tight....you must lay it out in the sun for quite some time to soften it up and make it easier to work with....or somehow warm it up.....not doing this may lead to mismeasuing and difficulties getting the carpet to fit properly.
3) Don't do the install alone....you need a friendly helper.
4) Use the 3M carpet glue.
5) Be extra careful when t*******....once the carpet is down on the flat surfaces....push it hard into the corners and up the sides BEFORE you trim....and trim less rather than more...especially at the top of the transmission tunnel where the carpet fits under the console....and at the sill plates.
6) Once the carpet is down....lay some clean heavy boxes of something...I used thick books in cardboard boxes.....on the flat parts of the carpet to help it to set flat without wrinkles. Remember not to trim too much off the edges or the carpet will end up short in spots.
7) Be especially careful at the heel pad on the drivers side. Take the time to really push it down into the corner and up the transmission wall.....it's vinyl and may have a mind of it's own....you need to put something heavy on it to make sure it lays flat up against the transmission wall and drys in that position.
As larry and James have said...you can do this yourself with great results....just take your time...do one piece at a time.....and dry fit each piece before glueing so you can see what layng flat and tight will do to the corners and top edges.
Have fun and good luck.
Rick.

[Gary S.]

Re: 66 Carpet install advice

You have been given lots of great advice here. Also, spend some time in the archives and read the information there. Here is my post from last year:

I THINK (disclaimer here) that the 66 carpet that I installed is different than the early C2's but when I installed the Al Knoch carpet in my car I pulled the seats out, of course, as well as the center console plate. In hind sight I would have liked to pull the steering wheel.

Regardless, pull your old carpet and padding. Scrape as much of the old glue and pad off as you can. 66 carpets are a single piece per side. Dry fit them several times and, if you must trim, leave some excess for fine tuning. Once you are certain of your fit, spray both the floor and pad with 3M Spray adhesive. I think they still make two versions of that. One is stronger than the other, which I prefer. Anyhow, the can says to let both sides air dry but I found it easier to fit the pad in while the glue was still tacky. That allowed me some room to maneuver the carpet around for a good fit. If your pad and carpet are already together then you are set. If not, spray some more 3M glue and do the same thing with your carpet. As suggested, you can use an awl to poke holes from underneith. Once that is done, you will need to locate your seat belt attaching holes. I used an awl to find those. Then I used a pencil point soldering iron to burn the final hole through the carpet for the seat belt attaching bolts. That way you have a clean hole that won't unravel. Others will tell you how to make the flap for the front of the seat belt track but the seat rail sits directly onto the fiberglass floor. I would suggest new bolts for the two sides of the seat belt and even run a tap to chase the threads. If my car was any example the threads were quite rusty and a tap to chase the threads made great sense.

Hope this helps.
Gary

[Keith B.]

Re: 66 Carpet-Thanks & one last question.

Thank-you very much to all who offered their advice. I absolutely love this site, have been reading articles here for years, now finally own a 66 L-36 and am enjoying learning how to do things "the right way". I think I will try and give this a go and install my new carpets myself thanks to your tips.

Is anyone familiar with the 66 interior color, silver and repro carpet color matching. I have the original silver/grey/pewter carpet (w/ J.P. Stevens & Co sticker dated on back). I received a sample piece from Al Knock and although close in color it is definately lighter grey/silver, not like the factory deeper grey/sil/pewter color. Any suggestions, I sent Al a e-mail asking for his best advice. Perhaps Al's is the closest I'm going to get to factory standards. I attached a pic of my factory carpet color. Your thoughts please>>>> Cheers/Keith

[Keith B.]

Check out this URL in message to view pic.

http://www.ofoto.com/PhotoView.jsp?&collid=61057629207&photoid=51057629207

[bill stephenson]

Re: 66 Carpet-Thanks & one last question.

-------Years ago in an effort to correct a too light silver set of carpeting, a friend of mine bought a bunch of dark gray Rit Dye and mixed up a garbage can full and re-dyed all the pieces. It actually came out very well. I would try Mid-Americas new carpeting before doing this, however. The set I saw in 67 saddle was very good.
-------I know I have mentioned this new vendor for carpeting too much lately and will stop. I dont want anyone thinking Mike is paying me or anything. I was just very impressed by the first set I saw............Bill S