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Carpet intall questions

4K views 28 replies 21 participants last post by  Caper50 
#1 ·
I'm putting in new mass backed carpet in the '67 coupe while my seats are off being redone. I have a couple of questions.

1) Are the front seat bolts supposed to pass through the overlapping sections of carpet where the front piece meets the rear piece?

2) Do I trim the carpet near the top of the door sill or somewhere up the height of the sill?

3) Biggest question: Should I trim the carpet around the manual shifter so that the opening is hidden by the metal bezel or does the carpet extend inside the bezel and get tucked into one of the accordion folds of the shifter boot? (I like the latter idea because the metal bezel isn't very wide so not much room for error.

I tried this shifter boot with a wide metal bezel but the opening isn't large enough for the throw on my Hurst shifter.

Mustang Manual Shift Boot Kit 1965-1968

Thanks in advance. Rodney
 
#2 ·
1. Yes.


2. I trimmed mine at the top of the sill, especially since the screw holes for the sill plates on the side really don't go that far down.


3. Not exactly sure, but check out this video from CJ's and maybe that'll help you out a bit:


Some advice, like they say in the video, don't cut until you know exactly what and where you need to cut. I unfortunately cut a little too much but was able to salvage it so it's not bad, but be careful. Others recommend letting it lay out in the sun to loosed up and be more pliable, but also remove some of the wrinkles from shipping. It's not hard to do, just requires patience.
 
#3 ·
Give yourself at least 5 days, You will move front to back with your heat gun, 3M#77 adhesive and weights. If you try and rush it
there will be wrinkles and bulges. This is even worse with the mass backed. I was warned off of mass backed, and the non MB carpeting looks and fits perfect. Other than paint, carpeting is the most visible appearance item in your car. Also, it is a very tiring task, dont
work too long at a stretch, or you will find yourself getting sloppy. Good luck!
 
#4 ·
WOW - 5 days to replace the carpet? I replaced the old, worn out carpet in my '66 Fastback last fall. With the help of a couple friends, we knocked this out in about 5 hours or so on a Sunday afternoon while enjoying a few cold refreshments.

Also, I put in the mass-backed and it fit and installed just fine.

Maybe a coupe is much more difficult to do than a FB?:shrug:
 
#5 ·
Lay the carpet flat on the driveway on a 110 degree day will help accelerate the process. I too nit pick and used weights etc to get it all just right. I do like the idea of taking your time and rechecking over a couple of days. Results may vary depending on vendor, how it was wadded up in the box, missing pieces, heat, attitude and sun spots.
 
#12 ·
Lay the carpet flat on the driveway on a 110 degree day will help accelerate the process.
I was watching one of those car resto shows on the Velocity channel the other day, and they were installing a carpet kit using one of those commercial-style garment steamers. Seemed like a great way to make the carpet more pliable, get the wrinkles out, and get it to really lay nice and flat. I haven't tried it myself yet so I can't say first-hand if it works, but I may give it a try when I replace my carpet over the winter. There won't be many (any) 110 degree days in January when I get around to it.

 
#6 ·
And a little tip on installing screws through carpet....... Once you know exactly where the screws go, use a junk philups screwdriver and heat the tip to melt the holes in the carpet to keep the screws from catching and unraveling the carpet threads. it also makes it easier to remove and reinstall just by lining up the holes
 
#7 ·
I had the same experience as John - I wrangled my mass-backed carpet into my '66 fastback in a couple of hours. I didn't put it out in the sun first (wasn't hot enough anyways as it was December) or anything like that. Just opened the box, yanked out the carpet, cut some slits where I knew I'd need them, and then shoved it in there. No wrinkles, no funny business, fit perfectly :)

Might be the '67 carpet is different though?
 
#8 ·
Question #1, probably yes.


Question #3, I cut a small hole just large enough for the shifter to slide through, then gradually enlarged it as I fit the carpet. I finally cut it the size of the lowest rib on the boot, screwed the boot down, and put on the trim ring.


Best, Dave
 
#15 ·
By far the easiest way to do 65-68 Mustang is by using the early 65 shifter bezel, which bolts directly through the holes in the boot to the floor. The late 65-68 rides on the first pleat of the boot, and restricts movement. OK with the Ford shifter, but a real problem with the Hurst.

763583
 
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#20 ·
Brian,

If memory serves, I cut it off so it was a little longer than the rest of the cut and then when I installed the sill plates it was held in place by them. Figured once the plates have it covered that there wouldn't be any chance for it to get snagged and unravel. I guess you could burn/melt the end for further peace of mind?

Hope this helps.

John
 
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#21 ·
When I first built my car back in the 90's I worked at an upholstery shop. I did my carpet on a Saturday afternoon and worked late into the night. Factory underlay, then glued a full layer of Reflectix, a full layer of jute, then a molded carpet. The glue was 3M contact adhesive in a glue pot (basically a paint sprayer).

That night my girlfriend (now wife) said she could smell glue on my breath.
 
#24 ·
I just installed ACC mass back in my 67 fastback. Upholsterer was going to do it but got slammed so I was on my own to stay on My schedule. Seems no one's schedule seems to jive with mine?! Anyway, I laid it in the car for about a week or so and it relaxed pretty well. I too trimmed to the top of the sill but not over it. Where the front carpet overlaps the rear piece I cut that lapped piece out where it wraps up to the sill.(the mass back was too thick for the sill plate without bulging. I used the sill plate as a cut guide as the plastic Interior panels both front and rear slide under the sill plates. Had to trim fairly close to the edges of the front kick panels as I was concerned with cracking 50 year old parts while trying to screw them into place. All in all, it wasn't as scary as I first thought.
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