Well, I finally finished the complete interior replacement this month. I took advantage of the Forum price from Willcox over the holidays and purchased the complete interior with leather-like seat cushions already installed on foam. It took a while as I have also been recuperating from ACL surgery in Dec and I cannot stand to be on my knee very long. I want to provide some lessons learned as this was the first time I have ever replaced a car interior. I did some research on this forum and decided to go with FATMAT rattle-trap extreme as a sound deadener and reflectix (one layer) over the rattle-trap. I got the 50 sq ft bulk pack shipped to my door for $110.00. As you can see from the pics, it covered just about everything except for the door panels.













I went to Lowes and got the big roll of reflectix because I had no idea how much I would use and I thought bigger width is better. (it turns out I had way too much leftover and the smaller width would be just fine since I used the roll tape to attach to the fatmat.) I would recommend the metal tape (1 roll at Walmart). It sticks like glue when you remove the paper backing. It will also gum up your scissors, not as bad as the FATMAT while cutting. I used denatured alcohol on rag to clean the scissors (every 4 or 5 cuts) as I went with both the fatmat and reflectix. It helps to use a new pair of sharp scissors to start with. If you do not clean the scissors, you will start to get residual glue build up on the scissors and soon it will be a mess. Did I mention that you will be washing yours hands so frequently? If you don't, I guarantee you you will screw up your new carpet if you touch it. The fatmat comes with their stupid logo printed in blue ink and it comes off on your hands, elbows , whatever body parts comes in contact as you contort your body to lay it down in the cabin area. I accidentally touched the vinyl brake console pad and it permanently stained the pad with that damn blue ink. (I was going to repaint it anyway-recommend that you take out all body parts or be very careful)









Since I went with the kick-panel speaker upgrade, I felt it was not necessary to sound deaden the door panels as others have done. However, since i put speakers in the front kick-panel area, i made sure the metal cavity was well insulated. Since I was redoing my interior, I felt it was time to upgrade the sound system. I basically read all the forum archives on this issue and I decided to try the kicker speaker implementation and do away with the dash mounted 4X6s (pioneer) that I had. I had some cheesy speakers in the back that I eliminated; I added the amp and sub (thanks DB for the dimensions of the box) and WOW! what a difference.













Some lessons learned:
- When taking apart the cig lighter, take a picture or use this one above. I tried to reassemble mine in vain two weeks later..had to buy a new one to be sure it work work and not start a fire.
- When cutting new door panels to fit for holes etc..follow the instructions and start small and enlarge as needed. I got my drivers door in perfectly but I was tired when I got to the passenger side and I thought that I could cut the door panel by estimating for the handle based on the driver's side. BIG MISTAKE. When I put the panel on and applied the plastic handle trim, I noticed that I cut too big and now I have a flaw in my brand new door panel. Every panel is different and you got to test fit with very small holes. The hardest part of the door panel replacement is attaching the two carpet screws to secure the panel to the metal frame. ( one is inside the map pocket and the other is on the far side near the end of the panel.) I used a really long needle to probe after I initially drilled the new panel based on laying the old one on top of it. And then I used the needle to see if it really lined up with the screw hole in the frame. You must use very small drill bit (on the new panel) because if you do not hit it on the first try, you have to redrill the hole. You can probably get away with this because the carpet is thick and you can hide bad small holes by massaging the carpet. I would not want to drill more than two holes though. By shining a bright light under the panel and sticking the long needle all the way through you can judge how far off vertically and horizontally you are off.
-Try to keep your old interior parts and paint and reuse if possible. My header molding was cracked and I bought a new one but it just did not fit as well as the original. Same thing for the console piece. The new one looks good but did not fit like the original. The metal ash tray door is original and does not fit as well with the reproduction console. The only exception was the rear compartment doors. I re-used my doors and bought new frames, painted and re-carpeted. What a PITA! Willcox recommends that you just buy the whole thing already done minus the door locks.
-The carpet did fit very well, as if it was cut for a 1982. I used no glue with the exception of a little to hold the carpet in next to the water diverter on the door sill. One layer of reflectix worked for me.


This is how it turned out:

 

Great job and looks really super. Just one question though, what is that green stuff behind the car in your last picture? Haven't seen that stuff since September.

 

Looks great. I know what you webt through in 2 ways, I just redid the entire interior on my '81 and tore both ACL's and had one repaired so far

 

Today, we have a major snow storm. I can't even see across the street.

 

First off to REELTHING great job !!! love the color as i did mine last year in the same color (was red). went with the reflextic. as for both you with your ACL"S i did my right acl when i was 15 back in "82 artheoscope surgery was not as good as it is today. (it didnt work) so i went under the knife 4 months later and have a 9 inch scar plus 2 staples holding my ACL together still to this day. So i can feel your pain that you guys are going through..... keep em rolling guys

 

Can you belief its 74 degrees today and the forecast is 81 for tomorrow!.

 

That looks like it was a lot of work. Nice Job!!!
Regards,
Alan

 

Beautiful

 

Looks great!! Nice job!!

 

Sweet.

Congrats.