‘69 Convertible- Carpet replace tips
 

Ok guys...all the old carpet and glue is gone. I’ve cleaned every inch of the deck with acetone and vacuumed several times. My Willcox/ACC carpets arrived today and I’m hoping to start Dynamat and carpet install this weekend if it reasonably warm!

But...despite all my reading and watching videos over the past few weeks, I have never actually done this and am looking for any tips, tricks, pitfalls, things I should be sure to do. ANY help will be greatly appreciated!

Sit the carpets where they are meant to go in your car and let them set to the shape of the car (better if warmer) and trim a little bit at a time then refit trim, refit trim .Took me a whole weekend to do my coupe The only part I glued was the piece behind the seats but only the top edge .Use a hot soldering iron to make your holes as they will pull the pile when you do up the seat bolts .Hope this helps :thumbs:

That's it in a nutshell! The only difference is that I used Velcro to secure the top edge of the carpet behind the seats.

Regards,
Tom69

I heated a 1/2" copper pipe with a blowtorch to burn holes for the seatbelts. Find the hole with an all, then mark it with a drywall screw. Seats, too, since I expect to pull them in and out a bunch, but there is a correct way to cut the slots.

I used fake Dynomat sparingly (6 sheets total, not every surface) and a lot more Reflectix, as I am more concerned with heat than noise. You may not need Reflectix at all in the rear, especially if you have sidepipes.

Borrow or rent a portable steamer...these are cheap to buy...you know the ones with a wand and a small portable tank. This will take the wrinkles out and help fit the carpet properly.

Measure three times cut once! I used water cleanup latex carpet cement...lasts forever.

I do not know how I keep disagreeing with Bikespace, because he's a nice guy...but I'll tell you that 'reflectix' is cheapo and falls apart within a year if you live near any ozone at all. It's only aluminized polyethylene bubble wrap. Dynomat or aluminized (Mylar) Jute is a better selection.

Unkahal

I would do it on a warm day and lay the carpets out in the sun. I did mine about 1 or 2 months ago and once warm you can squeeze them nicely into the nooks & crannys. I also used a soldering gun to create the openings for the seat bolts, seat belts, etc., and also to trim the edges of the carpet to make it fit better.

Thank you all!! I have been reading about cutting 'flaps' (for lack of better term) that lay over the seat runners? Does anyone have a picture of this from their car?

Don't have pix...but the 82 CE is legendarily known as having the best carpet in a C-3....mine has 'flaps' over the front seat bolts....appx 2.5" x 3" and they are glued to the bolts with a 'dollop' of glue.

Check the AIM. It shows cutting the flaps and a note about them

Funny you say that...I looked it up in my copy of the AIM, but my copy came from the previous owner (now deceased...that's why his family sold me the car) and his AIM is from about 2005. Has MANY pages not legible or have sections cut off...this page being one of them...literally can't decipher what's there!

I have ordered the CD version of the AIM and hopefully it will arrive this week.

HA!! Look what literally just showed up!!
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...c1583fb63e.jpg

I'll post one up. Give me a few minutes.

My car had the original carpet in it when I replaced it and I just matched how it was cut. Works nice. It was like this front and back. I did "paint" some contact adhesive on the front ones and glued them down on the bolts so they stay put. I peeled this one up to get these pictures. Hope this helps.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...ca90d90817.jpg


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...68d555a775.jpg

Yes, yes, that really helps! I know it won't be what the judging guide recommends, but has anyone ever considered putting a hole THROUGH the flap and the bolt itself holding the flap down?

:rock: The diverse opinions on this board are the best part. I guess it depends what you want to do. I fully expect to be back under the carpet again soon, and having pulled more than my share of soggy, mildewed jute carpet out of classic cars (not just Corvettes), I don't want to do that again. I guess I should have added a caveat. The ACC carpet I put in has jute under where your feet go. Yours likely does too.

I did double up the Reflectix over the transmission hump and against the firewall, but L-46man point is very valid, there are better choices if longevity is important.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...f80957b54a.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...02169ff5c7.jpg
Okay as a slight inspiration to the poster.... I hope. Dynomat/Mylar (plasticized) Jute and etc.
Concentrated on; Rear wheel houses, Floor boards, tranny tunnel, firewall.
I took me longer to put that stuff in than the carpet!

Also note that I used Bitulastic on the rear firewall BELOW the ribs (as in not as high as the ribs) so I could maximize the legroom.
Ps....in the jack compartment is me fitting up a hidden airconditioner!
Good luck all.
Unkahal

L46: Very cool. If you have any other close-up pics of your progress, think you might PM them to me? (or I can PM you my email address)? I've gotten a lot of good advice and it's all MUCH appreciated.

The car is in closed storage now....Driving the 82 CE instead. I've owned that car for 42 years , the 69 L-46 M-21 Two tops, Side exhaust , delete,delete,delete, delete puppy) No ps, No pb, no radio, no heat....just RACECAR! (ish!) Convertible top is out of the car permanently..so you can call it a ZERO-Top car....added a little weight and took out a ton! The car weighs -3000 now.

Before I did all the insulation, I re-fiberglased the floors and battery box as well. So now they're double thick.

Okay RIBS....if you look carefully you will see stiffening ribs on the firewall behind the seats...they protrude 1/8th inch....I Bitulastic'd the 'in-between troughs'.
Further road noise suppression.
I'm pretty tall and did some mods to the seats to maximize my legroom. Removed the hard shell behind the seat and carpeted to match the 'cavity' negative 1/2 inch.
Then I pulled the seat back bumpers so I can rake the seat back a couple more degrees. I'm not worried about wear insofar as the seat/carpet is dead against the firewall. Notice there is no Mylar/jute in that area....a compromise to my leg room.
I modified the seat tracks to move them to 'max-back'.
I added spacers under the front of the tracks for comfort (up 1/2")

Most heat comes from the tunnel gear shift.and.front firewall ..a little better on side exhaust cars....you just sear your leg when you get out! (Fiberglas covers helped a lot!)
Noise is almost ENTIRELY from the wheel wells. well bad noise versus GOOD noise
Be careful if you have an early model with the dimmer switch on the floor...cut the jute/dynomat away from the switch...you don't want to STOMP the floor when you need to see!

Most importantly is the GLUE you use....spray glues like 3M '90' and etc....CHRYSTALLIZE in about a year , get hard and flake off.... I use LATEX water clean up carpet cement...which BTW is a sound deadener as well. I was in 'interior and exterior car designer /engineer' for a un-named car company....it's amazing what you learn doing that stuff! The no spray glue stuff came from the SEA-RAY guys we hired when that boat company er ah 'sunk'

Very best of luck
Unkahal

ps regards to DFW..used to live there, ROCKWALL...when it had 600 people This is when I had the 69 L-46 Coupe and the 72 LT-1 coupe A/C sold the LT-1, sold the coupe, retained the Convertible two topper!

Funny, I've lived in DFW for 12 years now and have only visited Rockwall once since it's about an hour's drive from where I live (Grapevine/Colleyville). Liked being on that lake though!!

Again, thank you for the great info! Since you're in a "giving" mood...I'm gonna ask a few more things...
1. Everything I've read says that for NCRS judging, I should NOT glue the floor carpets to the floor. Have you ever had the carpets slip around (guessing not because of the seat rails etc)
2. Why use the bitulastic (I had to look that up!) vs. something like dynamat between the ribs?
3. I'm considering removing the soft top while I do the carpet install, but was advised NOT to do this (the source said it was very difficult to get the top to align correctly and wasn't worth the effort saved during carpet install). Thoughts?

Have a great day, love to see some pics of those cars!

I'm ALWAYS in a giving mood...that's why I'm on this forum! I hate seeing people struggle. See red below.


Again, thank you for the great info! Since you're in a "giving" mood...I'm gonna ask a few more things...
1. Everything I've read says that for NCRS judging, I should NOT glue the floor carpets to the floor. Have you ever had the carpets slip around (guessing not because of the seat rails etc) Okay...I've built the car for ME, not the NCRS....keepers of the flame, but DO NOT RECOGNIZE that Chevy crammed these out the door, and good gluing techniques took time and material...When I was in the car business...my fellow engineers would have METRICS to attain, remove COST, Remove TIME, Remove MATERIALS, Remove Weight....so they did the MINIMUM. No my carpets didn't slip...they puckered.
2. Why use the bitulastic (I had to look that up!) vs. something like dynamat between the ribs? You can use Dynomat...no problem...I had the stuff so I used it! Was not worried about heat...Bitulastic is basically Dynomat without the foil heat rejection coating.
3. I'm considering removing the soft top while I do the carpet install, but was advised NOT to do this (the source said it was very difficult to get the top to align correctly and wasn't worth the effort saved during carpet install). Thoughts? I did not find that the soft top got in the way....the TRIM PANELS did!

Unkahal