Carpet Cutting and Install ??

[55 Fargo]

Hi all, bought a piece of dark blue auto carpet today, could not resist the price was right.

Now I have to cut this carpet to fit, then have the necessary edges bound.

Any ideas, or advice for this, it is nice carpet, so do not want to screw it up.

I originally was going to buy a ready made sewn carpet, but now have this, what have any of you Guy's done in this situation......Thanx Fred

[Frank Elder]

Let me start with "I have never done this", could you steam this carpet to fit the contours then weight it down so it will dry fit?

[Fireball]

Yup, steaming is the way the pros do it.

[BobT-47P15]

Fred......do you have padding to go under the carpet to help with sound

deadening? I just took mine to the upholstry guy who cut and fit it, then

bound it. He also did the carpet in the floor of the trunk......$250.

[55 Fargo]

Hi Guys,and thanx for the ideas, Bob, yes I have underlay, not sure exactly which I will be using.

The trouble with auto upholstery shops up here is they will no doubt charge a lot more than $250, to custom cut,sew and install this carpet, how long ago was your's done?

Not sure what I will do with it yet........

[Zeke1953]

I made a pattern from rosin paper (that stuff they put on floors so they don't get scratched during building renovations). You can fold and cut it until you have a perfect fit. Then lay it on your padding and carpet and trim to match the pattern. Zeke

[55 Fargo]

I made a pattern from rosin paper (that stuff they put on floors so they don't get scratched during building renovations). You can fold and cut it until you have a perfect fit. Then lay it on your padding and carpet and trim to match the pattern. Zeke

Hi Zeke, good idea, did you also make cuts to allow for a better fit over the hump in the center that rises up the firewall.

That is my most concern.

The carpet should be cut in 2 pieces also I believe, this would be under the front seat.

How about makingholes for the brake/clutch/gas peadl arms. I have heard heating up something likea piece of round stell, to pierce and cauterize the carpet at the same time works.

[Zeke1953]

I'm a truck guy so I didn't have the tranny hump to deal with. But I did have to cut out a hole for my floor shifter. As I recall, I cut the pattern in half right at the location of the shifter, cut out the hole on each side and then taped it back together. It worked perfectly. I think if you follow the contour of the floor when you place the pattern paper down, the extra material needed for the tranny hump will be accounted for. You might want to try the pattern on a cheap carpet remnant before you cut the expensive stuff to be sure. And be sure to check with the place where you will have it bound. You have to account for the width of the binding for a perfect fit. Zeke

[Zeke1953]

As far as the brake, clutch and gas pedals, they are all close to the edge so I just cut a straight line from the edge to each location and used a punch to make holes. It's hard to even notice it up under the dash. I used rubber mat with a thick jute (?) pad underneath, so I didn't have to worry about a carpet unravelling. Melting the edges of the carpet sounds like a good idea, though. Maybe someone else has done that. Zeke

[55 Fargo]

I'm a truck guy so I didn't have the tranny hump to deal with. But I did have to cut out a hole for my floor shifter. As I recall, I cut the pattern in half right at the location of the shifter, cut out the hole on each side and then taped it back together. It worked perfectly. I think if you follow the contour of the floor when you place the pattern paper down, the extra material needed for the tranny hump will be accounted for. You might want to try the pattern on a cheap carpet remnant before you cut the expensive stuff to be sure. And be sure to check with the place where you will have it bound. You have to account for the width of the binding for a perfect fit. Zeke

Thanx Zeke, will try this soon, not worried if I do make a mistake with this carpet, can use it in the trunk then, perfection in my work is not going to happen, but pretty good, is okay. The cut for the trans hump going up onthe firewall is an upside down T cut, this allows the carpet over the horizontal cut to be pulled closer, and the horizontal cut allows the carpet to relax on the bnd of the flor going up. At least it does witha paper sample am playing with......

[randroid]

Fred,

You posted a thread a few days ago (Sound Deadener/Insulation Idea) that mentioned a thin dense foam product used in construction that could be glued to the body for sound deadening purposes and I'm curious if an adaptation of that product might be useful for carpeting?

While reading your post I got thinking the foam could be shaped to fit with a heat gun (I have one that looks like a hair dryer and puts out 1000 F). Seems that a clever man (not necessarily myself) would be able to adapt that to carpeting on the floor, forming the foam or some form of rigid plastic could be formed in advance and the carpet glued to that. This would allow you to set the carpet while the formed plastic was on a workbench. It would also make a spiffy way of easily removing the carpet should that be necessary, and it would form a waterproof 'bucket' for the floor in case the floor got wet, in which case everything could be removed for drying with no worry about the floor rusting.

Just a thought.

-Randy

[Rodney Bullock]

Hi Fred, when you turn the carpet over what do you see? Does it have a thin wax like backing? When I carpeted my Studebaker hawk I had this carpet that when you tried to cut it the carpet would unravel. I had to use a box cutter knife then I had to make sure I cut it even. I have since learned to make the carpet a two part instulation. I also made sure I bound the edges. When it came to making holes for the pedals I used a razor to cut a slit in it that was so clean it looked surgical.

When it came to my Plymouth The carpet is a one peice deal, it is bound all the way around the edges, Because I have a coupe(1940) the floor in my car(front) must come out for any maintanance that nned to be performed. It takes 6 min. to remove also If the carpet gets dirty I can remove it put it in a large washing machine and it comes out clean and fresh.

It looks very neat inside and the carpet is durable. This pattern is so easy that I have a spare carpet I put in for special occations. Don't forget to have a guy take some of your carpet and make floor mats out of it. They can border a perfect peice and make it look real nice

[hkestes41]

Rockwood,

Here are some carpet techs from the HAMB that may be of use to you.

Measuring/Cutting/Laying Carpet Tech: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=105191

Carpet Binding and Laying Pad Tech: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?do=discuss&group=&discussionid=2401

Floor Mat Tech: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?do=discuss&group=&discussionid=2426

[55 Fargo]

Rockwood,

Here are some carpet techs from the HAMB that may be of use to you.

Measuring/Cutting/Laying Carpet Tech: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=105191

Carpet Binding and Laying Pad Tech: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?do=discuss&group=&discussionid=2401

Floor Mat Tech: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?do=discuss&group=&discussionid=2426

Thank you very much for the HAMB links, I am member on there go by Flat Six Fix, but did not think to do a search over there