Carpet Replacement & Installation - Magic Carpet Ride

After cleaning our floors and treating the rust, we use short-strand fiberglass body filler to fill a few pin holes in the floorboards. We were lucky we caught this rust just in time so our floors weren't rusty enough to need complete replacement. If your floors do need to have sheetmetal replaced, Year One has it for most applications.

With our floors cleaned, treated, and repaired, we begin our carpet installation with the rear half of the carpet. The molded carpet set should fit the contours of the floor and easily fall into place with minor manipulation.

The rear carpet only needed to be trimmed to fit over the rear supports for the center "buddy seat." With the carpet laid flat, we can now locate the holes for our seatbelts.

To locate the seatbelt attaching points, roll the carpet back to find the approximate location, then use an awl to poke a hole through the carpet and the threaded hole in the floor.

We then use a soldering iron to melt a hole in the carpet, backing, and underlying insulation big enough for the seat belt attaching bolt. This method keeps the carpet and backing from tearing or fraying.

The front half of the carpet can now be laid in the car. Take care to locate the carpet correctly, using the vinyl heel pad as a guide. Again, the carpet should closely follow the contours of the floor boards.

From under the car, we use a screw driver to poke through the seat attaching holes and locate where the holes will be in the new carpet. A soldering iron is again used to locate the holes and burn through the backing and insulation.

We had to cut slits in the back edge of the forward carpet to accommodate our power seat wiring. We're now ready to install the front seats. Always work from the center of the car outward when cutting or burning holes. Also, completely bolt in the seats to pull the carpet to the floor prior to trimming the outside edges.

With our seats bolted in place, we can now trim the edges of the carpet to fit using a razor blade or carpet knife. Be cautious here as it's easy to misjudge and trim too much from the edge. We cut a little at a time and trial fit the carpet to ensure accuracy.

We continue moving forward, trimming the carpet edges at the kick panels and cutting a hole for the dimmer switch. It's easiest to cut the carpet by rolling it over and making the cut from the back side of the carpet (shown here). When the trimming is finished, the sill plates can be installed to complete the job.

With our carpet installation complete, the improvement to our passenger compartment is dramatic. Not only are the looks greatly improved, but the new carpet provides insulation from sound and heat. At around $100 and four hours worth of work, this is definitely one of the best improvements that can be made to a car's interior.