OER carpet feedback?

[gran coupe john]

I like the way the grommet looks. Wasn't going to use one, but I will get one. Thanks for all your help, and pics.

 

[terrywalker]

My car when I bought it in 1972 did not have a grommet. I hope this helps others with doing their own carpet. I'm slower now and work it in increments in between rest times.
Terry W.

 

[gran coupe john]

Yes, I too take more breaks than when I was a younger man. Slow, and methodical.

 

[gran coupe john]

I haven't got my dimmer switch mounted. New floor pans. Is there a correct place for the dimmer switch

 

[terrywalker]

I haven't got my dimmer switch mounted. New floor pans. Is there a correct place for the dimmer switch

Since I already have the interior back together in the 71, I looked at the dimmer switch location in the 72. I hope this helps.
Terry W.

 

[gran coupe john]

Thanks

 

[terrywalker]

I finished the carpet install today. I have to share a photo. The only pieces I haven't changed out were the old sill plates I used for fitting. I'm trying to let the carpet settle a little more and then I'll install the excellent sill plates. If I were to rate this OER carpet, I would say it looks very good overall. There's a couple of places I feel they could have done better forming the carpet such as between the 4 speed hump at the back and the drivers seat. Another area is in the area of the dimmer switch/ parking brake cable. It's okay, I just felt it could be better. That's it.
Terry W.

 

[gran coupe john]

Terry, looks good. Dry fitting mine the hump up front seems to have a whole bunch of extra carpet. So I decided to put some sound deadner in.

 

[pschlosser]

Does the carpet come with those... built-in mats with the goofy star in the middle?

 

[gran coupe john]

No star

 

[terrywalker]

I think I bought those goofy star mats in the early 70s to keep the rain/snow moisture from getting to the floor pans. It worked. I probably bought them at Sears or KMart for $5 for the set. I was a poor E-5 in the military then with a car payment of $95/month on the car. Besides, we didn't have Weathertech floor mats then. I had to watch the budget when buying the extras. They are now a part of the car's personality. I keep them as a reminder of the journey I have had with this car through 50+ years. I was going through a bunch of papers from the glovebox that are over 40 years old. Registrations, (some with my dad's name on them from when he stored it for me) and receipts. Good times.
Terry W.

 

[MoparCarGuy]

I also used the OER carpet but unboxed and laid it out months in advance of the installation so it could relax any wrinkles.
The factory did not use a dimmer switch grommet but my OER carpet came with one so I installed. If you are careful, you can install it and still remove it later with no difference from the factory appearance.

If you are still installing the carpet, consider getting a set of 10" multi-purpose shears, a pack of Utility Hook Blades (30 pack), and some double-sided carpet tape.
The shears work wonders for long cuts. The hook blades make your precision cuts extremely easy. A quick blade change utility knife is a must as well.
The carpet tape can be placed around your 4-speed hump as-needed and other vertical areas at footwells to mold the carpet to the floorpan.

Another tip is to blackout the areas on either side of the rear seat at the door panels. These areas were blacked out from the factory but may show if the floorpan has been painted or if aluminized sound-deadener (DynaMat) has been installed.

RESULTS

 

[terrywalker]

I agree wholeheartedly with your idea to lay the carpet out a long time in advance of the installation. On my mass-backed carpet in the Charger, I laid it on the floorboard of the car for at least 6 months before installing any of the interior. It made a world of difference compared to the one week I let this carpet sit. This was a last minute decision for me to change carpet as I had the seats out to remove the heater box. If I had to do over, I would have spread the carpet out in my 72 Challenger which has no interior in it right now and hasn't had it in for 2 years which would have made it easier.
Terry W.

 

[terrywalker]

And yes, my floorboards have a lot of black paint from the factory down the sides and under the rear seat back and sides to hide gaps in seats, etc. I'll share a couple of photos if I can find them. BTW. The old carpet I removed is still in very good shape. I think I'm going to use it in the 72 Challenger and I actually have it placed on the floor of the car now.
Terry W.

 

[gtxdana]

A steamer, like the ones used for clothes, comes in handy when doing carpet and headliners to remove wrinkles. I picked one up off FB, that was virtually brand new, for $20

 

[Cav73]

I am checking on all the carpet install threads as I am just getting started on a new ACC carpet for my Challenger (I did not get the mass backing because I put down dynamat). This one is really helpful.

I do not have the original carpet to use as a reference - does anyone know by how many inches the front carpet should overlap the back?

Based on Terry's advice here, I will leave all the extra material behind the back seat hooks (although one is broken off; future issue to fix).

Also, I noticed that the extra material at the back edge of the rear seat carpet sticks up in a way that makes it difficult to push down without lifting the carpet from the floor. Will a steamer help with this?

Finally, the extra material along the sides has to fold over the raised weld between the floor and rocker. I gather its better to go over that seam at least as far as the sill plate will allow before trimming it.

Can that be steamed down, or just screw the sill plate down and that takes care of it?

My new carpet has the dimmer switch grommet, so I will follow the advice above and hopefully it will come out ok.

Thanks!

 

[heminut]

Finally, the extra material along the sides has to fold over the raised weld between the floor and rocker. I gather its better to go over that seam at least as far as the sill plate will allow before trimming it.

Can that be steamed down, or just screw the sill plate down and that takes care of it?

Good luck with that! I don't think you can get the sill plates on with the carpet folded over that lip. Every carpet I've seen was trimmed off flush with the top of the lip and then held in place by the sill plate.

 

[Cav73]

Well it has been months and I am near complete on my carpet; I left it under weights all winter long. The front carpet install has been an experience... meaning I made a few beginner mistakes:

1. My ACC carpet came with the underlay glued to the carpet underneath, and the shift hole was cut out of the underlay. So I cut my X into the carpet there, and set the carpet in place keying off the shifter. I did not realize at the time that this placed the carpet 2-3 inches rearward of where it should have been. It did not seem like a big deal, but now the carpet does not reach up to the heater like it should. The front edge is a few inches to low. Not so big a deal on the driver side because of the column and pedals, but noticable on the passenger side. This can't really be corrected without replacing the front carpet or installing black insulation of some kind.

2. I accidentally cut past the line I drew around the shifter, a nice 1 inch diagnol starting at the left rear corner of the trim ring. I fixed this with needle and thread, and carpet tape. However, I need to do some work with a little left over carpet fiber to disguise a bit of edge that is visible.

3. I somehow cut the carpet about an inch too far in, just to the left of the high beam foot switch. I used the grommet that came with the carpet, and when I installed the kick panel, it pulled the carpet so taught that it distorted badly at the grommet. So I have spent a couple of hours sewing a piece of carpet back on at that location to provide some slack and make the carpet sit better there. I coated the seam I sewed underneath with JB weld and will add carpet tape as well just to make them stronger. The seam runs either just behind the kick panel or in front of it as it not perfectly straight. I used the fuzzy '74 carpet, so the seam does not appear to be too obvious.

I still have several wrinkles to deal with, especially behind the shifter and below it on the driver side where the transmission hump and floor form a pocket. I bought a steamer but I have not yet been able to steam out the wrinkles. A bit aggravating; not sure if I dare put an iron on them.

I used some Permatex headliner adhesive in a few places. Despite coating both surfaces and waiting the recommended time, it only formed a weak bond. I guess that may be a good thing if I or someone else wants to redo the carpet in the future.

I made all the seat mounting holes and seat belt bolt holes with a soldering iron per advice on this site.

Whew, what a process!

One question if anyone can answer: I cannot locate the holes for the sill plate end screws on either side of the car. The holes in the rocker panels are fine. Are the end screws supposed to run through the pinch weld? If anyone has a photo, I would appreciate it. When my restorer did the floors on my car, or worked on the rockers, these holes apparently were filled. Strange.

Thank you!

 

[terrywalker]

The screws in the sill plate insert into u-nuts installed in the plastic kick and rear panels that go under the sill plate. There are slots in the plastic panel ends where the u-nut clip goes. Look at my first photo in replay #34 above. Zoom in and you can see the slot in the rear panel end that goes under the sill plate.
Terry W.