Changing carpet on a 911

[estrellajon]

Has anyone re-carpeted their 911? I was planing on changing the carpet but need some advice or help on the process.

[87turbolook911]

I'd be interested in learning this process as well. Most of my carpet is in good condition, but I would like to replace the portion near the door sills.

Can you buy just certain areas or do you have to buy a whole kit?

[VaSteve]

I'd be interested in learning this process as well. Most of my carpet is in good condition, but I would like to replace the portion near the door sills.

Can you buy just certain areas or do you have to buy a whole kit?

Dang, Vu! Doesn't you car only have like 36K on it? Needs carpet already?? :shock:

BTW, I finally got around to putting in my stereo. I did a temporary job and hooked up the front speaker outs to the stock wiring thing for the factory fader. (Crutchfiled gave me a nice harness and my hands were freezing so I had to stop). So it's a little underpowered - but way nicer than the 20 year old Monterey.

Do I have to disassemble the shift console to get to the wires for the back speakers?

[87turbolook911]

Dang, Vu! Doesn't you car only have like 36K on it? Needs carpet already??

Naw...the carpet is just a bit matted there, so I was considering replacing it.

As for the rear speakers, it would be just as easy to run new speaker wires to the rear. The plus side is you upgrade the wire vs using the stock wire and bypass that fader.

[Parenn911]

Jon, Why would you ever want to replace the carpeting, strip it instead so that the 930 will be lightweight, while you're in there you cant take out the back seats too.:D I think for replacing the carpeting, you need exact measurements and cutting of the carpet. There is a recommended professional adhesive that is used(I will check on the name of it) but all you have to do is glue it down properly. That's how a friend of mine who changed his explained it to me. He said the key is getting the carpeting cut right to fit the mold of the 911 precisely.
Steve, glad to hear that you finally got the cd player in there. What about the car phone ?

[Vicegrip]

I have done a few and can walk you through the process

[estrellajon]

Pari, that would be nice to make it lightweight but what's another 5 lbs. :). If you can let me know what adhesive they use for carpeting. I just purchased a set of Weltmeister brand non-factory carpet mainly because of the price compared to the factory. I wonder if its a pain to install especially if I don't have experience doing this. Also what needs to come off the rear area? I'm assuming the seats and stuff, but how do they come off?

Kurt, I may need your experience to tackle this project. Any recommendation or FYI's before I start this? :?

[Vicegrip]

Use contact cement to install carpet. There are now 2 kinds to use one stinks and will get you high if you sniff too much while using it but works great and the other is latex based and works OK if you use it correctly.

if you have never installed carpet in a car I recommend that you do this project with someone that has, There are a bunch of little tricks that will make the project easy and come out better. There is little room for "oops" cuts and the like.

911 carpet is installed in a set order. Each section overlays some of the last section and covers the raw edges.

Take the seats front and back out. Take all the trim off. Strip the old carpet off, noting the order of installation. Keep all the fasteners with each item removed. Clean up all glue surfaces and vacuum the area of all loose debris.

Installation takes some skill to get it right. The glue prepped carpet sticks on contact and cannot be moved without much labor and posable damage to the section being installed. The vinyl strips on the ends of some of the sections need to be carefully placed and coaxed into place. Get a bunch of single edge razor blades. Don't even think of cutting with anything else as you will get runs and pulls. Use each blade for 3 or 4 cuts and discard. I buy them in the 100 box.

There is more than this to installing auto carpet. It is not hard to do but it it is easy to mess up if you want to or go at it unprepared.

Feel free to call me if you have ?

[VaSteve]

Steve, glad to hear that you finally got the cd player in there. What about the car phone ?

I took out part of the car phone - the phone part. The Charlies Angels speaker has a big cable running into the trunk. I will need to attack it from that angle to remove the wiring. There's some kind of power wire running under the floor panel (or might be connected to the mic on the visor) - I need to pull that up and take the wires out. Then there's 3 things in the trunk to remove, as well as the antenna - which I might leave as a gag. It was really too cold to be working outside, so I'm glad I got one thing done. Crutchfield upsold me speakers that wouldn't fit! :roll:

[Jim Richards]

I replaced the 73E's carpeting last winter...closed garage, lots of fumes...that probably explains a lot about me. :shock:

[estrellajon]

I assume there is a lot of fitting before gluing involved but is there cutting as well to make it fit right?

Kurt, you mentioned contact cement. Thats like rock hard afterwards isn't it. Will like 3M spray adhesvie work?

[Parenn911]

Use contact cement to install carpet
Jon, 3M makes a strong aerosol contact cement, my friend and I used it to change the headliner on his 911. Here's a link to it and other adhesives, http://products3.3m.com/catalog/us/en001/auto_marine_aero/marine/node_RDXPL5V560gs/root_GST1T4S9TCgv/vroot_GS4JK4Y166ge/bgel_MHZPXF0R5Zbl/gvel_QH8HT14PGTgl/theme_us_marine_3_0/command_AbcPageHandler/output_html
I am not sure whether a spray contact cement or a gel contact cement is preferred. Maybe Kurt or Jim might know which is best.

[Vicegrip]

Spray is for different app and as you need to apply the cement to both surfaces being bonded you will get it all over the inside of the car via overspray. The contact cement to use is the kind that comes in a can and you apply it with brushes and rollers just like paint. You can get it at Home Depot. Don't use it inside enclosed spaces or you will start to see pink elephants and purple cars !

[Jim Richards]

I bought my carpet kit from Pelican Parts and the pieces fit pretty well. Only needed to mess around with a couple of them. The only cutting was for making a hole for the shifter. The two pieces (one per side) that have molded in map pockets and if I recall correctly, the pieces that go under the door thresholds need to be glued into the channel that your doors' weatherstripping fit into. SO, I'd plan on replacing weatherstripping while your in there.

[chuckw911e]

I did the carpet in my old 78 targa. I found getting the map pocket carpets installed to be the most challenging. Not the door pockets, but the pockets that are at your ankles. Ifyou look closely you'll see that the vinyl goes behind the weather seal at the hinges for the doors. I guess it is hard to explain! Anyway....look at your front door hinges and you'll see what I mean. I recently saw a tech article (pelican maybe) about how to get this right. Other than these sections the rest is easy aside from stripping the old glue and regluing. Stripping is the worst (or best) part because of the fumes. But once your are done...it will look like you have a new interior. Great upgrade that you'll appreciate every day.

Chuck

[estrellajon]

Thanks chuck. I guess it will be a project that I just need to jump into.