Carpet for 4 speed wagon

[old yellow 78]

It doesn't seem that ACC, or anyone else for that matter, makes 4 speed carpet for the four door Volare/Aspen wagon, although they make it for the coupes. I believe that the only difference in the floor pan between the coupes and the four doors, is about a three inch or so increase in length for the four doors. I am thinking that if I buy a 4 speed coupe carpet for the front, and a four door carpet for the rear, that I can cut each somewhere under the front seats and mate them together to make my own. Expensive, but I think it should work. Has anyone done this before?

 

[BudW]

It will work. The carpet on my M is two piece with seam under front seats.

I am interested on how this turns out - for I might be in same position soon.

 

[Justwondering]

On my 87 fifth, the carpet is seamed under the front seats. Had to exchange the front passenger seat with a donor car. The donor car was also a fifth, and it had a seam under the front passenger seat as well.

 

[BudW]

I might have misused the term “seam”, being I don’t know sewing terms.

On my 5th, the carpet is two pieces, front half and rear, with an “unattached” 2 inch overlap under the front seats.

 

[Justwondering]

Its a seam. Just not sewn together. Overlap is probably a better description. You so wise...and observant!

 

[old yellow 78]

Thanks to both of you! The idea of leaving an overlap of a few inches sounds like a good one. I was thinking of having them stitched together, but that is probably unnecessary. I might have the exposed edge bound if it doesn't cost too much. Now to be able to find the right "butterscotch" color, as the samples online don't seem to match very well. I have sent for more samples from another dealer. I just want to be sure that this idea of using the coupe carpet for the front and the four door carpet for the rear will work.
This project has been put off for WAY too long now as most all of my free time is spent on working on a house that I am completely redoing. For those of you who don't already know, I am wanting to upgrade the entire interior of my '78 4 speed Aspen wagon from the basic vinyl "bench with buttons" and custom cigarette burn holes to the Special Edition plaid interior that I bought from a parts car in Tulsa OK last spring. I was lucky to get the entire interior including the door panels and nice A pillar covers, etc. The donor was a 60K mile Volare wagon and the seats are in really nice shape. Just need the time to finalize the carpet situation, then just take time off to put it all together.

 

[Justwondering]

The fifth has power front seats and I believe the power from the car threaded up between the overlap to get to the seat plug. I did add an extra layer of radiant barrier under the carpet. Yes, the orignial was still there but I added another layer.

Cuts down quite a bit on road noise and it keeps more of the heat/cold off my tootsies.

I did the same thing in the roof before I put the recovered headliner in. I added radiant barrier to that as well. No more heat/cold telegraphing through the roof.

Although you can buy the good stuff for more $$, I bought a roll from homedepot. Got a 25 foot roll and I think it was 4 foot wide. Fiberglass on one side and thin/pliable foil on other.
--- Post updated ---
So do we get to see a before picture of the plaid seats?

 

[old yellow 78]

Ah! Another great idea! Thanks for the tip on the HomeD barrier stuff. I will look for it. I had thought at one time about putting that inside the door skins for a better feel/sound of shutting the doors, but had forgotten about it. I wouldn't dare try taking out the cardboard headliner of the wagon because it isn't even sagged like so many are, and it would be impossible to find another one. It isn't broken, so... I am hoping to find the original build sheet under the carpet when I finally take it out. Haven't had any luck under the seats or up under the dash, so I'm hoping it is under the carpet. The only wire through the carpet I have to deal with is the awful seat belt warning wire which I disconnected anyway.
As far as the pics go, I typically take a ton of pics of everything, but haven't had any luck in uploading them to this or another site, and became frustrated with trying it. Just gave up.

 

[BudW]

I think he has a picture of his seats (his find) somewhere in the forums.

My ’77 wagon has vinyl (bench) seats and I told wife I’m going to change them to cloth (not sure about plaid though). I just don’t care for vinyl or leather for Oklahoma weather extremes. The existing light blue seats are in perfect condition (if you can place perfect and vinyl in the same sentence).

Wife said she will hide the car from me if I try to do so . . . (she wants to keep it original).

BudW
--- Post updated ---
I do have plans on adding the noise/heat barriers, to all of my vehicles, as well.
I’m just too lazy to take things all the way apart and do it correctly.

Now I say that and I have no headliner or interior trim in my 5th . . . Also the dash is still apart . . .

Maybe I’m just lazy . . .

 

[Justwondering]

Bud...
I took the trim out and it took nearly 6 months for me to get it back in (still 2 pieces and 2 sunvisors to go). Too much life getting in the way and I have no garage. So everything stays outside til its gonna storm, then I move it to the shed, then back out, then in the shed.

Drives me crazy (or should I say crazier).

When you get ready to put the trim back in, let me know. I've been known to travel north of the red river every great once in a while. Just make sure you have extra silver screws cause mine were rusted and the ones I bought were not quite right. Some of them were rusted and the holes got bigger so the original screws just wouldn't stay in right.

Old Yellow 78
This is the stuff I got:
UltraTouch 48 in. x 24 ft. Radiant Barrier-30000-11424 - The Home Depot

I weighed the cost of the good stuff from napa and the heft of my pocketbook and decided this was the better solution for me.

And you will get into the discussion of whether the aluminum should be face up or face down. I opted for the aluminum closest to the driver. Reasoning was to bounce the heat that makes it through the fiberglass batting back to the outside. Also, any heating or cooling inside the car bounces against the aluminum and back to the driver. Kinda like the driver is in an ice box and you want the contents kept cool.

Put you will have to put up with the folks that tell you thats backwards. Roll your eyes and keep moving forward.

 

[BudW]

I wouldn't dare try taking out the cardboard headliner of the wagon because it isn't even sagged like so many are, and it would be impossible to find another one. It isn't broken, so ... I am hoping to find the original build sheet under the carpet when I finally take it out. Haven't had any luck under the seats or up under the dash, so I'm hoping it is under the carpet.

I replaced the antenna cable on my wagon and found a decent condition Build Sheet taped on the black dash structure, tucked under the welded in metal top dash part.
I saw that and said yahoo. I then went to un-tape it and carefully extract it from car without tearing it. Then all that was in place was a roughly 4 inch triangle of it – so I decided to leave that segment in place (my bubble popped).

My wagons (uncovered and perforated) cardboard headliner is also in great condition – which I’m very hesitant to even touch. I’d agree, I don’t think there is any replacements for a wagon.
If you found one, then trying to get that 20 foot long thing (exaggerated for emphasis) from point A to B would also be a major undertaking (a project for the TV show Shipping Wars?).
--- Post updated ---
I have a two car detached and a one car detached garage a rocks toss from my house, and both are full of, um, well, unfinished projects . . . so vehicles sit under my forest of white oak trees (except wife parks her minivan under the car port).

My cloth trim parts (also taking up a segment of one of said garages) has turned from dull grey to dust grey. Wait, I’m not sure there is a difference in color (sigh).

Driving in a car without a headliner in a heavy thunderstorm/light hail storm, is not exactly quiet.

Old Yellow 78, I think I may have taken over your thread – my apologies.

 

[old yellow 78]

Ugh, so depressing to read this and realize that I still haven't gotten to OY's seats or carpet. At least the "flip house" is done and sold. That job was way more work, and took WAY more time than I had thought it would, and is the main reason why so many other projects have been sitting. So, I am hoping that this spring I can finally get to work on OY. I have been re-thinking this carpet situation. The prices for carpet from ACC have only gone up in the past few years, and to buy the manual coupe carpet AND the four door carpet to splice them together is now getting quite pricey. Particularly if I add mass backing, etc. So, the problem with the existing carpet in OY is that it has several nasty cigarette burns in it under the ashtray, and it is generally faded. It is not really worn because there is not many miles on it. I am thinking that I could try to punch out and plug the cig burns using some sort of hollow punch, and make "new" plugs to glue in out of extra carpet under the seats. I could then power-wash it and dye it the right color, and that may just work with much less expense. Anyone done this before?

 

[DCAspen]

Just buy the new rug and put the interior in it.30,000 mile mint wagon with a stick and your not going to give the love it needs,Your car will give you more enjoyment than any flip house will.I am hoping to see it at Carlisle this year,I'm working to get mine done by July for the show.

 

[DCAspen]

I didn't realize you live in Allentown,Are you about 1 hour from Carlisle?

 

[old yellow 78]

It's about 2.5 hours, not bad. No doubt the new carpet would be nicer and easier. Actually to do it right, I have quite a bit of work to do to the interior. The seats and carpet obviously, but also I have nice A pillars, all the plaid door panels, nice crack free dash, the two speaker dash top and two speaker hatch panel with grilles, a nice AM/FM/CB, and a nicer gauge bezel, and the cargo doors for the rear area. I do want to put in the insulation that Just Wondering had talked about above too. What I don't have is enough time. I'm snowed in today and just been thinking about what I want to do to OY. What happened to those days when it seemed that the evenings were long and weekends were longer?

 

[DCAspen]

4 months to Carlisle,you have plenty of time,Think of the enjoyment you'll get from your finished project,hell if you can redo an entire house a F-body wagon interior should be a piece of cake,Make a plan of action and once the weather gets warmer instead of dreaming about,get it done and enjoy your wagon,no house to fix,What will you do with all that time?

 

[BudW]

I have helped others install the sound insulation on vehicles – and highly recommend taking the time to do it. It makes driving the car – especially distance driving, much more enjoyable.

It will make the car quieter, so you can listen to what’s on radio (or whatever) at a lower level.

It will make interior temperature more to your liking, so the blower motor will not be working as hard, once at temp. During the summer, this can also improve fuel mileage.

On any future projects that require more than a minor repair – I plan on installing the sound insulation.
BudW

 

[old yellow 78]

no house to fix,What will you do with all that time?

Yeah, right! Only thing is, that house wasn't my home. While working on that place, my own place got ignored.
Not nearly as much to do to it, but still, it will take a few years. Siding, roof (I contract that out - Ugh!), new chimney, windows, etc. It never ends. However, no pressure because I don't intend to sell. I can take more time out for fun now.

 

[old yellow 78]

I have helped others install the sound insulation on vehicles – and highly recommend taking the time to do it. It makes driving the car – especially distance driving, much more enjoyable.

It will make the car quieter, so you can listen to what’s on radio (or whatever) at a lower level.

It will make interior temperature more to your liking, so the blower motor will not be working as hard, once at temp. During the summer, this can also improve fuel mileage.

On any future projects that require more than a minor repair – I plan on installing the sound insulation.
BudW

Yes, definitely have to insulate! Because OY is a base model, it seems more noisy than the other F's I've had. I think they skimped on sound proofing. The one thing that I do wish that OY had is A/C. It is strange that it didn't have it as it came from the high desert. I'm going to have to find out how to put the insulation in correctly. I thought I could put it inside the doors against the back of the outer door skin, but there isn't much room to work it in there so, do you put it just in back of the inside door panel? Any tips would be appreciated.

 

[Oldiron440]

I have the ACC black cutpile plush carpet in my Volarè. Now into the past it was 90 percent drag car 10 percent street car, but I left the insulation on the back of the carpet. ACC puts out a quality product and the interieure noise is reasonable with a snarling big block and open headers.