1965 Carpet Installation

[George C.]

I am putting new carpets in my 1965 roadster, the car is not to be judged but I want it to be as correct as is reasonably possible. I have bought the ceramic/foil heat sheilds, and the "correct" underlament with rubber coating. The question is what should be glued and what should be just layed in place. I have read that factory glue was yellow, and found evidence of this in the car. Is the 3m spray glue the right stuff to use?

Thanks in advance,

George

[Gary S.]

Re: 1965 Carpet Installation

Installing the carpet is a fairly easy job. I did this in an afternoon on my 66 so I will add my two cents worth. If you are using the foil shield it will need to be glued to the floor. Next, the underlaying insulation must be glued to the foil. Finally, the carpet should be glued to the insulation. The glue is to keep the carpet from sliding during use.

As far as installation, here are some tips I learned the hard way. Dry fit your carpet a couple of times so that there aren't any surprises after you have started the gluing process. That way you will know how it goes in and where it is tight. The 3M spray glue works very well, although some folks here and at the Corvette Forum have use the brush on yellow glue that comes in a can. I prefer the ease of being able to spray the glue on. Secondly, I should have removed the steering wheel to facilitate the installation of the driver's side carpet. The center console and seats were already out of course and I also took off the convertible top and rear deck lid. Secondly, stretch your new carpet out and let it set for a day or so. I wish that I had done my carpet in the summer. The summer heat would have softened up the carpet and made installation a bit easier. Secondly, get a good assistant who isn't afraid to get a little bit of glue on him/her. The 3M spray glue says to let it set up for a few minutes before installation. I didn't let it set up much at all so that I had some working time and could move the carpet around. DO NOT ACCEPT A POOR FIT! I thought the rear compartment on my 66 convertible were destined to have a poorly fitting carpet but my Corvette buddy MADE me pull the whole thing out, spray new glue on it and reposition the carpet so that the offending wrinkles were gone. An extra 30 minutes of work was well worth the hassle.

Gary

[Jeff Whitney]

Re: 1965 Carpet Installation

I too have done the foil - the jut and new carpet -- the sun is your best friend -- also do noe be afarid to "trim" alittle here and there -- even though it is "cut" to fit -- you still need to do some minor trimmming here and there - good luck

[John R.]

Re: 1965 Carpet Installation

I did my 67 coupe last summer and followed the procedure Gary has outlined. I used 3M Super Strength 90 adhesive from Home Depot which looks identical to the original adhesive when it drys. I used about 15 cans with the heat barrier, jute backing and carpet. It took me several weekends to complete the job but I was very pleased with the results. The heat barrier makes a big difference here in Arizona.

[George C.]

Re: 1965 Carpet Installation

Gary, Jeff, and John,

Thanks for the detailed input. The dry fit is a great idea, I was having a little fun this afternoon trying to figure out where all the pieces go.

George