Installed New Carpet Today!!!

[1987cp]

gotta wait till it gets here! :p

[1987cp]

Okay, finally got through playing with the floorpan (cleaning and scraping and vacuuming and wire-wheeling and removing old mildewed padding and patching some small rust holes and spray-bombing sections of the floor to discourage further rust and putting plastic over the sticky parts of the remaining sound deadener) and tossed the new carpet in for a test-fit. It's probably not in exactly the right location yet, but it doesn't seem to be sitting into the shape of the floorpan very well. It's most certainly labeled "Grand Marquis", but I'm wondering if it's either not molded or has just gotten a little funky from being wadded up in a shipping carton. You can kinda-sorta see some of the myriad wrinkles in the shots below, but they're not very clear and I'll see about getting some daytime shots tomorrow. There are also no holes for seat mounts or safety belts, so I need to make sure: a) it'll work, period, and b) it's positioned correctly, before I go cutting holes in the thing!

[1987cp]

Better pics of the wrinkled carpet .....

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[Nathan in MI]

So have you decided yet whether you think the stuff's actually molded or not? Certainly doesn't look like it...

[1987cp]

I'm certainly wondering, except that it does seem to kinda-sorta-maybe drop into the footwells about 3/4 of the way. What's a person do if the stuff isn't molded?

[P72Ford]

That is unfortunate that it doesn't fit well. I have heard that auto custom carpets makes units that fit exceptionally well. Maybe try and mold it yourself; using gentle heat?

BTW, I love the way that dash looks... got quite a project going there huh?

[1987cp]

That would make sense. I don't have a heat gun, but I've wondered about maybe steaming it somehow, like you steam clothes. Maybe I could steam-clean it with really hot water and toss it back in while still wet, and let it dry thoroughly in place.

Maybe you hadn't heard about my dash - the stock dash came out in late '03/early '04 when I changed the heater core and couldn't get the plenum off with the dash in place, and I decided to try doing something fun. I drove around a while with a little pod-like setup made from plywood and aluminum, and it worked pretty well and even provided a mounting point for the stock headlight switch. That came back out when I tore out the EFI wiring, but I'm really looking forward to getting something nice in there again.

[Blaze86Vic]

Don't use a heat gun, use a hair dryer. A heat gun will melt the carpet strands way before it softens the backing, I know from experience at melting my carpet.

[1987cp]

Right now I'm experimenting with steam-ironing the stuff through a thick white rag. Seems to be making a dent, so to speak. But I'm definitely trying to convince the wife she needs a real fabric steamer!

[1987cp]

Rofl

Does the seatbelt anchor on the B-pillar need to be removed for the new carpet? I remember destroying a few Torx impact sockets on mine, with still no luck of it budging.

Very funny to come across this post a few weeks after I finally removed that very bolt. No Torx-bit carnage, but having the fuel line out meant I could get aggressive with a torch with less fear or explosion..