defiant1

Struggling with installing the carpet. The front portion is not fitting well at the tail end of the transmission hump. I used the original jute as the backing at it fits well everywhere but in the area in the green circle (attached pic). If I force the carpet in toward the floor pan in this area, it pulls from everywhere else.

I could remove the original padding and shim the bad places at that point; just looking for methods or mods made to accommodate the curves and different angles of the floor pan.

I borrowed Rob's pic, as it shows a better birds eye view than I could capture. Also, my finished edge is sitting forward approx 3 inches compared to Rob's. Not sure if there is a difference in the '72 vs '70 floor pan?!?

Thanks

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Allan R

Try using a steam iron to help flatten it down. Put towel over the hump, heat/steam and see if it settles down. OEM carpets didn't actually overlap under the seats, they left exposed metal.

defiant1

Unfortunately, there is too much gap to fill, even if the carpet relaxes.

On another note, do you need to cut a "T" in order to install the bench seat legs? I see the old rear carpet had the cuts made. But the old front carpet did not cover the front mounting hole, like the new carpet does.

I am up for any advice and pictures if you guys got any.

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Allan R

Gosh, my carpet is still original and I know what you mean about those relief cuts because I just went an looked at it. I don't want to give bad advice, here are a couple of suggestions though.

1. Make a relief T cut to match the old style? IMO it might look a little crappy though, especially from the sides.
2. If you know where the mounting holes will be, cut small holes in the carpet that match exactly and you can bolt the seat down right over top of the carpet?

Not sure if that area you're concerned about will even show when you're done. Don't you have a bench seat?

Did you ask Rob what he did with his? He has strato buckets in his car.

Tony72Cutlass'S'

Shaun,

i had the EXACT same issue when i installed mine... it didn't line up the same as robs. i ended up trimming the front part that lines up with the firewall to get it "as best as possible"

also, i kinda learned to live with it, with the seat installed i don't notice it as much.

Allan R

Kind of what I was thinking too Tony. Thx for that.

defiant1

Well at least I am not losing my mind. I will keep messing with it and see if shimming will work. Thanks for the input. Just a lot of man hours with very little results to show for it, so far.

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Tony72Cutlass'S'

Shaun,

I put my carpet in loosely because i found a quarter-sized hole right where the passenger-rear seat is. I still need to weld in a patch or at least rivet in a piece of aluminum for now.

I honestly don't believe that these carpets are "custom-moulded" to the cutlass model. Unless the chevelle has the same floor pan (which is what i guess the mould is made from)?

I think i got mine from PUI.

Chumley

I had to use some jute padding to build up few areas for the carpet to fit on my '72 Supreme. I had the same issues you describe. #1. That area you circled on the tranny hump will mostly be covered by the front seat anyway, so not a big deal. #2. I just punched small holes in the carpet where the seat track bolts go and bolted it down right over the carpet. How long do you think it will take for the bolts to loosen? You can always re-tighten them. The trickiest thing for me was trimming the outside edges by the kick panels and rocker panels, taking care not to trim too much off. There's nothing like new carpet to freshen up the interior. Best of sucess......Chumley

defiant1

Yeah, they say the carpet is cut larger than the original, but not by much. I won't have to trim much off the edges where the sill plates mount.

I cut the "T" cuts in the rear carpet, so no going back now. I may leave the front alone once I get it fitted. I removed all the original jute and used pieces in the low area of the transmission hump to build it up. So far so good, but I am letting it sit and take the shape of the floor pan for right now. Hopefully tomorrow night I can finish trimming and cutting the holes I need.

Thanks for the input.

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68Tom

Yep, as suggested above, you need to add extra padding to make it fit correctly. I'm pretty sure these carpets were molded to Chevelle floor pans, so they never fit the Cutlass/442's correctly.

You should have seen the carpet on my '68 442. It looked like a saggy wet diaper after I put it in. Amazing how not-close it was to fitting correctly. '68 humps are pretty small tho....