Does anybody have photos of the carpet in a 1972 Cutlass with bucket seats, a Hurst Dual Gate and console before the console was installed. If so, could you please post. I'm doing pretty good so far but need a couple photos to be sure I'm headed in the right direction.

Thank you,
OLE442

 

I didn't take any photos, but just go slow and work from the middle out.
The gotchas that get me:
The back of the console is extremely close to the screws, so it's easy to over-trim and have a gap at the back of the console. Just plan on the console sitting on top of the carpet.
The console is tight over the shifter, and the front shifter bracket feet sit outside the console. I cut a long slit down the middle of the carpet, get the shifter installed and start fitting the console with small cuts to get rid of excess carpet where necessary. Otherwise it's the same as a normal shifter.
I also keep burning the hole for the seatbelts too soon. Just do the lap bent bolt holes very last.

 

Thanks oddball for that info. See pics and comments/questions below. My 72 442 was built in Arlington down your way and was owned in & around Houston, Texas!


First, I laid the new carpet over the old original carpet and when I thought it was close, I cut the same spots on the new compared to the old console cuts. I then decided that it might not be the right way.

Well, I laid the carpet out in the back and the front just to try to center it! The holes for the console didn't quite fall where I thought they would, but I tucked it un up under the dash and moved it all around, so it looked right. I used a few 60 bags of sand to pull it down on the hump and started cutting seat belt and seat mount holes. I started with the seatbelt next to the console first.

After I got the passenger side done, I put the passenger seat in and bolted to two bolts up front down for a picture. I have the Year One seat mounts that offset them about 2 inches. That kind of messed with the flaps to cover the seat rails but when I re-install the seats, I'll deal with it then.

I'm now working on the drivers side but need to deal with the console first. There are two screws at the front of the console that screw into the mount. there are tree screws that eventually go through the Dual Gate top plate into the top of the shifter then it looks like two might go into a shallow mount into the floor and then two more at the tail end of the console into the rear mount. Per your suggestion. when I cut the last mount,I left a little over the floor mount so it will sit on carpet

I just can't remember since I took the car apart 20+ years ago! It looks like I'll have to remove the inner liner from the console to screw the last 4 rear mounting screws through the console into the mounts?? Is that correct? I'm moving slowly. I'm going to look up WTHIRTY1's project to see if his console photos give me any more clues!

 

Yes, the liners need to come out of the console to attach the rear mounts.

 

I'm working on a column-to-console conversion right now in my '72 - installing a new ACC Essex (deep pile) carpet with the heavy mass backing as part of the project. In the front carpet, I only cut a slit down part of the middle of the hump and fitted the carpet over the shifter, instead of all the way to the edge Then just trimmed as needed for final fit around the shifter mechanism so that I didn't cut too much away from the sides and accidentally leave open edges trailing below the console frame.

One thing I did do when bolting down the rear console to its floor bracket was to line the inside console mounting arm(s) with metal frame bracket sections (rectangular drilled sections which fit inside the mounting wells) so that I could run the bolts thru that for some extra support for the plastic mounts. These are just flat chrome L-brackets like you find at Walmart that I cut straight to fit inside the bottom mounting wells.

 

OK, I have the 6 little screws out and the liners move very little. What else to I have to take apart to get the liners out. I really don't remember removing them when I took it out but surely had to back then to get to the mounting screws. Most of my interior parts are in great shape d/t low mileage but they can be brittle. (I've accidentally snapped a couple small plastic pieces) I'm trying to do this without F-ing up anything else than I already have....LOL! My younger self would have had this stuff done a month or so ago!

OLE442

 

You need to remove the console light switch if it is still in. After that, with the screws removed, they lift out the back. The driver side comes out first, then the passenger side.

 

Yup, just lots of gentle maneuvering. They kind of wedge into each other and the sides of the console - you can see the lip in Tom's picture where the driver side sits on top of the pass side. Keep track of the two wires that go to the lid light switch at the back as you have to pull them back up through the hole and reconnect to the switch when reinstalling.
It is possible to pull everything out with the switch in place, but I wouldn't recommend it. Requires bending and pushing quite a lot and you run the risk of breaking stuff or at least damaging the flocking.

 

Yes, I've been thinking about connecting the wires and the switch back together once the inner glovebox panels are in? Thanks for the tip. The switch had threads on it so that thew me off about reconnecting it all together. I looked at the holes in the glovebox inners and there are no threads so I imagine it will just push back in!

OLE442

 

Unless the top hole in the overlapping liner section is enlarged from prior wear, the switch may not simply push back in. I encountered that with my liners when installing a new pin switch in my recent console conversion effort - It had to be screwed in before attaching the wires.

 

The switch threads in and out. The lower hole is large enough for it to pass through, but the upper hole is the size of the threads. It's like sheet metal screws - there's enough material to grab, but it doesn't form threads.

 

Well, I'm getting ready to clean/lubricate the back seat electric windows, install new waterproof papers, the panels and rear seat. Here's how we look as of this morning! Slowly but slowly!



A couple others:

 

Here are a few photos of the interior rear panels, rear seats installed along with a view of the carpet, head liner and package tray installed. Waiting on the upholster to give me a quote to repair the driver's seat. I'll hang my Craig 8 track tape player on a removable mount under the dash while I'm waiting.

 

Looking good!

 

Passenger side door panel in! Here it is as of today. Waiting on the upholster to call back after leaving quite a few messages! I still need to try to fix the driver's side power window. Once that's done and the driver's seat gets repaired, I'll be ready for spring car shows. If I don't hear from the upholsterer soon I may try to order both bucket seat covers and just do it myself. The original back seat and passenger seat are in fine shape and I was hoping to just get the driver seat repaired.
OLE442

 

I have a ton of carpet install pics for a dual gate car on my build thread. You're missing a few cuts.

 

Jimmy:

I used your W-31 resto thread a lot. I had the old carpet and laid it out and then laid and tried to center the new ACC carpet over it. The new was way bigger than the original. I started trying to cut the carpet for the Dual Gate and then laid it in the car. It did not look good to me. I pulled it out and put it on the old carpet and made a couple more small cuts and retried fitting it in the car again. I did not like how it was going so I made the decision to go free form since mine is no ways near better-than-factory resto you did! That thread kept me in awe for a long, long time!
Any rate it's in and looks fairly good (the original carpet on the car was the worst part of the car!) I was happy a couple weeks ago when I tossed it out in the garbage!
I have some weird cuts for the seats since I'm installing them with the Year One seat relocators offsets. It looked pretty good when I installed the passenger side loosely.
I've talked to a couple shops about repairing the driver's seat (the back seat and passenger buckets are very nice). One shop won't reply back(just found out the owner died just after I had contacted him) and the other suggested getting Legendary seat covers to re-cover both buckets. Just the covers are like $700.00 and $1000.00 to install them. I'm thinking that I will be learning how to re-cover bucket seats in the spring when they arrive. LOL! I'm just happy all my door panels, the dash and rear seat are very nice. And watching Jimmy install those new door panels for his car was hard seeing what he had to deal with installing the new items.

OLE442

 

Just my 2c... the seats in my Dynamic 88 were awful, and I planned to do like you- buy a set of seat covers from someone and learn to do seat covers myself. Pricing was similar, around $700, maybe more, maybe less. When I got the old seats out I found the frames were rusty, mice had made a mess of the burlap and stuffing, the foam was breaking down... there was a lot more to do than just re-cover the seats. I found a shop (2 shops really) that offered to do the complete job on both the front and back seats for $3,000. I brought the seats to the shop and they stripped them, blasted the frames and painted them, rebuilt the springs, made custom shaped foam and sewed custom 2 color covers that perfectly mimic the stitching of the Olds seats. They redid the rear side panels (my car is a rag top) and they even re-covered the sun visors with matching vinyl. I'm totally blown away by the job they did for three grand. If there's any part of this project I'm glad I "farmed out", it's the seats. They're so much better than I could ever have done, and it's such an important piece of the car, totally transforms the car- or, they will, once I install them. First I need to finish the carpets and put the dash back together. For me, it was money well spent. Some things you're better off paying a pro- what they are is up to you of course. Depends our your skillset.

 

My car has almost 48,000 miles on it but it’s 53 years old so I took an account when I turned in my order to Legendary. I ordered both seat covers. I ordered brand new cushions for both seats. The felt the burlap and some other things plus a couple bags of hognoserings. I already had the hog nose, pliers, and a couple other pliers for pulling the stuff on, but I don’t think it’s gonna be that bad. I watched the video from legendary and I’ll follow that. I’ll do the crappy seat first and all that from Legendary cost me $1307. The lucky thing is is that my day door panels and other trim in the interior is all in really nice shape. They are due to arrive somewhere in April!

 

Here’s the passenger seat. It’s really nice. When I do the seats I’m gonna try to save this one without tearing it or anything and put it up for sale on classic oldsmobile. Somebody might be able to use it to make their interior look better if they’ve got a dark blue 72 cutlass.
both pieces of the backseat are just this nice too