Carpet and Insulation project:

I am planning on replacing the carpet and padding on my car soon. I will also perform basic cleanup and rust proofing, etc. The condition of the metal existing floor is excellent and will not need any repairs.

There are a few items I am having difficulty locating:

#1 Pearl colored interior spray paint for (Arm rests, Seat back covers and some interior metal panels in rear seat area, TR 977 - interior trim. 977 = Parchment (pearl white)

#2 Door pull strap (pearl).

#3 Pad for carpet. The dynamat stuff is too expensive.

Additional areas to be tackled:
New carpets from legendary. I am changing the carpet color from Black to Gold. Does anyone have any good pictures of Gold carpet in their Cutlass with a white interior?

Insulation pad from Fat-mat (Mega-mat, bottom layer)
Sound proof Doors and wheel wells.
Door window maintenance.
Door skin carpet (Black to Gold, has anyone tried this?)
POR-15 the floors and related areas (Black or Clear).

I have not ordered any supplies at this time.
My goal is to start on November 1 and be finished by December 1.

thanks Miles

 

Cool! This brings back memories of doing my interior... Ar you doing seats and door panels in the future?

These cannot be found reproduced. Either you will need nice used ones, or do like I did and order a half yard of correct color fabric from legendary, and rebuild your old ones. It requires sewing and cementing (3M 8090), but is doable.

I have heard good things about the fatmat stuff - should be fine.

Good time to do window felts if needed - not too hard.
The window guides can be re-fuzzied with the soft part of industrial strength velcro.

I did mine with clear so it will look more original to the next owner who weplaces carpet in 40 years!

HA!
That was my goal when i started my interior project. After all the MAWs kicked in, it took me almost 4 months!

 

do not forget to slit the carpet for the seat belts,seats etc. the extra foam can make this a real pain in the a--. pre mark everything after fitting first.

 

Thank you for all of you tips and suggestions. I should have mentioned, that I have been reading the posts on the classicoldsmobile.com site extensively for tips. The postings from Lady72nRob71 and others have prepared me for many of the potential issues that I would not otherwise have anticipated.

The December cutoff date is from the wife. I am temporarily taking over the whole 2 car garage for the project and kicking out the wife’s car for a few weeks. That way I can park sideways and get easy access to all sides of the car.


Now it’s time to pull out the credit card and get the parts on order.
Miles
PS: MAW’s will be only implemented if we have DEEP SNOW. Last year we had No snow and I was able to drive at least 1 weekend per month all winter. Some years we get 10-14 feet of show, you never know.

 

So far, so good. No real bad surprises. Just some damp carpet on the passenger side front. I think the old window sealer is beginning to leak. I will re-seal the windshield this spring. Not much stuff under the carpete, the previous owner had already pulled out the build sheet out from under the carpet, which I do have. I did find a few extra seat bolts, a dime from 1970, tail-light bulb and a few mounting clips. I am sure the Bulb and seat bolts were left by the factory.
The rust is nonexistent. I plan on Por-15 the floor and doors soon.
The old carpet Jute had disintegrated and made a big mess. I am glad I was wearing a N95 dust mask.


Question on the Neutral Switch:
My car will not start if the shift lever is in Neutral. I had thought the adjustment for this switch was in the console, however it’s not. Now I need to research to find this switch so I can fix the ability to start in Neutral. Suggestions welcome.


Parts to order:
Need and extra pad for the carpet.
Need a pin switch for the console glove box light. This one may be tricky to find.
Knee pads.


Old carpet:




Floor Almost ready for POR-15 (where is the rust?)

 

I got some great tips from Chris Robbins at Legendary.Let the Carpet lay out Hopefully in a heated area for about a week.Many of the wrinkles will dissapear and the carpet will blossom..Secondly..And I found this extremely helpful.Use a Soldering Iron to poke the holes for all of the components such as Seat Belt Bolts"Locate the holes with an Ice Pick and melt into the carpet .Dimmer Switch Trim Ring same thing..The Olefin Carpet will seal under the heat .You wont have any unravelling.It is so much easier than a Razor Knife.trust me on this one. Ron 586-556-1234

 

I used POR15-Fat Mat and then used EZ Cool and it came out great. x2 on the soldering iron. Also go to Wal Mart or a sporting goods store and get foam earplugs use those to plug your seat bolt/belt holes when you lay the POR15 down with needlenose pliers when its all dry. Ypu do not want POR15 on your threads.

I have some pictures in my profile of the POR15 and EZ Cool but forgot the FatMat portion.

EZ Cool http://www.lobucrod.com/

Good luck!

 

Rroth01: Thanks for the great tip on the soldering iron. Make sense.
I put the carpet flat in a not cold room for about 2 weeks. Next I will let the carpet sit over the humps a bit, while I work on the doors.
501 Paratrooper: I already have the Por15 and Fat mat. Question on the EZ cool, does it make noise when you step on it? Some of those insulations are very noisy. How much did you need for your cutlass? Was the size 3/ 16 a good thickness?
Miles

 

I ordered the 200 sq ft. I put the EZ Cool on double thickness floor boards, behind the rear seat/trunk divider/package shelf and I have enough for the headliner and a whole other car, if needed. I did spray 3M adhesive on the FatMat before laying down the EZCool stuff. It does not make any noise when stepped on. I also did the inside of my A/C box.

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-projects.html

 

Floor is sealed with POR-15. Only a few surprises. I had a wet spot on the passenger side front (windshield leak?). I got caught in the rain coming back from a car show in Marlboro Mass about 6-weeks earlier.

The stock foil backed insulation under the carpet, trapped the water. The foil, kept the water from evaporating. Fortunately there was no rust. I did find a Welding hole where the rear seat cushion bracket was attached. The welder blew a hole right through the bracket and the floor 41 years ago. I could see the Sunset shining through the hole.
The POR-15 fumes were very strong. I had to keep the garage doors open, with fans blowing at all times. I also used small electric space heaters under the car to keep the floor above freezing.

Picture 8129, Factory insulation used on cars with AC. When this stuff gets wet, it will stay wet for a long time.

 

Check your heater core. Very well could be the source of your pass side moisture issue. I know that's what had happened to mine while in the previous owners care. Must've been leaking for while, bcuz the rust, while not extensive, is far from the condition of the rest of the floors which are clean and look factory fresh.

 

good point

my car has no heater core (removed when I got it) and had pinholes in the passenger side floor when I got it !!!

 

Looking like some good progress so far.
I did not like those insulators either for the moisture trapping abilities.
POR15 will do well for you. Did you put some tape under each of the pinholes if you had any?
Dec. 1 is around the corner. Will you make it?

 

November 20, 2012
Leak:
The previous owner bypassed / disconnected the heater core a few years ago because it was leaking. I replaced the heater core 6 months ago. I will be more observant next year in monitoring the current leak. I am hoping it’s a simple window gasket that can be easily resealed. A new leak in a new heater core is still a possibility.

Welding Hole:
I only found 1 hole in the floor. I think I will just put some epoxy on this small hole and in the spring try to patch it better from outside behind the rear axle. This is not a rust hole, it’s a welding defect.

1 Week behind schedule:
I had a head cold last week did not do anything. I figured it would be a bad idea to mix Paint/glues and a head cold together. My eyes are still burning 48 hours later after using POR-15. I hope to be done with this phase by December 10 th so I can make room to park the wife’s car in the other bay. I have to warm and clean off the snow from my wife’s car in the mornings.

Insulation started:
I installed 6 sqft of Fat Mat on the driver’s door last night. Thanks to the posts on this forum, I knew what to expect and did not have any issues installing the Fat Mat inside the door. I am going to install the Fat mat on the floor last.
Its 35- 40F inside the garage. I will need to turn on the space heaters a few hours before I start working to keep the metal warm enough for the Fat Mat to stick.

Pictures 8172: I prepped the door with blue tape to protect my hands and wrists. A little blue tape over the greasy window gear kept my gloves and sleeves clean of grease. Each 6”x18” strip of Fat Mat was slid into the hole top left near the lock and then tucked behind the door brace. Then each strip would be slid to the right until it was in its proper location. Once the strip was in place, I would then peel off the backing material and then press in the insulation.

 

I completed re-carpeting the door panels. The old black carpet was glued and sewn on and was easy to remove without damaging the thick cardboard backing.
The new carpet inserts had the vinyl trim pre-attached which made the installation easy. The bottom of the cardboard door panel was not the same shaped as the carpet inserts. It was close enough and I was able to glue on the new carpet. Then fold over the vinyl trim and glue and staple it to the thick cardboard. After a few hours all was dry and re-assembled.
I really like the way the gold carpet looks on the panels.


Still looking for one Supreme door pull strap, color Pearl.

 

Miles the gold carpet does look nice. The black didn't look like it was in bad shape.

Re pearl door pull

Maybe send John (2blu442) or Eric or oldspackrat a pm and see if they have one ?

 

Making progress. Still about a week behind schedule. The wife wants her side of the garage back soon.
Most of the insulation and padding is installed. Now starting some of the initial carpet cuts and checking to make sure the padding levels are good. Let’s see, Measure 4 times, cut less and repeat the process. The (sticky) Fat-Mat is easy to work with and there is no mess. The top layer is Cool-Mat, which is also easy to work with. Since Cool-Mat does not have any sticky sides, you must use a Glue (3M adhesive) or aluminum tape to keep it in place. The temperate in the garage is about 40F, which does cause a problem with the sticky Fat-Mat. I am using multiple space heaters to keep the target area warm. Looks like I’ll be paying the electric bill this month.


To Retro Ranger:
The old Black carpet is good shape (only 23k miles on carpet). If anyone wants the old carpet they can come and get it. I am planning on tossing it out. I just did not like the color; it makes the car look too dark for my taste.
Here is a new shot of the Front section being test fitted.

 

Hey Miles,
Nice work going on there! I used a paint on sound deadener called eDed http://www.edesignaudio.com/product_...products_id=53 on my floorboards of my 68 442 but would still like to put some of the Fatmat down. I see where you bought 200sf of the EZ cool and that was enough for almost two cars...how much Fatmat did you use and where is the best place to get it?
I want to do the floors, inside the doors, rear wheel wells and under the rear seat.
thanks and good luck on your project..it is looking great.

Tom
68 442 convt
70 F85 postie

 

Hi Tom442:
I actually used the Mega-Mat Bulk pack. The fat-mat is a little thinner 50 mils vs. 70 mils.
I bought 100 Sq feet for 239.99, from fatmat.com directly.

The mega-mat came in 2 heavy rolls of 50 sqft each. I have used aprox 75 sqft so far.
This has covered: Main floor, Under rear seat, Inside 2 doors, Inside rear window areas, Rear wheel wells and metal support behind rear seat.
Most areas are just a single layer. I am only putting it on areas not visible to show judges.
I will most likely use all of the 100 sqft of the Mega-mat.

The picture shows both products. The Mega-Mat (self sticking) is on the transmission hump, one layer (3 millimeters). The non-self sticking EZ cool is on either side of the hump (5 millimeters thick). Depending on how the carpet sits, I will most likely add an extra layer of EZ cool. That will give me 13mm of insulation and on top some thin Jute then carpet on top.

 

Tom, when I did my 78, I used a product from fat-mat, but it doesn't have the logo all over it, so it was cheaper. Do a search on e-pay for sound deadener and you can buy directly from them. Here's a link for it, comes with a snap-blade knife and a roller. http://www.ebay.com/itm/FatMat-50-Sq..._Video&vxp=mtr

 

It’s actually $10 bucks cheaper on the main web than on eBay.
http://www.fatmat.com/bulk/fatmat/50.html

Fat-Mat 79.99 50 sqft, 50 mills thick
Mega-Mat 129.99 50 sqft, 70 mills thick.

The color of the Mega-Mat is a little different than shown on the web. The product is gray like the picture, the backing paper is white. There is no printing on the backing paper or foil product.
I am not sure what today’s version of Fat-mat looks like.

The reason I chose Mega-Mat over Dyna-Mat is the Price and cleanup.
Dyna-mat is aprox $1000 for 100 sqft.
Mega-Mat is aprox $240 for 100 sqft.
And the cleanup, Dyna-Mat I have read is messy. Mega-Mat it’s not a problem.

 

Starting to put the interior back in.

Most of the insulating and carpet adjustments are done. I only made a few carpet mistakes that I hope won’t be noticed.

The rear window cranks do not line up with the molding for the 2 rear windows. I tried to loosen the crank system and readjust to no avail. I can see some bent metal, where someone has tried this before me. Both windows do work, they just have hard spot in the center and the DS side does not have enough clearance for the plastic crank washer.
I found some “Antique White / Sherman-Williams’” spray paint that is a good match for the “Perl” metal trim portion of the ream arm rests.

 

There's supposed to be a white plastic spacer between the crank and the molding. Sounds like whoever took it apart before left them off.

 

Hi Alan:
I only found 2 of the crank spacers (PS Front and PS Rear). When I tried to install a spacer on the DS Rear, the clearance between the crank and the cardboard molding was so tight, that I could not crank the window. I had to remove the spacer. After that, I loosened the 6 screws and tried to shove the crank more Forward towards center and it would not move noticeably. I found some prying marks indicating someone has been here before. I think it’s been like this since the factory because the brown tar paper was completely intact including the original tape and caulking.
If you look at the picture, you can see the crank is way off center. The trim is grooved from usage. The DS Rear side is only slightly better. The trim panel seems to be properly seated and the screws seem both line up correctly.

 

Ok I just did some web searching and that hole appears to be in the same position as a lot of other CS 70-72. Wondering if the the entire regulator is mounted properly now.

Have you looked at the Fisher Body Manual? Pages 7-6 to 7-10 show the inner mechanisms very well. You may be able to adjust the position of the entire regulator to match that hole in the interior trim. To see the regulator and mounts, you need to remove the water shields though.

 

Two of mine were like that from the factory. Something was not designed quite right...

Car is looking good regardless!

 

IIRC you replaced all your panels with Legendary ones because you were converting to power windows? Any chance you could take a pic of your old rear trim and post it for comparison?

 

My helper
Daughter #2 is trying to do extra chores for earn money for an I-Phone. She was actually having fun cutting and sticking on the different sections of Mega-Mat. The dog “Ruby” is also busy helping by removing the foil off the insulation with her claws.

 

Here is one - you can see where the crank shaft rubbed on the bottom. You can see rub marks in the panel but not deep.


It is nice to see the kids involved with projects AND learning how to get things they want the right way - by earning them.
Good job!

 

Rob, it looks like the hole on that panel is slightly lower than the one Miles posted. That might be the reason he's got such a problem with fitting that crank handle.

 

Making progress.
Now I just need to remember where everything goes. With luck I will have the car on the road this weekend. My wife is eagerly waiting for me to give her back her side of the garage. I can already hear the difference when I close the doors, it’s a nice solid Thud.

The doors have 2 layers of Mega-mat (one on metal skin and one layer on cardboard skin). I also wedged some 10mm cool-mat between the door brace and outer skin.

Out of the 100 SQFT of Mega-mat, I have approximately 5 SQFT remaining on the roll. I used approximately 40 SQFT of the cool-mat for padding above the Mega-mat.

 

Miles - looking great!

I read that someone suggested using a soldering iron for the holes needed to be made in the carpeting. Do you do that to actually make the hole or just locate a "pilot" hole with the iron and then cut it with a knife? The seat belt anchor holes are pretty good sized. Going to have to do this soon - I've laid in 5 or 6 carpet sets in the past and always seem to get one hole in the wrong place or another too large.

 

I did use a 45 watt soldering iron for a few things.
For the seat belt holes, I used a small screwdriver to poke the first hole, and then push through the soldering iron into the seatbelt hole and wiggle it around a bit. A seatbelt hole is a bit too big to make entirely with just the soldering iron. Then I used a knife to make sure the whole was about the right size and location. After that, I used the soldering iron to shape the hole and make it bigger. It would melt the carpet and backing. Be careful, it melts anything it touches. I kept a supply of damp paper towels and kept whipping the tip after each use.

I also used the soldering iron it to seal the edges of the carpet. I slid the hot side of the tip across the whole outer edge of the carpet to melt away the loose fibers and bond the remaining loose treads to the backing. I also treated the Seat screw flaps the same way.
If you look closely you can see where I mistakenly added pilot holes to each of the 8 seat bolt flaps. At first I was going to cut the flaps off and later decided to keep the flaps and unfortunately the soldering iron holes in the center of each flap.

To control the smoke in the car, I installed an Oric Air cleaner with ionizer to suck up the smoke and some of the carpet dust. Cutting carpet creates a mess with nylon carpet fibers. I also used an I robot to vacuum the floor each night I was carpet cutting.

I would like you to meet my little friend.

 

I did have a minor problem with the Mega-mat sticking to vertical surfaces such as the metal door skins. The problem was not the product, it was the temperature. I installed strips of Mega-mat to a door with the window hardware still installed. I used strips 6”x18” inserted vertically behind the door brace. I did not heat up the garage sufficiently for the PS door. The next morning all 7 of the strips (on the passenger door) had peeled away from the door. The 40F degree temperatures were just too cold.
So, I added a pair of 500 watt heaters under the door. After approximately 30 minutes the Driver’s door warmed up to 75F and new material suck great on the first try. I checked the door a week later and the material was still firmly stuck. To correct the problem with the PS door, I used a little RTV on each strip.

Keep it warm and be careful not to catch something valuable on fire.

 

I wonder what the longevity will be on the verticals surfaces after some heat cycles? Like a 100 degree summer day. Somtimes adhesives can 'slide' down w heat and that seems to make them more susceptible to coming off after some thermal cycles.

I like the idea of door sound deadening...as long as it stays where it's put!

If you get a chance in year or so let us know if any has changed location

 

As part of my interior upgrade, I also cleaned up the Console and improved the illumination provided by the three existing light bulbs (Shift indicator light, Glove box light and Rear floor light). The Shift indicator was dim and hard to see at night. The Glove box light was missing the switch, which I replaced. The Rear floor light was also dim and not very affected against a black carpet.
I replace the carpet with gold carpet which I do really like the way it looks (I am happy). I read some threads by Lady72nRob71, regarding improvements in dashboard lights, I applied some of those ideas to the Console lights. The Glove box and Rear floor lights both used a black reflector. The Shift light only had 1/3 of the reflector was White, the rest was Black plastic.
I painted all of the areas that I considered to be light reflectors White, with Testors model paint. The areas painted are not visible after the Glove box is reassembled. I also changed the bulbs for the Shifter and Glove box to a slightly brighter version of bulb (found at most automotive stores).

Original: 1891 3.4 watts, 25 Lumens (T3.25 bayonet).
New: 1816 4.3 watts, 38 Lumens (T3.25 bayonet).

Overall I believe the lighting has been improved in all three areas.


Starting to paint the Shift indicator reflector.






Back side of the glove box, with both sides painted white for better reflectivity.




Testing the new glove box 2-wire Pin switch.




The combination of a lighter colored carpet and better reflector has improved the floor illumination.

 

Nice work Miles! Looks nice and bright. The new carpet looks like it installed really well - all nice and smoothed out. You steam it or just leave it in the heat for awhile?

 

Hi Alan:
I used Bricks.
Each night after cutting/placing the insulation and padding, I would put the carpet back into the car for the night. I then placed bricks on either side of the transmission hump and other spots for the night (protective plastic under the set of bricks). I think the weight on the carpet and padding did help put it into place.

 

That's a neat trick. Have to add it to my bag o' tools. One of the things about bench seat cars - the carpeting doesn't overlap like it does on the console cars. Mine is still OEM (I sprayed it with duplicolor black vinyl dye and it came out amazing) but there's a gap of about 3 inches under the seat you can see the exposed floor pan. It's going to have to come out anyway when I do the improvements to electrical in the car and then the FATMAT or whatever will kill some of the road noise. I'm planning to leave the 'gap' there but paint the dynamat black where it's exposed so it's not as obvious.

 

I think I am done with the carpet / insulation project. It took me 5 weeks part time nights.

Insulation and Soundproofing:
Floor 1 layer Mega-Mat, 1 layer EZ cool. Rear bench 1 layer Mega-Mat, 2 Layers EZ-Cool. Doors 1 Mega-mat on metal skin, 1 on cardboard skin, plus some EZ-cool between Brace and metal skin, Rear Wheel wells just Mega-Mat. I did not insulate the rear speaker deck at this time.
Due to poor weather, I have only taken a few road tests. It’s hard to measure sound quality, but it does seem to be much quieter. Small road bumps are felt but not heard. Most of my little squeaks are gone or not noticeable.

Temperature:
I won’t know how the insulation really works until peak summer. Last year I used the car in a 4th July parade and we cooked inside the car.

Problems:
The carpet is pre-press molded to have a shape similar to the cars floor pan. On my carpet, they cooked the carpet a few seconds too long and browned the area under the gas pedal area. This caused plastic backing to be real stiff and caused an unusual bulge that interfered with the gas pedal movement. I spent a lot of time Adding and Removing padding, Pulling and trimming the carpet to get this critical spot flat. I ended up over cutting the left/right edges a little in my attempts to flatten out the bulge. The carpet now sits flat enough and the over cuts are not that noticeable.

Work pending:
Carpet is done, still have a few interior trim parts to cleanup and replace some missing parts (Perl door pull strap), and I misplaced 1 window crank (maybe it’s under the rear seat?). It looks like I need to buy some new color matched floor mats.

Costs:
Ez Cool $100, Glove Box Switch $35, Mega-Mat $240, Carpet $220, Por-15, $50, total approximately $654.00
Labor as a first timer, 32-40 hours. Was it worth it, Hell Ya, I had fun.

Next Project:
Add new caulking all around the AC/Heater box to reduce the amount of engine fumes being sucked in when heater/AC is running. I think I need to remove the plastic PS fender.

I would like to thank everyone on this forum for all of the informative posts.
Best Wishes, from Miles

Picture: Last drive before the snow hit. Now I need to get some new color matched floor mats. The dog Ruby loves the drive; hence the cheap seat covers to protect the vinyl from her claws. If you look closely you can see the microphone for the Amateur radio system hiding under the seat (Icom ID-800).