Ghia Carpet Kit Install Help

Capgun_Slim · Post by **Capgun_Slim** » Tue Jul 09, 2002 10:56 pm

Well, my Ghia project is really coming along now, with all the exterior being done, and mechanicals taken care of, (except the guy at the alignment shop is having a problem aligning the front end of it since the lowered beam went in, any hints how to fix?) Anyway, all that's left basically is color sanding I have to do, and interior work. I've got a TMI carpet kit, along with a TMI upholstery kit for the front and rear seats. The first thing I'm gonna tackle is the carpet kit. I'll be starting a new subject later when I get ready to put the seat upholstery on. I've done a carpet kit before in a 1978 Chevy 4x4 truck, and it went well, but that was just one piece, while the ghia kit is like 19-20. I was just looking for any info and tips anyone can give me, or possibly a website to go to as well, that will help me with the install. By the way, of course I'll be pulling out the front seats, scrubbing, cleaning and vaccuuming everything before I get started, as well as pulling up the tarboards, and cleaning the top part of the pan too. No rust on the pans, their perfect, a must when I was looking to buy a ghia, so no holes to fix or rust or anything wrong there. I will have pictures of the finished ghia project when I'm all done with it, so look for, the before and after pictures to come in the future. Thanks in advance for all the responses.

GhiaMonster · Post by **GhiaMonster** » Thu Jul 11, 2002 8:35 am

Just did mine in February, but I THINK I remember the general order. With the exception of the floor piece, install from bottom up. The floor went in AFTER the side pieces. Each successive piece overlaps the previous. Lay out the kit representative to how it goes in the car. You can go by the bordered vs plain cut edges, the plain cuts go under something, the borders are the final edges.

Hope this helps!

------------------
Mike
'69 Ghia - Primered but it's mine!

Capgun_Slim · Post by **Capgun_Slim** » Fri Jul 12, 2002 10:34 pm

Yeah , I'm sure that will help. I didn't think of that. Thanks...

Todd · Post by **Todd** » Mon Jul 15, 2002 2:12 am

Well,

1st, how ever long you think it'll take budget twice that. I too used a TMI carpet kit and a year later it's still great.(word to the wise though - if yer gonna haul the kids around, get something that looks like crushed cheetos & oreos, etc) But it appears they're made for a couple variations so some pieces may not be needed and most of my pieces 'almost' fit. Make sure you have a good pair o' scissors and high quality adheasive.

Also, if yer ripping up the tar boards, be sure you put in something to dampen sound - I used the expensive tar paper stuff only to find out it's the same stuff at the builders supply! While everything was out I painted the inside metal with a thick coat of rustoleum black enamel to prevent future rust in case of leaks (mines a 'vert). There's better products available but not where I live (N. Italy)

Good luck,

Todd Johnston

Murdock · Post by **Murdock** » Mon Jul 15, 2002 6:06 am

I'm doing a carpet kit right now as a matter of fact. I got mine in salt and pepper from sewfine along with a complete interior.

So far it's been a little rough installing it since it is so much thicker than my oem felt that was on there for 28 years, So some trimming around the shifter(scat drag fast) was needed. Also, you'll need to cut all the holes for the seat belt mounts, heater vents etc. As long as you have a good sharp knife it isnt too bad.

Definitly overlap everything so you only see finished edges, it'll look 100x better in the end, it may be a little tricky , but lay a few pieces in without glueing them and test fit them before putting down some glue, I didn't do this for the first few pieces and got glue on some of that edges by mistake. Oh and what I thought was the hardest so far was the tunnel, because mine never wanted to stay firmly in place, it always kept a little slack, so if you can remedy this somehow, more power to ya! Wish ya much luck and post a few pics when you're done! I'll get some on here this evening.

[This message has been edited by Murdock (edited 07-15-2002).]

Capgun_Slim · Post by **Capgun_Slim** » Mon Jul 15, 2002 10:58 pm

Finally! Thanks for responding. I thought I was only gonna get the one post on this, was starting to get a bit dissapointed. Looking forward to the pictures! I haven't started the carpet yet, due to finally going to be getting the car back from the aligment shop tomarrow. I too, have the salt and pepper kit from TMI with the vinyl stitched border. So far I went out and bought some 3M 90 spray glue, big can. They had 60 and 90 so I figured I should go for the 90. I know this isn't the best stuff around but it should work. Someone told me there's some kind of glue you can get from home depot that works really well for car carpet, but I don't remember the name of it. By removing the tar boards to clean underneath, will this destroy them? Sounds like from the guy in the post above that you have to tear them up to get them out, thus, destroying them. Can you just pry these up and get them out, then re-install after clean up? If not, what am I looking for when I go to the home depot to put in place of the tar boards? Thanks for the posts guys!

Murdock-inahurry · Post by **Murdock-inahurry** » Tue Jul 16, 2002 4:25 am

Sorry I didnt have any pics up last night, but when I got done putting in a stuborn driver seat, I was so tired and the thought of going to work at 8am drove me to go to bed early (midnight). As for the glue, I went into home depot and got the "small" size can of carpet and sheet vinyl adhesive, its a putty like substance, kinda like the oem stuff I think. And for the tar boards, yes it will tear them to pieces by ripping them up, what some people around here, myself included do, is get some cheap dynamat-like substance from an online company, I don't have a link yet(have to goto work in 6 minutes), but around 330 central time I'll be back on and I'll post again. The stuff is 12sq ft and costs around 13 bucks. I'll take some pics this afternoon!

Murdock · Post by **Murdock** » Tue Jul 16, 2002 5:11 pm

Alright, sorry it took so long:

The carpet glue:

new interior (door panels still coming):

old vs new seat:

[This message has been edited by Murdock (edited 07-16-2002).]

Capgun_Slim · Post by **Capgun_Slim** » Wed Jul 17, 2002 4:39 am

Wow! That looks great! I hope mine turns out the same, or at least close. Nice seats too. From the looks of it, it seems to be a 69'? Anyway, I'll be looking forward to the tarboard material link, and maybe some more pics. to drool over. Also, thanks for the glue tip, I'll be going out today to buy some.

Murdock · Post by **Murdock** » Wed Jul 17, 2002 6:35 am

Thanks for the kind words!
The ghia is a 74 though. What I thought sucked was that Sewfine doesn't do the contrast piping on the headrests, so now I have sunvisors, seats, and door panels all with the same grey/black minicheck tweed and bright white vinyl with some black contrast piping, except for the headrests...sigh.
the site for that sound dampening material is www.mcmaster.com and its part number 9709T19 its the polymeric mastic. The price is 12.79 per sheet of 12sq feet. I got three sheets and it came out to 38+10 shipping, but it got here within 48 hours of ordering.. They are a nice company to deal with. If there's any other way I can help just ask.

oc92 · Post by **oc92** » Thu Jul 18, 2002 4:37 pm

the seats look great murdock! any tips or suggestions for someone about to do the same project on another 74?

Murdock · Post by **Murdock** » Thu Jul 18, 2002 6:38 pm

To tell you the truth, I did whatthis guy did: http://www.nateswaterart.com/vw/front_upholstery/
there isnt too much detail, but having the cottom wadding ( i got it from hobby lobby for 4 bucks total) and some canvas (this was a few more bucks from hobby lobby, I got a yard and a half and had enough to double it over). Other than that, I just put alot of time into it.

The bottom parts of the seats are alot harder than the rest in my opinion. Be sure to "hook in" the very back part of the cover and then pull towards the front, and then tie those strings. I weigh 165lbs and I had to flip the seat upside down and stand on the seat to compress it to get it to fit, after that it stretches nicely.

The headrests might not fit exactly, from what I was told from sewfine these are pretty hard to make, so mine have a few wrinkles, but with the summer heat about to hit in texas the wrinkles should go away.

I'll try to get somemore pictures after work tommorow. If not, I'll definitly post some next wednesday, I got in my matching door panels today! woohoo!

This was my first "bigger" project I did to my ghia, and it is my first car, and VW. If I can do it, anyone on this board should be able too. Everything I do is trial/error then repeat..

Feel free to ask any questions if ya got em..

JULIETGAHAN · Post by **JULIETGAHAN** » Fri Feb 21, 2003 12:56 pm

I used I think it is called contact cement, found at the local hardware store instead of the spray adhesive. I used a toothed comb to spread it. Better than the spray, but not as easy to use.