Well I'm not a pro but the interior is looking alot better than i expected! For some cheap carpet i think it really turned out well. It was very easy to cut and install.. It's waaaay more comfortable and better looking than what was in it! I used small ammounts of glue and double sided aluminum tape in specific areas. I made sure to keep in mind that it would have to be removed and put back down someday.
Sure, the 3 yard roll i bought was 80" wide so there are no seams. I started by measuring from the firewall above the trans tunnel to the center of the shifter. I rolled out the carpet on the floor and marked where the center of the shifter would be. I made an X Cut to drop the carpet around the shifter. That was my starting point for smoothing out the wrinkles. Once i had it relatively smoothed out to the edges of the floorboard i sprayed a bit of adhesive to the firewall and started smoothing it out towards the back of the car adding tape and small ammouts of adhesive to the floorboard and corners where it might raise up or move. Once it was over the seat brackets i cut out a 2" swath over the center of the brackets from front to back. That made it easy to tuck the carpet under the edges of the brackets. The driveshaft tunnel was the only hard part. I had to use alot of adhesive and stretch the carpet around the tunnel and hold it there for a couple minutes. Under the rear seat wont be seen so i cut a couple relifs in the carpet near the tunnel to help it flatten out towards the inside edges of the body. Once it was all glued down and smoothed out i tucked the uncut edges as close to the doors and inside edges of the body as possible. I used some soap stone to mark the tucked edges to cut. I started at the back and cut towards the front. Marked along the edges of the rocker seams and cut those. Then put everything back together. Pretty straightforward. I could have gotten ALL of the wrinkles out of the carpet if i glued every inch but it would be a nightmare to take up of i ever had to. Not bad for $79 worth of material.
don't always have time to keep up with all these projects, but got back to this one today. Love love the color combo's and workmanship is fantastic.
Thank you for the comments! I took it easy this weekend and put some insulation down on the trunk floor and glued down the liner fabric. It turned out very well! I also insulated the rear deck behind the back seat and started working on a panel to carpet and cover up the gap left by raising the rear seats. I gotta say, all of this insulation has really quited down the compreasor noise. After all that i went for a little cruise. About 25 miles in and the trans started to get a little warm.. about 180*. Mostly my fault for forgetting to lock the converter in 3rd and 4th a couple times. Staying on top of the manual lockup will take some getting used to. Looks like my dog found a new use for the old carpet
Thanks for the explanation on the carpet install Looks like a good choice for when standard molded is not an option
Now that you have had chance to put on some miles....how do you like the way the 700R4 works with the straight eight. I have a New Process manual 4 speed and I have been toying with the idea of an automatic in place of that.
The 700r4 works very well with the straight eight. I really love driving the car now! It drives very smooth and is much quicker than it was with the dynaflow! I dont have a tach on the car but at 65-70 mph with the converter locked the engine is humming along at what sounds like a fairly low rpm and feels like ot has alot left in it. I haven't calculated the gas mileage yet but I'll post it once i do. The only draw backs are It was a little complicated to swap into the car and get it working properly (fabricating and adjusting the tv cable bracket on the carb, adjusting trans pressures, ect) and manually locking the converter all the time is kind of annoying. Other than that i love it.
Haha you never know.. I take the python just incase someone thinks they want to keep the car more than i do.
Found this thread and love the way the car is coming along. Just picked up a '50 Special last weekend. Been chomping at the bit to get started.
****ing rad. 50 Buick is my favorite car man and you're nailing it. Great unique style on the (possible) shift knob and pattern on the panels. They contrast and compliment each other well. Add a S&W and you might just be a serial killer, LOL... Thumbs up! Sent from my XT1254 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Wrapped up the interior today.. well minus the headliner and a shifter boot. I also put in new rear quarter window gl***, felts, gl*** channels, weatherstripping, and rebuilt the regulators. Even with the seats raised 1" because of the new floors everything fits great.
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