Time for a bit of an update....
With the speaker & console wiring in place, it was time to look into fitting the carpet. After some thought about whether to use Dynamat or similar we decided to go with a thinish 'underfelt' as a means of adding extra sound proofing.
This was decided after thinking about how the heat that comes up thru the floor on the Polara, causing condensation under its rubber mats, and what would happen to the floor if condensation formed under something like Dynamat
I know it's supposed to be well stuck down to the floor but with all the contours on these floor pans we figured it would be safer to use something breatheable like an extra layer of underfelt, rather than going with the more fashionable (& heavier & more expensive
) Dynamat in case there were any air pockets left under it.
Anyhoo, correct decision or not
we got on & cut the felt we had bought at the previous NEC show, and did our best to cut it to fit the undulating floorpan. To add a bit of extra under the back seat, we used some of the old carpet that we took out. Oh and Stu's applied a bit of that felt to the trunk divider, so if any of the kids who've been put in the 'naughty trunk' kick up a fuss, they dont dusturb the grown ups in the front
(only joking, if anyone from Social Services are lookng in
)
After trawling the US forums to see what was best, we settled on a carpet from Motor Parts South, who had a reputation for fitting best, having the most generous cut in the sill & firewall areas and if you wanted to pay extra for shipping you could have it shipped flat, so as not to disturb the pre-formed shape.
We didnt have it shipped flat but it was loosely rolled, and came with separate jute backing. Having sat as flat as possible for a year or so on the trunk, it should have got back to its pre-shipped state by the time we came to fit it last weekend.
First impressions are yes there's plenty of material (unlike other makes I've read about like ACC
) but it is a bit baggy in places, esp over the tunnel, so we may add a bit more felt under there.
As there's no pre-cut holes for anything, it's a bit of a fiddle trying to get the heel pad position correct in relation to the pedal and the dimmer switch but after checking as best we could to find its correct position and also making sure the humps & bumps in the floor fitted the shape of the carpet, we took the plunge and got at it with the Stanley knife
Havent cut any seat or seatbelt holes yet, but as soon as we get the front seats in I'm sure the loose areas will be be held a bit flatter and tighter. Then we can cut the carpet for the sill plates.
Also fitted some bits to the console 'body' yesterday. Just need to find the carpet bits that we got a year or so ago from Legendary, that attach to the console
Just to see what it looked like we laid it in position before end of play yesterday, and it does look nice with the new carpet
Well, not bad for what it cost, compared to buying new repop bits.
NB - the odd bits of metal bolted to the floor (1 round & 1 rectangular) were just used to hold the felt in position while we fiddled with the carpet
Floor cleaned....
Trial-fit of jute backing...
Underfelt....
With jute backing in position.....
Our attempt to make the switch work without getting caught up with the carpet. Not supposed to use the grommet, apparently, as they werent fitted originally
Checked out as best we could where the hole should be for the pedal and saw pics of original carpets with the hole completely within the heel pad, completely in front of, and half-on / half-off. This is where ours ended up, having tried to match the bumps in the carpet with those in the floor.
Not something we thought was going to be complicated or important before we started, but as you start to look into how something should be, you get a bit caught up in trying to do it the proper way.. or at least we seem to
Reinforced the cut-out with some thin rubber stuck to the back...
Also stuck a bit on the back of the switch hole...
Console trial-fit....
Stu's also fitted the new shoulder bit of the seat belts. Looks a bit too 'baggy' tho so we'll do something about that before someone hangs themselves getting in or out of the car
Oh and one more thing that needed sorting was where the speedo cable crosses above the exhaust
Used some silicon sleeving on the cable and some plumbers soldering mat on the exhaust, retained by ally tubing...
is to get the new speaker fitted in the dash.
