I recently bought an 84 camaro z28. I have been trying to get the motor running right but i'm now waiting for my repair books to be mailed to me. So i'm going to start on the inside, rip everything out, seats, carpt, headliner, dash. I would like to know the best way to start this, and if there is anything I should know before i go tearing things out. I'm new to this, this is my first project car ever, any help would be appreciated.

I took a look at the seats awhile ago and honestly I don't know how to get them out.

 

Whatcha gutting the interior for? Just curious what plans you have for the car....

Tearing out the interior is a "fun" job. GM made most of the interior pieces all interlock... you take one piece off, but then you have to take 2 more off to get another one off, etc.... you just gotta have patient... take note of how everything comes apart... it may be a good idea to put all the different fasteners in labeled bags so you know where they came from if you ever want to put everything back together again... just a thought. Also, there are several pieces that snap into place (for example, the plastic piece that runs along the inside windshield pillar and above the window).

BTW, seats should be easy to take out... should be a plastic cover at the ends of the rails on the seats... should be 1 or 2 screws holding that down (you may have to slide the seat all the way forward/backward to get to them) and then under those covers there should be large nuts holding the seat rails to the floor.

 

I'm taking it all out because it has mildew and dirt everywhere. I just want to do a good cleaning in there, then re do the carpet/headliner/and new seats. I was wanting 4th gen leather seats, will these fit?

 

Any car seat will physically fit into your car even if the tracks have to be modified, which wouldn't take too much work anyway. Go ahead with the 4th gen seats

 

wrong thread woops, posted a carb pic for help

 

YEah ... its a pic of a Carb.....

 

Oh ok, cool.... the easiest way to do that definitely would be to remove everything... I beleive you pretty much have to take out most of the interior panels to get either headliner or carpets out. And if you do a search, there are a ton of guys on here that have put 4th gen seats in their cars.... they could probably give you some advice if you need to do any mods to tracks or anything.

 

Just rememberd one more thing. My car is leaking from the T tops ( i think ) the headliner up there is wet and the back seats are wet, i checked the seals and it all looks good i don't see how water can be coming in. Can anyone give me some tips on pin pointing the leak or any suggestions besides replacing the weather stripping?

 

4th Gen seats just bolt right in... although they leave a little bit of a gap here and there (btwn console & rear trim panels)

I like mine

 

I'm having problems removing the carpet. I went to remove the seatbelts and it looks like they are bolted on with a star tool. I checked underneath the bold and i didn't see any threads. I have tried everything to get these bolts out but i can't. Do i need to go buy special tools to take these out?

 

The 'star' bolt that you are referring to is known as a Torx. Torx bits can be found just about anywhere that tools are sold. I know that even the Wal Marts around here sell them. If i recall correctly, you will need a #45 Torx bit and a ratchet. Also, depending on how long they have been sitting, you may also need a small breaker bar for leverage.

-menace

 

Yep, went and got a t50 star tool, took um right off. I have the seats, dash board, seat belt, side panles, and glove box out. This is a realy hard job, i didn't thing the interiot would be this hard. Has anyone layed regular carpet down in one of these? or would it be better off dishing out the money for molded carpet?

 

i have personally never laid carpet in a vehicle, however, it would seem to make sense that pre-molded carpet would make things a bit easier. Doing a search on the Body and Interior board for 'carpet installation' should yield more information than you know what to do with. Here is a very informative thread to get you started.

Carpet Installation

-menace

 

Check out my post on parts for sale. I am selling a complete set of 4th gen leather seats.

 

Its technically a T47 bolt, which isnt a commonly found bit. My local sears didnt have any... so I ended up with a T50 and tapped it into place to get the job done.

I recently did this to my car which is awaiting paint and a renewed interior. It takes awhile but isnt too hard. kinda rewarding and interesting to see what lurks underneath all of that carpet and interior panels. sometimes it isnt very good... I had some rust here and there, but not bad considering.

 

T47.... thats it. I knew that the 45 and 50 didnt sound right. Thanks for the clarification!

-menace

 

While your doing the interior you should maybe consider Sound Deader. I Dynomatted my car and my car's sterio sounds 300% better no rattles, and when u shut your door it makes a nice soild sound instead of a thin metal Clink.Will worth the money. here is a link.


http://cgi.ebay.com/50-SQUARE-FEET-P...QQcmdZViewItem






Also search other threads about it, there is tons..

 

I wish I could, but first thing tomorrow morning i'm installing the carpet. Have not had any luck on seats yet, i'm trying to find something local. I want the car done by this weekend so i can start working on the engine. I went out and bought some dark grey/black outdoor carpet from home depot for $24, I think it's going to look realy nice, I'll post before and after shots when i'm done.

 

Well, regular carpet just aint gona cut it. I broke down and had to order molded carpet for 119 dollars. I'll use the regular carpet to replace some of the carpet trim on the doors and console

 

Don't bother with Dynamat, it's too expensive really. But you can spend around $50 and get something that's better than Dynamat - like B-Quiet, RAAM mat, or hell, even a roofing sealant like Jiffy Seal / Peel and Seal.

I'm going the Jiffy Seal route, and then covering it with closed-cell urethane foam I got dirt-cheap at a local foam supply place. Then I'll put the carpet in.

 

im doing my interior in black vinyle and rhino-liner.

the entire florr is going to be about 1/4 inch bedliner spray.

it should be tough and look awsome,i hate carpet in cars,it always rotts and stinks and fades,it useless.

 

do you think by doing your car in just rhino lining would make it hotter in the summer time if you dont put a carpet down.

 

Why wouldn't you put carpet down?

 

carpet ALWAYS rots, it mildews and stinks,it fades to an ugly blue grey dirt color. if you spill something you have to carpet clean it.

i just dont see the point of putting carpet back in.


the rhino liner is indestructable, waterproof,it wont fade, chip or peel.it can be made in any color you want. it is a sound deading material.. it should stiffen the chasiss a little.

and its about the same as carpet in price and weight.


its also easier to put in then carpet,you just spray it on where you want it.

im doing the entire floor with it.

 

carpet only rots if you're too stupid to put your windows up every night, or if you won't fix your leaky t-tops.

 

im a fan of no carpet. it gets dirty and the sun fades, also i paint all day and my boots usualy are covered in black paint by the end of the night and my tan carpet is looking kinda rough i wish they would make a rubber molded floor covering instead of a carpet kinda like alot of the new ford trucks have, easy to clean and doesnt fade! i dont know about lining the floor with a rubber and just leaving it like that, there is no where to hide all the wires then and all the weird shapes in the floor pans.

 

sounds like a good idea, i may would have tried it but i already ordered my carpet. Fresh new carpet smells too good anyway

 

every car over 20 years old has faded stinky matted crusty carpet. regardless of how well the car was treated.
carpet just doesnt last forever.

besides,im a carpet cleaner, i know a thing or two about floor coverings.

 

Yeah.. it will not look nice.. but i think it will last. but... i rather have that comfy feeling of carpet. It will look too "Industrail" w/ wires and ulgy foor pan shapes because the pass. side is deeper and not flat like the Drivers side.

Besides nice black molded carpet w/ good Floor Mats is Good. Thats my 2 cents then just replace the Floor mats.

 

I know if I mention fbodymotorsports.com, I may have 100 fists flying thru my screen. BUT, I ordered a full front/rear set of carpet and it all fit perfectly. Seat coverings and door panels fit like a charm as well. I ripped everything short of the dash and headliner out and re-did the former P.O.S. is all black. The car was originally that gray-nastyness that gets dirty just by looking at it. You can order just about everything from fbody. I really didn't have the same problems a lot fo other folks did, and i consider myself lucky.

Start taking out the plastic trim pieces, center console, seats, etc. I had fun doing it and my car looks brand spankin new inside & out. I'm not a pro but I feel qualified to answer just about any other questions about this project.

 

I'm just doing the front. How much did you pay for the back carpet? And did you replace all the carpet trim on the door panles and interior panles?

 

Yeah I pretty much did the same,except I havent removed the carpet yet.Ill wait til I get new carpet to do that. I actually had fun doing it tho.

 

Well, I spent over $2k redoing the interior. And I mean everything. I didn't keep a price breakdown of front & rear carpet (you can check website) but I paid $269 for both front & rear. Not a bad price for molded carpet that looks (and smells) great. I did the door panels too; carpet came on those. price was $140. I'm not sure what an "interior panel" is....but I did redo the sail panels too. Those were a bit more work as I had to remove the hangers from the old panels and glue them onto the new ones.

JDubya..I remember my car looking like that pic not too long ago. yes, it was fun and the end result was SO much better having done it myself.

 

im going more for a madmax feel/budget to mine. im going to cover all the wires in black wiire cover and hide as much of them as i can.

more knightrider of the apocalypse then anything.

 

I don't know what yall are talking about "wires"

The only wires I have are running down the sides of the door jam, easily hidden ...

 

yeah theres just a few on the driver side and the dome light wires and the speaker wires,and my new taillight wires[i had to rewire them when i bought it].

should i rhinoliner the roof and sides too? it might look cool,and it sure would save me some time compared to black vinyle,but i have no idea what to do with the doors.

 

Do you have any pics of your "firebucket" dude lol

 

i do but the computer refuse to resize them to fit on here.


just imagine a busted 83 firebird,with peeling horrible black paint with patched rust and dings everywhere with mismatched tires and scraped busted black camaro alloy rims.

then picture a stock interior exept yhe seats are from some busted camaro,and remove all the plastic and carpets and headliner from the ttops back.

then pop the hood and see the tiny duke covered in 3 inches of dirt/oil crud.

throw on a layer of dirt and you've got my car.

 

Got a problem, I got my carpet today but before i lay it down let me ask. Whats the best way to change the carpet/color of the door trim/and side panles to match the carpet? Do I need to go buy new door panels?

 

there is plastic interior paint,but a freind of mine painted his interior and it stunk like paint for monthes and just flaked off after a while.

you should try a junk yard for cheap plastic parts.

or find some GOOD paint and let it dry and cure OUTSIDE of the car for a few weeks till it doesnt smeel like paint.

 

Do a search on interior paint.. its a OverDebated Thing.. why its good and why itd bad...

I did it twice and each time w/ a different car. just do good prep work. wetsand and primer and then do light mutiple coats. and it turns out fine..

i did experiance some flakes,and fish eyes when i forgot to prep a side panel, i redone it and it turned out looking brand new.

 

so i just pain my plastic ?

What about the carpet and cloth material on the sides of the doors/trip peices?

 

take the old carpet off the kickpanels and door panels,then use those as templates and cut new ones of yor desired color.Then get some 3m spray and glue it on ...

 

lol...cant wait to see a pic Im just curious because i saw your profile and its pretty funny.Whats EARF

 

Come sniff my car. It's got 20 year old faded, matted, crusty carpet but it doesn't stink and it's not rotten.

 

dude, the screws will hold the hangers on, you don't need glue

 

Yeah,that screw is the only screw holding the sail panels in(besides the clips).You need to ditch the glue and get a screw lol

 

ill post some pics as soon as the comp decides it will let me change formats.

and earf is where we all live[black slang pronunceation of earth].

 

Looks great ! I got my interior panels painted today. Tomorrow i'm preasure washing the inside cab and laying down the carpet.

Here are some before and after pics. I used duplicolor ( i thinj thats the name ) interior vinyl paint, and after it cures this stuff does NOT scratch. I tested it with my finger nail, then I went ***** to the wall and used a screw driver, no scratch, just follow the directions to the letter if you plan on painting the interior.

Some of my pics are not the same before/after peices but gives you an idea of how bad it looks before i painted it.

used to look like :

 

Now it looks like this: