well the interior in my camaro is shot so i wanna replace it... i was wondering how hard it is to replace the carpet and the headliner myself... what all will i need to do? i just want a new headliner and passenger area carpet... probably from hawks... what you guys think? are there carpets any good? and when i swap out the carpets am i supposed to keep that padding under the original carpet or do i get a new one with the new carpet? and whats this about a console cutout? thanks for the help guys!

 

Replacing carpet is extremely easy, but time consuming. You basically just have to remove everything that's in the way, remove the old carpet, lay the new carpet in, do a little trimming, then put the car back together. It really doesn't require any talent. It just takes time and you need to take your time when positioning and trimming the carpet.

Once everything is out, you can set the new carpet in. If you buy carpet that doesn't have the center console area cut out, then I'd reccommend laying the old carpet over the new stuff and cutting a SMALL console hole (smaller than the stock one) that's basically just big enough to fit over the shifter. Before you put the carpet in, screw the rear seat bolts a couple turns into the nuts in the floor. Now you can get the carpet into the car and fool with it until you're happy with the positioning. In order to properly position the carpet, you'll probably need to do some trimming to the center console area to get it to sit flat on the tunnel and not get in the way of the e-brake and shifter. Just take your time and cut a very small amount at a time. It doesn't hurt to set the console in to see how much of the carpet can be safely trimmed without getting into the danger zone. Take a look and also make sure that you have enough carpet at the door openings. Once you're happy, you use a razor to carefully cut an "X" pattern over all of the seat studs and seat bolts that you can feel through the carpet. Once you cut the x, you push the carpet down over the studs. Then it's just a matter of trimming the door openings if necessary, and putting things back together.

If you take your time and think your way through the process, you'll have no problems.

Headliners I consider to be more difficult, though less time consuming. If you're replacing your headliner with a new one, it's not so bad, but if you're trying not to destroy your headliner during removal, it can be very difficult until you've done it a few times. The key is to get the seatbelts out through the slit, then slide the whole headliner out the hatch. Having somebody help you will make your life easier.

Here's a tech article I wrote on headliner R&R:
http://www.iroczone.com/technical/headliner

 

ya wasnt that hard, but it was hard for me, i needed it done two days before school started, and didnt leave the carpet out to sit... as long as you have patience you should be ok, i dont but mine came ok i guess still need to get the floor mats

 

i had been planing on redoing the carpet in my iroc as well. i have an olds cutlass that i i had just wanted to dress up a bit. it had tan carpets and i wanted to go to black. premolded carpet sets for cars being pretty expensive (especially for a poor college student) i went to the fabric store and looked for a relativly durable fabric that pleased me. i got some with one side being real furry and soft and the other side had like a knit backing. so i pulled everything out and literally layed the new material over the original carpet and used 3M super 77 adhesive spray to hold it down. in all it cost me 35 dollors and a few hours. that was about a year ago and it seems to be holding up real well. i take pretty good care of my cars and am concious of what i step in before i get in my car so i try to do what i can to prevent it from getting messed up. in all for a cheap, easy, good looking, soft to the touch carpet i would suggest checking out your local fabric shop.

i covered alot of the interior parts in my iroc with the same black furry material and i think it makes it look alot better. i was never a fan of the cheap plastic anyway. its easy enough to just cover it up with something that looks better and feels better. i just havnt done the floors because i want to delete my center console. like i said i hate the cheap plastic interiors. just figured i give my 2 cents

 

I layered the new carpet down and then used a socket just bigger than the studs and a mini-sledge hammer; studs came right through.

As for trimming the carpet, if you can get you a pair of these, they will be a lot easier than doing it with a carpet knife or shears:

http://www.blackanddecker.com/Produc...roductID=10973


I was lucky, I called my sister and both she and my mom had gotten a pair each for Christmas. The work really well on the carpet, but the padding is a PITA, but still better than the other way.

 

does the carpet come with the padding underneath or am i supposed to keep that padding under the old carpet?

 

Most carpets come with the padding. I just re did my carpet and it was fairly easy just time comsuming. Lay the new carpet out in the sun and remove the old carpet. I used the old carpet as a stencil and layed it over the new which I then did my cut outs.

 

WEAR A MASK!!!! WEAR GLOVES AND LONG SLEEVES!!!!!

Likely alot of dust or must will come up. My stomach is a little weak, and my nose is strong, so bad combination.

Also, when you remove some plastic trim, you expose alot of sharp sheet metal, and your fingers will get dry and you'll cut yourself without knowing. Just cover up and youll be fine.

I found the carpet in a thirdgen harder to do than some of the older cars ive owned. The hardest part is removing the rear seats, the center console, and the plastic trim below the doors. The philips screws often get rusty, take your time with them, if you strip em, its no fun!