Carpet Replacement - March 21, 2008
When I bought the car back in June of 2007, the piece of carpetting that extends from the front of the driver's seat to the pedals was missing. For some reason, the previous owner decided to cut it out and just cover it up with a floor mat. The first picture shows what it looked like before I started working on it.
There was a lot of rust on the floor right underneath the accelerator pedal, and a small hole had formed in the floor. In addition to the missing piece, the carpetting was in bad shape overall with stains all over it. To address these issues, I decided to weld the hole in the floor and install new carpetting. Luckily, I was able to pick up a used 240SX carpet in pretty good shape for $35.
- The first thing I did was remove the center console so that I could take out the old carpet. The ashtray comes out first.
- I took out the four screws (two on the front and two on the back) on the sides of the center console that hold it in place.
- Then, I popped off the center console trim piece, which is held in place by six clips.
- The shift knob and adapter come off next.
- Now, the trim piece can be removed.
- I took out the last two screws holding the center console in place (in front of the shifter).
- Then, I unplugged the connector to the cigarette lighter and the connector to the ashtray light (located under the center console).
- Finally, I took out the center console.
- Next, I removed the foot rest (and snapped one of the three rusted bolts in the process).
- The driver side and passenger side kick panels came out next followed by the plastic door sill covers.
- I took out both front seats to get ready to pull out the carpet. The process for doing that can be found on this writeup.
- Next, I removed the plastic clips holding the carpet to the floor. There are three along the back edge of the carpet and two under where the seats usually are positioned.
- The seat belt trim pieces need to come off to allow the carpet to slide over the seat belts.
- I took off this metal hook piece from in front of where the passenger seat is bolted to the floor. I have no idea what it's for. The driver's side didn't have it.
- Then, I cut the old carpet down the middle to make it easier to remove. It was garbage anyway, so there was no use in keeping it in one piece and struggling to get it out of the car.
- I took out the carpet and found a few surprises. The sound deadening under the passenger side dash was cracked everywhere and falling out (see picture). Also, there was another hole in the floor right in front of where the passenger side front seat belt mounts to the floor. So now there were two holes to weld in.
- My dad welded the two holes in the floor for me, and I painted the new metal and surrounding areas of the floor. The first and second pictures are before and after shots of the driver side floor. The third picture is where a plate was welded in to fill the hole on the floor by the passenger side seat belt.
- I vacuumed the replacement carpet and cut the section all the way in the front of the carpet in half. This section goes behind the dashboard and is not visible. The only way to install the carpet without cutting this is to completely remove the dash.
- I unbolted the e-brake and computer module (see picture) that are bolted to the transmission tunnel so that I could get the carpet in place without making any more cuts on it. Then, I slowly slid the carpet into position.
- Here are some pictures with the new carpet installed. It's a huge improvement, and I no longer have holes in my floor.
I'll post some pictures with the interior parts back in soon.