[iowaSSfan]

Ok, so I have searched all the stickies and learned a great deal of info but still have questions. I have new carpet and new seat skins on the way (thank you street trends) and need some advice.
1. How do you get the carpet to lay flat? It has been in the box for awhile and is now laying out in my basment flat. Problem is there are still a lot of wrinkles and creases in the carpet. Someone told me to put it into the car and then lay sand bags on it. Wondering if anyone here has had luck doing it this way or has a better way. I believe the brand of carpet is acs.
2. What do you guys prefer for sound deadner under carpet. I already have some por15 incase I encounter any rust.
3. Not finding anything on the rear seat removal on a 96 impala ss.
4. Would appreciate any tips/tricks to reskinning the seats. I have reskinned cloth seats before but never leather. When "filler" is required for a seat, what is the right product to use?
Thanks for all the help. I will be adding pics as I go and probably more questions.

 

[BrooKLyn]

3. Not finding anything on the rear seat removal on a 96 impala ss.

On the bottom seat. Push towards back of car on each side n it will lift up..
Once off
look at each corner were seat belt bolt goes.
You will see a torq bolt. think t45 ..
un bolt those and lift up on top half of seat.

one unbloted u will see alot of the hog rings and pretty straight forward. I would go and buy a hog ring tool n a bag of hog rings ...

 

[iowaSSfan]

Back seat removed today. Thanks Brooklyn. I kept finding small pieces of glass in the car and finally found the motherload. Aparently the car had a broken window at some point. Under the rear seat was covered in glass, beef jerky wrappers, and a couple tools. Here are the pics of the seats as they are now. They are not in terrible condition but being a bit of a perfectionist the rips were driving me nuts. I recently had the dash cracks fixed and repainted. Door panel cracks were repaired. Also am going to have the headliner redone. Triple gauge a pillar with autometer gauges waiting for install as well. Now waiting on the new skins to get here and get some more time off work to install.

 

[BrooKLyn]

Looking Very nice so far... Let me no if u need anymore advice.. Also look up the head rest tool so u can pull them instead of fight them..

 

[iowaSSfan]

Seat covers arrived yesterday. I started on the bottom rear seat and got it most the way on. The corners could use a little filler so they look tight. Going to the fabric store today to see what I can come up with unless someone here has any good ideas.

Fronts have also been removed. Center console and trim hopefully sometime next week. Is there any use for the old carpet? It is not in terrible condition, just the typical gm grey yellowing. Would make a good carpet for dying or recoloring.

 

[96 Black]

I covered the floor with FatMat. Remember the 2 'hidden' bolts in the front of the console. I stole a few profiles of the old matting to build up over edges - and for sound/heat around the hump. If a do-over I would slice up the old carpet and stuff under the rear seats/backs - just for more muffling.

 

[BrooKLyn]

Hows it coming along? Did u find the foam ?

 

[iowaSSfan]

Coming along nicely so far. I finished up the bottom of the back seat last night. I ended up using some batting to fill in the two corners a bit. Got the old seat cover and arm rest off the rear top. The new skin is test fitted. Looks like I will need a little more batting for the head rests and the logo area between them. Next will be the arm rest and then onto the fronts.

The hog ring tool I got is a pain to use and I have found a regular pliers to work much better.

 

[iowaSSfan]

Here is a pic of the new backseat bottom.

 

[iowaSSfan]

After installing these seat skins I see why they get the big bucks to install them. After two and a half hours last night I managed to get the upper rear on. I was told that some of the wrinkles from shipping will come out after awhile of being installed. I have also heard of others using a heat gun to get them out. Anyone have any expierience with the heat gun way? Let me know what you think of them. Should be getting to the fronts tomorrow seeing how I got the day off.

 

[st95ss]

Looking good bro, let's see the finished product, hurry up

 

[iowaSSfan]

So glad I did the rears first because the fronts were a breeze. Only have a few hours into them between the both. Everything seems to fit very well. Not a big difference from factory but no tears now, and I really like the black logos. Here are the seats. Have to work on my DD today so probably will not start carpet till next week. Hard motivating myself to go out and do it in the 25 degree weather.

 

[BrooKLyn]

Nice Very good Work. Hopefully Someone Learned a thing or to..

 

[st95ss]

So glad I did the rears first because the fronts were a breeze. Only have a few hours into them between the both. Everything seems to fit very well. Not a big difference from factory but no tears now, and I really like the black logos. Here are the seats. Have to work on my DD today so probably will not start carpet till next week. Hard motivating myself to go out and do it in the 25 degree weather.

Looks good, know you can't wait to finish your ride, Peace

 

[iowaSSfan]

Above freezing temperatures and the day off motivated me to do some more work on the SS. Got the center console out and old carpet removed. New Carpet is started. A few pieces of floor trim had cracks underneath, so they are in the basement being JB welded back together.
1st pic shows the color difference in the old carpet from what was showing to the color under trim.
2nd pic is of old carpet removed. NO RUST under the padding. Very happy to see that. I left all the old padding in there under the new carpet. Not sure if this is correct way to do it or not, but I figured it couldn't hurt.
3rd pic shows the start of new carpet installed

Decided to wait untill the plastic pieces are fully dried before going any further on carpet. Since my buddy was over helping we decided to remove the headliner so the fabric on it can be replaced as well. I could not get the dome light out but managed to snake it through the headliner. Any hints/tricks to it? Also trying to decide whether I want to attempt to recover headliner myself or take it somewhere.

 

[96 Black]

quote: I left all the old padding in there under the new carpet. Not sure if this is correct way to do it or not, but I figured it couldn't hurt.

That's an interseting twist on what I did just at spots. I'm kinda thinking the premise for the rubber backing is to seal against moisture. But, if you've got no leaks of any kind then that shouldn't ever be an issue.

FTR, headliners are nothing special. Be sure to use the correct adhesive - and temperature.

 

[iowaSSfan]

FTR, headliners are nothing special. Be sure to use the correct adhesive - and temperature

What would you recommend for adhesive? I read the DIY Headliner thread and there seemed to be conflicting opinions on the adhesive. Also where is a good place to get the fabric. I want as close to factory as possible.

 

[iowaSSfan]

Glue is all dried so I got the rest of the floor trim put in and holding down the carpet. Most of the holes for bolts/etc are cut in the carpet. This stuff is thick and hard to cut but thats a good thing I guess. I am pretty impressed with this ACC Carpet. There was no trimming needed front to back or side to side. Fit is pretty good but it will still need a little time to all lay down. I previously helped install ebay carpet in a Mustang and every side had to be trimmed.
Also got the fabric pulled off of the headliner. I think I was really lucky because the fabric and foam all peeled off with no residue left on the board. Planning on doing the headliner myself as well. Still doing more research on the subject before jumping in. Considering adding an emblem to the headliner to set it off a little.

 

[BrooKLyn]

Glue is all dried so I got the rest of the floor trim put in and holding down the carpet. Most of the holes for bolts/etc are cut in the carpet. This stuff is thick and hard to cut but thats a good thing I guess. I am pretty impressed with this ACC Carpet. There was no trimming needed front to back or side to side. Fit is pretty good but it will still need a little time to all lay down. I previously helped install ebay carpet in a Mustang and every side had to be trimmed.
Also got the fabric pulled off of the headliner. I think I was really lucky because the fabric and foam all peeled off with no residue left on the board. Planning on doing the headliner myself as well. Still doing more research on the subject before jumping in. Considering adding an emblem to the headliner to set it off a little.

Did u order the mass backing ?

 

[iowaSSfan]

Brooklyn-Not 100% sure it was but I would assume it was mass backing because the pad was thicker then the factory. I bought the carpet second hand brand new in the sealed box from a swap meet. Guy ordered it for his car but got rid of the car before installing. Hope those skins work out for you. That wagon is going to be killer.