Kirkham 427 ManualTable of Contents

Carpet


Full Carpet Set


There are 14 precut sections, ready for final trimming and installation. The critical edges are marked in red: these edges are the most notable and most important to get right. When installing each piece, start with these edges first, and work from there. There are no critical edges on the tunnel pieces or floormats.

Carpet Adhesive

Nylon Carpet: Use a quality headliner/carpet spray adhesive available at any auto parts store. Spray the glue onto the carpet, and to the panel you're applying it to. Once the glue is tacky, install the carpet. It will take about 5 minutes for the glue to become tacky, however, if you wait too long (10 minutes or more), the glue will not stick anymore, and you'll have to spray on another coat. Do not use rubber cement on nylon carpet, as it is prone to seep through the carpet.

Wool Carpet: we use Weldwood contact cement (gel formula), applied in thick coats to the carpet and the panels. Wait for the glue to be tacky. Expect to wait about 30 minutes to an hour for this to happen. If you wait longer than an hour (even overnight) the glue will still stick fine. Also, keep in mind that you'll have sand down the back of the wool carpet to help it stick. The backing is very uneven, and will not stick well as is. Use a d.a. sander with 36 grit to sand the backing smooth. Hand sanding the carpet is an option, but will take a very long time.


Left Footbox: install the middle piece first, followed by the side pieces. Line up the red-marked critical edges first. The only trimming required will be on the inboard, tunnel-side piece. trim any extra carpet that extends over the edge of the footbox. There is no top piece.



Right Footbox: same as the left.


Tunnel Panels: the smaller of the two tunnel pieces has come to be known around here as the “trapezoidial step panel” or the “halon panel.” Either one of these terms will work if you have a question about it. Install the carpet onto the halon panel so that there is the same amount of overlap on each edge. Wrap and glue these edges to the back side of the panel.

The larger of the tunnel pieces is known simply as “the tunnel piece”. Place it on the tunnel with an even overlap on all edges. Wrap and glue the carpet around the top and side edges. We typically do not wrap the carpet around the bottom (floor) edge, since it makes it difficult to screw the tunnel down later. This edge is mostly unnoticable once the seats and floormats are installed. Be forwarned: this piece is very challenging to install in wool. Wrap it very tightly around the top edge to avoid bubbling around that edge. Also, the bend in the passenger-side of the tunnel makes it very hard for the wool carpet to stick properly. Riveting the carpet down to help it stay stuck to this side is an option. The rivet heads will be almost invisible in the carpet.



Floorpan Sections, left and right, shown. Line up the critical red-highlited edges first, followed by the rest of the piece. These pieces should cover the floorpans and the small panels below the door hinge. We call these small panels “panelitos”, Spanish for 'small panels.' If you call us and say “panelito”, we'll know exactly what you're talking about. Trim any excess carpet extending over the edge of the door opening.

Floormats are not glued in. It is popular to bind the mats around the edges. Any upholstery shop can do this for you, or if you have a sewing machine...feel free to try it yourself.

Floormat Snaps (optional) should be in box #1. Hook all the snaps to the mats before drilling any holes in the floor. The snap locations are marked with the yellow dots in the picture.


Floormat snap installation:

  1. Mark the back side of the mats
  2. Check the floor to see that nothing will interfere in those spots
  3. Adjust the hole locations, if necessary
  4. Punch the holes in the carpet
  5. Poke the top part of the snap through each hole
  6. Bend the 4 tabs around the backing plates of each snap
  7. Carefully position the mat
  8. Mark where the floor-holes should be through the holes in the mat
  9. Drill
  10. Install the snap studs in the floor

Inner door carpeting (optional): the critical edges must be fitted before lining up the rest. Usually the door carpet fits without any further trimming.



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Req. from 38.103.63.59 on Thursday, 20-Nov-2008 09:10:01 GMT
Change date: Monday, 02-Jul-2007 20:57:41 MDT
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