Door Panels and Carpets
Restoring worn out automotive door panels and carpets is quite easy especially if you have already determined the items that must be removed to do the job. In fact, it can be done by a single person in hours. But before starting with this project, it is essential to check if you have the correct parts and the tools that you will need. This way you can ensure a correct color for the carpet that you will use for replacement and is specifically made for your vehicle. After removing the carpet from the box, you should lay it flat under the sun for at least two to three hours to let the folds smooth out and easy to work with.
While your carpet is under the sun, you can already get started by removing the negative battery cables in your car to shut off the interior lights so you will not drain your car battery. On the other hand, you should of course make some tools ready in restoring your door panels and carpets such as, torx drivers, basic hand tools, awl or ice pick, and sharp utility knife. Working unprepared in any projects can cause delay in its process since there is nothing more frustrating that not being able to locate the necessary things or tolls that you need. Hence, you should start this project by removing the front seats four inches to the floor. The nuts are usually available through holes in the floor from underneath the vehicle and there may be a pop off cover over the bolts. However, the seats are attached to tracks that are bolted to the floors in some newer cars.
In most cars, you should move to the rear seat first in order to remove the bottom. Then, grab it in one angle and give a good pull upwards. But remember that there may be some kind of a latch or clip in the center of each passenger cushion so it may not pop up easily, you should have a light in order for you to check for it. Installing door panels and carpets in your car is easy you just have to persevere enough to come up with a good output.
When you are finish working with the seats, removing seatbelts is the next thing that you should do. Once the seats have been removed, the bolts attaching the seat belts are exposed so it would be easy for you to remove it. In most cars, one side of the belt is attached to the floor and the other to the frame rail, both of these should be removed. Next that you should deal with is removing the interior kick panels, trim, and sill plates. Then remove the console and floor shifter, doing this can not be easy as you think since the fasteners are often hidden under trim caps and go through the carpet into the floor pan.
After which, you have to remove the old rug by grabbing one angle and roll or pull it to the center and out of the car to put the new one. The new carpet can be a little larger for trimming; in fact most people want to temporarily install the screws and hardware in the floor to make new holes when the carpet has been installed. In cutting holes you should first check for fitting and alignment it could be done by folding one side over and making the hole by using ice pick or awl. Finally you should trim the edges and reinstall panels, and that’s it you are finish installing door panels and carpets to your car.
