Replacing Volkswagen Carpet

VW carpets come in all different price ranges; they can range from $100 for the premium loop, to over $1000 for real German wool square weave. Some of our competitor’s less expensive carpet kits don’t come precut for heater, shifter, and seatbelt holes, and are usually not as durable. If you plan on keeping the car or want to do a professional restoration, get the better carpet sets. Your feet will love you.

You will need the following tools and supplies:

Carpet Kit
2 Cans of a Quality Spray Adhesive
Utility knife and SHARP blades
Wide, sharp Scraper
Putty knife
New tar board insulation. If your floorboard insulation has seen better days or you have new floor pans, you’ll need some new tar board insulation. Look for a future article on custom sound deadening.

Remove the seats, seat belts, and rear kick panels. After 40 years or so, the carpet that is in there will be pretty stuck in place, so it will take some pulling to get it loose. You can peel up a section and then get under the carpet with the sharp scraper to get it loose. Start with the main floor pieces and then the kick panels, side carpet trim, and then end with the rear luggage compartment (if you are replacing this part of it).

Now its time to play archeologist. Remember that extra key that you lost way back in the 80’s? You’ll find it down there somewhere. Years of history can be trapped in an old VW’s floorboards, Be careful though, you never know what you might find.

Vacuum out everything and wipe the whole interior down with a damp cloth and upholstery cleaner. 3-M Adhesive remover works great for removing any old adhesive that will show later. Just soak a rag and hold it tightly against the area to soften it up. The old residue will wipe away after that.

If your plans are to replace rear luggage compartment carpet, start with it first. You will find this job easy, and anyway, it will give you practice for what’s to come. Test-fit the center section first, and then lay out the other two pieces to get a plan of attack. Once you have it figured out, start with the top of the piece, tack-gluing it in place all the way down to the back seat area. Don’t try to reposition the carpet once it’s glued down. You can pull out the threads. Finish the rear compartment with the side pieces that fit over the wheel well humps.

Now, fit the inner rocker pieces. Gently pry up on the metal retaining strip on the body, insert the carpet, and bang it back down with a clean rubber mallet wrapped with a clean rag or towel. Peel the carpet back up and glue the side pieces on. Next, fit and glue the kick panel pieces in. The kick panel carpet goes over the side pieces at the bottom.

Get the main piece that covers the front firewall and tunnel. Our carpet kits come with preformed grommets for the shifter and e-brake, so start here first, and glue away. Watch for wrinkles in this area, as they are very noticeable here.

Now check for the fit on the floorboard pieces, and then glue those parts down if you wish. I leave mine loose so I can remove them for cleaning. Finally, install the pieces for the rear floorboards.

If you got any glue over-spray on the carpet, use some adhesive remover on that rag that you used earlier and rub it off. Vacuum the carpet when you are finished then put the seats and rear kick panels back in.

We offer matching trunk carpets, this really makes the VW stand out and have a more custom look, or finish it off with an original hardboard trunk liner for the stock look

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