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General Interior Questions

Silver81Vette

Member
Joined
Jun 12, 2007
Messages
23
Location
Wheeling, West Virginia
Corvette
1981 Silver T-Top (St. Louis Car)
I am obviously planning on gutting my 81 this winter and restoring the interior. I only have a couple of questions and maybe you guys can help me out...

1. I noticed that when I put my passenger side window down (power motor) my door lock moves.

2. I'm planning a total overhaul of the interior, and wondering if the carpet, etc.. is a pain to pull out. Do i have to buy a new interior screw/bolt set, what to check for when I yank the carpet out (wires, etc...), where's a good place to start, and anything else that would be helpful.

3. For the time being, I have resorted to the "Corvette" 78-82 seat covers from Ecklers to cover my leather seats. Anyone know how to properly install these things (I know I sound like a dummy) but they wont stay on, or blow off the seat when im "cruising" down the interstate.

4. Anything else from anyone would be great. I very much appreciate your help.
 
the carpet is not to hard to do. you need to remove a few things, seats, sill plates, rear compartment etc. the carpet is moulded so it goes in easy. the hardest part of the carpet install, IMO, was to trim and glue small pieces, speaker grilles, side panels, kickpanels, rear compartment and rear seats. this would be a good time to redo your floors, i did mine with POR15. id recommend an assembly manual, its very useful when put the car back together.
ecklers sells a hardware kit, instructioal video and even the tools to put the covers on your seats. ive heard its not to hard but very involved. if your handy with cars the carpet install shouldnt be a problem the seats im not to sure of.
 
Not sure about a lot of the stuff you asked but if you are talking about the seat covers that have elestic in the bottom and strech over the seat bottom I know what you mean about coming off. What I did was put small plastic clamps, that are used to hook bungie cords to, on the front and back then tied them together under the seat with a piece of string it worked great and when you wanted to take them off just cut the string.
 
If your talking about the pullover seatcovers. i know what you mean, try washing them if you havent kinda helps a little.:w
 
I am obviously planning on gutting my 81 this winter and restoring the interior. I only have a couple of questions and maybe you guys can help me out...

1. I noticed that when I put my passenger side window down (power motor) my door lock moves.

2. I'm planning a total overhaul of the interior, and wondering if the carpet, etc.. is a pain to pull out. Do i have to buy a new interior screw/bolt set, what to check for when I yank the carpet out (wires, etc...), where's a good place to start, and anything else that would be helpful.

3. For the time being, I have resorted to the "Corvette" 78-82 seat covers from Ecklers to cover my leather seats. Anyone know how to properly install these things (I know I sound like a dummy) but they wont stay on, or blow off the seat when im "cruising" down the interstate.

4. Anything else from anyone would be great. I very much appreciate your help.


1. - Could be a sign of a bent window regulator (that's the scissor arms and gear (usually attached - that engages your window motor). If it's bent it will "bow" and mover the inner door panel. I had to replace mine.

2. Eckler's or Corvette America, Corvette Central or Mid America all sell the new interior screw kit - buy one, no buy two (store one away). You most likely have screw missing or odd-ball ones used now so replace em all with the correct screws.

3. Careful on your carpet choice. It's been said that Al Knoch is the best for this, then again I've heard some say otherwise. What most people have trouble with is installing the new carpet over the rear wheel wells. If you do this in the winter is will be cold - how warm is your work space? Here is a hint - HEAT the carpet up with a Hand held Hair dryer or Hot Air Gun. Helps the Carpet conform to the wheel wells.

4. Now is the time to put a Heat Barrier down as well - You can buy and cut your own; get it from Home Depot or order it from any of the Corvette parts houses.

5. If you are going this far - replace all the bulbs in your dash - with the seats out, it is fairly easy to reach up under the dash to get to the Speedo and Tac, for the gauge console you REMOVE the Center gear shift console FIRST! Got the AIM? (Shop Manual), if not buy one!

6. This is a perfect time to upgrade your stereo system if you want - a new gauge console can be order that is custom made for 1 DIN height new radios. Installing the rear speakers isn't hard with all the carpet out and you will find the rear speaker harness tucked back in each corner ready to use. If you do this order all your attachment harness from Crutchfields - they make adaptor harnesses that plug right into the GM factory car harness - you don't have to cut any of your original. Plus you can order your radio and new speaker from them as well.
 
The assembly instruction manual (AIM) will be a big help. It has diagrams of the carpet installation and the factory soundproofing/heat barrier, door panels, window regulators, locks, seats, etc.

Order the '81 AIM.

:)
 
Another tip on the carpet is to lay it out in the sun for a few hours this will get all the folds out from being in a box and will soften it up as well and make it easier to work with. the screw kit and bulbs are a good idea as well.
 
Interior Redo Lessions Learned

I am obviously planning on gutting my 81 this winter and restoring the interior. I only have a couple of questions and maybe you guys can help me out...

1. I noticed that when I put my passenger side window down (power motor) my door lock moves.

2. I'm planning a total overhaul of the interior, and wondering if the carpet, etc.. is a pain to pull out. Do i have to buy a new interior screw/bolt set, what to check for when I yank the carpet out (wires, etc...), where's a good place to start, and anything else that would be helpful.

3. For the time being, I have resorted to the "Corvette" 78-82 seat covers from Ecklers to cover my leather seats. Anyone know how to properly install these things (I know I sound like a dummy) but they wont stay on, or blow off the seat when im "cruising" down the interstate.

4. Anything else from anyone would be great. I very much appreciate your help.

I did my 81 last November, the following are some hints and additional work that I found during the job:
1. Take a lot of digital pictures before and during the removal process; it so easy to forget exactly how the seat belt were positoned or how the rear speakers were mounted or how the brackets were positioned, as well as the many other parts you will remove.
2. You may find that the rear deck / access door frame is broken and needs to be replaced, noted where mounting screws go, I found extra holes on the sheet metal mounting flange. My access doors had decals for the jack and related items in the storage compartments & you may want to save them to put on the new doors, decal placement is easy.
3. Check for damaged or crushed wiring or cables; I had to replace my radio antenna cable that was flatened under a bracket at the rear of the center console area.
4. I had to make a new rear speaker mounting bracket, since the original one (made partically with plastic parts) had fallen apart and was gone; had to mirror replacement from the opposite side bracket.
5. Warming the new carpet to get it to lay flat is one of the best things you can do up front.
6. Make sure that you vacuum out all the dust / dirt just prior to applying adhesive to hold the new carpet inplace. I had good results using a clear 3M spray trim adhesive applied to both surfaces is workable from 30 seconds to 20 minutes.
7. Take digital pictures of the mounting screws; like the center tunnel / console carpeted cover sections (drive & pasenger). Use an all tool to punch holes through the new carpet & insert the new screw & bevel washer just prior to mounting each panel.
8. Gluing all the new carpet to the loose pieces (speakers, tunnel panel, etc) one day and letting them sit over night will insure good ahesive cure and will flag any small area that you may need to apply additional ahesive to insure all the carpet is attached, also allows you to do any final trim of the carpet around opening and edges. You may even need to clamp some areas that go around bends or radius.
9. I found that working from the rear deck area first and moving forward, reduces the amount of time you spend working on top of newly laid carpet, until it is fully cured. I did the rear deck one day and then did the carpet in the seat area. Do the final triming of the floor carpet that extends up the side of the center console after you insure correct overlap of the tunnel panel strip sections and the floor carpet.
10. You may also find out additional things to repair or replace as you go along, spending extra time and not trying to finish quickly is a good idea when you work with carpet. Doing dry runs without adhesive first to aid in getting a good trim and fit, will save time and getting it right the first time. Spray adhesive allows you to do a small section at a time, i.e. set the large piece in place. Lift one side or edge, spray under side of carpet and corresponding surface, hold two sprayed areas apart for a minimum of 30 seconds, position it in place, check overall placement, if good, go get a soda, come back after adhesive has had a chance to set-up. Do remaing carpet section moving away from first, smooth carpet as you go. Since you have an extend work time with the spray glue, you can reposition it within the 30 minute window if needed, warmer the day the short the reposition time.
 

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