Fiero Carpet

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Installing new carpet:
   MrMike recommends putting it down on top of the original carpet. Do not remove the original carpet. Not only does the original carpet work as a great sound pad, it properly shapes the floor of the car. In the Fiero the floor of the car is not smooth, and the sides of the console are made wider with plastic add on panels under the carpet. The original carpet has varying thicknesses of foam under it that fill in gaps, act as a sound deadener, and smooth out the floor. It is much easier to install the new over the old, and looks better when you are done.
*When ordering carpet from Automotive Interiors .com = If you type into the comments box (or mention on a phone call) "Please do not attach the jute padding to my carpet kit" you will get your normally included jute padding, but they will not glue it to the back of your new carpet. When putting new carpet over old it is best not to use the jute padding.
   MrMike recommends gluing the new carpet to the old in the pedals area for safety, use a spray contact cement type glue. It is not necessary to glue around the edges as the plastic trim holds it in place, or under the seat as once the seat is bolted back on top the new carpet will not move.

Carpet Install Tip:
    The radio housing is difficult to remove, being less than a foot wide where it goes over the carpet it’s much easier to just putty knife the carpet under it than to remove the radio housing.

The Firewall:
   The ‘firewall’ panel behind the seats of the Fiero is not carpet but a non-woven fuzzy product called Ozite. The bulk carpet sold by ACC is too stiff to properly recover this firewall panel. MrMike recommends covering this panel with vinyl (turning it into what looks like the door panels). With the panel out of the car, lay it face down onto the vinyl, and glue & staple the vinyl around to the back side. Do not remove the old fuzzy material, it makes a good padding. Do not glue the vinyl to the fuzzy side face of the panel, this will make it look lumpy. It is OK to glue a little into the groove that the center console recesses into.

To remove the firewall panel:
   Remove the seats, the rear console section, the seat belt shoulder anchors, and the plastic ‘B’ pillars. The firewall panel is attached with panel clips just like the door panels. The panel is often stuck to the base of the rear window by the black window glue, just pull harder.

Padding the floor:
   As a rule it’s best to leave the original carpet in the car. If the original smells - take it out of the car and wash it front & back with bleach water to kill the mold, spray with Lysol, and let dry well. If the original is gone you can (A) pad the floor with ‘Jute’ (looks like ground-up rags mixed with glue to form a sheet 1/2 to 1 inch thick) or (B) pad the floor with ‘Closed Cell Foam’ (also known a Landau Pad). Closed Cell foam will not absorb water (the little air bubbles are ‘closed’) unlike a sponge. MrMike does not recommend sponge type foam for under carpet padding. Jute and Closed Cell Foam are available locally from an auto upholstery supplier, look in your yellow pages. When gluing Closed Cell Foam you must scratch the surface with very rough sandpaper (a sander disk works well) or the glue will not stick.

Thanks,
MrMike
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