"Only stumper I had was that the carpet goes around the dash mounts under the console.
Since you will be pulling the dash for the heater core, this should be no problem.
I just made a cut and slide the carpet around the mount. I was going to put some tape under it but it layed flat and was no problem." (via)
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"Not getting it TOO wet, just scrubbed my carpet with bucket after bucket of dish soap and water. (lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of rags) Also used an industrial strength degreaser, keeping it off the metal floor underneath. Wear gloves by the way. You don't want any of these chemicals, grease on your hands." (via)
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"Pull the seats and carpet after work the day before and soak with Simple green and water (I use it because it works and I don't get 3 days of industrial cleaner smell when done).
Fix a bite to eat, load the seats and carpet into the Ranger and hit the car wash.
Hang the drivers side down off the tailgate and blast till happy...then the passenger side.
Turn it upside down and hang on the truck bed side.
Lay the seats back and stand them on the sliders with the headrest up...again, blast till happy. back seats, just blast till happy.
Take home and lay in a breeze or wherever some nimrod won't mess with them and let them drain. The foam and fabric really don't hold water well so drain is more appropriate than dry. " (via)
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"I like Simple Green to clean the interior. I don't leave it on the dash or vinyl, I get dry and follow with protectant. It works well on the fabric. If it is a greasy spot on carpet or fabric, I have used brake clean, it dries fast and removes darn near anything, even pen. Never got it on vinyl, I would get it would discolor it at least." (via)
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"I used Meguiar's Carpet and Upholstery Cleaner #D10219 on the carpet and fabric. You just spray the foam on and wipe at it with a towel. One warning....use a white towel. That stuff worked wonders. I cleaned alot of the carpet in the car this way until I decided to strip the interior out and then I power washed the carpet with good results. You should have seen the brown water coming off it. My interior was not torn nor was there spills and stains, I just dont think the past owner ever cleaned it. So all the plastics had a sticky residue. All plastic parts I just used Simple Green and a scrub brush and rinsed with water. Carpet doesnt look new but much better than it did." (via)
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"To get carpet out, you will have to remove the front seats, the rear seat bottom(two push clips one on either side), the center console(6 phillips screws), front seat belt pretensioners, and the kick and sill panels(clipped in place). If you wanted black carpet, other have put the carpet from a MX3 in their scorts, dying is always an option. I have one, just waiting for right time to install." (via)
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"I like to use brake cleaner and Simple Green degreaser to get stuff out of the carpet. Unsure of color-fastness on the blue carpet, but had no issues with the gray carpet, so test cleaners in a inconspicuous spot. If removed, it will be easier to clean, could even pressure wash it. The padding may get compromised, could always remove it fully and install fresh pieces. It would be a good time to spray down some "lizard skin" or other sound deadening substance or material. It's dirty, but looks pretty clean overall." (via & via)
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HOW-TO: http://www.feoa.net/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=16493&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc
Needs:
Metric socket set, screwdrivers
SIMPLE GREEN cleaner (I used about a half gallon of it, buy it buy the gallon & buy a spray bottle) $10
Aerosol vinyl & carpet paint/dye (I used 1.5 cans of Duplicolor) $5/can
(color of your choice, I got some tan that matched my factory carpet fairly well)
1. Remove seats, front & rear
2. Remove console & door jamb trim
3. Unscrew seat belts from front (torx bits needed here)
4. Cut center portion by console (stock carpet runs under dash & would require removal of center dash section...not worth it, just cut the edges loose)
5. Remove carpet all in one piece (fold it up before removing and all the loose crap will come with it), dump crap out & shake out any loose bits.
I chose to remove the foam padding & cut new ones from extra padding I had. You can clean them in place, or peel it off & clean it separately.
6. Soak carpet with a hose for a while
7. Drain off excess water, SOAK everything in SIMPLE GREEN (this is the key)
8. Get a stiff nylon scrub brush and scrub until you start to see the original color...then scrub some more.
9. Rinse off with the hose for a while. Be sure to get all the cleaner out so it's not sticky.
10. Find somewhere to hang the carpet & leave it out in the sun. I setup a folding ladder in the driveway & just draped the whole thing over it. Took a few hours to dry reasonably.
11. Be sure it's dry; mine was still a little wet in spots & it worked fine anyways. It was 90+ degrees out tho, so it was drying really quick.
12. Shake up your paint & get to work. I sprayed the entire thing in two full coats. Any bad spots I soaked with it. It helps if you take your nylon scrub brush between coats & fluff up the pile a bit.
Now reverse the assembly steps in the car to get the carpet back in.
I've had it on there a full week (I've driven almost 1k miles this week mind you), and it's shown zero signs of wear, seems to be very durable, and completely soaked into the fiber. I even painted the heel pad, and it has no wear at all, seems to have completely soaked in/dyed it.
I got the idea originally from a guy who worked at a detail shop & told me it was his 'little secret'
It's definitely a bit stiffer at first. If you take a wire brush & go over it a few times, it loosens up. I soaked it quite a bit, though. I'm sure if you were just spot fixing it it wouldn't be as much.
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"I found a can of multi-purpose foam cleaner called Tuff Stuff. It works really good. My floors look like new and so do my seats. All you need is a scrub brush and Tuff Stuff and you can get your floors and seats to look like new again." (via)
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"soaking it in the bathtub in simple green. (It was nasty to begin with) Carpet is looking good but underneath the carpet on the floor was some painted "tar paper" looking stuff...the "tar paper" stuff and also the rubber thing on the firewall are merely sound deadening material to reduce road noise. you can just rip them out and not replace them, or replace them with some sort of aftermarket sound deadening like dynamat or similar. personally i'd just rip it out... its not like escorts are real quiet luxury cars anyway lol" (via)
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"I love Dynamat for what it does but hate the price. I would feel I got a better deal with one night in jail as a boy toy rather then buying a 100 ft roll of this black gold at the local sound shop. I seriously looked into who made dynamat and who thought of it. (where did it come from before it was sound proofing for cars).
End result, is the composite of Stormseal for roofing is pretty much the same stuff. Difference is the Stormseal is not as thick (in some spots you should double the sheets) and it's not as pretty. But how many people will see the dynamat? The Stormseal was about $35 for 100 ft. At that price slap on as much as you like. I used one full role. (NO problem with it going on as long as you do this on a warm summer day and it will stays on, Its been 6 months and its cold here, no problems at all). If use this stuff do not put it on an area unless it is clean. Make sure to push it on good, the same rules apply as if you are using Dynamat. (Hot day, may need to lay the glue side up in the sun for alittle bit, etc.)" (via)
