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Rear Seat delete guide - updated

Rear Seat delete guide - updated

My rear seats were in pretty rough shape (and I've replaced the front seats so I no longer had a matching set .. though that wasn't a big deal to me). I also found dimensions for the panels from TonyHavana (in Toronto)

Here's the starting point (the gray colour is QuietCar soundproofing paint):

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The bottom panel using 1/4 plywood. I've thought about going back and replacing it with 1/2 for additional cargo capacity as the 1/4 inch feels a bit flimsy.

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The top panel

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The bottom panel fitted. I fastened a piece of 1x2 parallel to the forward edge of the bottom panel so the panel wouldn't slid forward (sorry, don't have a pic of that).

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Remember to leave a bit of a gap for the wiring harness

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I used 2 short pieces of 1x2 as attachment points for the upper panel. You'll need to bend open the seat bracket to accommodate.

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A closer look at the attachment:

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The upper panel installed using 4 1" wood screws.

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The lower panel installed (I had some leftover FatMat that I used here)

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Upper panel carpet installed. I ordered the carpet from Esty and used 3M spray adhesive to glue it on. Esty included a strip of fabric that I used to cover the gap btwn the parcel shelf and upper panel.

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Lower panel carpet installed.

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Not a very complicated project and this took all of an afternoon to knock out with minimal cost.

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mlytle's addition - another way to do it with less wood. all wiring should be run in stock channels inside quarter panels.

......using esty kit.

Clear the space, including removing roll bar braces.

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Cut off the old upper rear seat hangers

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Use lower carpet piece to trace wooden bottom (7/16th ply)

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Use upper carpet piece to trace piece of ensolite sound insulation

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Cut piece

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Peel and stick

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3m super 90 spray glue on ensolite and back of carpet…stick!

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ensolite on wheel humps. not doing carpet on top. PITA to form on curve.

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cut bottom

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made wood blocks to "catch" the lip on seat bottom front.

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test fit

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and carpet held to bottom with velcro

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Was it helpful?

dtharp113
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Looks real nice - I built a speaker panel out of aluminum diamond plate and hooked up some pioneer amps from the trunk. I always liked the  AMX - no back seat look.

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Rear seat delete carpeting install

 
NYNick

Entry posted by NYNick · 18 hours ago

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I've gotten quite a few compliments, including esty herself, on my rear seat delete carpet installation. I basically followed her instructions on her website and the FAQ article by Mlittle, but I thought I'd document my experience here. It came out great.

 

First, I installed the carpet kit for the 'front' of the car. You've got to have the rear seat bottom upright done anyway to begin the rear seat area. Next, I lined the back part of the seat back with EZ Cool. While I was at it, I used a high speed recirculating saw to lop off those hooks that the rear seat back hangs onto. I also had run all the wires and installed the battery in the under portion of the back seat and used the seat belt bolt for my ground wire. Even ran the speaker wires so I wouldn't have to bother later. Might as well get all that stuff done beforehand.

 

My first move was to glue down the parcel shelf. This is a nice and level area and gives you a good reference line for the back carpet. I then used the carpet seat bottom piece and traced it onto a piece of luan plywood, about 1/8" thick. Cut this out with a jigsaw and test fitted in the car. Nice!

 

Basically, there's just a ton of test fitting throughout this whole job before gluing. The wheel humps took the longest because they're the first piece of the puzzle to glue. I'd put all the pieces in place, adjust, take them out, put them back, look, adjust etc. What I found was that the back carpet piece was too long and extended past the little protruding shelf that the bottom board is supported by. Because the wheel hump pieces also were too long, these pieces overlapped each other making a double layer of carpeting for the bottom board to push up against. This wouldn't do as it would leave too much of a gap in the back bottom.

 

Getting the wheel hump pieces just right took some trimming at the bottom. Too much and the bottom piece and board wouldn't cover the cut. Too little and it would create a double layer of carpeting. It was trial and error but once done I held them in place with some makeshift clamps and refit the whole thing one last time. Bingo! (BTW, I used a heat gun carefully on the back of the carpet to pre-fit/bend the wheel humps)

 

Holding the wheel hump pieces in place I outlined their position with magic marker so I knew where to spray the glue and where to put them back on. Finally I could get going on the rest of the pieces.

 

The rear piece has the parcel shelf as a reference as mentioned, but I also made sure the rear door cards were in place so that it got 'centered' as well. Once in place I bent the top portion down and sprayed, making sure it aligned well with the parcel shelf. Once stuck, I bent it up from the bottom and sprayed glue down there as well. Don't worry about the carpet being too long. Your bottom board is going to butt up against it and push it in.

 

Putting the board in place I pushed on it as hard as I could and drew pencil marks underneath where it overlapped the the rear seat upright. Since the upright is about 1" wide, I simply marked a line 1" further in and screwed 1x2's along that line. A test fit proved to take a hard push and a rubber mallet to get it in place, but it turned out fitting nice and snug.

 

esty gives you some excess vinyl for the front part of the board to trim it out. Some glue and some clothes pins and it was good to go!

 

A minor detail was the curve where it meets the rear door cards. My carpet and board left a small opening where I could see down into the bottom of the seat area. With some spare Gobi tan vinyl I glued some onto the metal down there and voila! Blended right in.

 

All in all it took me about 5 hours. Sounds like a long time and it was, but the reward is well worth it!

 

Thanks to esty for a quality product!

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