Question for Etsy Carpet Installers

[its55]

For those who have installed the Etsy or other carpet, what method(s) did you employ to locate / cut the holes for the seatbelt bolt and seat slider rails knob locations?  Looking for suggestions before I screw it up! 😂

Edited February 17 by its55
Corrected typo in title

[conkitchen]

call me crazy and a hack or a flipper-you know who you are. but I use an old soldiering iron to "melt" the holes after locating them with a pick tool.  Also, I use a flap disc sander to "soften" the back side of Esty's carpet. She uses a real hard and thick type of backed material.  You will only need to do this to the rocker panel pieces to achieve the proper "waterfall" or "bullnose" drape. Be careful though not to go through to the weave, just remove the harder stiffening stuff. 

 

See tag line below. 

Edited February 16 by conkitchen

[VWScott]

19 minutes ago, conkitchen said:

call me crazy and a hack or a flipper-you know who you are. but I use an old soldiering iron to "melt" the holes after locating them with a pick tool.  Also, I use a flap disc sander to "soften" the back side of Esty's carpet. She uses a real hard and thick type of backed material.  You will only need to do this to the rocker panel pieces to achieve the proper "waterfall" or "bullnose" drape. Be careful though not to go through to the weave, just remove the harder stiffening stuff. 

 

See tag line below. 

thks for the tip.I received the carpet and was a little disappointed it was so stiff. Install is next on my list.

 

[VWScott]

25 minutes ago, its55 said:

For those who have installed the Etsy or other carpet, what method(s) did you employ to locate / cut the holes for the seatbelt bolt and seat slider rails knob locations?  Looking for suggestions before I screw it up! 😂

I watched a guy on youtube do this procedure-using a propane torch he heats up a socket on an extension and then burns the hole into the carpet. No frayed edges and perfectly round. This is what I intend to do when I install my carpet kit.

[esty]

warm the carpet sections in a really warm room, they will get very pliable, almost floppy

 

the center and small, inner rocker at seat rails sections are the only sections that take much, if any effort to install...

[HobieDog]

Love my @estycarpet!  I installed it in cooler temps and was fighting it a bit until I took it indoors to warm it up.  On one section I also warmed the back with a heat gun

 

to answer the original question, I located the holes with a pick and then heated up the end of an appropriately sized flathead screwdriver with a torch and melted out the carpet with that. 
 

 

[Dudeland]

I tried to remove the carpet but some got cooked on the kick panel for the back seats.  I will put the old stuff back in for this year as transmission tunnel work is in my near future. 

 

The propane torch and scredriver/socket method is good.  Some folks cut a "X" but it seems to pucker up a bit. If you lay it flat you can come in underneath with a hot object and get it pretty much spot on. 

 

[Lucky 7]

I just finished up my home brew carpet install. I used German square weave wool, so melting wasn’t an option. I located the holes with a pick, then cut the circle carefully with a sharp xacto. Worked fine for me.  The seat adjuster is especially easy because you can just run the blade along the inside of the hole and use it as a guide. 
 

Both holes visible in this pic:

[NYNick]

Do yourself a favor a warm the carpet up. I tried bringing it inside my house for a night and that was better, but not as good as leaving it on my blacktop driveway for hours in the sun. It is so much easier to install when it is very warm and the weather is too. Warm it up!!!

 

I located all my holes by feel and then with a dental pick. Simple enough to put a razor knife in at that point.

 

Esty liked my install pics so much she put me on the website.

 

Nick

[02jake]

I cut the head off a bolt. Make sure the edge is sharp. Screw in the bolt so it sits proud. Once carpet is in take a hammer and tap the edge of the bolt, remove and use a solder gun the melt the edge to keep it from fraying. 

[its55]

All great suggestions, thanks everyone!

[jscaptura1]

4 hours ago, NYNick said:

Do yourself a favor a warm the carpet up. I tried bringing it inside my house for a night and that was better, but not as good as leaving it on my blacktop driveway for hours in the sun. It is so much easier to install when it is very warm and the weather is too. Warm it up!!!

 

I located all my holes by feel and then with a dental pick. Simple enough to put a razor knife in at that point.

 

Esty liked my install pics so much she put me on the website.

 

Nick

I did exactly the same as NYnick, left it on my driveway for several hours, became nice and pliable.  Then used a pick and utility knife to locate and cut holes.  That carpet set is the BEST!  Makes the interior look so good now.  Thanks again to esty for providing them for us!