Carpeted Firewall, What to do about access panel? Options

[andys]

So if I replace my backpad with a carpeted one, what do you guys do if you have an access panel? If I glue down the carpet, should I perhaps cut a flap or? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Andys

[Scott S]

Hi Andys -
I just did this myself. My firewall has been carpeted for several years, so it was a pain in the butt to do the access panel (I had to remove the existing carpet). If yours has yet to be carpeted, it is very easy.

Cut your hole in the car and build up your cover plate. Make sure the coverplate has at least 1" overlap all the way around. I drilled holes for the mounting screws in the plate, then held the plate up to the hole in the firewall and marked where to drill the firewall. There are a ton of different ways you can fasten it. I welded nuts over the holes on the engine side of the firewall - works like a champ.

Then just upohlster everything up using 3M spray adhesive . On the cover plate, wrap it just enough around the edged to stay put. On the firewall, mount the carpet to everything first, then come back and trim. I left the edge of the carpet a half inch away from the acces panel opeing. My thinking was that this is still a firewall, and I want things sealed up tight (no carpet exposed to the engine compartment as any sort of "wick" to the interior).

One thing to note - the rear interior firewall is one compound curve after another. If you think you can just cut square piece of carpet and glue it in, you will not be happy with the results. Get yourself a spray bottle of water and a heat gun or hair dryer. This will allow you stretch and mold the perlon to fit all of the ins and outs of the panel. it took me the better part of a day to get that carpet piece put in where I was happy with the results - and my hand/fingers were sore as hell afterwards.

[Razorbobsr]

Hi Andys -
I just did this myself. My firewall has been carpeted for several years, so it was a pain in the butt to do the access panel (I had to remove the existing carpet). If yours has yet to be carpeted, it is very easy.

Cut your hole in the car and build up your cover plate. Make sure the coverplate has at least 1" overlap all the way around. I drilled holes for the mounting screws in the plate, then held the plate up to the hole in the firewall and marked where to drill the firewall. There are a ton of different ways you can fasten it. I welded nuts over the holes on the engine side of the firewall - works like a champ.

Then just upohlster everything up using 3M spray adhesive . On the cover plate, wrap it just enough around the edged to stay put. On the firewall, mount the carpet to everything first, then come back and trim. I left the edge of the carpet a half inch away from the acces panel opeing. My thinking was that this is still a firewall, and I want things sealed up tight (no carpet exposed to the engine compartment as any sort of "wick" to the interior).

One thing to note - the rear interior firewall is one compound curve after another. If you think you can just cut square piece of carpet and glue it in, you will not be happy with the results. Get yourself a spray bottle of water and a heat gun or hair dryer. This will allow you stretch and mold the perlon to fit all of the ins and outs of the panel. it took me the better part of a day to get that carpet piece put in where I was happy with the results - and my hand/fingers were sore as hell afterwards.

Just what does the access panel allow you to get to? How hard is it to remove seats and panel behind seats? Worth inslulating to keep noise down? Bob

[pcar916]

Just what does the access panel allow you to get to? How hard is it to remove seats and panel behind seats? Worth inslulating to keep noise down? Bob

I don't know about the guys with 4 cylinder cars other than to access the fan. But those of us with sixes have fan belts, oil pressure sending units, and distributors there. Changing a fan belt on a 911 when it's staring at you is almost trivial. Not so in a 914-6. Take a look at my picture above of what's reachable for a six and you'll see what I'm talkin' about. Changing out a broken fan belt in the middle of the night on a lonely highway is something you only want to do once. Ok, not even then, but you get the point. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)