interior guys, c'mon in!

i'm putting the race car back on the street, which means i got a carpet kit. it fits surprisingly well. how does one get the carpet to conform to the floor? steam, or adhesive? it is a molded carpet, so it shouldn't be too difficult... thanks in advance for tips, flames, etc...

I'd strip the floor bare then lay it in there for a trial fit which it sounds like you have already done. Yes for a final fit you would want to glue it down. No info on steaming (or heat?) tough areas to get it more pliable but I would check into that.

Last car I put carpet in was an older Mustang and I set the carpet in the car and piled up a bunch of phone books, and boxes of moderately heavy stuff on top and let it sit for several days to help it conform to the transmission tunnel etc. Worked ok, but had a few small spots between the front seats that stayed wrinkled. I did not use any adhesive and relied on the sill plates, seat bolts, and seat belt bolts to secure it in place.

It helps to have the sun heat up the plastic backing to soften it up some. It helps the carpet conform to the shape of the floor pan. Take the carpet and flip it over so the sun heats up the back side. When it softens up try spreading it onto the bare floor to see how it fits.

All the molded ones I have bought fit pretty well, have seen peoole heat tbe underside with a heat gun to get it to fi better.

Lots of people glue it down and that works great. I usually put some 3M sticky Velcro on both sides of the tunnel area in case the carpet needs to come out. I don't like glue because it the carpet comes out the glue can pull up the paint.

It's not fair to ask questions and not post pics of topic car btw!

hah! i may some day figure out how to post pics, but i doubt it (and my oldest son is a computer scientist). fwiw, it's a '72 scamp with a mild 496, 10.61 on pump gas and drag radials.

There's a vendor that ships their carper in a large flat box, not rolled up. That really helps. If you take your carpet and lay it out in the hot son for several days.

Then install using steam and adhesive

I just did a carpet and had many of the same questions. Was told not to glue the whole thing down in case you ever had to remove or run wires.

Heat gun on the back helps make it pliable. Just don't get it too hot or it will stick. Also, I started using on the front and it melted the carpet! I laid a towel over any problem areas to heat from the front. I used sand bags to help the carpet contour. Some of the edges got contact cement.