1980 Chevy Camaro Berlinetta
Page Four
A/C, Heat Controls
The plastic control panel for the heat and A/C was in rough shape in that the posts that the controls screwed into were all split or missing. This part is near impossable to get and when you can they are pretty pricey. So I had another idea.
On the back of the piece, I re-enforced the plastic where it was cracking and weak using some epoxy and fiber-glass. I then cut the heads off of some screws and epoxied them into the posts. It does not look all that pretty from the back, but the controls are now in place and solid.
The Carpet
The carpet of this car was in really bad shape. After 35 years of use it was filthy, had a few holes and it smelled kinda funny. There were additional screws to keep it in place as well. I purchased the carpet off of E-Bay and it is an ACC brand carpet, I orderd the one with the center console already cut out.
Pulling the old carpet out was fairly simple, the front and rear seats came out with no issues and the center console also was quite easy to pull out. I also seem to have found why it smelled a bit off. There appears to have been a small creature living under the passenger seat for a short while.
Putting the new carpet in was slightly more difficult than I initially expected, but it was not all that bad. I left the carpet out in the sun for a few hours while removing the old carpet and cleaning up the inside of the car. After putting the new carpet in and making the cuts for the seat belt, seats and center console holes, I smoothed, pulled and pushed the carpet out as flat as possable. The carpet did have a few bulges here and there, but they should flatten out over time.
Putting the fron setas back in proved to be the most challenging part of the entire process, or at leats the drivers side was. The adjustable rails that the seat sits on adjust independantly of each other, so make sure they are lined up and do not touch the release bar once the seats are out of the car.