ninjabones

As per the title, I'm sharing my experiences with the installation of an Apbiz RS carpet kit. Not the most technically demanding project, but quite laborious. I would estimate at least two weekends to complete the job (including gutting the interior).

First step was removing the seats, interior panels, and all of the carpet/sound deadening foam. I found that a heat gun and a pair of pliers worked best to remove the carpet. A compbination of Goo Gone, a heat gun, plastic scrapers and elbow grease (lots of it) worked reasonably well for the sound deadening.

ninjabones

The carpet kit (charcoal plush in this case) comes in a box without any instructions or guide to putting the jigsaw puzzle together. I would recommend laying all the pieces out on the floor in the appropriate position for the installation. Unfortunately, the only picture I could find was from a different carpet kit on an older 911 (see pic below). I didn't take a photo when I had it all organized, but this photo should help you get everything organized.

I used 3M #77 spray adhesive. The stuff sets rather quickly and is reasonable to work with. I used about three cans in total. The Goo Gone works very well at removing the inevitable drips and misfires. You'll also want a decent pair of utility scissors and an exacta knife

ninjabones

I then put everything in the car in its appropriate order. You'll get the idea from the pictures that follow. After I had everything lined up and in it's proper place, I started at the front of the car. The side door sill pieces are the easiest to figure out. The driver's side has two leather inserts as shown in the photo. The center console section comes in one piece. It was nearly impossible to work with, so I sliced it down the middle and made my relief cuts carefully, again working my way from the front of the car to the back.

As I was using Rennline floor plates, I didn't want to use the included floor mats. As such, the passenger side footwell would have had an uncovered section. I used the included floor mat to trace out a section to cover up that area.

ninjabones

The rear center hump is a problematic area. It's very tough to get everything to lay flat without wrinkles and ripples. The material is quite pliable, especially with heat. Take your time and work the material over all the curves. I started along the midline of the hump and worked my my forward and outward.

Time for a break... wifey brought me some Starbucks. You can see the glazed stare and the goofy smile. I was definitely high on adhesive fumes (must have killed a lot brain cells this weekend). I had a fan blowing through the car. I definitely recommend keeping the garage doors open, and it probably would have been better to use a respirator.

Working around the cage was tough... who needs Yoga?

ninjabones

The center console piece was a real PITA. The supplied section from Apbiz did not correlate at all with this item. I basically used the removed carpet as a template and completed this section in two pieces. I folded the carpet back on itself at the midline seam and it looks great. Not sure if you can get away with doing this if you have the thicker "slivernit" carpeting. The second series of photos demonstrates how to make relief cuts and fit the front trim pieces.

ninjabones

I also elected to dye the grey center console and e-brake handle black. I bought a kit online (see pic). It came with a pre-cleaner, a water-based dye product, and a finishing conditioner. It worked great... took about three coats for the final effect. We'll see how well it holds up.

ninjabones

Here are some pics of the final product. I did elect to bring the rear deck piece to my dry cleaner to sew on some binding where I made some cuts for the roll cage. I definitely made a few mistakes, but overall I'm pleased with the result. Only thing that I didn't anticipate was the large gap between the center console and the tranny tunnel. It's amazing how much space the foam and stock carpeting take. I would recommend leaving some extra carpeting along that section to clean up the installation.

Arena993

ninjabones:

Nicely done. great write up. I have done this before as well. Laying the carpet is the easy part. Taking everything out and putting it back in is the time consuming part of the job. Once again great job.

Mike

Stealth 993

Hot dam! That looks like a project! Nice work!

Now, how much weight did you save? 5lbs?

CornerCarver

Great work, Glen! I like the charcoal look. The cage looks awesome too.

ninjabones

That pile of carpet and foam in the first set of photos weighed 41 lbs.
The rear deck and rear quarter panels weighed 17.5 lbs
I'm not sure how much the stock door panels weigh, but I'd bet at least 30 lbs

I believe the RS carpet kit weighed less than 15 lbs.

So the net weight savings for a typical RS carpet and door panel install is likely around 70-80 lbs.

Individually, weight saving mods can be scoffed at; however, in the context of a more holistic approach... it all adds up. Other things that I've done: removed cat (24 lbs), removed stock muffs (38 lbs), replaced stock battery (35.5 lbs) with odyssey 925 (24 lbs), removed basket handle and stock spoiler mechanism (17.5 lbs), rear wiper assembly (4 lbs), rear seatbelts (??), stereo delete (?), deleted airbags (?), deleted stock steering wheel (?), deleted stock seats, removed lower dash portion, gutted doors and window mechanisms, removed headliner and gutted sunroof and welded sunroof back in place, removed visors, RS wiper reservoir, delete headlight nozzles and headlight wiper motor, delete trunk carpet, lightweight wheels, delete heater blower

Added back: full cage (approx 90 lbs), fixed back seats, momo mod 07 wheel, cat bypass, supercup muffs, RS aerokit.

So, approx 10 pound lost is one horsepower gained... am I on a level playing field with all you VRAM guys now

slvr993

Great Job! - You've found more garage time this Holiday than I have.

Jeff

Rob 97 993c2

we should save/post this thread some where as a reference guide to anyone who wants to install an RS carpet set.

Thanks very much for sharing.
How much does the carpet set cost?
how hard is it to install all the harness and seat belts?

Ag02M5

Nice writeup. Do you have any hints on installing the Rennline gas pedal?

Cheers.

RT

007DT

Glen,

Fantastic write-up. I was hoping to do this mod this winter, but my season starts again in 2 weeks Regardless I'm sure I'll tackle it soon. I appreciate you taking the time to post it!! The results look GREAT, NICE WORK

If you could do one thing different, what would it be?