When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Question for those who have cut carpet for harness bar installs
I’m going to be installing a harness bar in my GT3 shortly, and am just looking for a few pointers:
1) How did you create accurate templates for where to cut the carpet? My plan now is to put down blue tape as reference markers on both the side panels and the carpet prior to removal, and then remove the carpet and install the bar, and finally create cardboard cutouts around the bar that reference those tape markings.
2) What is the best saw or cutter to use on the thick carpet and foam? (Dremel mill bit? Reciprocating saw?)
I would consult with a professional, before putting sharp edge to carpet.
Looks good! They in California? Unfortunately I’ve seen my fair share of “professional” installs that look horrible. I know I’ll spend the time to do it right...
Cantrell did mine on the last GT3 and it was perfect. Fair warning it's an expensive piece of carpet if you have to replace it. The plastic molded trim pieces are even more!
Don't do it unless you are tracking... a lot.
I still have my cage and harness, but doubtful I'm putting it in the new one since I don't plan on tracking the incoming car.
Just be warned...that carpet is $2600 and special order(takes SEVERAL weeks to get). So if you want to turn it back in without the bar and the dealer wants the carpet uncut, you’ll be buying a new one.
I left the carpet out of my RS as I learned this lesson on my GT3.
Thanks for the input everyone. I went ahead and just did the carpet cutting on my own, improvising along the way. Here's how I did it in case anyone wants to repeat something similar...
I started by first making a coordinate system of markings on the carpet and walls to give me some sort of reference when cutting the carpet outside the car.
Then I removed the rear shelf carpet and stalled the rear bar section so I could make some templates. I used cardboard and spaced it up to the height of the rear carpet so I could correct make an outline of what the final hole shape would need to be on the upper surface of the carpet. I retraced the coordinate markings on the cardboard so I could correctly place it on the carpet when outside the car.
Then I glued a long piece of cardboard to both of the smaller templates I had made to make one long template that correctly captured the exact spacing of the holes.
Next I took that template out of the car (cutting the cardboard in half as well as slitting the outer edges of the template carefully to let me remove it, then re-uniting it outside the car). I then put blue tape on the carpet shelf, placed the cardboard template over the blue tape (lining the coordinate markings up properly), and traced the cutting outline.
I then traced another copy of the holes, and placed then reversed on the backside of the carpet so that I could carve out all the foam around where the holes would ultimately be. I hand traced an outline that was ~1/2" larger than the ultimate opening not he top of the carpet, and hogged out all of the foam in this area so that I would only have to cut through a thin layer of carpet on top in the end. I generally cut the foam at an angle (to match the bar angle) so it would have even clearance around the bar under the carpet. I used a simple retractable razor blade (the kind you can break off in segments for fresh edges) for all of my cutting.
And then I nervously cut the cosmetic holes from the top! I started by cutting a hole about 5 millimeters inset around the entire perimeter so I could test fit it and make sure I didn't totally goof something up. That test fit confirmed that the holes were generally in the right place, but needed to be opened up to actually fit around the bar. I then repeated that process at about 2-3 millimeters inset, and again the holes had to be enlarged. In the end I ended up cutting the carpet exactly along the template outline I traced, ending up with the final installed result below (4-5 hours later...).
I'm glad that's done!! Hope this will help someone else do the same some day.
Just for a counter point to all those commenting on the cost to replace the carpet incase you want to sell the car...
There are also a fair number of buyers that wont care that there are some holes in the carpet from the cage. When i bought my GT3 i was thrilled the holes were already there, i tracked down the previous owner, asked what cage was in the car previously and ordered the same cage that fit the holes perfectly. It was a time saver
Just for a counter point to all those commenting on the cost to replace the carpet incase you want to sell the car...
There are also a fair number of buyers that wont care that there are some holes in the carpet from the cage. When i bought my GT3 i was thrilled the holes were already there, i tracked down the previous owner, asked what cage was in the car previously and ordered the same cage that fit the holes perfectly. It was a time saver
And another option is to just trade carpet with the separate buyer of your harness bar. But the custom deviated stitched lower carpet is a different story... I think I will just leave that one removed.
09-02-2018, 12:29 AM
Question for those who have cut carpet for harness bar installs
Unfortunately I’ve seen my fair share of “professional” installs that look horrible. I know I’ll spend the time to do it right...
