Another 4 hours of effort completed the driver’s side of the floor mat installation. The outboard drop area just in front of the seat is clearly molded into the mat so I used this as the primary reference point to know when everything was in the correct position. With this corner of the mat aligned with the floor, the fit at the transmission tunnel/gas pedal area was optimized, and the back wall of the cab squared up with the back edge. The position was fixed by locating the threaded nutserts in the floor, poking through with an awl, and then cutting a hole with a stepdrill, which came out clean after passing the bit through from both sides. A temporary bolt in the forward location held things in position.
A bulge at the gas pedal mount was pushed in/reversed at which point it fit perfectly into the firewall depression. The top left of the mat was marked with white crayon, pulled back and trimmed to the shape shown. The pedal mount was removed and relocated on top of the mat. All of this firewall coverage is well above the top of where a standard rubber mat ends. I’m very thankful they designed this product with so much extra material in the front (even if it is a pain to work with). The gas pedal mount now has mat behind it, instead of leaving the old pivot area bare. Here’s an after and before comparison:
After the top left of the mat was trimmed and the gas pedal reinstalled, I cut the smallest hole possible allowing the shifter to poke through, so the mat could still move around if needed. The rest of the driver side seat attachment holes were cut and the mat was bolted to the floor in two places. With no chance of it moving around, the area under the door sill was trimmed away and fitted around the back edge.
Obtaining the best possible fit along the left kick panel and around the dimmer switch took a bit of extra effort. I’ve seen too many mats with a big oval hole near the dimmer switch because it’s not always easy to predict exactly where the hole should be, and I didn’t want to mess this up.
On 1960 models the dimmer switch is mounted to a removable panel with half of the switch held in a cavity formed into the floor. When I created the diamond tufted kick panels the factory switch was too close to the side. So I fabricated a flat steel plate to cover the cavity and installed the newer style switch that bolts directly to the floor.
To trim the mat I removed the steel plate and the dimmer switch. This allowed for a perfect cut right along the edge. I then removed the dimmer from the plate, drilled a 1/8” hole directly under the center of the dimmer switch, and ran a long screw through from the bottom (pointing up). With the plate reinstalled on the floor, it was simply a matter of pressing the mat over the screw to have the exact center of the switch punched into the mat. The plate was removed, the switch reattached and reinstalled on the floor. The mat was drilled out with a stepdrill, this time using the biggest bit I have which is ¾ inch. The hole in the mat is a stretch fit over the cap, but the exact size of the switch body so it fits perfectly.
For anyone that’s wondered how much of the floor this mat actually covers, ACC promises “full floor” coverage and they aren’t kidding. It rises 2-5” higher than a standard rubber mat in the front, and goes all the way to the back wall of the cab. For those that have eliminated the in-cab gas tank this is a very nice feature:
One issue on my 1960 is the cavity near the rear of the driver’s door. My truck has wiring in this area and a steel plate over the top that matches the contours of the floor. The mat has a cavity molded in, so I’m assuming later trucks didn’t have this cover. My first thought was to cut out the mat inside the cavity and reinstall the plate on top. But looking at it, I’m not sure I won’t just leave it alone and eliminate the cover. It’s not like anyone is going to be stepping there to climb into the back seat. For now I’m going to leave the cavity looking like this. If I change my mind later I can always reinstall the cover plate on top of the mat:
Right now the truck is cooking back up to 90 degrees so I can finish the passenger side. The only remaining tasks are to pull any remaining surplus out of the transmission tunnel, add the seat mounting bolts to hold it in position, and trim the door/kick panel area. Once that is complete the shifter stick and boot can go back in. The final chore will be filling unused holes and repainting the seat mounting brackets. They looked just fine on the old crappy floor, but need some attention before going back in now.
If there aren’t any surprises the truck will hopefully be back together tomorrow.