Bucket Seat Gas Tank Carpet

[Eagle9502]

Did anyone figure out what to do for 67-68 buddy bucket carpet?

[custom10nut]

Subbed for future reference

[CKfan]

Following IrionCanine' lead and great instructions, I ordered and received my OCC tank carpet and will attempt install but using with Buddy Buckets. Right off the bat the carpet backing pad appears to be a little sideways based on the carpet pattern but I'm not sure, it may be right.

1st question I have is: Am I going to have to remove the Buddy seat bump stop brace that keeps the buddy seat from bagging the fuel line? Seems a little proud of the cab and will make the carpet bulge out.
Thanks

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by CKfan

Following IrionCanine' lead and great instructions, I ordered and received my OCC tank carpet and will attempt install but using with Buddy Buckets. Right off the bat the carpet backing pad appears to be a little sideways based on the carpet pattern but I'm not sure, it may be right.

1st question I have is: Am I going to have to remove the Buddy seat bump stop brace that keeps the buddy seat from bagging the fuel line? Seems a little proud of the cab and will make the carpet bulge out.
Thanks

That's a good question. You may have to drape it and see. I think the only real difference between 67-68 bucket seat carpet and 69-72 (besides the allowance for venting on the later gas tanks) was the buddy bucket carpet was in two pieces. There was a small cove piece that was glued to a formed backer board that fit into the space behind the jack.

[CKfan]

Thanks, I am giving it a whirl and will post some pictures.

[CKfan]

The brace doesn't seem to make it bulge out too much. Will be able to tell better once all trimmed down.

Definitely should have followed your (IronCanine) lead and not placed the back window before fitting the carpet. Magnets help but its a hassle.

I will definitely cut a little at a time and re-fit a few times.

[IronCanine]

Well on your way. Looking good!

[CKfan]

I must say, this install is going to take a lot more time and focus than I had anticipated. Working by yourself requires a lot of in and out with the carpet.

Heavy duty magnets are a must as well as some good scissors for getting your carpet set in the right position. I have the bottom completely trimmed as well as both sides. I found this is pretty much the only way to get the top dialed in.
I have chalk lined the top for my finish cut but will let it set in place for a day and evaluate my process as I don't want to buy another carpet due to impatience.

Not seeing or processing a better way (at the moment), I plan to make my straigt-line cut on top (marked with chalk) , remove the carpet and hot glue gun the tack strip along the straight line cut placing it where the yellow and blue tape meet in photo. Of course, I will have to mark out the drill holes with the strip on the cab before I glue it to the carpet.

My fold over amount as shown by the blue tape line is 2 inches. This may be a bit too wide but I can always cut more off. I haven't seen any measurements for this listed in prior posts but some original photos "look" more like 1 inch wide.

Not trying to re-envent this installation process, just trying to tweak it for a single person install. I have never installed one before and this aint easy (IMO).

A couple points about the carpet: The backer pad was put on crooked and required cutting on top as it was so high on one end. It reached the cab and bulged out where the tack strip is going. The passenger's side cove has some issues with fitment and the carpet doesn't curve well on the cab where the tack strip will be going. I am hoping a heat gun will resolve this issue during screw down. All in all, workable.

[IronCanine]

I'm having flashbacks. It looks great and the magnets are brilliant. I have no idea how they cranked these trucks out at a rate of 1 per minute. Every time I do one of these things it's like delivering a baby. Every step is hard...then time goes by, you forget...and you do it again.

Keep up the good work. Looks awesome!

[CKfan]

Thanks, I still can't believe the effort you put into making these carpets happen. Respect!

[CKfan]

Finally done thanks to IronCanine's excellent tutorial.

Not a job I recommend for a one person install but it is doable.

Instead of the plastic pipe strap, I had to go with 1/8 x 1 x 58" aluminum flat bar as the plastic pipe strap was too flexible and very difficult for me to keep lined up. After getting my holes drilled (following the same steps as noted in thread) I hot glued the flat metal to the carpet, folded it over to create the edge and used a heat gun to crease the top before the install.

The carpet quality and shape very much mimics originals I have seen.

[IronCanine]

Well done! That looks fantastic. I am impressed you did that by yourself. It was difficult with two of us. Thanks for sharing your work.

[CKfan]

Much appreciated and there is zero chance I could have done this without your instructions.
Be well.

[z10kl]

So are they selling two versions of the tank carpet now? Because the one I got from my dealer is nothing like what I see here. It hangs on the gas tank. I knew that wasn’t factory correct but thought that was how they made it. Looks bad at passenger side B pillar at bottom especially

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by z10kl

So are they selling two versions of the tank carpet now? Because the one I got from my dealer is nothing like what I see here. It hangs on the gas tank. I knew that wasn’t factory correct but thought that was how they made it. Looks bad at passenger side B pillar at bottom especially

Yes there are two versions. The one you have is all that was available before we did this one. They didn't stop selling that, just added this to their offerings. In the end, it just depends on what you want. I wanted to be as close to factory as I could get, so we worked on making a copy of an original one. But as you can see from this thread, there is an installation process.

Below is a screen grab from ACC's site with both carpets listed. It's crazy to me that ours is cheaper.

[z10kl]

Originally Posted by IronCanine

Yes there are two versions. The one you have is all that was available before we did this one. They didn't stop selling that, just added this to their offerings. In the end, it just depends on what you want. I wanted to be as close to factory as I could get, so we worked on making a copy of an original one. But as you can see from this thread, there is an installation process.

Below is a screen grab from ACC's site with both carpets listed. It's crazy to me that ours is cheaper.

So originally was there nothing where the Jack goes. Mine I have just put in has an area folded that goes there and doesn’t fit well at all.

[IronCanine]

Originally Posted by z10kl

So originally was there nothing where the Jack goes. Mine I have just put in has an area folded that goes there and doesn’t fit well at all.

If you'll read back through this thread, you'll see that the one we made (like the factory originals) has a molded area that goes behind the jack. In 67-68 there was a separate small piece with a cardboard like backing that tucked in behind the jack. 69-72 is once piece only, but molded to fit into the B pillar behind the jack.

If you want it to fit neatly in the B pillar and are up for the installation, you might want to swap yours out for the molded reproduction version.