The ’67 Beetle parcel tray carpet installation info below was submitted by a reader of 1967beetle.com, Don Barker. A huge thanks to him for taking the time to compose such a valuable article for the vintage Volkswagen community.
If you are on a limited budget like me and can’t afford German square weave, look into Wolfsburg West’s synthetic set. It’s really good looking at half the cost. You should get their padding set (German, same as stock) and firewall mat, black or gray, they’ll sew onto your carpet at no charge.
The first pictures are my carpet and padding sets. I chose gray even though the correct color carpet for zenith blue cars is charcoal.
The next pictures show prepping the wheel wells and installing the padding, it stretches to conform, it’s good stuff. Then the wheel well carpet is glued on and trimmed to the body line. I used contact cement and a brush until I ran out, then got two cans of 3M Super 77. It takes longer than contact cement to get tacky, sometimes 15 minutes. Good time to clean your hands. I used lacquer thinner after every gluing, before handling the carpet.
Next comes some measuring and laying out the padding. The parcel shelf is about 35-1/2″ wide under the window to 36″ at the back of the tray, then to almost 37″ where the “bar” for the seat-back flap is, which is 28-1/4″ from the top of the padding. I cut mine off there. I stopped the padding at the top of the vertical portion of the firewall, to later allow the carpet to “roll-over” the top. Also, you should cut out for rear the seat-belt mounts, whether you use them or not.
Fit-check the carpet and the padding together in the car and cut it out for the seat-belt
mounts to match the padding. Trimming the edges of the padding with scissors to fit.
The next photos show gluing the bottom on separately. I left mine full length as the seat-bottom rests on it. Glue just the firewall, not the floor, from under the window down 14″, and the back of the padding, using cardboard “masks.” Hold at the two top corners, “aim” the top edge and press lightly, then smooth it down the firewall. When gluing the floor don’t glue the last 2 to 2-1/2″ from the “bar”, Tuck the end into the bar with a putty knife, then cut it flush so its not inside the angle. Another piece of carpet and the seatback flap go in there, too.
The next photos show fit-checking the piece of carpet, measuring and cutting a slit for the seat-back bar. I did this by actually tucking the top into the slot under the window and lifting up at the bar and marking with a sharpie. I double-checked by measuring both marks to be the same distance from the top before cutting. Measure the width of the bar and cut a slit that wide and centered. Fit-check it before gluing it in.
Glue the carpet piece to the firewall the same way as the padding, down about 14″. Leave the top sticking up the same amount as when you were fit-checking and measuring for the “slit”. I used a plastic body-putty spreader to tuck the top into the slot under the window. Glue the floor down the same way you did the padding, leaving 2″ to2-1/2″ from the slot and tucking the carpet into the bar with a wide putty knife. Glue the part below the slit making sure the web on each side gets glued.
Almost done! I pushed the welting really hard down into the corners with a wide putty knife, going around a few times, also the underside of the bar. Massage the whole thing down really well numerous times.
The finished product.
It took me two days to do mine but it was too hot to work inside the car for more than an hour at a time. It actually gave me time to cool off and plan the next step. It took me, probably six hours total, but was fun and I’m content with how it came out.
Don Barker
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Don, thanks for all the specific details, actual numbers, and clear pictures! This is on my to-do list, and when it comes to the top, I’ll refer to your instructions. Nice work! You have a penchant for understatement, though, saying that you’re “content” with how it turned out. You must be extremely proud of the beautiful results!
Agreed! Thank you Don. We’re hoping to partner up so he can write more articles, etc. I sure need the help!
Don,
This is fantastic. Please write more!
Don has done us all a great service. Sooner or later we’ll all need to do this. He spelled it out in detail. Hope everyone noticed his headliner. Wow ! Did you install that also?
Isn’t a 1 piece headliner incorrect for the ’67?
Yes, it should be in multiple pieces. Don did a great job with this.
Wow! Thanks everybody! I was a little apprehensive about being too verbose.This is new to me.
I had hoped Purists wouldn’t notice the headliner. Haha! Actually, since I had never installed a headliner, I got the TMI “Easy Install” one-piece headliner.
I think I could have done a “real” one now.
Another thing that’s incorrect is my Zenith blue car should have “charcoal” carpet, not gray. I just liked it better, it brightens the interior up.
Eric has asked me to keep track of my carpet installation progress on the rest of the car, so it’s coming soon (with more “incorrectnesses” for the purist to try to find, hahaha, you’ll see)
Thank you too, Eric, for allowing me to share my experience with other 1967beetle.com members. Front carpet article is in the works.
Don,
We thank you! You’re doing the VW community a huge favor. Also, you’re keeping me from sitting at my computer 24-7 writing, editing, etc. As this site grows, I need more like you that are willing to help.
Hello, Don Barker! Where have you gone? Are we going to hear more from you? Well, I sure hope so! For starters, please bring us up to date on your ’67 Beetle. Then, get “verbose” with us with some new articles! jay
Great article and pics – Thanks.
Larry
You’re welcome, Eric. Glad I could help. Anything for 1967beetle.com to grow, I love it, who would have thought, a site for just ’67’s?
Writing this was a new experience for me and was actually fun. I hope it helps others with their parcel shelf carpet, the rest is coming along.
Sounds good Don. We all thank you for it.
If I might add some thanks, It would be to Wolfsburg West for manufacturing such well fitting, quality products and Danny Deacon at KYMCO in Costa Mesa, CA, who is my Wolfsburg West source and shares his years of knowledge in their application and installation tips. He knows his VW’s!
There’s something I neglected to do, and that’s to thank Eric for all the numerous emails helping me with all the installation questions I’ve had, especially the “correctness” when it comes to 1967 Beetles. Thank You, Eric.
Not a problem Don. That’s why I started this site. All the long nights in my garage making mistakes, etc. I might as well share it with someone.
I will be carpeting my 67 in a few weeks. Now I know how to carpet the rear, now how about the main compartment and trunk. Complete headliner installation would be nice too. : )
Thanks for reading! We have a lot more great ’67 articles in the works.
This site is so much better than TheSamba. Sorry, I had to say it..
Thanks for the instructions I have the same kit for my ’67 and plan on tackling the luggage shelf this weekend. Nice write up and pictures. Nice car too.
Jim,
Sure!
Need to know how to Install carpet in trunk other info very helpful for interior
Hello, Donald…By “trunk” do you mean under the front hood? The 1967 Beetle had no carpeting in the trunk area. Instead, there is a stiff cardboard-like, one piece liner (called the Trunk Liner) which can be purchased from various retailers. The Trunk Liner comes pre-creased for easy bending into shape and installation. All Trunk Liners are black. jay