Since purchasing my '88 Raider last year I've been wanting to redo the carpet. I'm not a big fan of the blue, plus it was pretty worn out and had an unpleasant smell.

I had the time recently, so I decided to yank the interior and try to do it on the cheap. It wasn't too tough to do so I'm writing this up to try and contribute something that might be helpful. In the end I spent around $100 total to do the carpet+ and $75 for the new seats. It's way more comfortable and smells a bit like a new car now.

Here you see the interior of the rig after removing some of the plastic, the seats, carpet and padding. This is also after a thorough cleaning of the floor (lots of dirt and spilled drinks). I used an expanding spray foam meant for windows to fill in all the holes from the rear seat and the random holes drilled in there throughout it's prior owners:




I picked up some felt carpet padding from a local discount carpet liquidator. Came in a six foot wide roll, which is perfect. Got an eleven foot section for about $25. Did the front half separate from the rear and used the old carpet to gauge the cut out for the center console, shifters, e-brake, and seat belts. Used a can of spray glue to tack it down. Wheel wells were a bit tricky, but just cut away slits to form the curves and glued it in place:


I used a gray indoor/outdoor carpet that I got at Lowe's for about $.50 a square foot. Came in a six foot width roll and had them cut eleven feet. I need to go back and get about another four feet to finish the job, so about 15 feet total. The carpet is fairly thin and pliable with a rubber-like backing.

Like the padding I did the front and rear separately. Front popped in pretty easily with the cuts made in the garage based from measurements of the old carpet:



...more later tonight.