Ranger carpet finally finished!

[Mantis]

Here are some pics of my 1988 Ranger 364V. As you can see by the first pic, my old carpet was held together with duct tape, so a recarpeting job was long overdue. It was my first carpeting job, so it took me a while to get the hang of things, but I picked up speed as I went along. It was definitely a lot of work, but not as difficult as I thought it would be. For those of you thinking about tackling the job yourselves, go for it ! You'll save a ton of money and you can find all of the information you need to do the job right here in this forum.

Some misc. bits of info:

* Large shears worked very well for the rough carpet cuts.
* Definitely change your carpet blades often.
* I used contact cement on everything. The key using for using contact cement on large areas of carpet when working alone is to lay out the rough cut carpet, start with gluing down just a small section on one end, double check your alignment and glue down just a small section at a time. I did the front deck and floor in about 4 steps each.
* Make sure you mark your old screw holes. I used a black magic marker to make a small dot underneath where the screw holes for the lids were. It was easy to find them again with an awl when it was time to reattach the lids.

[bardern]

very nice

[ProcraftMike]

Now we're talking!! Great job!!

[Stein]

Looks great. The boat just FEELS better when you are in in now.

[netweid]

looks good! Sure is nice to have new carpet isn't it!

[Mantis]

Thanks ! I'll pass along restoration tips as I think of them. Here's two:

Put the seat skins in the sun for a while to soften them up. It makes it easier to slide them over the frames and work them into shape.

A solding iron worked great to melt the carpeting around the seat post holes to prevent fraying. Be careful though. It would be a shame to burn your new carpet if you dropped the iron.

[drapa]

I use contact cement for doing counter tops and alittle carpet work. One tip/ hint I have is on large areas use sticks or dowels and /or pieces of clean cardboard to keep the two pieces from coming to into contact with eachother, then generally starting in the midddle work toward the edges removing the sticks/cardboard as you go working the carpet/ laminate down to prevent air pockets.

Loooks like you did a real nice job on your carpet.

[sjpg77]

Excellent job....IM sent

Thanks

[kbeck67]

Great looking Job Mantis. I am getting ready to do my 1987 Ranger and was wondering if you tucked the carpet between the lids like was done in the factory?

[ranger370v]

looks good

[Mantis]

Thanks guys. I finished this last May and it felt like I fished out of new boat last season. I should have done it sooner.

kbeck67,

I thought about tucking the carpet between the lids, but getting the old carpeting out of the grooves in the lids was just about impossible. I decided to just go over the top of the lips and it worked out great. The carpet held tight all season. Make sure you use a good quality contact cement if you choose to use that method.

[sjmcleod06]

What brand of contact cement do you recommend? Thanks in advance!

[SwatDawg]

Looks Great

[Mantis]

I used DAP contact cement from Home Depot

[Landinlunkers]

Nice Work

[chemlight]

Dat dap dis dood duff! nice work

[Mantis]

If anyone is thinking about doing this but is a bit hesitant about tackling the job - don't be. You don't really need any specialized skills. Just make sure you allow yourself plenty of time. It is definitely a lot of work, but you can find all of the information you need on BBC. I went slow and took my time on the project, but it definitely paid off.

[Ranger365v]

Mantis,
Nice job!!
Looks just like the original carpet.
What ounce carpet did you use and where did you get it?

[mossboss]

nice

[Mantis]

Thanks. I used 20 oz carpet from Bassboat Carpets. The price was decent, they send you instructions and a carpet knife & blades, and they were very helpful on the phone.