When to drill seat bolts?

[richtersand]

Hi everyone, thanks in advance for your input. I am pretty much ready to put the carpet in. Ahead of that, I wanted to put in the second skin / dynamat insulator. So my question is can I wait to drill the holes for the seat until after the insulator/carpet is in? Or should I drill now when it’s bare metal? The only reason I am hesitating on drilling is I know I need the body on to properly locate the rails (I am running adjustable seat rails from jegs). I would imagine waiting and drilling through the carpet is no big deal, but let me know if I’m missing anything. Thanks!

[wareaglescott]

Drilling through carpet the bit tends to catch the carpet fiber/strands (whatever you would call them) and they end up all wrapped around your drill bit and it pulls it from beyond the intended diameter of you hole so you want to be careful there.

[CraigS]

You can start drilling through the carpet w/ the drill running in reverse. That will help reduce the problem wareaglescott mentions. You could also heat something like the end of a butter knife and use that to melt down the carpet pile right where you want to drill. That way you would be drilling through more or less solid plastic.

[nucjd19]

I sort of went against the grain on this one and drilled and mocked up the adjustable seat rails and seat before the body went on but I am using the vintage low back Kirkey seats so there is much more forgiveness in fit compared to the other seats. My template for location was the FFR instruction pdf from their site which I was assuming they had already figured where the rails should go. It really helped getting me where I needed to be with body off. I used seat rails from Jegs as well. IMO, this was one of the harder subs assemblies and fab work I did on my roadster. I sort of had a mental road block. Here is the link to FFR instructions. https://www.factoryfive.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/SEAT-TRACK-REV-H.pdf

[Papa]

Why not just put the body on to help position the seats and then remove it. Getting the body on/off in the early stages of the build isn't that hard (five minute job). For the seat position, the body doesn't have to be precisely positioned. You just need it on to see where the rear cowl sits relative to where the upper seat edges are.

[flyingfarley]

I just installed the carpet in my Daytona Coupe project......I mounted the seats onto the bare aluminum floor and drilled the holes before installing the carpet. I have had bad results by trying to drill thru carpet.....after the carpet was installed I just poked a small punch up from the bottom to mark the hole location, you can then cut the carpet for the bolts to go thru, or push a tapered punch down from the top and the seats will drop right in the holes with no damaged carpet.

[RJD]

You can wait until the insulation and carpeting is in. I used the heat technique mentioned by CraigS above, but used a heated socket to make an outline of a circle where I wanted to drill. Then used an exacto knife to cut out the small circle of carpeting. Clean removal.

[toadster]

You can wait until the insulation and carpeting is in. I used the heat technique mentioned by CraigS above, but used a heated socket to make an outline of a circle where I wanted to drill. Then used an exacto knife to cut out the small circle of carpeting. Clean removal.

sounds like an innovative idea to use a cigarette lighter from a car to do this :)

[Sdonnel]

I centered my seats in the opening and it worked out fine once the body was on. I also heated a socket and pressed hard enough to cut a perfect circle.

[David Hodgkins]

I set up everything mechanically before putting the carpet in, which included mounting the seats. When I put the sound insulation in I used a hole punch to just punch the holes and the peel off the insulation. Same with the carpet. Super neat and tidy.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=45990&d=1443322590

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=155688&d=1636142609

:)

[j.miller]

God I love drilling through Dynamat.....just love how it clogs bits, sticks chips, and smears all over....MMMM... getting a bit excited just thinking about it.....NOT !!!...DA bAT

[Rdone585]

Use a propane torch to heat an appropriate size metal object. For small screws an awl works. For larger screws a center punch. For bigger items like bolts I used the appropriate size drift punch. It worked really well on the carpet and insulation. It also leaves the edge of the hole with a seal on it so it is more long term stable.

[frankeeski]

The seats run parallel to the tunnel NOT parallel to the length of the car. Drill for them before heat and sound mat and/or carpeting. When it comes time for carpeting, place the bolts in the hole so they stick up and you can feel them through the carpet. It makes it easier to cut the carpet out for them.

[richtersand]

God I love drilling through Dynamat.....just love how it clogs bits, sticks chips, and smears all over....MMMM... getting a bit excited just thinking about it.....NOT !!!...DA bAT

ha, well there's my answer considering you'll be painting my car. Thanks guys, appreciate the input!