1997TahoeFix
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- Jul 28, 2020
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This 1997 Chevy Tahoe K1500 Suburban LT four-door was left outside for a very long time (over a year) and had a leak when I bought it. The carpets were wet and obviously ruined. The first thing I did was remove the back seats and back carpet. I have driven this vehicle for almost 2 years without any interior in the back. I've used it essentially like a pickup truck.
I've decided to sell the vehicle (I know, it's awful. But I came across a great deal on a newer vehicle and I can't pass up the opportunity to upgrade) so I'm reinstalling the interior. The seats are cracked and missing leather so I bought some cheap seat covers on Amazon.
I bought the cheapest possible carpet: an 9' x 12' piece of interior tan carpet (doesn't even match) from a surplus supply store for $12.
In addition to spending very little money, I expended very little effort. I simply removed everything (front and back seats, seat belts, middle console, rectangular trim pieces), laid the carpet down and started cutting with some shears, a utility knife, and regular scissors. First a very general cut then precision cuts guiding around the interior border, leaving just enough to go underneath the trim pieces. I didn't even glue it down. It simply goes underneath the trim and seats. I hastily cut holes where the seats, console, belts, etc. bolt to the frame. I completely forgot about the cargo hooks. Whoops! I'm going to use them on my trailer. I left the wheel wells uncarpeted. I left the front section with the original carpet because it wasn't damaged. The transition between the original carpet and the new carpet happens underneath the front seats. I fully expected this to look terrible but it actually looks kind of decent:
Does it look great? No. Does it look surprisingly good given the fact I spent $12 and roughly an hour and a half? Hell yes. So if you're looking for an extremely lazy and low budget solution for your car's interior, give it a try. It certainly helps that the Tahoe has very plain and relatively flat topography inside. Now that I've done it this incredibly lazy and cheap way, I feel confident I could make it look professional on future projects. Doing it like this was a great learning experience. Thanks for looking.
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