Kick panels

[dotcentral]

Has anyone made their own kick panels? I see quite a few people have added carpet to their kick panels. Are they gluing it on?

I've made some cardboard templates of my kick panels and was thinking about gluing carpet to a rigid panel, then screwing that to the kick panel. Guess It need a somewhat durable material. Plastic or maybe something like luan plywood. I'd want to seal the wood to keep it from holding moisture I think.

Any comments on this?

[FORDification]

When you say 'kick panels' are you referring to the sides (by the vents) or the firewall cover? I'm planning on gluing carpet to the firewall cover to match the carpet I'll be installing on the floor. As for the side kick panels, I haven't done this yet, but I plan on making my own. I saved a very large flat piece of 1/8"-thick black textured plastic from the backside of a treadmill I recently threw out. It's got the same grain as the dashpad. It's about 1/8" thick, so I think it'll work very nicely. I figured I could use a heat gun to slightly mold it as needed, and then just glue it on too.

[dotcentral]

I'm talking about the area around the vents, not the firewall cover. I going to make it have a rigid back, probably plastic, and mount the carpet to that and fasten the whole thing to the cab. I guess if I found a suitable textured plastic, it could look good if painted the right color.

I have thought about carpeting the firewall cover. Are you going to use the automotive carpet that comes in a roll, or something heavier?