About to start the rocker/sill/gasket/chrome install. Noticed that when I took off the sills there was a sort of thick cloth underneath. Worth replacing? Only one side of mine still had it. Substitutes?

Any photos anyone has of how they did this with the inner chrome? Specifically, I cannot recall how the little clamps that go around the door gasket are installed nor how some small chrome "plates" (about 1" x 1/2" with screw in the middle, are placed, nor how.

Yeah, yeah, should have taken photos. Next time!

Rodo, I'm likely not going to be much help here, but a few thoughts:

On some of the original carpet sets that I have seen, there is a backing fabric edge that folds over various lips of the interior floor to keep the carpet in place. Sometimes this fabric backing is glued, and I vaguely recall that on the original carpets in my Fiats (long since replaced), the backing went over the lip for the door weatherstripping and extending a bit under the door sill plate. Perhaps that's what you have.

There are two hook shaped chrome clips that originally helped secure the door weatherstripping, and one end went under the round chrome rail that went on the inner side (and held the weatherstripping) and the other end fit under the door sill. Since I've also replaced the weatherstripping in my cars (twice actually), there seemed to be no need for these clips as the weatherstripping stayed in place just fine without the clips.

I don't recognize the 1" by 1/2" chrome plate you mention. Earlier models (like mine) may not have had them.

-Bryan

Thanks Bryan, Yeah, that wee tab thing...it was with my sill parts. I'll sort it, I'm sure. It is stainless so it is either for the sills or the side rockers. The cloth is a weird, kind of burlap stuff. Seems like it would help to keep the sill chrome from scraping the paint underneath, just keep things tighter. I've got one so I'll give it a shot and see how it all buttons up.

Yes, the clips. I kind of thought them moot, too. What is going to take that weatherstrip off the threshold? It has a chrome piece holding it down!

If you can post a picture of the "wee tab thing", one of us might recognize what it is.

-Bryan

I have two of those leftover from our refurbishment. Couldn't remember where they came from so now they sit in a drawer. Nothing seems to have fallen off since so not too concerned about them.

Here are the two plates.
And...I still can't do photos.

Second try:



Third try:


Fourth (with third posting location):



HA! IN YOUR FACE STUPID INTERNET HOSTING SITES!

In this image, the black strip on the carpet is what goes up against/under the door gasket and under, also, the black fabric. (It does not go where it is in the photo.) The fabric is in place, as one can see from the holes. No one seems to sell the cloth nor the rubber strip of stuff so I'm guessing it is not essential.

Well, Rodo, you have me stumped. I don't recognize the small rectangular plates, and the only function that I can think of for the "cloth" under your door sill would be vibration damping to keep the door sills from rattling against the body. My older Fiats had some thin rubbery clay like substance that was in various spots under the sills, presumably to keep rattles at bay.

There is also the possibility that the cloth is an assembly aid of some sort. There are a few items that one finds on the internals of a Fiat that make no sense, but apparently they were part of the assembly process at the factory and were just left in place as they were not visible and did no harm (and saved the labor of removing them after their function was accomplished).

-Bryan

I'm sure the fabric is just as you describe: to keep down noise and, I was thinking, maybe to keep the chrome plate from scratching up the paint too much (making it more susceptible to rust). Maybe.

Those wee tab things... they have a plastic insert that the screw goes into so the hole has to be that size, which seems not to be a normal screw size. So I'm guessing I can eventually come across the correct hole.

The two rectangular stainless pieces were attached to the stainless trim strip that runs along the top of the rocker. They are not attached solidly and often break off

The tabs were spot welded on to the one of the trim pieces to make them more secure however the spot welds have failed. This can happen when you see the screws are in a separate layer of metal under the trim so you don't unscrew them before you pull the trim piece off breaking the welds and leaving the tabs still screwed to their plastic inserts.

The moisture barrier helps keep water from getting between the layers of metal that make up the top of the structural rocker panel and help shed it off into the weep holes. Under the weep holes you will find a channel indentation in the structural rocker that directs any drainage outside the structural rocker and onto the back of the decorative rocker panels so it can then drain out through the weep holes in the bottom of the decorative rocker panels.