Carpet kit and pad
- Thread starter Nic
- Start date
letterman7
Honorary Admin
VW carpet kits are expecting the tar board underneath. They typically don't have padding. No reason not to use any commercially available stuff, though I'd recommend a padding that's got some sound deadening to it, like some of the asphalt base kits.
As a follow up to this topic, I went to the local upholstery shop to get prices on carpet. $45/yd
*sigh*
I figure I'll need about 3 yards = $145.
*sigh*
He did suggest I check Homie De-pot for some indoor/outdoor carpeting that would be more affordable and said that as long as it has a decent backing on it, it could be stitched if needed.
*thumbs up*
Checked the local De-pot and sure enough, then have a rather decent indoor/outdoor carpet in Black. It's on a 6 ft wide roll and about $4.50/linear foot. Based on measurements, I need at least 7 linear feet. The 6" width is enough to cover the width of the chassis including up and over the tunnel.
7 feet @ $4.50 = $31.50
*thumbs up*
It has a rubberized backing and is about 1/4" thick. I grabbed a few square samples to take home. A heat gun warms up the rubber backing enough to allow it to flex/form a 90º inside or outside angle and hold it after cooling. It does state it's a glue down flooring. I'll either glue it to the carpet padding or just let it float on the padding. Not sure yet.
*sigh*
I figure I'll need about 3 yards = $145.
*sigh*
He did suggest I check Homie De-pot for some indoor/outdoor carpeting that would be more affordable and said that as long as it has a decent backing on it, it could be stitched if needed.
*thumbs up*
Checked the local De-pot and sure enough, then have a rather decent indoor/outdoor carpet in Black. It's on a 6 ft wide roll and about $4.50/linear foot. Based on measurements, I need at least 7 linear feet. The 6" width is enough to cover the width of the chassis including up and over the tunnel.
7 feet @ $4.50 = $31.50
*thumbs up*
It has a rubberized backing and is about 1/4" thick. I grabbed a few square samples to take home. A heat gun warms up the rubber backing enough to allow it to flex/form a 90º inside or outside angle and hold it after cooling. It does state it's a glue down flooring. I'll either glue it to the carpet padding or just let it float on the padding. Not sure yet.
letterman7
Honorary Admin
Yep, did the same thing and probably with the same carpet. Had some leftover padding from another project and glued it and the carpet down. One word of caution, the HD outdoor carpet has a real bad tendency to unravel if something grabs a thread, like a screw. I have a couple bare spots in rows where that happened..
Ah, good to know Rick, thanks.
I'll probably buy one of these too - Automotive carpet Heel Pads
$3.20 for a large heel pad isn't a bad price, provided I can't find a cheaper rubber mat to cut up and glue down.
I'll probably buy one of these too - Automotive carpet Heel Pads
$3.20 for a large heel pad isn't a bad price, provided I can't find a cheaper rubber mat to cut up and glue down.
letterman7
Honorary Admin
Ohh.. that's interesting. I've been trying to figure out how to make "regular" floor mats but I can't quite grasp how to do the edge. I tried this stuff as they were local: https://www.bondproducts.com/instabind/ (and a real interesting story behind the owners and where I physically live, but that's another thread), but I couldn't get the stuff to stick right to that particular HD carpet as I tried binding the edges next to the tunnel. It's ok, but not great. Maybe something that wasn't rubber-backed might hold better.
Peter
Active member
I tried several products over the years and none really came up to snuff, the only way is to sew binding tape to the face of the carpet, tuck it around the edge and sew or glue to the underside.
I also found that DIY store carpet good, I paid about $8 a liner meter 3m wide off the roll, cheap as chips as we say. Spray glue on both surfaces, wait a few seconds then press in place, a hot air gun on the rubberised back and you can mould it almost any shape. For tricky joints, overlap the two parts and using a craft knife cut through BOTH parts then remove the cut-offs and, bingo, perfect joint.
main floor is alloy checker plate.
I also found that DIY store carpet good, I paid about $8 a liner meter 3m wide off the roll, cheap as chips as we say. Spray glue on both surfaces, wait a few seconds then press in place, a hot air gun on the rubberised back and you can mould it almost any shape. For tricky joints, overlap the two parts and using a craft knife cut through BOTH parts then remove the cut-offs and, bingo, perfect joint.
main floor is alloy checker plate.
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Thanks Peter, good to know someone has used the DIY carpet in the past with decent results, and Yes, cheap as chips 
I've been going over the HOW TO in my head the last 2 days on the best way to lay the carpet so it sits nice, flush and pretty over the tunnel down the sides, across the floor and down into the 5" drops. As of now, this is the plan...
Find dead center of the carpet and match it to dead center of the tunnel. Put a few short & small screws through the carpet into the tunnel to hold it in place so I can tug and manipulate where needed.
Please excuse the crudeness of my art... I didnt have time to draw it to scale
Form the carpet over the tunnel and down the sides. At this point I'll probably need a long sturdy straight edge (2x4 or 4ft level) and form the 90° as it meets the floor pan. I haven't tried heating the carpet from the finished side so I might have to lift, heat, form, cool, repeat all the way down the tunnel. Just going to have to see how that goes. Because of the way the tunnel flares out at the back, I'll have to heat the carpet and do some of that tugging and manipulating I mentioned. I think this is going to be the hardest part, but we'll see.
I think just trimming along the outer edge of the pan will do fine, but I'll think about the stuff that Rick posted the link to.
Cutting in for the floor drops could be tricky, I think I'll go this route, so there aren't any easily visible cuts or seams in the carpet. I'll cut the carpet at point A along the side of the tunnel back to line D. I'll cut along the outer rail following that line back to the line D cut. I'll cut some where in the middle of the A/D cut to the outer rail cut and fold those down into the pan, heat along line B and C. Then make up the difference in between with a small piece, maybe duct taped on the back side.
I'll cut a piece to run down the inside and outside of the seat pan drop (blue section). Again, the back of the pan, behind the seats could be tricky (purplish area), but I'll figure it out, eventually. Pictures eventually.
I've been going over the HOW TO in my head the last 2 days on the best way to lay the carpet so it sits nice, flush and pretty over the tunnel down the sides, across the floor and down into the 5" drops. As of now, this is the plan...Find dead center of the carpet and match it to dead center of the tunnel. Put a few short & small screws through the carpet into the tunnel to hold it in place so I can tug and manipulate where needed.
Please excuse the crudeness of my art... I didnt have time to draw it to scale
Form the carpet over the tunnel and down the sides. At this point I'll probably need a long sturdy straight edge (2x4 or 4ft level) and form the 90° as it meets the floor pan. I haven't tried heating the carpet from the finished side so I might have to lift, heat, form, cool, repeat all the way down the tunnel. Just going to have to see how that goes. Because of the way the tunnel flares out at the back, I'll have to heat the carpet and do some of that tugging and manipulating I mentioned. I think this is going to be the hardest part, but we'll see.
I think just trimming along the outer edge of the pan will do fine, but I'll think about the stuff that Rick posted the link to.
Cutting in for the floor drops could be tricky, I think I'll go this route, so there aren't any easily visible cuts or seams in the carpet. I'll cut the carpet at point A along the side of the tunnel back to line D. I'll cut along the outer rail following that line back to the line D cut. I'll cut some where in the middle of the A/D cut to the outer rail cut and fold those down into the pan, heat along line B and C. Then make up the difference in between with a small piece, maybe duct taped on the back side.
I'll cut a piece to run down the inside and outside of the seat pan drop (blue section). Again, the back of the pan, behind the seats could be tricky (purplish area), but I'll figure it out, eventually. Pictures eventually.
letterman7
Honorary Admin
You can do it in two pieces, Nic. Simply take a piece larger than the width of the pan (yellow, orange, green and purple) and longer than the length, and glue it down, tucking it into the drops. Trim the edges as necessary around the perimeter. Take your second piece the width of A (pink) and same length, and trim to your drop. Or simply notch and place into position and then trim, whichever is easier. Since my pans are now full length I did a pull piece on the bottom and a full piece up each side, wrapping over the edge of the frame up to the fiberglass (actually, I think I covered the top of the fiberglass lip now that I think about it), and trimmed the edge with that trim stuff. It's not perfect, but it works. Behind the seat is a different story. I have a lot of little cuts and trimmed pieces covering those wonky curves and over the VIN and access plate. It's mostly fine, but could be better. If I think about it this weekend at Carlisle I'll shoot some photos.
Peter
Active member
I laid down the tunnel first with a 2" return onto the floor, then the sides (kick panels up to the dash) and under the door down to the floor, again with a 2" return including the sides of the drop in both cases and finally the foot-well in one piece from front to back, (until I chopped the front off and fitted the alloy), the rubber back stuff can be moulded to conform with the shape of the flange and floor. I used M8 x 30mm flat headed coach bolts to fix bolt the body to the chassis so no lumps in the carpet.