Carpeting the 'tunnel

[Merv and Sharon]

Thinking about carpeting the interior along the transmission tunnel.

I will get a carpet specialist to do this part (I have made up some marine ply panels for the floor that will be the removable backing attached to the floor carpets), but should it go along the tunnel, or across? Most cars that I see have the carpet coming down the tunnel with edges on the top side. Are there any pics of ones that have the carpet across the tunnel with no top edges? Also what types of carpet have been found to be the most durable - given the sun the rain and feet?

Merv

[Merv and Sharon]

Things must be busy out there! Any thoughts about the types of carpet that are best?

Merv

[Ron61]

Merve,

I don't have any pictures of mine that I can find since I sold it, but I had the carpet covering the whole tunnel with sewn edges along the bottom where it met the floor carpet. I even had it done right up around the hole for the shifter and the chrome ring looked good on it. I will look through some CDs that I have and see if I have any pictures of the interior. But three of us here carpeted the tunnel that way and they all worked out great.

Ron

[Merv and Sharon]

That would be great thanks Ron. I am thinking of doing it the same way. I am also thinking that a nylon carpet may be better, given the strong chance of it getting wet from time to time?

Merv

[C0braed]

Have you looked at marine carpet?

[Merv and Sharon]

Originally Posted by C0braed

Have you looked at marine carpet?

Yes I have and it seems rather coarse - Ok for side panels or backing behind seats but the floor?? I was wondering how wool carpets of good quality would stand up to the sun, rain and so on, on the floor and tunnel.

Merv

[sambo]

Merv, I was thinking that a bit of rainwater will be dried out by the exhaust heat rising through the floor from underneath. The trick would be to make sure you don't park the car in the shed for weeks after a getting caught in a deluge - which only happens in Melbourne about once a year!

You can also buy marine "midget" vents that you could mount in the floor to allow for drainage if you're really concerned. See below. They might even help draw air through the footwells and keep the temps down.



Cheers,
Paul

[Merv and Sharon]

These look great Paul. I heard about them the other day. A venturi effect I guess. I have some similar ones in my Laser sailing dingy. Will get some for the Cobra.

There are many side effects of global warming and they are all seen as being negative. Well it seems to me that there are some positives. Melbourne's weather now is great by my recent experience and nothing like it was in the late 60's and early 70's when I lived there!

Merv

[Ron61]

Merve,

I used a high grade nylon carpet and had my car for 12 years and out in our 115+ degree days and it never faded at all. Only got it wet once by dropping a gallon jug of water on it, but it dried right out and left no stain or ring at all. Actually I was very happy with it and the way it stood up as the car was used a lot. I looked in my gallery and all I have are a few shots of the car.

Ron

[Merv and Sharon]

I think that the nylon makes sense Ron. Hey I just realised that it never rains in CA!

I like the car you had and the great photo of Shelby with the coupe!

Merv

[Ron61]

Thanks Merve,

I hope to get the Coupe back one of these days. I am having a lot of work done to it. And the guy is just dragging his feet.

Here is one picture that I found which shows some ofmy tunnel and the dash.



Ron

[cameron02]

I used to sell carpet to builders so here goes.

Nylon = Looks great, has soft feel, reasonably hard wearing, will burn or melt a bit. Used in the majority of homes these days.

Wool = Looks great, has soft feel, very hard wearing, excellent heat insulation, wont melt, wont burn, pretty expensive. Not used in homes as much as it was due to price but is still the most desirable. Common in commercial buildings due to hard wearing and fire resistance.

Polypropalene = Looks pretty good, has rough feel, extremely hard wearing, melts easily {(dont get it if you smoke) a cigerette could easily melt a hole in it}, cheap price, commonly used in holiday homes or by people on a tight budget.

Marine or hospital grade = Looks vary (usually this carpet is very thin so that it can be hosed down on a boat or moped in a hospital) but you can get some unusual patterns, Extremely hard wearing, easy to clean and does not matter if it gets wet, it wont rot or get water marks as wool and nylon can.

Underlays = In homes and Commercial buildings rubber is almost always used. Most of it is made by Bridgestone. You can get different thicknesses and styles depending on what you want. Felt is now uncommon eccept for cars.
Auto carpet suppliers have plain felt (conpacted wool) or felt with a layer of bitumen in between for sound deadening. Felt is great for reducing heat but will mean that you will need to pull your carpet up if it gets wet. Then again you will probably have to do that anyway if you dont want the floor to rust out.

Some carpet places sell groovy patterns. I remember we used to have leopard and zebra patterns. Soooo many bedrooms were done with leopard skin pattern

[cameron02]

If you look at the picture Ron has posted you will see that Ron has had the carpet overlocked. Overlocking is essentially stitching over the ends of the carpert so it wont frey and it looks good. Overlocking a section like Rons can be done for around $20. The reason most people overlock that section (me included) is that it is much easier to use 2 sections here because the upper section of the trans tunnel is so much wider than the lower part. Because it widens so fast it would be very difficult to use a single piece without have creases or folds. Hence why car manufactures us molded carpets.

In my last post about the different carpets I forgot to mention auto carpet
Auto cartpet is rubber backed so that it is tough and tends to be stiffer and hold its shape on unusual angles.

[Merv and Sharon]

Leopard skin carpet in the bed rooms? Along with the water bed I guess.

Many thanks Cameron for this helpful run down on carpet types. The marine carpet that I have seen is mostly ribbed and not plain but I suppose that is around too.
I have done the side panels and back panel in black auto carpet and now have to decide on the floor and tunnel section. I like the way that Ron was it done across the tunnel rather than along the tunnel, if that makes sense. It is as you say a specialist job!

Merv

[Philm]

HI Merv,
I have run the carpet along the tunnel and just wrapped it over the egdge about 40mm. I then covered the join on the sides with a 10mm wide aluminium strip.

Just another option. This is the best pic I could find that shows what I have done.






Thanks

Phil

[Merv and Sharon]

Thanks Phil. That seems a simple, but effective solution. That 'passenger' of yours looks interesting...

Merv

[cameron02]

Phil needs it next to him so he can fit the face mask.