Carpets - Help required please!

[Iain]

My sister-in-law and I are just about to do the carpeting in the Cobra and it would really help us if people would post some pictures of how their cars have been carpeted. General pictures would be appreciated but if people have photographed the following specific areas then that would help me out big time! -

• Panel behind the seats
• Transmission Tunnel
• Floor carpet

I think that the side walls is a relatively straight forward job but the above mentioned areas will require binding/piping etc.

Many Thanks...

[JonnyT]

Hi Iain,

I don't have any pics because I'm doing a Dax. However, I have just watched the guy that carpeted ours so I can give you some idea of the way that he did it. Basically, it is no different from laying a carpet in a room, save for the fact that there tend to be more bends!!

The way he did it was to make templates for where it was completely flat, but nowhere else. for the other areas cut another piece of carpet, over size and temporarily stick it with spray adhesive, then with a sharp knife, or scissors where possible, slowly cut away until it makes the shape. Then trim the edge and stick as usual.

He's done all of our carpet like that and it looks really good (well I think so anyway!)

Jon

[kevchard]

Hi Iain
I started by running a length of carpet to cover the horizontal part of the passenger footwell, then did the same for the drivers footwell.
Next i made up the vertical drop by the door reveal.
Next i did the transmission tunnel (from the front of the dash to the 'parcel shelf'.
Next i did a bit from bulkhead to meet with transmission tunnel handbrake bit (vertical).
Finally i made a false 'parcel shelf' out of hardboard and covered this in one piece of acoustic carpet.
All the internal panels of the cockpit i made out of 6mm plywood so i could then cover them all individually with carpet without them being in the car.
I used the thickest wallpaper lining paper in Wickes and used this to make the templates before starting on carpet itself.
If you want to ring me please PM me and i will talk you through my method.
Cheers and good luck.
Kevin

[Dek]

Iain
I did the carpets on my Viper (photos on the Cobretti web site) and although the ex-Aston Martin trimmer who covered the seats, door panels and trans tunnel was apprehensive about me doing the carpets because the interior would have his name on it (don't f***ing muller it up!) he now wants photos to show his customers. I think it turned out alright. Because you have a Viper and you can't buy ready cut carpets think of this as an opportunity. Most kits that have ready made carpets don't look as professional because every panel is edged so that anybody can fit them. This invariably means that you can't get tight joins where panels meet. You will get a more professional finish by butting up (not an offence!) and need less edging into the bargain.
The hardest bit I thought was going to be the footwells but in the end it turned out to be the easiest. I bought some flexible composite interior sheet from the kit car show (the seller said it was off-cuts from the Toyota factory but anything similar would do) and made panels to fit on the chassis rails in the footwell. This gives a flat surface and saves time trying to carpet over the rails and into the recess. Fill the recess by the way with aluminium foil covered felt to reduce heat. These panels make a nice interference fit and don't need securing-great if you need to remove them. Once cut and fitted remove them and use as the template for the carpet-easy! Another tip spray adhesive is ok for small areas but don't use it on large panels eg behind the seat it will come off. I used a brush on contact adhesive (obtained locally and used by the trimmer).
I live in Northampton and if you would like to come over just PM me otherwise I could send some photos.
Dek