Mk 3 Carpets

[Gazzab]

Just trying to fit carpets but the method described in the sumo manual seems to refer to the Mk2 version? in that the photo`s and descriptions are different to the carpets supplied i.e. the book describes fitting 2 long strips first on the outer cill area not supplied in my set. Does any one if this is true that the manual describes mk2??

Gary

[robinj66]

Yep - looks like you're right.

Best to use your best guess and dry fit everything (as much as you can) first

[Marty V6]

Originally Posted by robinj66

Yep - looks like you're right.

Best to use your best guess and dry fit everything (as much as you can) first

'Pilgrim carpets' and 'fit' in the same sentence. Its the only time the two will go together. I had an absolute b@$tard of a job trying to get mine to fit. They arent cut very well to suit the car. I wondered at the time whether I had got a mkII set for my MKIII. The back panel carpet that sits behind the seats - not even close to fitting without surgery. The manual I have for the MKIII also has a lot of reference pictures from the MKII in it, not only for the interior, so you're not alone in being confused as to why it doesnt look right.

As has been stated, trial fit as much as poss, and pay attention to where the joints are, as I found that some of them overlap significantly, raising the height of the carpet - effectively a double height seam. I ended up cutting one of the seams off a couple of the joints just to get them to sit properly.

When you cut the carpets, use a very sharp knife - obvious, but if it starts to drag through the material, it will end up pulling the backing material through, or pulling out chunks of carpet, which will allways show.

When you are putting the carpets down, arrange them so that the position of the joints are out of sight as much as poss e.g. for the joint that runs up and over the transmission tunnel in front of the dashboard - lay the bit of carpet that goes under the dash and forward bulhead first, and then follow that with the main bit that runs the length of the transmission tunnel next, and overlap on top of the first piece if you need to. That way the joint between the two will be covered by the seam, and will help to hide from the eyesight of anyone looking into the car, any inaccuracies in the cut.

The thing that hacks me off about the carpets is that this is one of the areas that is on constant view - the suspension might not work, but at least its out of sight - and the fit of the carpets is pretty awful, especially for the price. If you balls it up a bit, its always on show, and the worse the initial fit, the bigger chance of a balls up. If I was doing it again, I would go to Woolies or somewhere similar and get a long single length and start from there. At least then, I wouldnt have the poor joint across the transmission tunnel, right in front of the bottom of the dashboard.

At least the glue made me happier whilst fitting the carpets - not a lot else did !!

Sorry to be negative on this one. Good luck with it.

Cheers

Marty

[chasm]

Hi Marty
Iam just about to cut and make my own carpets, I have removed the pilgrim ones and Iam thinking about doing away with the 2 pieces that cover the tunnel and making it to one.
Any thoughts would be appreciated thanks
Charlie

[Marty V6]

Charlie,
Cant really help as I used the Pilgrim carpets, as thats what I had bought - more fool me. If I were to try it again, I would make my own templates up maybe from heavyweight paper, or wall paper or something similar. First problem with trying to get the tunnel section from one piece is that the tunnel widens out to take the gearbox, so you may have to cut the sides vertically down to accommodate the joint where it starts to widen and just leave the top of the tunnel as one continuous length. You could seam the sides at the point where it widens. Just a thought. Try a couple of variations with different templates - they're cheaper than carpet. Also have a look at different Cobra interiors if possible, to see how others have done it.

Good luck with it.

Cheers Marty

[KevinW]

I did my own, as have others. Total cost cheaper than pilgrim and better quality. But cutting carpet does take time - i got pretty cheesed off (bored of cutting it) by the end. You can either make patterns and send off to get a trimmer to cut and bind, or cut them yourself. In the latter case a template is only an initial guide - much better to get the rough cut piece in place and then do a final trim in-situ with the aid of Taylor's Chalk.

Kevin

[Noel]

It is a well known fact the current carpet set is based on a Mk2 and they fit that well allegedly. It is just "unfortunate" that we all have Mk3's I suppose

[Gazzab]

Thanks all for your replies but i must have the only set that fit, no problems as yet just the back panel and floor to do, also the boot. Then i`m nearly ready for the sva.

Gary

[Rowly]

Lots of good ideas here, I had a few problems, but a bit of pushing & shoving & trimming seemed to make it work.
I had already decided to put leather behind the seats, as I didnt like the idea of vertical carpets. we don't have any in our house (but they are commonly used in padded cells)
I trimmed the carpet off at the top of the rear transmission tunnel, then made up a piece of curved ply to fit at the rear bulkhead, trimmed it with foam & leather (cost about £70). it works a treat, looks similar to the leather dash at the front.
the boot carpet only came halfway up the rear ply bulkhead panel that I had fitted, so Pilgrim sent me a spare bit Free of charge (well done Robin).
I am going to fit (eventualy) a quilted leather cover on top of the trans/tunnel carpet, so the only carpet seen will be on the floor.
The only unresolved thing is how to finish off the door gasket tidily, where it comes up near the top of the door (lock side). at the moment I have used the curved rounded end from a black staple gun!!!! (don't tell anyone)

[Rowly]

Here are the links to a couple of photo's of carpets

Image of Cobra - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
Image of Cobra - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting