Boot Carpets

The last bits of carpet to install are for the boot.  There are quite a few pieces, so I laid them out and tried to figure out what they all were.

Since I have a larger fuel tank than normal, I asked Meena to add on material to the standard carpet so it would fit my tank.  This was done so the seam is on the edge of my tank.

I started loosely laying all the pieces in to see how they fitted.  I realised I was going to have to create a cover over the top of my fuel pumps just to fully protect them.  Also, where the fuel hoses run and I have a couple of valves in a void on the passenger side, this would be best closed in.  At the driver's side, this is a perfect size to hold my Windows 10 tablet in it's case, so this will remain empty.

Using some 20mm plywood, I cut a perimeter support around the pump assembly.  Then upcycling an old Land Rover Series 3 hardtop, I cut a piece of aluminium as the cover.  I stuck on some loop velcro on the bottom, and glued the rest with a mix of superglue for the wood, and CT-1 for the rest.  I sprayed it black although nobody will see it.  I used some edging strip to protect the wires / hoses.

For the side void, I just cut a piece of aluminium and screwed it onto the bodyshell.  Again, edging strip was used for the wires.

Now that everything was ready to go, I felt the easiest bits of carpet to start with were the upper side pieces - these go behind the outer roll hoop bar onto the rear wheel arch.  Minimal trimming required.  A bit of triming required on the leatherette flap around the roll hoop, and on the passenger side a bit of trimming due to my fuel pump cover.

Carpets were all glued in using EvoStick Timebond.

The next pieces I chose to glue in were the rear corners.  These are quite odd shaped, but are flat and require to curve compoundly.  With the floor carpet in place (Mine doesn't fit since my tank is bigger - need modificaiton!) as well as the rear panel, I marked where the rear quarters best fitted to ensure everything was covered.  These were glued in with the help of a clamp.  I trimmed pieces out of the carpet to aid the curvature and remove the ripples.

The main upper carpet which covers the top of the fuel tank as I mentioned had an extra section added in.  The seam fits at the correct location.  The only issue is, the side wings of the carpet are too short to cover the rear wheel arch.  So, I strategically cut the wings off the big carpet so that I could glue the wings on separately on the wheel arches.  The main carpet could fold around the fuel tank around 50mm so you can't tell from the boot opening that the carpet has been cut.  For the passenger side, I glued in off cuts to fully cover the new aluminium panel and the side of the fuel tank.  I have left the driver's side for my tablet.

For the main carpet, it has pre-cut holes for the roll hoops which velcro closed.  This needed minimal tweaking to fit due to my fuel pumps.  I glued the edga along the top of the tank and the front of the tank, but left the main part on top loose.  The carpet isn't too flexible, but through time it may follow the coutour of the fuel pump cover.

The boot floor carpet, the one that immediately meets you when you open the boot, is standard GD size.  Since my tank is bigger, I had to notch out the tank shape in the carpet.  I measured and marked a few times to double check I wasn't going to cut it wrong.  Once cut, it fits neatly up against the tank carpet.

For the rear section of carpet that covers the rear lights, this passes underneath the boot latch.  I had a look and felt that if I was to use self tappers, it would pass through to the outside...  I decided to mould in a boss with stainless nuts.  I set everything in position and made a mould and laid in P40, and then P38 fibreglass.  I left this to cure and then sanded it down a bit.  The boot latch now fixes using button head set screws.

The final part for the boot was to fit the seal and also some edge trim.  The seal is an adhesive type so I just slowly stuck it on - I made the join line up with the boot striker rather than the centre of the car.  I felt that having a different line might make it all look askew!  The seals and edging strip faily finish off the boot area.  All in all, a good job, and the boot is still big enough to get a lot of stuff in it.

More Carpets & Handbrake Lever

After I got the fibreglass cut, and the rear carpet piping cut off, I was able to fit and glue the rear carpet, and both side carpets.  I have also fitted the edging around the door opening.  The door opening and the carpet sewing don't line up 100%, so I managed to manipulate what I could to get it as looking as good as I could.

The footwell carpets could then be laid in and holes cut in them for the safety harness eye bolts to pass through them.

I bolted in the handbrake bracket complete with handbrake lever.  This was spaced off slightly using washers on the top holes so there is room for your knuckles between the side of the car.

I put on the leather cover and also the stainless finisher around the base which neatens it up.

The leather cover will be rolled back and tied so that the hand grip is revealed.  I stuck the front footwell carpets down with some double sided velcro, so we will see how it manages to hold on through time, and if I ever need to remove them.

Side Carpets

I started looking at the fitment of the side carpets. As mentioned, mine seemed a bit different to some of the others I'd seen with mine having vertical piping at the rear meaning my side pieces had to go in after the rear bulkhead carpet.  

I played around with the rear carpet positioning and for best overall fitmant I cut off the upper piping to allow it to tuck right up and under the rear bulkhead lip.  This will be covered by the leather backing so you won't be able to see it anyway.  As mentioned before, the carpet seemed slightly too big so when in place, it held off the rear leather panel and the tunnel cover and you couldn't quite squeeze everything together.

Once the rear carpet was in a good position, I could look at the side carpets and the fibreglass just behind the doors.  I had to keep in mind the finisher that would be used to cover the rear door seal also to try and work out how it was all going to come together.

With the carpets in and out and looking and feeling it was clear that there was too much bulk just behind the passengers shoulder area at the end of the rear leather panel.  I marked out the section of fibreglass using masking tape and a sharpie.  Sections were cut out using a grinder, and the carpet re-tried and the fibreglass trimmed further to suit.  Once done, the edges were filed to allow a smooth transition.

The carpets have been in and out, pushed and pulled but are now looking good where they lay.

Trying carpet fitment to see how it lies

 

Tunnel Vision

After a while of looking, repositioning, pulling, pushing, I wasn't happy with the tunnel carpet piping for where it follows the fibreglass shell.  With the leather placed on the top, the angle of the piping, tunnel and leather didn't quite line up and just wasn't right.  No matter what way you pushed and pulled to try and keep the tunnel carpet correct at the rear and at the correct angle of transmission tunnel I had to do something drastic.

After a bit of persuasion from a friend, I decided to slice a strip out of the tunnel carpet - the join will be under the leather tunnel cover so you won't be able to see it.  

I marked the centre line with chalk then cut the carpet in two - no turning back now!  We then positioned each side of the tunnel carpet until it lined up better with all the angles - the piping ends up up and under the leather cover.  That is the best position for fitment.  Once both sides were done, I then cut through both layers of carpet where they overlapped which meant that the carpet joints butt up to one another.

With the strip removed (Approx 50mm), and the carpet pulled up a bit the piping will not be seen.  I also had to re-cut the gear lever hole due to the split, and also we ended up moving the carpet further back to improve it's apperance so required a bit more trimming.  I will glue in an insert at the gear lever prior to leather panel install to keep it all the same level.  The carpet was glued using EvoStick - that's the tunnel piece in!

Cut line (Centre line) marked ready for cutting

Tunnel Carpet glued in position

Leather

I set on the leather pieces to try and see how they interact with the carpet pieces.  These are leather covered fibreglass and so are pretty much fixed in size.

These were set in with the tunnel and rear carpets in position.

The rear carpet has piping on the bottom which needs to fold onto the tunnel because of the size of the carpet.  With this length the leather topper either needs to sit underneath the piping, or on top.  A bit of a play around to see what looks best.. 

Since the leather tunnel topper is a fixed size, I marked and cut out for the gear lever.  I used a hole saw to go through the fibreglass and then a knife for trimming the leather.  I sealed the cut using a hot glue gun as I didn't want the leather's stitching to undo - although the gear lever stainless ring should hold it all in place.

Carpets

I thought I had better set all the carpets in to try and figure out what piece goes where.  There are a lot of different pieces!

Everybody else seems to start with the tunnel - so I thought I would start with that.  It was too long to fit in my cockpit, so the first step was to cut it to length.  I had to figure out where the taper fitted the tunnel best, then I could get a measurement to the rear to be able to cut it.  Once this was done the front and sides could be cut to length.  I then cut out the hole for the gearlever.

I laid in the side carpets and also rear caprpet to see how it was all going to line up with each other and also the fibreglass bodywork at the hinges and door closer.  Not going to be easy!  

Some of the piping appeared to be different to other builders, and the rear panel appeared slightly big.  I do have the sound deadening installed, but that shouldn't make it too different.  A bit more head scratching required.