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, Wed, 12 Feb 2014 07:07:31
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I have pondered this. Agree with Chris Myles about OEM.
It seems the problem that bothers the most is that the plastic that is bonded to the back of the formed carpet and gives it shape and waterproofness breaks down where there's lots of pressure, mainly under the driver's right heel.
It seems a lot like the plastic that milk jugs are made of and I wonder if, with carpet out and upside down, suitably supported, you could use a heat gun to bond a sheet of plastic from a milk jug down onto the backing and the intact plastic around a weak place.
If so, maybe a good careful worker could hand stitch in a patch for worn or broken areas from good same-color passenger side or back seat carpets from a donor car, then seal the back side down onto the surrounding original backing.
You might even experiment making your own form for shaping the repair properly, putting a sheet of light plastic down over original carpet, making a crude wooden support armature, then filling the gaps between the wood and plastic-covered carpet with foam-in-a-can. I see this stuff used a lot as packing material, sprayed into cheap light-gauge plastic shopping bags. It form fits between whatever is being shipped and the inside of the box.
Originals are I think vacuum-formed over a mold, or pressed between two forms. The carpet is first cut and trimmed to fit properly, then that plastic that backs it is applied and melted into the carpet backing when it's pressed to shape.
Even with perfect carpet you also have to pay some attention to the rubber-topped foam padding below it, about all of it badly broken down under heavy pressure areas. You can cut patches for this out of rear or passgr. side underlayment, cut them in to replace sections of the original. Then maybe duct taping the seams would be good enough, if the seams themselves aren't under any pressure areas. If that foam rubber stuff's no good your like-new carpet will quickly go to heck.
I'm also intrigued by those radio ads from the founder of Weather-Tech (Tek?) floor mats, and his made-in-USA pitch. Guess I'll check out their web site today.
posted by 71.173.71...
, Wed, 12 Feb 2014 07:03:37, Wed, 12 Feb 2014 07:35:19, Wed, 12 Feb 2014 07:41:48
, Wed, 12 Feb 2014 04:05:55, Wed, 12 Feb 2014 08:12:26, Wed, 12 Feb 2014 07:07:31
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