Hey guys....I have a m***ive ****** tunnel that looks like it belongs in a HUMMER! Anyway...I would love to have it carpeted.....what options do I have?? How do I go about forming/molding the carpet over the tunnel? I would guess the thinner the carpet the better...how about marine grade carpet? Any advice/suggestions would be great!...Thanks in advance.
my brother had the same problem and i cut the pieces out and sewed them together worked great on his.looks realy nice and fit nice. hope that helps
back in the 70`s guys who had vans use to cut and glue carpet to parts much like a trans tunnel.I have a van book that shows the rear wheels well done and how they did it.look really good.might be a idea.
I remember seeing someone years ago using steam. He cut the carpet over-sized, then started at the centerline of the car, using some kind of steam-gun, gradually forming over the ******-tunnel first, working his way out. After it was formed, he trimmed all the edges.
I molded some myself for a few Studebakers and older Mustangs. I don't know if this works in all cases, but it sure worked well for me. What keeps a carpet in a flat shape and keeps it from bending and curving? It's the stiffness of the woven backing. You know, the backing that looks like potato sack material. I figured that if I could get the backing to be more flexible, or at least get some of the fibers to loosen up the grip on the fibers next to them..... Well, it could probably take a different shape. You know when you work with fibergl*** mat, it is stiff for a while until the resin "melts" the agent that holds the fibers together. When the resin soaks into the spaces around the gl*** fibers, loosens up the "glue" that held the fibers together, it becomes very easy to shape. Ditto with many other fibers including woven patterns. I figured if I got the carpet wet or at least made the backing wet with a solvent or something, the fibers would be a bit more free to stretch or squeeze, or slide into other shapes. I turned the carpet upsidedown, took some paper towels dripping and sopping wet with enamel paint thinner and rubbed the backing fibers. I kept getting the towels wet, and kept wetting the carpet backing with them for several minutes. Then I flipped the carpet back over and with leather gloves, started pounding the carpet into the shapes over the actual transmission tunnel. Took the carpet out, carefully soaked it some more from the back side, put it back in and pounded it again. LO AND BEHOLD, it started loosening up and taking the shapes of the high and low areas to ALMOST match the floorboard shapes. Since I couldn't get it to stay quite all the way into the deepest of the low spots (just like with sheetmetal you sometimes have to go a little past the shape you want and then let the material "return" slightly to the shape you DO want), I marked an area and then pounded that area a little deeper using a different shape outside of the car. Once I laid the spot I wanted deeper on a couple soft couch cushions, pouned the area and then checked the shape in the car again. I know it sounds strange, and I have always worried about solvent stains on the carpet itself, but I have never found any staining yet, and so far the amount of stretching I have done, I haven't torn through or wrinkled any of the carpets yet. I guess you can relate it to comparing a fender made with a factory stamping press to a fender that was shaped with a sandbag and leather mallet. I know some critics will laugh, bend their wrists and say "how UNproffessional" and point out how it can't work, or tell me it will "work-harden" so the car will go up in flames and crash, but it has worked well for me so far. If you get rough and somehow tear the carpet, don't blame me. You must sign a liability waiver and mail it to me before you can use my method. Safety Warning- Do not ingest or chew on carpet soaked with solvent. Do not smoke. Do not drink solvent while working on carpet. Do not incinerate or throw leftovers in fireplace. Do not drive while trying to install carpet. Do not leave solvent on dinner table where it can be mistaken for something else. If you need these warnings written in Spanish, or Japanese, or Chinese, or something else you're just out of luck.
Actually, the easiest way to do this would be "wrap it" like a stereo box up the sides. Basicly glue up the sides with a little up/over the top and bottom. Then sew trim around a piece matching the top and glue it down. Easy, and cheap. Even if you cant sew, I would ***ume you can cut out the carpet, then take it somewhere to have a trim edge sewn around it.
I vote for soaking but just try boiling water (not nearly as dangerous ). The application of extreme, moist heat should soften the fibers enough to begin reshaping. If you can fab a "die" that conforms to your floor design and apply pressure along with the heat and moisture it will really help. You'll need lots of weight though. Steve
Automotive carpet does not have any backing on it. It's tufted that way because you don't need the dimensional stability as you do in regular carpet, and it allows it to contour to odd shapes. I am a retired carpeting contractor with 35 years experience. Contact cement, and a razor knife. Change the blade often. That's all you need. Added: Why in the **** do I even bother....? I have installed well over a MILLION square feet of carpet, in California, Arizona, Hawaii, Samoa, and Japan. I know these other guys are trying to help you, but sometimes experience is worth considering. Thirty five years, and over a million square feet. Think about it...
as sharp as the corners are on your tunnel it might be hard to mold over without wrinkles. you could make a cover for the center tunnel, lay carpet on the floors letting it go up on the tunnel and let the tunnel cover overlap. a few screws will hold the top cover on. the carpet sews easier then you think because most carpet isn't that heavy. that is how i did my bros car and it looks great. take your time any youl be suprised how nice you can make it look.
How about seem it, leave the sides of the tunnel one piece, the top another and seem the top of both sides with a band of leather about 3" wide. That way the edges will wear in, it would be fairly easy to sew, if the leather wears out, replace that section of leather or carpet.
take the entire transmission tunnel, cover it in several layers of duct tape, now take some fibergl*** matt, soak it in resin , and start forming pieces over the tunnel, after you've done several layers, and let it cure, the duct tape will allow you to pop it off. remove and throw away the tape, you now have a fibergl*** piece that fits the tunnel perfectly. get some automotive carpet, not house carpet, you don't need the stiff backing. now start forming and cutting carpet to fit the fibergl***, you can glue it right to the piece. you may have to cut the fibergl*** into a couple of pieces lengthwise. when you are done, you have carpeted pieces that fit the tunnel . you can use some universal upholstery push clips to anchor the completed piece to the car, yet still be able to remove . to make the carpeted pieces, use wide masking tape to form a pattern on the gl***, this lets you figure out how to cut the carpet to make it all lay down neatly. you transfer the masking tape pieces to the carpet to cut it. It's kind of hard to explain unless you have done it a lot.
There is a cheap unbacked carpet used for lining boat hulls ,motorhome walls and speaker boxes.This can be glued and stretched to cover ANY shape As long as you only use this on the trans hump and use a better grade carpet on the floors it will be fine
Thanks for the suggestions! I like the idea of using 3 sections...two sides, one top and joining it with a leather type strapping....Then again...using speaker box carpet is another option as well!! My wife even mentioned covering it in vinyl. Who knows!!! I might just carpet the sides and put a piece of polished aluminum on the top!
this is off topic and not meant to offend anyone, just posting it for the technical information. I did one of the major interior pieces in the back of my hatch using the upholstered fibergl*** method, it would have been nearly impossible to do any other way, I had to cover multiple compound curves, i gl***ed an identical panel with the clearances i needed built into it, then took the finished fibergl*** piece, cut it into sections, upholstered each section, then installed them back in with push upholstery clips. this method would work on your transmission hump as well, i use duct tape over the base material, because the resin won't stick to it. finish the part and it pops off. you could even mold in something to hold drink cans etc, then the clearance will be in the finished piece. here's a link to the project on my site. http://losts86hatch.tripod.com/id15.html
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