Build 66. Cockpit Carpet and Tunnel Cover

Having had the car for a year, I have since removed the Duramat from under the seats (I used a freezing spray and plastic pallet knife, followed by some tar remover to bring back the original black finish) and removed the glued carpet. I bought some Tillet spacers which raise the seat fixing bars up a little, and then put the seats back in. I then cut the same carpet mats to size so they slide in nicely under the seats and still give the cockpit that nice carpeted feel.

I did this because after driving through biblical rain, they got drenched, and I needed an easy way to get them dry without having to remove the seats. I would advise this approach now if you want full carpets to work for you.

I've just got back from holiday and I now need to get it finished. Before I went I booked my IVA for the first week in September, and also booked the PBC for mid August. This will easily give me enough time to get it finished, but I'd rather get it finished sooner rather than later so I can tweak anything that is not quite right, so on with the interior!

All I have left inside is the carpet, tunnel cover and seats. As before, I plan to add a bit more sound proofing/insulation to make it a little more comfortable in the cockpit, this can be removed at a later date and so I decided it was worth it to see if it makes any difference.

For the tunnel sides, I added the extra sound proofing, which will also help keep the heat from the tunnel away from the cockpit as well. I also decided at this point to check if any of the rivets were sharp. The ones which were were ground away carefully using a Dremel and any aluminium showing through was simply touched up with Hammerite. The carpet had already been laid out flat for at least a month with some weight on it, so I had no issues with how flat it was when fixing it in place, I used spray glue on both the tunnel and the back of the carpet and attached as per the adhesive instructions. All that was left to do was trim the top once it was dry.

I'm happy with the dynamat inside the cockpit on the tunnel sides, rear bulkhead and under the rubber mats, however I have since removed the dynamat from under the seats, and made the carpet "easy" to remove because at some point it will get wet and it is nice to be able to just remove the carpet piece to allow it to dry. more on this later.

Next up was the floor carpet, in the end I decided to use the same approach with some sound proofing/insulation before laying the carpet on top. Again this can be removed later if it is a problem, but I figured it was worth a try first to make things more civilised in the cockpit!

I wouldn't bother with it under the seats as per my post at the top, instead raise the seat bars up a little using Tillet spacers, then cut the carpet so it can slide in and out easily, allowing you to pull it out to dry it when it gets wet (which is rare, but it will happen!)

I have the lowered floors and as such one edge of the carpet needs to be trimmed off (the side nearest the tunnel). The left over I then used to fill in the 30mm gap at the back so I could make the carpet fit all the way up to and under the cross member in front of the seat.

Holes were marked and punched where the seat runners need fixing, I also took the time to order some more countersunk black bolts that were 5mm longer than the CC supplied ones as the carpet and insulation would of course make the join thicker.

Once all this was in place, I used rivets to secure the tunnel cover into place and then trimmed the carpet to the top ready for the tunnel cover.

Timelapse