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MG MGB Technical - Carpet instalation

I am about to install a complete interior into my 74B, can anyone offer a suggestion on the glue to use on the carpets.
Thank you.
Hilary

I've used 3M spray on adhesive. There is a heavy duty type that works well, especially for things like the heat pads under the bonnet.
D.M.D. Drummond

Speaking from experience be careful if you are drilling the floor to attach the press studs. Having been used to a midget for 15 years I completely forgot the battery cable runs under the floor. Result:- lots of sparks, burning underseal & a written off BGT! Happily I've since recomissioned it on the insurance, and made a small profit, but was extremely lucky batteries and/or fuel tank didn't go up.

I know this may seem obvious to many but if it stops one person making the same, stupid, mistake it's worth it.

Cheers,

Dave
Dave

Hilary,
Put new carpet in my B about three ago. Used the Moss brush on adhesive. Has held up great so far.
Dave
Dave Kalp

second that mistake, Dave. Embarrassed to admit I did it also, but got lucky and only nicked the cable and had to do some patching of cable and no other car damage.

3M has a whole line of spray adhesives if you go to really good hardware store. Also, the Header lining adhesive that most Autozones, Checker, Pep Boys etc. have works as well as it is designed for higher heat. With 3 M, however you can choose the level of ahesiveness you want...stronger for vertical stuff, less so for other.

J.T. Bamford

I'm so glad to learn I wasn't the only one who had ever pulled a Gomer like that. I was cutting the old rusted floorpans out with a reciprocating saw, when I cut into the hot wire between the battery and engine. Boy talk about sparks flying.

For my recent carpet install I used cheap contact cement applied with a brush. You gotta be sure of your positioning though, once down its down.
TDHoward

Done the Gomer thing too!! Although was spared--came within a thousand of an inch to the fuel line. Just scratched the pipe!

Hilary--I used professional carpet and flooring adhesive with a multi pointed trowel--used indoor/outdoor variety--the kind you use for astro turf. (water resistant/freeze thaw stable) Paul
Paul Hanley

3M spray adhesive worked great for me, and it's somewhat forgiving if you spray both mating surfaces lightly and let them set a bit before sticking them together (lightly, until you're certain it's where you want it to be.)

GO LIGHTLY on the adhesive! You really don't need much on most surfaces, even the vertical ones, to get the carpet to stay in place. (And make it easy on yourself or a future owner when there's a need to remove it again. If you go nuts with the adhesive, it's a royal pain to take off.)

In fact, if you've got a good quality carpet set, you don't need to use adhesive on the floor carpets at all. Under the seat, obviously, is held in place by the seats. I didn't use adhesive -- or the snaps -- on the front footwell pieces either. (I was lazy about the snaps, and I normally have one of the heavy rubber mats on top, which holds it down fine.)

If you don't glue down the floor carpets, it's a cinch to just take them out when (inevitably) you get it soaked, either because of an underdash leak or getting caught in a rain storm, top down.

There's nothing that will rust your floorboards quicker or make your car smell up faster than damp carpeting that won't dry. (Especially under the seats. I had a bad case of the "damps" this summer after a huge deluge, but it was easy enough to pull the seats out, take out the carpet and dry it. Can't do that if you use adhesive!)

Paul, what were you expecting, a nuclear blast to rip the carpet out of your B? :o)
Kim de B

To clarify, I only glued the eight pieces to the car: 2 wheel arches, 2 wheel arch filler pieces, both side rails (rubber) and starter cover (rubber) and the vertical piece to the back shelf. And righto Kim--they aint comming off! Personnal experience led me to throw my MG logo rubber mats in the trash. They will rot your floorboards if you have a daily driver and are not very dilligent about removing them to allow trapped moisture to evaporate. And as a bonus prize, the trapped moisture will mold and rot your carpets for free. The proper clips are a bitch to install (if only the spikes were a 16th of an inch longer, all would be right with that part of the world but nooo!) but well worth the effort. Just be careful where you drill.

Paul
Paul Hanley

Thank you all for your comments, as I removed the old floor coverings to clean up.... I found a few small rust holes under the seats were the PO had let the inside of the car get wet and with the rubber mats, well you all know the end results.
So here's another one kept on the roads.
Note: MGB,74 purple, with autumn leaf interior. With the black rubber overriders on the crome bumpers.
Hilary

I hope you don't intend to glue the floorboard carpets down. Big mistake in almost every convertible that leaks which means every British car except for the newer Jags:(
Mike MaGee

I find the heavy rubber mats in the footwells do more good than harm on top of the footwell carpets, keeping them clean and catching any of the usual small drips from under the dash. If it ever gets real wet, all the pieces come out (insulation, carpet and rubber) until everything is dry.

One common reason for rust under the seats are the cockamanie
wooden packing strips under the seat rails, which will absorb water and slowly rot away themselves and the floorboard. Do yourself a favor before you put the seats back in on new carpet and replace the wooden strips with aluminum or heavy PVC plastic strips.
Kim de B

Kim,

Right one the money with cockamanie strips.
They'll rot quickly, unless of course, you paint them before install. Recommend polyuerathane or spray clear coat.
In the MG spirit, it's the only wood left in the design. I say keep'em. Consider how lucky all of us B folks are. At least we don't have to worry about termite damage! :)

Cheers--Paul
Paul Hanley

This thread was discussed between 29/01/2004 and 31/01/2004

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