Page last updated 21 April, 2003

Overview

The carpet is one of the most neglected areas in an M series TVR - basically it's such a large & complicated shape inside that most people leave this job until later in the restoration.

This applies to the car I have restored - just having finished it this week! I can immediately tell you that I have spent a good 9 working days getting everything cut to shape - so it's not for a weekend's lazy tinkering.

 

How much will you need?

I ordered 9 square metres on a roll from Coverdale carpets (which I found in Practical Classics magazine). This was enough (just) to do all the standard areas carpeted originally - except the special rear compartment lift-up cover. For that I will need another 2 square metres - so bank on using 11 sq.m for the car. Incidentally, Coverdale were extremely friendly, send a batch of sample colours/types & underfelt with no obligation to buy so that I could choose the correct colour blue. Types available are latex backed (cheapest), then hessian backed (mid. price), and lastly 20% wool on a latex backing (most expensive). I chose the latex cheap option as I found the backing to suit the complex cuts I was to make (hessian didn't seem to bend as easily - would have been difficult on the rear wheelarches). The 20% wool type was really nice - and I would recommend it for anyone who uses their car just for weekend days out, but this car is to be used for track days and plenty of blasts down country roads! Just for info, the 9 sq.m. cost £82 GBP which is really good considering the quality and amount ordered. Coverdale offer a cutting service as they don't have older TVR patterns, but as each car varies slightly I would recommend buying the roll and booking off a week & a half to cut/fit it...

Tools required

Plenty of sharp razor blades or Stanley knives - you can use scissors but they have to be really sharp. I use industrial single sided razor blades as that's what I'm used to - they're good for neat cuts when altering carpet in situ - but reckon on changing them every 2-3 pieces of carpet. Source of these razors are my local paint shop - see links page.

Impact or contact adhesive - the only glue worth using that will keep things in place. Don't bother with spray adhesive as supplied by carpet fitters (and Coverdale) - it loses it's grip when the car gets hot in the summer. I used this once for a headlining on a old Mini I owned (and only once!) - the whole thing fell over my head on a roundabout on a hot day!!! Source of this glue was Creech coachtrimmers, although I've since found that my local Wickes store sells it for around £7.00 GBP per large tin and it's just as good. Remember to apply glue to both surfaces, let it go tacky, then carefully fit carpet to floor. Each time you've finished applying the glue, replace the lid - otherwise it will go thick and you'll use more than you need to. I poured the glue into a 1 litre empty paint can, so I could easily get the brush covered, and this saved exposing all the glue to the air. Lastly, make sure sunroof & both doors are open - this stuff is what gets you high as a kite (or worse!).

Paint brushes - To apply the glue. Size depends on personal preference, but 1½" was my favourite.

Metal (preferably steel) ruler or cutting edge - invaluable when straight joins are required - without it you'll get gaps everywhere.

Matt black spray paint (small can) - may sound weird but as these cars are light coloured fibreglass (and somewhat translucent!) any slight gaps may show up if you have a dark coloured carpet. Spray the matt black under joins which threaten to show up too easily. I used this on the rear wheelarch as the double curve created some interesting razor work!

Patience - May not be a "tool" but if you rush the job it'll look bad, real bad! I tend to criticise my work no matter how good other people say it looks, which is probably a good attitude to take. Rushing may cause other problems apart from badly fitting pieces, like cuts to your fingers, glue on the carpet fibres (very difficult to remove) etc. Always make sure each piece fits exactly before getting the glue out.

 

Where to start

I started on the front footwells, as there are a lot of fiddly pieces to trim & glue, and space is severely restricted. With the doors fitted it's almost too difficult to get comfortable when fitting up, especially with all the bare fibreglass panels to get you itching. For this reason make sure you put a piece of spare carpet or newspaper so you can lie on that rather than the fibreglass.

For the offside footwell I decided to fit a piece of carpet as follows (and in this order):

Right angled piece to cover top right corner which sits below void which houses the top door fixing bolt in the engine compartment.

Flat piece for right hand panel (in front of door) from top to bottom, finishing where chassis rail protrusion starts (this enables a hidden joint)

Flat piece to transmission tunnel, from back to just in front of air vent - see picture to right for join line

Flat piece to rear of footwell

Strip to cover chassis protrusion

Strip to cover lower hinge

Strip to go from dashboard down to sill (in front of door shut).

The nearside footwell is the same, only in reverse, but fit a piece to the wiper motor body and the heater motor (which are too visible to the passenger to ignore).

 

I then worked back on the transmission tunnel, stopping at each angle with a straight cut. This may mean a bit of work to get each piece to join exactly, but trying to go round corners created too many creases.

Finishing off each compartment I added the sill piece under the door shut.

The rear sections were easy on the flat centre panel, but the rear wheelarches took some cutting! I put a piece on the top of each arch, cutting where creases occurred and removing enough to make a good join. Then a "half moon" shaped piece was trimmed to fit exactly under these. Lastly the flat panels were fitted, joins being easy to blend together.

Make the floor panels last - so they can cover all the carpet laid so far. I decided to Velcro these down in case removal was required for cleaning/drying in case of waterlogging (you never know!), and sewing a coloured piping round the edge to finish. Rubber mats will be placed on top of carpet to protect from heel marks/dirt ingress.

 

More to follow once piping & seats are fitted - each section will be fully revised once I get more time (when car is fully finished of course!)