What to Put Under Carpeting?

[JohnnyMead]

I'm putting new carpeting in my TR3A. What is a good material (if any) to put behind the carpet pieces? I've used dense felt as well as Dynamat in places on other cars, but I'm not sure what makes sense for a TR.
Thanks,
John

 

[Tinster]

John,

I live in the tropics where road heat combined with tranny
and engine heat = a very hot interior. And my wife did not
like the road noise.

I purchased the wool carpet for my TR6 to help insulate against
the heat. I installed an aluminum foil faced carpet insulation
pad. (Remember: all aluminum faced insulation is installed toward the
warm side, just like in your house walls)

I installed the aluminum faced carpet pad with velcrox strips so
the pad breathes. I installed the wool carpet also with velcrox,
for easy removal if it gets wet. I also insulater my door interiors.

My car is much cooler and much quieter.

Here is a similar product to what I used.

https://www.midwestfabrics.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=573

regards,

Dale(Tinster)

 

[JohnnyMead]

Thanks Dale, that's very interesting material!
John

 

[Don Elliott]

John - Your summers in Illinois are just like ours here in Montreal. My TR3A came with 1/4" thick beige jute matting under the carpets back in May 1958. In 1990, as I was completing my total body-off restoration, I used the old pieces as patterns and cut new felt about 3/8" thick for exactly the same places. With similar climates, I don't think you need any sealer or reflective underpadding. Whatever you do, don't glue it down. Except, I glued the bits onto the gearbox tunnel as it was originally.

When it rains and I have the top down, I take 10 minutes once I get back home to un-bolt the seats, pull out the carpets and hang them out to dry. Then I use a cloth to mop up the water on the floors. Take a look at my floors after 102,000 miles since 1990. Naturally, I only drove my TR3A about 3000 miles in the rain. Are you planning to do a lot of driving in the rain ?

Don Elliott, Original Owner, 1958 TR3A

 

[Don Elliott]

And here's how the tunnel carpet is glued down.

 

[JohnnyMead]

Oh I wish our summers were like Montreal - and you've got a Formula One race returning next summer. Someday I want to come up to see that, now that Indy has been dropped.
Those are excellent floors. Is that regular automotive paint on them?
John

 

[tdskip]

John - I like to put at least some dynamat or similar down. Helps with heat and noise, and won't retain water if you put the right material down.

 

[TR3driver]

FWIW, I found material very similar (identical?) to what Dale linked to; at my local Home Depot sold as water heater insulation. Made a big difference in cockpit temperature (especially when combined with plugging up all the little holes, worn-out grommets, etc.)

 

[vagt6]

For safety, the best materials to use for this purpose are Dynamat and similar, purpose-specific materials that are fire resistant and/or NFPA rated.

Not a good idea to use flammable or non-fire resistive materials for soundproofing, etc., for obvious reasons.

You don't want something that might catch fire underneath your, ummm, private parts!

 

[Don Elliott]

John - The black paint you see on the floor-pans of my 1958 TR3A is BASF Glossurit urethane enamel. It's a two part paint where a reducer (or thinner), then and activator (or hardener) is added to the base paint. It's the same paint that was used on the outside of my TR3A done near the end of 1989. It became full of stone chips on the front etc, from 1990 to 2007, when I had the exterior and all panels painted off the car. But that floor you see above was done 20 years ago and never even had clear-coat applied. In fact, the car was never clear-coated till the 2nd re-spray in the spring of 2007.

 

[JohnnyMead]

Mine is painted with a 2-part paint also. No clearcoat.

 

[Tinster]

For safety, the best materials to use for this purpose are Dynamat and similar, purpose-specific materials that are fire resistant and/or NFPA rated.

Not a good idea to use flammable or non-fire resistive materials for soundproofing, etc., for obvious reasons.

You don't want something that might catch fire underneath your, ummm, private parts!

<span style="color: #990000">Hi Mark!

Yup, that's an excellent point. Dang, I wish I could remember what
underlayment I purchased. It was auto specific, did not burn and came
in a roll, not in rectangles.

I also glued the tranny tunnel underlayment. But WOW!! YES!!
Don't glue anything to the metal floor pans. PDO Pedro had glued some
cheap Home Despot roll carpet directly to the metal. It took me well
over a week to scrape that mess out of the car. I even found a hidden
bonus to make the carpet project more challenging.

Best regards,

dale(Tinster)</span>