Alternative to carpet

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Princess Valiant

Princess Valiant

A.K.A. Rainy Day Auto
Joined
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So I've been thinking about how carpet and the rubber mats hold moisture in and rusted a lot of floors.


So I'm wondering if it would be an idea to make the floor boards smooth, get rid of the ribs in the floor and really finish smooth the floor and use a textured paint or even bed liner in there so that if the floor ever got wet again for any reason, it would like hosing down the outside of the car and simply dry out and keep long term corrosion to a minimal.

Dumb idea or brain squirrel cage turning idea?
 
I bought a product that can go under carpet or a rubber mat to help provide air flow (air floor?) underneath either. I'll see if I can find where I put it......
 
I had seen the concept in a product for basements to help keep them dry, but I did not need enough to do a whole house.

So I thought small..... This is a non-skid shower mat that has ribs and holes to allow for airflow.

I can cut it to size as needed, available on Amazon and for not much.

I have not tried it yet, but I will soon. Better than nothing the way I see it.

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I know this is the ovious answer.... Fix the leaks!


On a side note you could drill a series of holes and Install one way flapper valve underneath.
 
I use the thin indoor outdoor carpet from the home builder stores, comes 6' wide and 12' wide.

Has the little 1/8" ribs in it, makes it easy to follow and cut straight lines.

Works great for boat floors. Have lined the rear floor with it im my 90 mini van, headliner and side panels too.

Can make throw rugs out if it, floor mats too. Keeps it shape.

Can cut it with a sheer easy, and does not frey so you don't have to hem the edge so it does not unravel.

Can use it as room carpet. Can wash it with a garden hose or pressure washer. Let it dry and throw it back in.

Let's say some moisture got to the interior, water will dry up through it as it can breathe.

1001 uses, cheep, no wrinkles, looks nice.
Usually comes in Grey, Brown/Tan, Green and Black.

A good upholstery sewer can cut the little pieces of pie out at the trans hump/firewall areas and sew it back together on the back side to take the shape of the floors.

A pleasure to work with.

Lays out nice on a new piece as a template you can trace around with chalk and make a new section if you spill a quart of oil on it, like in your trunk.

Helps to sound deaden too so things don't sound like a tin can.

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Boats, Cars, Mini Vans, good old time!

Heading to Duluth.jpg
 
Princess Valiant said:
So I've been thinking about how carpet and the rubber mats hold moisture in and rusted a lot of floors
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Your in Colorado the carpet will be dry before you can get a towel to mop it up!

Now if you were in the north east or north west, the car would be gone from rust before the liquid hit the floor!
 
A lot of the 4x4 guys get their whole trucks Rhino Lined inside and out. Seems to work well. You could do it yourself with bedliner.
 
Fill in the ribs with JB weld and sand smooth. This way they are there but smooth on the top side for the look your after, then pop the drain plugs out and rhino line the floor, and put the plugs back in.
 
How about floor leveler, and a nice luxury vinyl plank or ceramic tile? Ok, kidding aside, I thought I saw or heard of someone doing the bed liner type paint and Race Deck.
 
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Alaskan_TA said:
Car leaks, none.

Coffee cup though...... Well, it happens. ;-)
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If you are going to spill your coffee, might as well spill it on the dash. Had a boss spill his coffee on the dash of the shop truck and anytime you used the heater the cab smelled of raspberry mocha. It wasn’t half bad. Of course, he blamed the shop dog for spilling it but I never bought that.
 
RustyRatRod said:
A lot of the 4x4 guys get their whole trucks Rhino Lined inside and out. Seems to work well. You could do it yourself with bedliner.
Click to expand...

I did that on a plow truck.
Pulled the cab and fixed all the rust. Had the entire cab rhino lined professionally done after a complete sand blasting. Looked pretty good but sadly moisture got in some how and the cancer spread like wild fire.
If I had to do it again- I’d only do one side and not the whole thing. I like 2-3 coats of heavy rust oleum on the inside the floors. Color can be close to outer body but because under the rug - nobody sees it.
Takes a few days to dry but works great.
 
Oh yeah..float the entire floor of the car with ardex or fixall... haha

Get a spill proof thermos and save the effort for something that would actually turn out good.
Nutshell
Sounds like a brain dead squirrel cage turning idea to me!
 
I'm going to put Lizard skin sound deadener with Raptor liner on the floor of my wagon. I did it in my Jeep and it has heald up really well.
 
Syleng1 said:
I did that on a plow truck.
Pulled the cab and fixed all the rust. Had the entire cab rhino lined professionally done after a complete sand blasting. Looked pretty good but sadly moisture got in some how and the cancer spread like wild fire.
If I had to do it again- I’d only do one side and not the whole thing. I like 2-3 coats of heavy rust oleum on the inside the floors. Color can be close to outer body but because under the rug - nobody sees it.
Takes a few days to dry but works great.
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Hard to beat a good painting to keep moisture off of the steel surfaces.

Snow plow blades come with that baked on powder coating. They get scratched and then the moisture seeps in under the edges and makes a rusty mess out of the whole thing.

Can't hardly sand it off to take care of the rust, so you have to take paint stripper to melt it off. Then you can sand blast the rust off of it.

Then it's back to putting on a good coat of primer, then 2 good coats of paint with the hardener for a lasting finish.
 
Syleng1 said:
I did that on a plow truck.
Pulled the cab and fixed all the rust. Had the entire cab rhino lined professionally done after a complete sand blasting. Looked pretty good but sadly moisture got in some how and the cancer spread like wild fire.
If I had to do it again- I’d only do one side and not the whole thing. I like 2-3 coats of heavy rust oleum on the inside the floors. Color can be close to outer body but because under the rug - nobody sees it.
Takes a few days to dry but works great.
Click to expand...
That's what I did to my Duster, oil base Rust-O-leum. Did take DAYS to dry, was rainy ( monsoon) season here... when I crawled in, my shorts were leaving imprints.. lol
 
RustyRatRod said:
A lot of the 4x4 guys get their whole trucks Rhino Lined inside and out. Seems to work well. You could do it yourself with bedliner.
Click to expand...

Actually the fad is Rhino lining the whole truck, inside and out
 
Velcro on a hump drink holder, a deep one.

Or just get a beer hat with the 2 straws that come around the sides. I used to have one..but it was too cool in the 90s to keep track of.
 
Back in the late eighties, early ninties guys were putting artificial turf in their cars. They came in different colors

Last year I went to a rat rod event and there was a rod that had actual grass floor mats. Real wild.
 
royslead said:
How about floor leveler, and a nice luxury vinyl plank or ceramic tile? Ok, kidding aside, I thought I saw or heard of someone doing the bed liner type paint and Race Deck.
Click to expand...
The rear deck of my high school 65 Barracuda was laminate wood flooring (even the back of the seat)! The interlocking strips kind or maybe it was just one panel, had small grooves every 4 inches.. finished with laquer so it was slick as snot. Made the rear 8" speakers sound great and it as very well done. I thought it was stock until I saw another. IIRC its not completely flat back there, is there a small rise somewhere? This stuff layed flat.
 
pishta said:
The rear deck of my high school 65 Barracuda was laminate wood flooring (even the back of the seat)! The interlocking strips kind or maybe it was just one panel, had small grooves every 4 inches.. finished with laquer so it was slick as snot. Made the rear 8" speakers sound great and it as very well done. I thought it was stock until I saw another. IIRC its not completely flat back there, is there a small rise somewhere? This stuff layed flat.
Click to expand...

I think that might look really good!
 
Epoxy primer and Urethane paint. I HATE bedliner. But I work in collision repair and removing that stuff to make repairs is a real drag. If you ever have to go in and make rust repairs later on , you will be hating it.
 
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