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Tue Oct 17, 2006 4:09 pm

My Thing didn't come with mats or carpet. I saw carpet kits and floor mats on California Pacific/ JBugs web site.

Would you recommend only floor mats or the entire carpet kit with mats?

Also, I need to recover my two front seats, black vinyl - If I bought the kits, is it easy to revover with all new material?

First time at all this. Thank you everyone.

michaelg

Tue Oct 17, 2006 4:19 pm

I have cheap outdoor poly carpet in my car. It works well but needs to be relatively dry to protect the steel underneath. As for your seats: I have replaced the covers on two Beetles over the years (JC Whitney, as a matter of fact) both done in the summer after leaving the covers in the sun. Perfect. Unless you are after OEM perfection....I would work with a cover. Some hog nose clamps and pliers, perhaps a helper and you will be all set. You can buy NEW padding from a number of sources. This is not difficult...just requires a bit of effort. Good Luck. If you need more advice, don't hesitate to ask any of us. Bill

Tue Oct 17, 2006 4:25 pm

My opinion would be to choose one or the other based on how you plan to use the Thing. Is it going to be used often, and/or as a utility vehicle? If so, the pats would hold up better. If it will be used for those pleasure drives on nice rain free days, then the carpet would provide a cleaner look to the inside.

Be honest in your choice on how you plan to use the Thing.

Tue Oct 17, 2006 4:47 pm

I recommend mats. With carpet, you can't see the floorpan rusting. ;)

Tue Oct 17, 2006 6:08 pm

If you have a hard top, both.

Carpet for the winters with the top on. You don't need to glue it down, just cut it to fit or place it properly. Use floormats too.

Summer, store the top and floormaps, put in duck boards.

Enjoy the sunshine, keep it dry, and have fun.

Tue Oct 17, 2006 6:55 pm

mgalvin wrote: My Thing didn't come with mats or carpet. I saw carpet kits and floor mats on California Pacific/ JBugs web site.

Would you recommend only floor mats or the entire carpet kit with mats?
A bit off your question, but the advice I got was that if I wanted carpet I should have the rubber swiss cheese mats underneath as well. The idea here is that if the carpet gets wet, the airspace underneath provided by the swiss cheese mats allows the moisture to evaporate more quickly. I suppose cocoa mats under the carpet would perform the same function.

FWIW, I have rubber mats and carpet mats. No carpet under the seats or on the tunnel.

Quote: Also, I need to recover my two front seats, black vinyl - If I bought the kits, is it easy to revover with all new material?
Again, from something I've read, rather than personal experience: I second the notion of leaving the vinyl in the sun on a warm day - also, use zip ties to incrementally cinch up the seat, alternately cinching the ties and coaxing the vinyl down. Once they're tight enough, cut off the zip ties one at a time and replace with hog rings.

Wed Oct 18, 2006 1:50 pm

what are duck boards :?:

Wed Oct 18, 2006 2:00 pm

Duck boards thread: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=163492&highlight=duck

Wed Oct 18, 2006 6:47 pm

why no duck boards for beetles??

Thu Oct 19, 2006 2:26 pm

bmwloco wrote: Carpet for the winters with the top on. You don't need to glue it down, just cut it to fit or place it properly. Use floormats too.

Summer, store the top and floormaps, put in duck boards.

Out here in CA, it simply doesn't rain in the summer. But in the winter, even with the top up, muddy shoes leave the floor wet and dirty.

Therefore, I'd almost recommend the opposite. Carpet in the summer with no top, then duckboards in the winter. I don't have carpets though - just the duckboards - so do what you want! :D

Fri Oct 20, 2006 6:35 am

Ah, good point. America is a very, very big country.

What works in the Southeast doesn't hold true in California.

I've had long conversation with my friends in New Zealand and Australia, and to a lessor extent, England about America. They think it's all like California - beause that's what's on TV.

A universal US idea for Things? POR-15 the floor pans, pull the drain plugs. Drive whenever with whatever blows up your skirt.

Fiind rust? Eradicate it immediately with grinding, Naval Jelly, clean it to bright steel and then POR-15 or otherwise coat it.

Fri Mar 02, 2007 7:18 pm

This is not meant to be a plug, but the Ghia floor mats that I reproduce will fit a Thing perfectly.