Floor mats for the kubel

[EODinert]

Reposted from my local VW forum, 'cause I'm mighty proud of these:

I'm fairly broke, and I have bare metal floors. I've been thinking about making 'duck boards', but that would require tools and money that I don't have right now. At Lowe's they have this rubber floor covering for the garage... about $20 bucks for a 4x4 sheet. I've been eyeballin' this stuff for a while. I made a cardboard template by cutting, and fitting.

Once the cardboard fit good, I laid it on the floor mat, and cut around the edges. I used the flat, smooth edge of the mat to go against the tunnel. I measured and cut out the part for the pedals. I just used a box cutter to cut the mat. I'm surprised I didn't cut myself. I'm good like that.

The passenger side mat ended up being the same shape, but an inch narrower due to the wiring harness and it's cover running down the tunnel. My tunnel has carpet on it, too, which may have taken up a little room.

Awesome fit.

I like this rubber because it has nipples on the bottom (and nipples are my second favorite thing in the world ). Water will not get trapped under this floor mat.

With the extra pieces, I made a liner for the bottom of the nose, where my jack and tools ride. I also made one for the shelf behind the back seats, but I didn't get a pic of that.

So, I have $40 invested in these mats, but they are custom fit, and I like them a lot. They are cheaper and fit better than some other alternatives.

On the test drive, they are absolutely solid and have no movement at all. They don't index with the floor mat 'tits' that VW put on the floor, but they are trapped between the tunnel, the seat and the edge of the pan. I think they look very industrial, too, much like the rest of the car. Me likes. I love the thought of all the nipples and tits under my toes.

The only think I would do different is to continue a strip down the side of the seat from the mat... I had material there that could have run all the way back to my roll bar, if I had thought about it. Oh well, next time.

Anyway, if you need custom, all weather floor mats on the cheep... These are not half bad.
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'61 rag top beetle, '73 type 181, '66 13 window deluxe

[DMC-12]

Clever. If I don't get duckboards fast enough, I might go this route.
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"Unpimp ze auto"
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1974 Orange Thing Daily driver/Rolling resto.
1981 DeLorean DMC-12

[vintagemx0]

Very clever indeed! I bet you're going to start a trend!
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Where ever you go, there you are.

[kubelmann]

Great find.. Please post the product number. I have made a few sets of Thing rubber floor mats from the rubber floor stuff they use in weight rooms. I got a bunch of sections as scrap. The individual squares were not actually big enough so there was a zig zag joint on the front panels. They were OK for free but yours look great.

[EODinert]

Here it is:
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=155419-20787-0516836
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'61 rag top beetle, '73 type 181, '66 13 window deluxe

[kubelmann]

Thanks. This is a very cool find. Good job.

[Pierre G]

[Video Bob]

Now that's ingenuity!!!! Great
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Ya can't have too many Vdubs!
1956 Oval
1966 Beetle
1974 Thing
1974 Super Beetle
1976 Westy P22

[bmwloco]

Very, very nicely done.

Nothing like necessity being the mother of invention.

Long live DIY!
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'85 Vanagon Westfalia

[Eric Goodman]

I agree! Thanks for the info. Eric

[Thing2Be]

They look very cool. I may have to use them if my teak duck boards dont turn out.

[Pimpi]

How much do you suspect it would cost to do the entire Thing with those mats?
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Webmaster of www.geocities.com/vwthingworld

[EODinert]

I didn't measure it out, but I think three of the 3x3 mats would do the entire passenger compartment, with scraps left over for the bottom of the nose, and maybe behind the seat.

The piece I have behind the seat is actually two scraps joined together with the fastners along the edge of the mat, because I didn't have a single piece that was big enough for the space behind the seats.

So, $60 bucks, I'd say, and a little of your time.
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'61 rag top beetle, '73 type 181, '66 13 window deluxe

[kubelmann]

The mat sections are 3' x 3' for $20

I guess it depends on how you cut them and what areas you want to cover if you need 2 or 3 mats to do the car.

[EODinert]

When you cut your front mats, cut them like this, so you cover the area to the side of the seat:

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'61 rag top beetle, '73 type 181, '66 13 window deluxe

[Chad1376]

I WILL be heading to Lowe's this weekend to do the same thing. This is the best idea I've seen in a long time.
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My never ending 1302 Autocross Project:
http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=51&a...02b8f83f22

[lorencherylp]

I noticed these mats at a local mom and pop hardware store last summer. So I did the same thing. I love them. Just the right look for the Thing! I have front duckboards so I set them on top of the rubber mat. Now I need to build some duckboards for the rear seat. A good winter project. Thank you very much for posting.
Loren
IA

[Semper_Dad]

Didn't want to start a new thread on this so I resurrected this one. I found the mats at my local Home Depot. On sale for $17.98 each no less. They are called anti-fatigue mats. I bought two in order to do the fronts.

Used the carpet the PO installed as a template. Believe it or not there was aluminum trim SCREWED down to the floor completely around the perimeter of the carpet leaving dozens of little screw holes. Sealed them up with silicon until I can weld them up later.

Here's the 3x3 mat I found at Home Depot. Looks identical to what EODinert used.

Using a utility knife with a brand new blade. Cut like "budda"
Passenger side

Both sides

Installed

Very happy with end result. Now I need to do the rears. I think I have enough scrap from the first set to make a mat for the front well and glovebox.
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Walküre Restoration Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=737492

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My Dad makes these by hand out of the original style material.
He takes the original mat and punches all the holes by hand just like the mexicans did it.
If you look at an original mat, the holes do not line up perfectly actually they did it by eye.
His are quite nice if you get a chance look at them...I am not going to keep putting links to my website some one might get annoyed...... lol
search swiss cheese
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Michael Basso
http://www.thingparts.com
New and Used VW Thing Parts Free advice
CALL 518 630 0173

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actually the most important holes are the ones that line up with the posts in the floor to stop the mats from moving around that would help, if you are gonna diy
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Michael Basso
http://www.thingparts.com
New and Used VW Thing Parts Free advice
CALL 518 630 0173