Newton Commercial Moulded Carpeting

[dougnlina]

I just wanted to do a quick write up of the Newton Commercial Custom Moulded carpeting set:
https://newtoncomm.co.uk/collections/t25/products/...els-tufted

It has gone up in price since I ordered mine. When I ordered mine in sept of 2022 it was 322 UK pounds plus 166 UK pounds for the shipping. It is now 426 Pounds making it pretty pricy. I do not know what the new shipping estimate would be. Lead time was about two months, this did not bother me as I was busy painting the van. It came in a large box with most of the pieces flat but the main section carpet folded at the hump.

The Kit comes with a bunch of pre-cut under carpet padding that the instructions have you glue into place. This includes numerous small bits to go into the small channels in the floorpan. My original padding was in decent shape but I decided to use the “new” padding supplied with the kit. However in the end, I went back to my original Vanagon factory padding as the carpeting ultimately fit better with that.

Once you get the under-padding down you have to glue the couple of pieces that go over the wheel arch and on the sides of the pass-through area. This requires some industrial contact adhesive. These parts fit reasonably well but the carpeting is backed with a very stiff plastic backing (which I imagine is specific to heat molded carpeting). The stiff backing made it difficult to wrap around the 90 degree corners without it lifting off the surface. It would have been immensely helpful if these areas were heat scored or pre bent in some manner to make this work easier. In the end, it all seems okay but the carpeting takes a lazy curve around the sharp edges with the carpet not staying glued tightly (but this just at the corners)
Once the fitted pieces were glued down I needed to do a cut-out for the parking brake handle to pass through. They have marked this but cutting where they marked it doesn’t even get it close. I ended up cutting quite a bit more away here until I got it to go over the handle. Again the very stiff carpeting does not make the task any easier. I ended cutting away a little bit too much but I have some vinyl from re-doing my interior that I intend to tuck under the hole and make something of a “boot” to clean it up (*not done yet)

When it was finally time to put the main section into the floor I wrestled it into place. There is only a small hole for the stick-shifter, which you will later need to enlarge to allow the stock VW square rubber shifter boot to mount in. With the main moulded carpeting in place there were a few issues which I ultimately resolved by going back to the stock under-padding. The first issue was that there was too much padding under the pedals and this was making the clutch disengagement point way too close to the floor (I also have rubber weatherproof mats that don’t help). Then on the passenger side, in the same area where the floor transitions to the front firewall, there was not enough padding. I could stuff the mounded carpet around the corner and it would all look alright, but without more padding underneath that corner, if you put any pressure on it, (like with say, your feet!) It would collapse and buckle the vertical section. I ultimately cured most of this but using the original VW padding and adding some additional padding from the kit. It still wants to buckle the vertical portion, but it is reasonable now.

With it all in place the only area that left me scratching my head a little bit was where the carpeting terminates at the small vanagon step-up in front of the front wheel. The carpeting just kind of flops over the edge here. I contacted Newton Commercial and they said this is the way the stock carpeting fit there, but I do not remember it doing this. I have not figured out what I am going to do about it, I don’t want to glue it down, but I may glue a magnet or two on the back so it is less “floppy”.
The “moulding” of the carpeting works pretty well but there is one buckle near the gas pedal that drives me a little nutty. Hopefully it will relax with some time.

Overall My impressions are mixed. I am generally happy with the results but it is one of those products that if they had just gone a little further into getting the details correct it would have made it a much better experience.
YMMV, Best, Doug
_________________
"Grover" a '87 Syncro Poptop 1.8T
"Olive" a '60 Ragtop Beetle (retired)

[MsTaboo]

Ha. You beat me to it! I was just getting ready to post my experiences with Newton.

Overall I'm quite happy with the result although I did have similar problems.

The main moulded carpet piece on mine was off on the driver's side step. The fold-over edge was short so I had to massage it to fit better. I also had to enlarge the gas pedal openings a bit so the pedal would move freely.

I also used the original factory underlayment even though I was tempted to use the new stuff supplied by Newton. The old stuff is quite heavy but in the end I liked how the original stuff is moulded to the floor. I did add some extra 1/2" neoprene in a few places.

I used 3M 90 industrial spray adhesive which holds very well but is a bit of a pain to work with. You must get the carpet right on the money because it sticks hard!

In my case I did create some of the fit problems because I added extra sound deadening under the carpet on the seat pedestals and the humps. I first used a Dynamat type butyl rubber and then a layer of 1/8" neoprene. This made a tighter fit and necessitated the trimming of both the underlayment and carpet to get a clean fit. However the extra padding under the carpet on the humps is really nice and hopefully will add some deadening of wheel noise.

They definitely need to do some quality control. If you are adding the carpet to a bus without the old carpet as a guide the marked cutout for the hand brake is a joke.

Also the carpet comes with small cutouts for the steering column and gear shift. I had to enlarge both.
There is also some extra edge banding which is nice but I had to cut most away to get a clean fit.

Getting the rear step transition was a bit of a pain; lining up the holes in the body with the hold-down bar. You can also see that I messed up on the wire that goes to the driver's side battery box. It should have been under the carpet. I was so focused on getting a smooth fit of the carpet on the pedestal I forgot the wire!

You can see how nice the new carpet is though and well worth the effort. The price is a bit steep and they would sell more if they could bring it down. I only bought because of the parity of dollar to pound right now.
The fact that it's a direct copy of the factory carpet and moulded instead of pieced together like Sewfine, etc. with the vinyl edges makes for a great choice and I highly recommend.

I will warn anyone doing this install to be prepared to take your time and expect to have to trial fit many times to get good results.
_________________
Currently:
'90 Syncro Westy 3 knob w/Zetec

The information age has morphed into the age of disinformation and willful ignorance. Agnotology!
All that's needed for evil to prevail is for good people to do nothing.
Resist Kleptocratic Oligarchy (and Idiocracy)!

[djkeev]

Great posts!
Thanks!

I'm not shopping for new carpet for mine is a daily driven work Van, but it is nice to see someone making decent fitting new carpet.

Dave
_________________
Stop Dead Photo Links how to post photos

Ghia
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=392473

Vanagon
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6315537#6315537

Beetle
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482968&highlight=74+super+vert

[MsTaboo]

Thanks Dave.
Kinda wild that both Doug and I posted about the carpet on the same day! I loaded my pictures and there was Doug's.

Just fyi to anyone. I only glued down the carpet pieces on the humps and seat pedestal. Used a few strips of double sided carpet tape to hold down the pass through section and around the gear shift. Left both the underlayment and carpet underfoot loose to allow removal in case of water.
_________________
Currently:
'90 Syncro Westy 3 knob w/Zetec

The information age has morphed into the age of disinformation and willful ignorance. Agnotology!
All that's needed for evil to prevail is for good people to do nothing.
Resist Kleptocratic Oligarchy (and Idiocracy)!

[jimf909]

It's great to see this detailed write up. I've only seen photos but the Newton kit consistently looks substantially better than the Sew Fine kit. I believe the Newton has more pieces and is molded.

I thought a US seller was retailing these, maybe Vanagain, but I don't see them on their site. Maybe VanCafe will see this and import a few kits.
_________________
- Jim

[90Doka_Guy]

[skywagon]

Just joining the Thread- and ordered a set of Newton. Regarding the lip, yes a steamer, heat gun and a rubber mallet (use a piece of leather or vinyl scrap to protect the carpet) will massage it around. Done similar on 356 carpets in square weave... which is worse to work with bc of coarse backing.

[DanHoug]

nothing like new carpeting but the OE stuff is really good quality and responds well to extensive pressure washing. doesn't damage fibers, in fact un-mats them, and really takes the grunge out. won't be perfect, especially if you have fading or oil stains that have changed the polyester.
_________________
-dan
60% of what you find on the internet is wrong, including this post.

'87 Westy & '89 Westy both 2.1 4spd

Past projects can be found at--
www.thefixitworkshop.com