Replacing bad airtex carpet

[RLCarter]

If your carpet is oil stained or dirty, take it out and go to the car wash, lay it out to fully dry and re-install. 

[jetdriven]

7 hours ago, par said:

At $49/yard, there is no need to go with auto carpet IMO. The carpet I'm looking at is much better quality than the carpet in my cars. The material holding the carpet fibers together is a flexible plastic and will be very easy to secure to the floor without fear of it moving around. 

Theres no drama here as far as I can tell...just sharing information. To each his own though.

We drilled and installed male snaps on the floor put the female snaps in the carpet and the carpet can be removed and cleaned..  It doesn't move around whenever you get in and out of the airplane plus it's cheap about 10 bucks for hardware

[RLCarter]

26 minutes ago, jetdriven said:

We drilled and installed male snaps on the floor put the female snaps in the carpet and the carpet can be removed and cleaned..  It doesn't move around whenever you get in and out of the airplane plus it's cheap about 10 bucks for hardware

same here....makes it real easy to remove

[par]

25 minutes ago, jetdriven said:

We drilled and installed male snaps on the floor put the female snaps in the carpet and the carpet can be removed and cleaned..  It doesn't move around whenever you get in and out of the airplane plus it's cheap about 10 bucks for hardware

Yes that's one way to do it. I should have clarified but my experience with foam backed airtex carpet was that it would stretch and shift wherever it was not secured by whatever method someone chooses. This was mostly because the foam backing provides zero structure to it. In comparison, a carpet with a harder backing will have a structure and it'll be less likely to move and shift as you enter and exit. The heavily trafficked parts of the airtex carpet were looking "stretched", if that makes any sense when compared to other areas.

[LeeBurk]

Just did all Airtex interior two years ago including new carpet. Everything fit great and in two years we've put 400 hours on it and no wear on fabric or carpets. Something doesn't sound right to me. We did quite a bit of research and decided to go with them because of their quality and extensive stock of colors. Going to do a E/F soon and will go back with them but leather. 

[yvesg]

I am about to redo my carpet in my C. I have ordered from SCS. I am hesitating between Byron's snaps trick or Velcro.

Any comments on what would work better? 

Questions:

1. For Snaps, how many do you put per large carpets sections? Is one per corner sufficient?

2. How do you secure the snaps on the floor and on the carpet? Any special tools needed?

3. Are the snaps (or hardware required to hold to carpet) visible? (after carpet installed of course)

4. For Velcro, is the glued type sticking sufficiently for long time or will this get off eventually?

Thanks

Yves

[RLCarter]

I went back with snaps, female on the carpet, male on the floor (PK screw to hold them), one per corner and a couple down the outside edges. You can get color matched snaps (or at least I found some) that blend into the carpet and you hardly even notice them

[Yetti]

3 hours ago, yvesg said:

I am about to redo my carpet in my C. I have ordered from SCS. I am hesitating between Byron's snaps trick or Velcro.

Any comments on what would work better? 

Questions:

4. For Velcro, is the glued type sticking sufficiently for long time or will this get off eventually?

Thanks

Yves

I used black "commercial" 2" Velcro brand along with some white 1" strips.   has not moved.  It was really hot velcro was fast and easy.   I still have the binding, but have not bothered to pull it out and sew it on.

[jetdriven]

In south Texas even the expensive industrial Velcro moves. It won't stick to carpet so we sewed it to the carpet. Then it pulls the other side off the floor. Not before it slides an inch.  . And I even tried it on the sidewall trim and it came unglued there too, the industrial simply pulls one side free from the substrate. it doesn't work. Snaps, however, do.  Three per side at the rear near the spar, 4 under the front lip of the seat.  One bweteen the rudder pedals.  Two per end on the center strip. Several years now, no problems. 

Edited August 14, 2017 by jetdriven

[yvesg]

Thanks folks for the advise. The aircraft is not sitting in hot temperature except july and august but I had issues like this with Velcro.  If the snaps are risk free I will go with that. Is the floor thick enough so that metal screws can be installed without Tinnermans on the other side? Do we have to be careful not to drill into something we don't want underneath the floor?

Thanks.

Yves

[jetdriven]

Remove the belly panels and drill from below. One guy in the cabin with a punch, find where you want it, push against the aluminum. The guy with the drill can see it. Then drill there. All the obstructions are on the bottom so if it's unsuitable move over a little and repeat the push watch routine, then drill there. The only area that's crowded is under the pilot seat. We used #8 or #6 stud snaps from sailrite. Guy in cabin puts th snap in the hole and holds it with a #2 bit screwdriver. the guy underneath, spins the nut on with a 1/4" ratchet and extension. All in all it's a 3 hour job but no repeats. 

When the snaps are on the  floor, put in the carpet. Take a pick and center it on the male snap. Then push it through the carpet, make a hole to locate the snap.  then peen your female snap on  The carpet.  That goes much faster. 

Edited August 15, 2017 by jetdriven

[yvesg]

Thanks a lot Byron. The carpets have been ordered and I found a local marine shop that has the snaps and tool. I ordered a dark carpet and now hesitate if I should keep the snaps as is with their metallic appearance or should I paint them with a matching color. Zinc plated snaps can be painted... stainless steel not so much I think. What color are yours?

Yves

[jetdriven]

Mine are shiny stainless. You can only see the ones in front of the spar and the two on the front of the center strip.  

You can paint them. Sand with 320-500 grit sandpaper in three directions then hit them with rattle can.    I did this with most of the airframe screws before paint.  It stuck great.  

[yvesg]

We finished the job today and really happy with the results. We used snaps as suggested by Byron. High five to SCS interiors: We managed last week-end to destroy one piece by cutting the fuel selector hole at the wrong place. After a phone call to SCS, they got a replacement piece to us in a few days for a reasonable price, squeezing our special order between normal runs. We highly recommend them. 

Yves

[M20D6607U]

On June 20, 2017 at 9:19 AM, par said:

I am installing new carpet in my C because the carpet I bought from airtex about a year ago is absolute crap. I did not know any better at that point and thought I should warn all you looking to re-do your carpet. The carpet I bought was pre-cut, extremely poorly and the fit was absolutely atrocious to say the least. I also ended up with an oil leak in the cabin at one point which soaked into the carpet making my decision to remove it even easier.

This time I'm taking a different approach with a different company. SCS interiors sent me some samples of their products a while back and I immediately noticed the much higher quality of their carpets. They have a flexible plastic backing rather than cheap foam and the carpet itself is very dense and feels much better than the garbage I purchased previously. Additionally, the price is very very fair at $49/yard. My C will require less than 2 yards. They can also cut any pattern we send and bind as needed. 

One big difference with the non-pre cut carpet is that a pattern has to be made and mailed off. So, that's what I did last weekend. The new carpet will fit so much better and look a 100 times better than what I had previously. I will be mailing the pattern out to them this week and should have the carpet next week. At this point, I think the total cost will be less than $250 for everything. This is a much better deal than airtex.

I have attached a picture of the pattern that was made using large poster card stock. If anyone else needs it for their 63C, please let me know.

 

Hi Par, I have a 63 M20D. It's time to replace the carpet and I would like to take your advice and use SCS for my carpet. I have the same dimensions as you. Do you have their contact info. Thanks for the post! Ron

[LANCECASPER]

https://www.scs-interiors.com/products/aerospace/mooney/mooney-m20.htm

[aaronk25]

Good people I flew up there 4 years ago and the owner son came out to my plane to help adjust the 77j pattern custom fir to my plane. Awesome carpet good people.


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[Desertdoc75]

I just put in a SCS set in my '63. Haven't messed with Velcro as it won't stay in place with the heat and humidity. 

That said, the quality is great and the measurements spot on. Great group of folks to deal with!