Anyone replace carpet in M20E with Airtex?

[David Lloyd]

Carpets get dirty, worn with use.  At Airtex prices, buy a new set every 5 years.  I did mine last year and the fit wasn't very good around the center console.  Dodd Stretch, owner of Airtex, said he has more patterns for Mooney than any other plane.  Seems like every one is different.  Make him a paper patter, or mark the carpet for cutting, or cut it yourself and return for rebinding.  They are easy to work with.

[Marauder]

2 hours ago, rbridges said:

between the Jaeger interior and new carpet, I bet your F looks much nicer.  Are you planning to do the seats anytime soon?

Seats were redone in leather just before Bruce did the interior. Sabremech's cowl and paint comes after some more avionics upgrades. Shhhh... the wife doesn't know about that... 

[Marauder]

Carpets get dirty, worn with use.  At Airtex prices, buy a new set every 5 years.  I did mine last year and the fit wasn't very good around the center console.  Dodd Stretch, owner of Airtex, said he has more patterns for Mooney than any other plane.  Seems like every one is different.  Make him a paper patter, or mark the carpet for cutting, or cut it yourself and return for rebinding.  They are easy to work with.

The cutout pattern was the way to go.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[rbridges]

29 minutes ago, Marauder said:

Seats were redone in leather just before Bruce did the interior. Sabremech's cowl and paint comes after some more avionics upgrades. Shhhh... the wife doesn't know about that... 

now you've peaked my interest.  What panel upgrades are you planning?

[sailon]

Been considering an Airtex carpet for my F, it desperately needs it. However I refuse to glue it to the floor as the factory did.  What methods did you guys use to attach the carpets to the airframe?  Snaps?  Hooks?  Any details would be appreciated.  Thanks!

[Nukemzzz]

1 minute ago, sailon said:

Been considering an Airtex carpet for my F, it desperately needs it. However I refuse to glue it to the floor as the factory did.  What methods did you guys use to attach the carpets to the airframe?  Snaps?  Hooks?  Any details would be appreciated.  Thanks!

I just installed mine.  I'm going to try it with nothing and see what happens.  Its thicker than what i removed because of the foam backing so it's not going to bunch up.  

[sailon]

2 minutes ago, Nukemzzz said:

I just installed mine.  I'm going to try it with nothing and see what happens.  Its thicker than what i removed because of the foam backing so it's not going to bunch up.  

Careful, my center piece is currently loose, and it got under the Jbar once. Just remember to check during pre-flight. Could not get the J bar to catch to retract the gear.  I have also considered heavy duty plastic adhesive Velcro type patches.  Let me know how you make out tho!

Edited December 14, 2020 by sailon
Added request for feedback after installation.

[Nukemzzz]

Haven’t yet glued down the piece between the seats. The first one they sent me the had the pattern upside down. 
 

The only fitment issue I’m having is the passenger side footwell against the console. Looks like it needs a jog to the right a tiny amount to fit perfect. I tried to put it under the console and it doesn’t fit without removing that whole mess so I’m going to just try it like this. 
 

The other challenge is getting the side walls mounted down at the feet so the rudder pedal doesn’t rub. Still need to finish sorting that. Some of the pieces needed trimming but that’s expected. 

[Nukemzzz]

2 minutes ago, sailon said:

Careful, my center piece is currently loose, and it got under the Jbar once. Just remember to check during pre-flight. Could not get the J bar to catch to retract the gear.  I have also considered heavy duty plastic adhesive Velcro type patches.  Let me know how you make out tho!

I’m planning on gluing the center piece down with contact adhesive. 

[Nukemzzz]

5 minutes ago, sailon said:

Careful, my center piece is currently loose, and it got under the Jbar once. Just remember to check during pre-flight. Could not get the J bar to catch to retract the gear.  I have also considered heavy duty plastic adhesive Velcro type patches.  Let me know how you make out tho!

I don't know how velcro could work.  The foam backing isn't structural and I'm not sure velcro would stick to it.  You'd probably have to sew the Velcro to it.  Anyone have tips for using adhesive velcro on this foam backing?  

[Nukemzzz]

Side note:  They made those armrest covers for me as well.  They are really nice.

[Marauder]

37 minutes ago, Nukemzzz said:

I’m planning on gluing the center piece down with contact adhesive. 

When I removed my old carpeting, they used contact adhesive on the foam on the back of the carpet. What a mess it was to remove from the aluminum. Bruce Jaeger told me to glue the carpet down with a 3M contact adhesive. I am wondering if it is a good idea to glue them down. I haven't flown with them yet but the foam seems to stay put - at least on the runners going under the seats. If they don't slide, I may just leave them free. 

[Marauder]

3 hours ago, rbridges said:

now you've peaked my interest.  What panel upgrades are you planning?

Ho Ho HO! Don't you know you're a naughty boy when you ask Santa these kinds of question on public forums where Santa's little wife helper can see them? Ho, Ho, HO!

[Marauder]

3 hours ago, rbridges said:

now you've peaked my interest.  What panel upgrades are you planning?

At the risk of Santa's little wife helper finding out, I am selling my 255B to a friend, adding a 355 and pulling the 60-2 for a GFC 500/G5. The 60-2 works great, but I always wanted IAS climbs, altitude capture and more importantly, the capability of 1 button recovery for my wife. 

[David Lloyd]

Seems like Airtex says to glue the carpet in place with their upholstery glue (looks like a pint can of rubber contact cement).  I didn't want to do that and bought some heavy duty velcro 1.5" wide strips from Lowe's.  The velcro holds the carpet in place like it should.  Long term, removing the carpet for cleaning will probably pull the foam backing from the carpet unless very careful

[RLCarter]

1 hour ago, sailon said:

Been considering an Airtex carpet for my F, it desperately needs it. However I refuse to glue it to the floor as the factory did.  What methods did you guys use to attach the carpets to the airframe?  Snaps?  Hooks?  Any details would be appreciated.  Thanks!

+1 for NOT glueing, mine had snaps so that’s what I went back with. Velcro seems to always need to be glued in one area or another. The existing snaps were screwed to the floor with -4(?) pk screws and they weren’t symmetrical in layout (pet peeve) so I ended up drilling a few new locations in addition to getting left & right match. There isn’t a bunch of stuff under the floorboard but I would remove the belly skins (mine were off for annual) just to verify you didn’t drill or nick anything and nothing will rub on the screws. As far as matching the ones on the floor(male end) I placed tape in the general location on the back of the carpet then just pushed down leaving an impression in the tape for the female side to be located. Use good industrial grade snaps which you can get in various colors, I have dark blue and used black snaps that barely show up at all

[carusoam]

I worked with Dodd 20 years ago for my M20C project... 

The area in front of the Jbar needs a trim... to cut the thickness down...

Trimming the carpet for the fuel selector wasn’t too bad if hiding behind the nice plastic trim ring...

My carpets were dark brown... hiding any dirt and wear that could happen...

Lasted a decade without any change...

Airtex had two locations PA and NJ (KTTN)... Easy to visit for any alterations...

Best regards,

-a-

[David Lloyd]

The PA location is offices, where everything is stored, cut, sewn, etc.  The hangar at Trenton is installation in customer airplanes.  They don't seem to advertise the installs.

[Andy95W]

5 hours ago, sailon said:

Been considering an Airtex carpet for my F, it desperately needs it. However I refuse to glue it to the floor as the factory did.  What methods did you guys use to attach the carpets to the airframe?  Snaps?  Hooks?  Any details would be appreciated.  Thanks!

I used 6-32 rivnuts with 1/2” oval head countersunk screws with beauty washers.  Do it during annual inspection with the belly panels off so you can make sure you won’t drill into anything critical. 

The nap of the carpet ends up covering the screw/beauty washer so they end up being invisible. Very secure, but probably the most work of any solution.