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MG MGA - Carpet & Pad Question

I'm replacing my floors and carpet and had planned to insulate with Dynamat underlayment, which seems a common enough choice judging from other threads. My question concerns installing the seat rails in such a way that the slide mechanism still operates. Barney recommends either (1) to slit the pad and carpet to allow the fixed rail to be mounted directly to the floorboard (the tall-driver solution), or (2) to mount the fixed rail on a wooden strip and cut away the pad and carpet where they meet this strip (the short-driver solution), bringing the tops of the carpet and the strip to the same level. As a tall driver, I'm reluctant to sacrifice headroom by adding a booster strip beneath the rail. Has anyone who has installed the carpet/Dynamat combination by the first method (slotting the mat and carpet) encountered difficulty in sliding the seats? My concern is that the perforated metal seat base hasn't enough clearance for this arrangement and will drag on the carpet.
Ken Korey

Surely SOMEBODY has mounted their seat rails directly to the floorboard and installed 3/8" mats under their carpet, no? All I'm asking is whether this interferes with sliding the seats. It's easily testable.
Ken Korey

Ken,
I am in the process of doing my Coupe. As you know I have Dyna on my floors. What I will be doing is to place the carpet mat down, fit it perfectly, then remove it. It will then be trimmed down by app 1/2 inch on the outside edge (all around) and will be glude to the back of the carpet. When it comes to the seat rails, they will be bolted directly to the floor....over top of the dyna mat. The padding will be cut out around the seat rail area before it will be glued to the carpet and then the carpet will be slit and trimmed to fit neatly around the seat rails.
I know this might not be concourse like your Coupe, but mine will never look as good as yours. Hope this helps. Gordon
Gordon Harrison

Thank you, Gordon! This seems like the best solution I'm likely to come up with. The closest I'll get to becoming a concourse winner will be be the day the judges turn up drunk. Cheers!
Ken Korey

I did my carpets as Barney suggested with the slit and haven't had any issues. I find I never move the seat anyway.
Bill Haglan

I have a fairly thick carpet, and the seat runners are mounted on the floor. The seat bottom has left an imprint on the carpet under the seat, so I think you will have to use the B spacers to allow your seat to slide.
dominic clancy

Thank you Bill and Dominic. This seems pretty much to bound my choices: either sink my seat into the plush, as Bill has done following Barney's advice, or glide above it, as Dominic has done also by following Barney's advice. Barney's never wrong, is he?
Ken Korey

This thread was discussed between 20/06/2010 and 27/06/2010

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