Carpets - please help :)

[Alan_M]

Does anyone still have original carpets fitted for their Excel, whether still fitted or not. If you do could you post a photos of them, or email to amckenzie29 at sky dot com.

The backgound to my request:

I am in the process of fitting a set of carpets from Coverdale, but have found a few areas that do not fit well, as it appears others have also found. If I can work with Coverdale it may help them improve their template for future sets. They have sent me out some plastic templates of the Elite carpet front and rear foot well sections and seat mounting for me to compare to the Excel and mark up for any alterations.

The main areas are in the driver’s and passengers front footwells. There are two carpet sections for each footwell, one to cover the flat section and one for the toe board area. This toe board section is particularly wide, even with the trim section removed from the outside of the footwells. Also the driver’s one has an extra heel pad - I assume to fit under the pedals, personally I don’t think this is required and it would look better without it.

They have sent me the pattern diagrams for both cars as they feel from the photos I have sent them - see photos, that the Elite would be a better fit.

So I am particularly interested to know if there is a difference in the width in this area and if the raised sections where the seats mount are different, as these sections don’t fit very well at their front edge.

Did the Elite not have the removable trim panel at the sides of the foot wells?

Also looking at the Excel pattern diagram they have the rear section of the front foot well reversed left to right as they show the cutout to fit around this trim panel.

With regards the rear footwell carpet, the Elite shape looks better as it extends forward under the seat to meet up with the front footwell carpet. The Excel carpet set has a gap here with an extra unbound square of carpet to be glued here. Does anyone know how the original carpets were?

Thanks - photos below

Excel pattern



Elite pattern



Front driver's foot well showing cut out marked for steering column - as can be seen this is much too wide.



and the extra width



Passenger side



The extra width can be hidden behind the trim panel, but then you have a bound edge on the right, but not on the left - thoughts please on which option you feel would be best?



Rear carpet - stops short of front on Excel, but on Elite pattern extends to meet front carpet. For the Excel you get a square of unbound carpet to glue into the space.



This is what you would get for an Elite - the brown carpet is my current carpet



Seat mounting - an excess of carpet at dart. This could be cut out and the edges of the carpet glued to butt together.

[KevW]

I'll photograph my O.E. front and rear footwell mats and e-mail them to you with dimensions this week Alan

[alanmoss]

This is a plan of the driver's side front carpet I did for another member, dimensions in cm.. (Passenger side similar but reversed).
The 25x29 bit extends under the seat.
Haven't photographed as KevW is sending his and mine are a bit grimy after the Dream Rides season.

[Alan_M]

Thanks.

Kev I will look forward to seeing photos.

Alan - from you diagram, just to confirm, there is no cut out to fit around the foot well side panel ( the one that extends into the door jamb). When in the car I assume this fits under this trim panel, which I think is the neater solution. The way Coverdale have done it would be better for an overmat and an overmat is not something I would use due to risk of sliding under pedals.

[alanmoss]

Yes it just tucks under the side trim, There is a velcro fastening near the front of the carpet to securely locate onto the floor.
I do have some (old) Lotus overmats which came with clips to prevent sliding under the pedals,

[Alan_M]

OK, some photos of the templates I have created over the weekend.

I also checked the fit off the other sections of carpet and other than the rear shelf, they all appear they should fit. They will need some trimming as they are fitted, but as they are all unbound sections that will be no problem.

I found the rear shelf section was too wide, but this could be trimmed as the edges hidden by cant rails, however the rear edge of the carpet is straight and the shelf and window are curved.

The next thing is to see what Coverdale will do in terms of remaking these sections and changing their templates. I will keep the tread updated.

comparison of straight edge of carpet and curve of shelf/window



how it fits leaving a gap visible from the outside



Template shaped to fit curve



Excess width



Template finished



Original driver's carpet (photo kindly supplied by KevW)




Template for passenger foot well and toe board



Rear foot well. This is as the original and also a very close match to the Elite pattern sent by Coverdale




Passenger toe board - again close to the Elite. The elite appears to have a one piece foot well and toe board carpet, so I trimmed the Elite pattern to fit the Excel



Seat mounting - These shapes were taken from the carpet sent. You can see how much overlap and spare material there is




The template

[Alan_M]

I have been asked to supply some further dimensions to Coverdale of the rubber heel mat dimensions and position.
Could I ask if anyone could help and supply these as per diagrams below.

thanks

Alan

[KevW]

I'll e-mail you asap Alan

[Alan_M]

I'll e-mail you asap Alan

Thank you

[carlp]

Lots of photos of replacement Coverdale carpets with neatly bound edges posted above but were the carpet edges originally bound? It seems a but unnecessary if the edges are tucked out of sight under other bits of trim and it also seems to make 'tweaking' of carpet positions more difficult? My Excel is away at the moment so I can't check...

Carl

[Alan_M]

A little update. I have received the new MK2 version of the carpets today. I've had a quick look, and first impression is they fit much better. It will probably be a week or two before I will get chance to strip out the interior to fit them, but a couple of photos below show them placed in the car. If you compare to the photos above of the first version, you will see how much better they are.

[carlp]

Looks much better but I can't help thinking they would be better as a single piece?

Carl

[Alan_M]

Looks much better but I can't help thinking they would be better as a single piece?

Carl

I believe the Elite was a single piece, but Lotus changed to two pieces with the Excel. I guess this allowed the main foot well section to be removed for cleaning, or possibly easier/better fit over contours?

The design was changed between earlier and later Excels. The pattern I am using is for the later Excel, which I think look better then the early design. The difference between them is - on the early ones the rear foot well carpet extended over the lump under the front of the seat and the front foot well carpet just met this at the front of the seat. The later ones (as shown in the photos) have an extension on the front foot well carpet to cover this lump, so finishing beneath the seat, with a shorter rear foot well carpet.

[KevW]

It looks like your efforts have paid off Alan. It's nice to see Coverdale being interested in their product enough to work with a customer to make improvements. I'm looking forward to ordering a new carpet set from Coverdale in the spring. I might as well keep my current carpets in place for this winter's driving. I don't really need a new full set but the original ones are looking a little bit tired on the door cills .

I also like the fact the carpets are pieced. It makes them a lot more practical should they ever need cleaning or, perish the thought, water ever finds its way in the cabin. I once had a 1993 Mini Cooper and was really glad its O.E.carpets could be lifted out in sections when I spilt a pint of milk in the passenger foot well.

[ianhateswork]

Coverdale,
now have my carpet set from a 91 excel, 90% anyway.
I think it`s an original set and they did comment that the front mats looked different to their pattern.