Floor Mats

The 109 arrived with bare aluminum floorboards throughout. As much as I wanted the Exmoor molded flooring/insulation kit, I just could not justify the cost--especially when it did nothing for the middle row or rear tub.

In Monroe, Washington, about 30 minutes from our home, there is a store named Del's Farm Supply that sells horse stall matting. These are recycled rubber mats that are available in 4' x 8' foot sheets either 1/4" or 1/2" thick. I purchase two sheets of the 1/2" thick mats for about $80. One side is smooth and the other has a raised dot pattern. They are very heavy, but that is just what you need to dampen at least some of the road and vibration noise from the floorboards. In our 109, it also helped to cover up several empty bolt holes (not rust holes) in the passenger footwell which is locate right next to the exhaust manifold on the Chevy 6. No surprise that there are a few exhaust leaks so covering up those holes really helped.

These mats can be cut with ease using a serrated knife. The downside is, it leaves a somewhat ragged edge. You could try a jigsaw if you are able to hold the mat down on both sides of the blade--otherwise the blade just grabs the rubber mat and jerks it up and down instead of cutting. A carpet knife or box cutter could also work and would probably produce a cleaner edge, but it will take a really long time.

As for cutting them to shape, I just eyeballed it using a tapemeasure to determine the length of each cut in relation to a starting/reference point. The rear tub is easy--just one big rectangle with cutouts for the center seat and seatbelt mounts. The middle row is the same except for some minor trimming on the corners to clear the door stops. As for the front seat footwells, I used the sills of each door as the reference point and just measure each cut from there.

In retrospect, the one thing I would do differently is to have the raised dot side facing down. This is because our door seals are not the best and I think that the raised dots would allow the water to drain--and dry--better.

One other idea I have is to buy one of the thinner mats and cut pieces to fit the seat box. If I can find a glue that will bond this type of rubber, I think I could end up assembling a box out of all the cut pieces that would not need to be glued to the actual seat box panels.