Rubber mat removal

[Schonyenko2]

The cheap pading. If you break the mat, Marlin, and Dave Belk, have the coolest ways of fixing them. Almost impossible to find the break, or tear. Schonye

[Mr70]

Can you share with us all how they fix them?

[budnate]

second that request

[Schonyenko2]

Marlin can explain it better than I can. They use multiple bicycle tire patches on the backside, and a product called sem on the top. Done right they look like new.

[Belair62]

Is it important to save the padding too ? Looks like the original mat is damn good but it has form fit over every little detail of the padding and whatever else is under there...my main concern is NOT to crack it up when i take it out...it's pliable but I would imagine it will break pretty easy.

[Schonyenko2]

The pading will help keep the mat from cracking as it is usually stuck from age onto the mat. Taking an unstuck mat out is a 2 or 3 man job as you need to hold it so it doesn't sag, and crack. Kinda like putting an injured person on a backboard.

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Make sure the car is in a warm environment, that makes the mat more pliable. I pulled one out of a junk yard car in January with 2+ inches of ice on top - that was difficult. The mat won't tear as easily as you might expect, but be careful. I give the bicycle patch idea credit to Neal Robbins, he was the one who told me, and me to Belk years ago. Basically, if you have a hole somewhere, like the heal area, you just cut a piece out of another mat or a small section from under the seat area, and fit it into the hole. Then use the bicycle inner tube repair kit to 'seal' it from the backside, use the rubber patch that is big enough to cover the entire piece that you inserted. The repair kit glue is ok, but I have found the some nice black RTV will work even better, and will actually squeeze up into any crevices between the mat and the inserted piece. This makes for a nice repair.

Also, remember that all mats are actually black, GM simply painted the topside with some cheap lacquer paint, blue, green, etc... So, the mats will look like new when you clean them real well with some lacquer thinner and a soft bathtub brush, let it dry, and spray on a very, very thin coat of black lacquer paint. This is good to do even if you have a mat that was black originally. If you have a blue for example that you are returning to black, the lacquer thinner will remove all of the blue paint from the high points of the rubber texture, only leaving some residual blue in the crevices. After you spray it with the black lacquer, it will look like new, and the only parts where the black lacquer might wear off will again be the high points - simply dust on some more lacquer paint every few years to freshen it up.

[Supercar_Kid]

I know this is sort of off topic, but I recently met a gentleman at a local car club gathering that used to work for Regency Top, a small Canonsburg based upholstery shop who back in the late 60's did lots of vinyl top/upholstery jobs for nearby Yenko Chevrolet.

The gentleman's name is Jerry, and he's actually still in the upholstery business today, running a small operation out of his home. We got to talking about his connection to Yenko and some of the work that he used to do for Don. He explained that he was responsible for upholstering/sewing up covers for many of the original Stinger Corvair fiberglass racing seats, and that he also remembers putting vinyl tops on more than a few of Yenko's new cars, because Yenko was "cheap" and could get Regency to do the work for less than what GM would charge him for an RPO. I asked what they'd do for vinyl top trim on an originally painted roof car and he explained that they would often make their own trim pieces out of polished aluminum channel, as it was cheap and easy to form to nearly any roofline. He had a sort of "whatever it took, we'd make it happen" attitude about the whole arrangement of his working for Yenko. He even claims they would drive the finished cars back to Yenko and pick up the next one needing work, really getting on the performance cars when he'd get a chance. He mentioned specifically remembering a "Yellow 427 Chevelle" that he and the guys at the shop had quite a time joyriding in.

But even more interesting than all of this, is the fact that he also told me that he remembers putting carpet kits in Novas that were so basic that they came with only a rubber mat from the factory. He couldn't remember specifically if they were "Deuce" Novas that he did, or just plain janers, but he claims he clearly remembers putting carpet in a few Novas for Yenko that were delivered without it. While I haven't heard of any documented examples of this, it IS entirely possible that some Canonsburg sold Deuces could have had Regency trim shop rugs put in them when new, if it were at the request of the customer.

It kind of makes you wonder what ever happened to the new rubber mats that were removed? Maybe I'll give him a call just for kicks and see if he's as big of a pack rat as me.

[Charley Lillard]

I think Belair should just spray Rhino liner on the floor of his Deuce. Then lightly dust it with Black lacquer.

[hvychev]

lol