Floor Mat Retainers 355

[tcannon]

Originally Posted by jgriff

I've never worked with rivets before. I'll stop by Sears and get a rivet gun. I guess you just drill the head off the rivet and then pull it put? If there's anyway to mess this up I'll probably find it.

You want to be careful when you drill the old rivet. You do not want to drill out the hold on the floor pan any larger than it already is. So you want to drill into the head of the rivet with a drill bit that it around 2/3 of the diameter of the rivet head. But you only want to drill until you get through the head and then stop. Then you can remove the old retainer base. You will then punch the rest of the rivet out the bottom leaving the original hole. You then place the new retainer base in place on the original holes. Then insert the end of the new pop rivet into the base and through the hole in the pan of the car. You want to use a rivet that is the same diameter as the hole. Make sure that the rivet is pushed all the way until the head of the new rivet is pressing on the retainer base. You will then slide the rivet tool onto the rivet until it is all the way up against the head of the rivet. Then you will start squeazing the handle of the rivet tool. It will take a few squeazes to exand the back side of the rivet. It will tighten up at the end. Keep squeazing until it cuts the pin off of the rivet. Remember to pull the handles apart on the rivet tool to eject the pin of the installed rivet before doing the next one. That is about it!

[jevs]

Put in my common sense fasteners today finally. The short ones work perfectly. Of course you can use the long ones as well, but the short are more like the originals and the mat cannot slide up because the thing you turn is actual in the recess of the part on the mat.

[surfwolf]

I am wondering how thick/heavy the carpet mats are you have? I have the factory Ferrari carpet fasteners & am going to get a nice custom set (expensive) of carpet mats made/created. I am not sure that I will even need to use the fasteners with the tacky/non-slip backing & custom exact fitting. Is there a good way to remove the fasteners? other than drilling out the rivets & leaving holes or blanking it off?

[jevs]

Mine are pretty thick. I can't imagine you will find much thicker ones. These are much thicker than other ones I have bought for other cars. They have a dense black foam rubber like bottom and the corners have some other fabric reinforcement on the bottom. I had to use an X-acto knife to cut through the mats where the little fold over tabs go through. They would not poke through on their own. The mat grommets worked perfectly too.

[Extreme]

Originally Posted by jevs

Put in my common sense fasteners today finally. The short ones work perfectly. Of course you can use the long ones as well, but the short are more like the originals and the mat cannot slide up because the thing you turn is actual in the recess of the part on the mat.

Were did you get the fasteners? Also do have a picture of your mats?
I need new floor mats and fasteners.
Has anyone ordered mats from europeanfloormats.com?

[jevs]

Car Builder Solutions
Short Black Turnbuckle Fasteners
Ref. Code: TBSB

http://www.cbsonline.co.uk/product/S...Fasteners_TBSB

[GerryD]

How did you guys go about putting the gromets on the carpet? Do they fit into each other and you hammer them gently to get them to mate or is ther a tool?

[Extreme]

Originally Posted by jevs

Car Builder Solutions
Short Black Turnbuckle Fasteners
Ref. Code: TBSB

http://www.cbsonline.co.uk/product/S...Fasteners_TBSB

Thanks for the link.
Any issues with them shipping to the US?

[jevs]

Originally Posted by GerryD

How did you guys go about putting the gromets on the carpet? Do they fit into each other and you hammer them gently to get them to mate or is ther a tool?

Here is how I do it:

1) Put the carpet in the car and locate the heads of the fasteners, then use an x-acto knife to cut a slit that it will slide through. Then remove the mat.

2) Place the top grommet over the slot with the slot centered in the oval. Press it into the mat.

3) Hold the top piece in place and flip the mat so the top piece is on a hard surface. Get the 4 pointed tabs through the mat. You may have to slit with an X-acto if it will not penetrate on its own (thick or tough mat).

4) Place the bottom half over the 4 pointy tabs sticking through.

5) Use an X-acto knife to cut out the hole using the bottom piece as a reference. You want to cut the carpet slightly bigger than the hole in the metal so you don't see carpet in the hole.

6) Use something to press the back piece down in front of the tab as you roll the tab over into the groove in the back piece. I used channel locks with the mouth closed. I could press on the edge of the back piece and then roll them over the tab to compress it. This compresses the top and bottom together as it folds the tab. Do this on all four. Then you are done.

They work very well.

[jevs]

Originally Posted by Extreme

Thanks for the link.
Any issues with them shipping to the US?

No problem. I just ordered right of their site. I could not find any in the US at that time for a better price even considering shipping. They are small though, so the shipping is not bad.

[GerryD]

Originally Posted by jevs

Here is how I do it:

1) Put the carpet in the car and locate the heads of the fasteners, then use an x-acto knife to cut a slit that it will slide through. Then remove the mat.

2) Place the top grommet over the slot with the slot centered in the oval. Press it into the mat.

3) Hold the top piece in place and flip the mat so the top piece is on a hard surface. Get the 4 pointed tabs through the mat. You may have to slit with an X-acto if it will not penetrate on its own (thick or tough mat).

4) Place the bottom half over the 4 pointy tabs sticking through.

5) Use an X-acto knife to cut out the hole using the bottom piece as a reference. You want to cut the carpet slightly bigger than the hole in the metal so you don't see carpet in the hole.

6) Use something to press the back piece down in front of the tab as you roll the tab over into the groove in the back piece. I used channel locks with the mouth closed. I could press on the edge of the back piece and then roll them over the tab to compress it. This compresses the top and bottom together as it folds the tab. Do this on all four. Then you are done.

They work very well.

Very good. I was asking because I can remember years ago my dad had a gromet tool (for the round ones) and it pressed both pieces together and voila...its done. I was wondering if there was a tool for this process but it would have to be oval.
Thanks

[jevs]

I have one of those, but it is really for round metal grommets like used in tarps and boat stuff etc. The grommet itself actually punches the hole as it is being compressed then formed.

These are designed for basic hand tools. The hole must be trimmed manually. It is easy though.