So this Westminster carpet bloke is in Brisbane? Excellent........

What does the carpet look like?

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But he's thriving and striving and hugging the turns.

Follow the link earlier in the thread.

I think he's a little antzy about small lots (Use to 500 sq. meter lots) but he said he'd make an exception for a restoration.
Sydney guys let me know if you want to jump in and we'll organise a bigger order since we're all in the same spot. We can split the freight that way.

Email me if you're interested (maybe by next friday??), we'll work out how we'll go about it from there.

Mick

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Mick,
I dont mean to burst your bubble but the carpet you are talking about is a floor carpet and it is not the correct stuff. It is much thicker than cooper S westminster carpet. the new carpet has a wider ribbing and is less dense in thread count so in real life it looks like floor carpet stuck in your car. Check out Duc's carpet. I sold it to him as it was a genuine spare westminster I had. The original carpet has a hession backing and has printed on the rear, westminster. It sits properly on the floor as it is thinner and more pliable. I have seen a car with the carpet you are talking about and it looked crap. Please yourself guys but the old addage still applies. Ya get what ya pay for.
G.

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1970 Cooper S ex-Bathurst & ATCC
1964 Austin Cooper S ex-Group C race car
1967 Morris Cooper S ex-Group B
1962 Mini Speed sports sedan
1968-71 ex-Peter Manton Shell car

Telford make interior and exterior carpet. I have not seen the carpet available in interior quality(but I will ask). If the carpet is slightly different then I may have learn to live with that. It will be less incorrect than my current black loop pile carpet and It is after all, the only the material supplied by the mini restoration guys. I guess I will get a kick out of having it pretty close, if not spot on. and for a quarter of the exhorbitant price.

Here is a sample over the old stuff. I can't see the difference.
I have noticed that it is indeed a little thicker to the order of 1.5 to 2 mm, but after 30 years of being walked on I suppose that may happen.


It will happily have to co-exist with the non-original (Gasp!) hella light globes, Hocus brake light replacements, Bosch H3's headlights, Ryco air and oil filters, Bosch pionts, Falken tyres, EBC brake pads, chinese made indicator stalk, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc....

Wow, we got guys here rebuilding brake calipers using chinese parts, engine rebuilds using components from wreckers, rusted hulks being salved for electrical components. You know, stuff that could lead to car crashes if installed badly at home, but try to make a set of carpets which don't come from a Mini parts supplier using the same replacement material that they supply to the punter and the sky falls in.
Use the information above if you wish, but if it is inevitably slightly different in weave to the thirty year old stuff, it will be up to the individual to decide. I personally am not going to sulk about it. I'll save that for the Jaguar E-type boys.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

What is acceptable to some is not to others.
It is all about making an informed decision.
G.

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1970 Cooper S ex-Bathurst & ATCC
1964 Austin Cooper S ex-Group C race car
1967 Morris Cooper S ex-Group B
1962 Mini Speed sports sedan
1968-71 ex-Peter Manton Shell car

Orright,

I received a sample of the Tretford carpet in the mail today (via express post no less), and will post it for reference. The sample is 140mm wide for all you guys who wish to scale it for a better idea of what you are looking at. The cross section (pile) is 7mm thick.

Silver Birch


Hession Backing


Cross section (Not really representative of what it looks like, this is only a thin slice so ribbed effect is diminished)
http://photobucket.com/albums/y223/Andr ... chBack.jpg

The specifictions are:
80% goat hair
:: 15 % nylon, 5% viscose
:: carded fibres formed into a continuous corrugation,
:: bonded with PVC to a hessian backing
:: total weight - 2.75 kg per square metre
:: thickness - 7mm

And these are the turkeys who have supplied it since purchasing Westminster: http://www.gibbongroup.com.au/index1.html

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Orright,

I received a sample of the Tretford carpet in the mail today (they sent it via express post no less), and will post it for reference. The sample is 140mm wide for all you guys who wish to scale it for a better idea of what you are looking at. The cross section (pile) is 7mm thick.

Silver Birch


Cross Section (Not really representative of what it looks like, this is only a thin slice so ribbed effect is diminished)


Hessian Backing


The specifictions are:
80% goat hair
:: 15 % nylon, 5% viscose
:: carded fibres formed into a continuous corrugation,
:: bonded with PVC to a hessian backing
:: total weight - 2.75 kg per square metre
:: thickness - 7mm

And these are the people who have supplied it since purchasing Westminster, it is now known as Tretford:
http://www.gibbongroup.com.au/index1.htm

Drop me an email if you would like enlarged piccies. The photo server limits their size.

Mick

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Greg this stuff looks very similar to the carpet i got off you
and i think mine's very close to 7mm thick
on the back of my carpet, theres "____ord 2487"
which might make out to be "Tretford 2487"

John Hesslewood told me a while ago Tretford makes a very similar carpet to the westminster

so im guessing Mike has sourced out the same place
good work

_________________
Inconspicuously Conspicuous
Appreciation without Depreciation
forever chasing clearer skies...

Biiiig Thanks to Chris from Ozcooper for the loan of his original Westminster Carpet set. I am happily deriving all kinds of patterns from the set. I would be happy to offer these patterns to others once I have completed them.
I have laid the set out on my tiles with the carpet grain aligned and found that all told I will need 4.1 square meters (6 tiles by 7 tiles at 31.5 cm per tile side) with a foot of leftover carpet down the right side.
I will order more in case of stuff ups or future repairs.



The grain pitch is identical, and the carpet is roughly 1.5 to 2 mm thicker than the original. I wonder if 30 years of traffic and abuse could cause this kind of compaction. Who has put down new carpet in their houses and noticed this? It can be quite drastic.



I'll be ordering on Monday or so if anyone is interested in a combined order. Mine will be black, but another colour shouldn't pose a problem.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Mick it looks very good
good luck with it
I'm glad you could get around the $1300 quoted price

_________________
Inconspicuously Conspicuous
Appreciation without Depreciation
forever chasing clearer skies...

Thanx matic,

I've been looking at the problem of the contour around the starter button and gear change. It seems they simply force a straight edge on the driver side to bend around a curve on the center pattern. this forces the carpet into a contour.

If I get that right, it should be OK. Did you notice the carpet on the floor crossmember under the seat are fitted in two pieces? I always thought they were one piece myself.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

yeh the box section is in two pieces. i thought this was weird myself, but makes life easy when you glue them on

i think the button mount section is the most difficult, i know there is a cut in the carpet so it folds in, for a groove.
you will be able to figure it out

_________________
Inconspicuously Conspicuous
Appreciation without Depreciation
forever chasing clearer skies...

hi Mick, i'd be interested in getting carpet sent down too!
I've sent you a PM, but dont know if it went thru or not.

Yeah I got it just now.
Had to work last night so didn't see it.

Nearly made a big oops,

The ribbing on the new stuff goes accross the roll instead of along it.
I've had to re-jig my carpet layout to suit.
It's upped the amount to 5 sq. meters from 4.2.
I'll still be ordering a fair bit more than I need anyhoo for later on repairs, changes etcetera

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

First prototype carpet was produced last night, only took me 40 minutes to sew it up on the domestic sewing machine (with a concerned wife looking on). I was really surprised that the sewing machine had no problem sewing it, the carpet's not dense enough to offer any resistance, sewed it easier than badge material, really reccomend it for anyone at home. The bump around the gear shift was a doddle, if the curves are correct as per the pattern, you simply sew them together and that's it, no drama!
I would have the bulkhead piece in as well, but there was a bit of a drama, I made a exact mirror image, right down to the underfelt backing

Here's the result of my prototype using some generic carpet material I sourced I like it though as it's still "carded" like the tretford/westminster stuff:



and:



More work to go, but my second should perfect the pattern, I'm stunned how little time it took.

I'm going away for three months with the Navy at the end of this week, so anyone after patterns including the patterns for the original underfelt, drop me a line, but you will prolly need to be patient. I will get to it however...
BTW : due to some commercial meddling, the carpet supplier has upped his price to 79 dollars per sq. meter as opposed to 79 per 2 sq. meters. I would love to know the person who's responsible for that..
For a cheaper option for the rest of us, I'll try to source a name and supplier for this prototype stuff, it really is quite similar and nice to use.

_________________
SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.