floor panels felt

[DollyDodge]

When I took out the floor panels in my B-2-C there was some strips of felt on a couple of places. It looks like about 1 inch wide felt. Where is a source of the felt? Did it go along all the seams between the panels and the cab? What kind of adhesive would be good to use?

[HanksB3B]

Not sure if it's factory, but a few photos of where this stuff may help discover why I have some funny squeeks that I can't seem to discover the source of. Has anyone "felt" this way before?

Thanks,

Hank

[jakenoklahoma]

I have seen bits of felt before on my 50, when I took up the floorboards. I have seen it on other early model autos. best bet would be to search Hemmings in teh suppliers and services section for companies that provide body stripping and molding and window felts.

[JBNeal]

Any place where there is sheet metal attached to sheet metal, there will be squeaking without some type of insulator between the metals. The '48 & '49 had these little strips where the floorboards, cab, cab floor, and transmission access plate met. The strips weren't continuous, probably stopped about 1-2 inches shy of each fastener. It looked to be some sort of cotton fiber strip that after 6 decades of the elements had all but rotted away to nothing.

This material was probably put on at the factory as needed, with no set length except for a shop floor supervisor bellering "don't use so much". Now there are many types of synthetic silencing strips to choose from and can be found in rolls at good car parts stores, hardware stores, even fabric & hobby stores. Some even have adhesive backing where it's cut to length, peel & stick, repeat.

My suggestion is to find something in bulk that is about 1" wide and can compress to 1/32"-1/16", usually this is some type of nylon fabric or open-cell foam. Adhesion with weatherstrip adhesive of your choice should do the job, as it will only serve as a place holder until the mechanical fasteners get to workin'.

FWIW, the original seats squeak some. I can lean back in that bench seat and make it talk, and it ain't sayin' "how'bout them Cowboys".

[DollyDodge]

Thanks for the info. Regarding the squeeks, if my old truck didn't squeek, I would think something was wrong I took my seats to the upholsterer today, he said the material was the original fabric, it is all ripped and torn, but it is still amazing it was in as good a shape as it was after 60 years.

[HanksB3B]

Thanks Brian. It's expensive but I once got a roll of 1" wide velcro from an industrial supplier. Everybody knows velcro strips are one part "hooks" and the other strip is soft nylon. The nylon part is self adhehive and very tough in that it is not subject to water damage like cotton or felt. I hope I still can find this in my storage unit. If not I may look for some.

Thanks for the info. Regarding the squeeks, if my old truck didn't squeek, I would think something was wrong I took my seats to the upholsterer today, he said the material was the original fabric, it is all ripped and torn, but it is still amazing it was in as good a shape as it was after 60 years.

Dolly" It's always interesting to discover a new noise every time you go for a drive. I'm always saying "What's That?" every time I take'er out. The original padding is horse hair. Probably not politically correct these days, except it is "green". Mine was replaced with foam rubber padding but I'm sorry I didn't really do a frame-up type of restore including sand blasting, restoring and replacing any loose or damaged springs, finding new horse hair, and some real fine leather. Mine looks and feels original and is fine. Don't know if it'll last 60 years, but I won't be here either, so for now my a** and my seat is just fine.

Hank

Edited June 2, 2010 by HanksB3B

[grey beard]

I went to Lowes and bought a roll of "Peel'nSeall" butyl rubber roofing for valleeys and gutters. Makes fine sound deadener and seam sealer. Easy to install, too - just cut pieces to size and peel the paper off and stick it down. I used 3M upholstery adhesive under it, as well, especially on the cab inner roof. It'llnever come down. Then put a layer of bubble-wrap duct lnsulation on top of the rubber, the stuff with foil on both sides. Nice and cool and quiet and cheap - my favorite mix.

Good Luck

[DollyDodge]

I found a store on line and they have ever size and density of felt stripping you can imagine, and make it with either adhesive or not. Mininum order is 25 feet and about 2 bucks a foot, which isn't cheap. There was quite a bit of the old material on the truck still. I may send the guy a sample and see how close he can come. I won't be able to do a full restore either. But each thing I take apart I fix as best I can. I just want my old friend to be legal and go down the road again. The CHP is coming by my house tomorrow to do the VIN check paper work and then the plates will be sent to me. Yippie.

[PatS....]

Most of the reason the floors rusted was the ability of the felt to soak up water, then it's inability to evaporate under the rubber.

Wet felt on top of sheet metal...not long until big holes develop.

Might try to find a better way to stop sound, like dynamat or similar...the "peel and seal" mentioned works great as well.

[JBNeal]

ya know I ain't tried it, but I'm kinda wondering if a quality grade duct tape would work, doubled over to increase thickness. that's a fairly economical peel & stick...

[DollyDodge]

I am lucky, my floor panels are in good shape. We get less than 5 inches of rain here. I never thought about the felt holding water though. The rust I have on my floor board came from leaks in the cowel vent.

[jpellican]

I used rubber electical splicing tape 3M its about 3/4 inch wide and thicker than regular electical tape and used some 3M spray upolstery adhesive on on the tape glued it to floor boards it worked well.

[HanksB3B]

Most of the reason the floors rusted was the ability of the felt to soak up water, then it's inability to evaporate under the rubber.

Wet felt on top of sheet metal...not long until big holes develop.

Might try to find a better way to stop sound, like dynamat or similar...the "peel and seal" mentioned works great as well.

Now I learned something. More reason to use the fluffy side of velcro. It's nylon and shouldn't hold water.

Hank

[Frank Ollian]

You might also try strip caulk, seals great and won't absorb moisture.

[PatS....]

I am lucky, my floor panels are in good shape. We get less than 5 inches of rain here. I never thought about the felt holding water though. The rust I have on my floor board came from leaks in the cowel vent.

Same as mine on the passenger side. If the felt had not been there, it would have drained and not been near as bad as it is.

Because I have a friend in the business, I'll have the floor RhinoLined before I do the sound deadener.

[DollyDodge]

I am going to use POR-15 on the floor boards and thier black top coat on top of that. My rust on the passenger side is on top where the water was trapped in the felt under the floor mat. I am still thinking of using the felt, there is no rust anywhere near where the felt was on the panels, though I sure can see it would be a problem in humid areas. I am going to go to the hardware store and look at some of the other options mentioned in this thread.

[pflaming]

Dolly: Ace Hardware has that Por. . . under a different name for 1/4 the price. I got a quart of it for $8.00; it was $15.00 a PINT at NAPA!. The directions information is WORK PERFECT. Only the name on the front is different.

[John-T-53]

I recently redid my floor boards and used "pickup truck cap tape" found at my local parts store. It's adhesive backed foam, about 1" wide and 3/16" thick, and comes in a very long roll. I too found remnants of the felt when I took the floor apart.

The reason I went with the foam, besides its anti-squeak capability and easy installation, was for good sealing. I wanted to make the floor 100% air tight and eliminate engine fumes entering the cab. In most locations, I was able to split the tape down the middle and get a good, clean seal with a 1/2" wide strip. I taped over the bolt holes and came back with a punch, heated up with a torch to open them up - made a perfect edge around the hole. The panels can still be removed easily, and I have a lot of material left over. So far, so good.

[DollyDodge]

thanks for the help

[Brent B3B]

On ‎6‎/‎5‎/‎2010 at 7:52 PM, John-T-53 said:

I recently redid my floor boards and used "pickup truck cap tape" found at my local parts store. It's adhesive backed foam, about 1" wide and 3/16" thick, and comes in a very long roll. I too found remnants of the felt when I took the floor apart.

The reason I went with the foam, besides its anti-squeak capability and easy installation, was for good sealing. I wanted to make the floor 100% air tight and eliminate engine fumes entering the cab. In most locations, I was able to split the tape down the middle and get a good, clean seal with a 1/2" wide strip. I taped over the bolt holes and came back with a punch, heated up with a torch to open them up - made a perfect edge around the hole. The panels can still be removed easily, and I have a lot of material left over. So far, so good.

is that foam still holding up for you John?