TheSamba.com :: View topic - Cutting carpet for floor heater vent cover

Sun Sep 11, 2016 11:43 am

I've recently put a headliner and carpeting in my 71 Super. The other day I bought some floor heater vent covers at a salvage yard (I never had them before).

Now I need to cut holes in the carpet and cover them with these plates. Any chance anyone has a photo of a carpeted car with one of these plates removed?

I'm looking for guidance on how much carpet to cut. I'd also welcome any tips for how to find the screw holes; it's not like to you can feel for them like you can with a headliner!

Scott

Sun Sep 11, 2016 12:05 pm

This the only floor vent image I could find. It's from a 72. I'm not sure if that is the same as a 71. Hope it helps ya.

Sun Sep 11, 2016 12:13 pm

Thanks for the photo, I'll bet this is the same as my car in this regard.

What I'm trying to find is a photo just like this with the vent removed, so I can see how much carpet to remove.

Thanks again,
Scott

Sun Sep 11, 2016 12:48 pm

You don't want to cut it by eyeballing it.
Just put the carpet down uncut. You will then be able to feel where the hole is and you cut with a a razor while it's in place.

Then put the plastic cover over the hole and use it to show where the holes are located

Sun Sep 11, 2016 1:28 pm

To find and make holes in carpet, I use a combination of an icepick, sharpie, tape and soldering iron. I use the tape to mark the approximate location of the screw holes front to back, then lay down the carpet. Then using the icepick start poking in the area of the tape. When it goes in the hole, you'll know it. Then use the hot soldering iron to form the hole. For larger holes like a heater opening, use the ice pick to find the edge of the opening. At each point you find, make a dot with the sharpie, until you have worked all the way around the hole. Then use the soldering iron to cut / melt the carpet from dot to dot. When done, you will have an almost perfect hole and the melted edges will keep the carpet from unraveling or getting pulled stringers.

Sun Sep 11, 2016 7:38 pm

Good tip about the soldering iron. Have to deposit that one in the memory bank.

Dan

Sun Sep 11, 2016 10:30 pm

Factory carpet was used as a template for these cut-outs:

Mon Sep 12, 2016 9:53 pm

Thanks to everyone for the kind feedback. It seems like the hole in the carpet should closely match ONLY the vent hole itself...

Scott

Mon Sep 12, 2016 11:22 pm

Longmont1302 wrote: ... It seems like the hole in the carpet should closely match ONLY the vent hole itself...
Like said above I used the original factory felt as a template for the cut-outs.

Check out these: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1957336
Although from a vert the vent cut-outs are the same for the sedan...

Tue Sep 13, 2016 7:54 am

Hi Maddel,

Thank you for the clarification. So the grey in your photo above isn't your carpet, but is the factory felt? If so, that's making more sense, thanks!

Scott

Tue Sep 13, 2016 10:20 pm

Heya Scott,
my Bug had the original dark gray factory felt but I decided to exchange it with a lighter shade of gray.
For trimming the new pieces I used the original factory felt as a template.
Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the old parts.

So the felt in my "work in progress" pic above isn't original but an exact copy of the original factory felt.
(Except for the wheel house pieces which had to be adapted to fit the kick panels.)

The height of the cut-out for the heater vent is bordered by the vent hole,
the width is bounded by the holes for the sheet metal screws which hold the vent cover.

Sorry for any confusion caused, but English isn't my native language... :oops:

Thu Sep 29, 2016 10:04 pm

After a few weeks away I'm back at it.

I am struggling to get some original front floor heater vent covers into my 1971 Super Beetle. I found a pair in the salvage yard and have made corresponding cuts in the new carpet, but the vents just don’t fit into the holes.

I think I’ve cut away more than enough carpet.

Try as I might, neither vent cover fits into the slot. I can sort of get one end in but then the gap on the other end is a big as my finger.

The vent insert part of the piece measures about 5/8th of an inch.

The vent hole in the sheet metal seems to be pretty close to that, too.

Bugs claims the same part numbers 111819190B and 111819189B fit standard beetles and supers alike, so I think I have the correct parts. Here are their jbugs counterparts:

http://www.jbugs.com/store/merchant.mvc?q=floor+heater+vent+cover&Screen=SSEARCH&x=0&y=0

I’m pretty sure I’m not putting the wrong cover on the wrong side, as my assumptions match up with jbugs who claims that 111819189B goes on the left or drivers side.

Is it possible that the holes in the sheet metal are bent just enough that the vents don’t fit? Any other ideas? Anyone else run into similar difficulties?

Thanks in advance for any ideas you can offer! (and thanks to Maddel for the help and excellent English!)

Fri Sep 30, 2016 3:21 am

The pivoting end of the flap goes toward the front of the car. Flap closed, the air bypasses the flap and opening. Flap open, the air hits the flap and is directed into the cabin through the vent slots.

Anyway, just bend the opening in the sheet metal so the entire flap goes inside the hole. In the picture, it looks like the top of the opening, to the right, has been bent down. Probably just stepped on some time in the past.

Dan

Fri Sep 30, 2016 4:54 am

Danpa wrote:
Anyway, just bend the opening in the sheet metal so the entire flap goes inside the hole. In the picture, it looks like the top of the opening, to the right, has been bent down. Probably just stepped on some time in the past.

Dan

^^ this^^

Fri Sep 30, 2016 5:16 pm

Thanks, Danpa and TX-73,

It makes sense that I need to make the openings bigger (and I too can see how the driver side sheet metal is misshaped). It's just odd they don't fit on either side, so I thought I'd make sure there wasn't a super beetle-specific part or some other factor I didn't foresee.

Any suggestions on how best to open up the opening? I wish I had a miniature jack!

I'll report back.

Scott

Fri Sep 30, 2016 6:12 pm

Well, today I can answer my own question. No special tools were needed. The steel is thin and pliable. A thin board and a small pry bar were almost overkill.

Here's the driver vent cover installed:

I do have on tangential question, however. What is this hose running along side the driver side heater channel (and just under the vent)?

Fri Sep 30, 2016 7:20 pm

That's not a hose, that's your wiring harness. It should go forward along the heater channel and go up and into a hole in the base of the post where the door hinges are located. From there, it goes up to your dash.

Dan

Fri Sep 30, 2016 7:39 pm

Thanks, Dan!

Sat Oct 01, 2016 5:51 am

Longmont1302 wrote:
Danpa wrote: The pivoting end of the flap goes toward the front of the car.
Flap closed, the air bypasses the flap and opening.
Flap open, the air hits the flap and is directed into the cabin through the vent slots.
It seems exactly these flaps are missing...

Sat Oct 01, 2016 6:02 am

I guess I didn't notice that, but you're right, they are missing!

Dan