MIP Vinyl Full Floor Mat

[markeb01]

Having recently purchased and installed one of these full floor Molded Industrial Polyvinyl (MIP) mats, following are my experiences and observations for anyone that might be interested in this option.

I ordered from StockInteriors using their online system, and was provided the exact mat I ordered.

http://www.stockinteriors.com/

They provide excellent electronic order confirmation and status communications. The only shipping error was providing a precut jute pad for a small hump floor to use with the large hump mat ordered. I ended up removing the center section and used the outboard panels only. It would have been nicer to receive and use the correctly sized padding.

Installation labor has very little in common with adding a carpet kit or factory style rubber mat. For do-it-yourself jobs I would not recommend this for old guys with back and knee problems (like me)! The mat is extremely stiff and exhausting to work with. On the misery meter I’d rank the installation somewhere close to laying concrete. There is a lot of bending and twisting in awkward positions against an unyielding material.

The temperature when mine was installed was 55-60 degrees ambient which didn’t help. Running a space heater brought the cab temp up to 90 degrees, which dissipated immediately when the doors were opened. Due to the inflexibility and thickness of the material, wrinkles and bulges cannot easily be smoothed out, which prevents the mat from correctly fitting the floor. Because of this the mat must be manipulated, pulled, and worked to a point where it can be anchored to the floor in more than one spot before any trimming can begin.

A heat gun does help limber up the material in small areas, but offers very little benefit in fitting the overall mat to the floor because large enough areas cannot be heated at one time. Also the material cools quickly and does not hold heat for more than a few seconds. The best solution would be to do the installation on a day where the ambient is over 100 degrees (which rarely occurs where I live). Once the mat is fitted and completely anchored, small wrinkles can be removed with a heat gun and a few large magnets to hold the bulge flat while it cools.

These are the specific steps used to install mine:

The most well defined character features in the mat are the corners that match up with the ledge and corner forward of the factory front seat mounting bolt holes.



Using these corners the mat was centered on both sides of the tunnel. Holding the best alignment possible, a very small hole was cut just big enough to clear the shifter mechanism. The driver side of the mat was anchored at the gas pedal mount on the firewall and the factory forward seat mounting holes in the floor. Both sides could not be anchored simultaneously because the material could not be stretched to pull it tight.

After checking again for centering and square within the cab, the driver side of the mat was pulled as tight as possible and trimmed at the dimmer switch, door opening, and down into the rear cab corner. The door sill was installed to hold the position.

With the driver side secured to the floor, the same steps were repeated on the passenger side. The job was completed by reinstalling the seats, seat belts, shifter handle and boot.

For what they’re worth, here is my list of features this type of floor covering offers:

Pros

o As delivered the mat is generously oversized. There is plenty of material to cover any 60-66 interior.

o The front extends many inches above the factory mat. For those that want something on the firewall and don’t have the factory cardboard/fiberglass pad this provides nice coverage.

o Time will tell, but compared to the factory mat this stuff seems extremely durable. Cutting the MIP with a sharp box knife requires a significant amount of effort. Cutting up the factory mat for disposal required only an initial slice, after which the mat could be ripped by hand from top to bottom without tools.

o MIP is extremely easy to clean. A damp cloth removes any dirt and debris and restores it to a like new surface.

o There are no gaps anywhere. The entire floor is covered, allowing an air hose to blow any crud right out the doors without fear of trapping some of it under a loose edge of the mat.

o The material is a deep rich dark highly reflective gloss black. In my truck (IMHO) this compliments the shiny marine vinyl upholstery, and at first glance (in real life) looks like unrealistically shiny black loop pile carpet.



Cons

o There is so much excess material provided in the front of the mat it increases the difficulty of installation.

o From a practical standpoint the removable floor pan is eliminated. Because everything has to be installed on top of the mat to hold it in place, removing the floor pan for transmission repairs becomes impractical.

o Although the surface is textured, it is very slick. Shoes don’t slip on it, but most objects dropped on the floor will roll right out an open door.

o Once the wrinkles are ironed out, and depending on how much time is spent studying the appearance, it looks almost like a hard plastic bed liner in the shape of a truck floor. This is either good or bad depending on personal preferences. With the shiny marine upholstery in my truck I am very pleased with the result. Those seeking more of a factory look probably won’t be.

o Every entry leaves highly visible dirty footprints on the high gloss black surface. It shows up like bird poop on black lacquer. The footprints wipe off easily, but I got tired of seeing every speck of dirt every time we used the truck so I added some extremely cheap black rubber floor mats (no pictures yet). This eliminates the need to wipe down the floor every time the truck is driven, but does seem rather silly – protecting an expensive industrial plastic floor mat with cheap rubber mats!

Summary

I wanted something on the floor of my truck which covered everything from the back wall to the bottom of the steering column, and did not absorb dirt. Although the MIP mat has a couple of peculiar characteristics, it does nicely achieve both of these goals.

[Captainfab]

That looks very nice Mark

Even though by your review it sounds like a difficult installation, the end results are very good IMO.

[Rich 5150 69]

The temperature when mine was installed was 55-60 degrees ambient which didn’t help. Running a space heater brought the cab temp up to 90 degrees, which dissipated immediately when the doors were opened.

Mark you should have been down here, its been 104 degress for the last two days...

[1963c-10]

The install looks great and very clean. Have come to expect nothing less from you Mark and always enjoy seeing your posts and threads.

[61K10]

looks great! how about road noise? make any difference? should work for my k10. thanks for the review, and install tips.

[flashed]

That looks very good ,mine will go in one day and I hope it turns out as well as yours did.

[jsdoyle]

I really like the look and the job you did on the install. Mine has black carpet at the moment but that looks really clean and durable.

[ChiefRocka]

Thanks for the very imformative write up.

Looks like you made the product look good !

Did you forward the manufacture the same story ?


Posted via Mobile Device

[rideblue00]

Nice writeup. I am curious as to the noise level now as well.

[yote1234]

great look! and very informative ... thank you sir!

[jocko]

wow, looks great Mark, thanks for sharing!

[MikeS.]

Thanks for sharing this.

[rendus]

Nice, that'll be the one I'll go with when I'm ready to finish the interior.

[markeb01]

Thanks for all the feedback and comments guys, much appreciated.

Regarding the noise reduction questions, the interior is now substantially quieter. I can’t compare it to carpet because in all the years I’ve owned the truck it’s never had anything on the floor but an original style rubber mat with no padding of any kind. With a Pete Jackson noisy gear drive and a manual 4 speed transmission, the driveline sounds in the cab were almost the same as if I left the floor hump off. The transmission in particular has always come through loud and clear.

Under the new mat jute padding now covers the foot well area on both sides of the tunnel. There’s no padding directly over the transmission or under the seats, but I’d say the sound transfer was reduced by 50%. I don’t know if this is because I now have “some” padding, or because of the density of the mat, or both. Since my truck has no rattles or squeaks, I’m sure a full covering of Dynamat (or similar product) would have made it sound more like a new car, but this wasn’t one of my objectives.

[kieth]

Iinstalled the same mat, but first I put in a product from home depot (like dynamat excepts lots cheaper, then covered that with a simalar material that is closed cell foam with aluminum outer coating --duct insulation. To keep the original look I put a new stock rubber floor mat on top of the rubber mat. My truck is quiet as a church mouse. no heat comes through the firewall. it was well worth the work. Kieth

here is a picture-----http://kieth.smugmug.com/Trucks/66-GMC/13311086_xjDHcV#!i=1438205345&k=QRXTmdg&lb=1&s=XL

[CRGRS 66]

Originally Posted by kieth

Iinstalled the same mat, but first I put in a product from home depot (like dynamat excepts lots cheaper, then covered that with a simalar material that is closed cell foam with aluminum outer coating --duct insulation. To keep the original look I put a new stock rubber floor mat on top of the rubber mat. My truck is quiet as a church mouse. no heat comes through the firewall. it was well worth the work. Kieth

here is a picture-----http://kieth.smugmug.com/Trucks/66-GMC/13311086_xjDHcV#!i=1438205345&k=QRXTmdg&lb=1&s=XL

would this be the insulation you are referring to?
http://www.homedepot.ca/wcsstore/Hom....DW12025_3.jpg
they sell it in 12"x25', 5"x25', and 2"x25'

[LostMy65]

If my truck was fully restored like yours, and if I didn't have a floor shifter, I'd very likely go your route. But I still have a lot of work to do before it's ready for a mat like this.

Great write up, though!
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[kieth]

Originally Posted by CRGRS 66

would this be the insulation you are referring to?
http://www.homedepot.ca/wcsstore/Hom....DW12025_3.jpg
they sell it in 12"x25', 5"x25', and 2"x25'

The insulation we used was for square duct work, and was a gray closed foam not the bubble wrap type, we also used some roof repair stuff for sound deadening, it is made of butyl rubber with a alum back.....just like dynamat but a lot cheaper. I will go to home depot this evening and get the part numbers. The butyl rubber/alum is in the roofing section and was designed to be used under newly installed roof vents......it is about 9- 12 " wide and 25 feet long, the a/c duct insulation was 12" high and 25 feet long also, we used the butyl rubber first then the insulation trying to keep noises from going boom boomm on the floor panels and doors.....then the heat insulation to keep the cab cozy and cold or warm as the need arises. Kieth

[LostMy65]

Mark,

Is this the one you went with?:
http://www.stockinteriors.com/molded...=31&ModelId=88

[markeb01]

That's the place I ordered from, but I used part number 13129 which is for a GMC cab:

http://www.stockinteriors.com/molded...47&ModelId=479

Part number 13091 is for a Chevy cab. I am unaware of any differences between the two cabs or mats.

[LostMy65]

I wonder how the dark gray might look.
Maybe it wouldn't be as apt to show every smudge and footmark.
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[Vortech]

Well, got my stock interior MIP floor installed today. One note, floor is designed no go beneath the fuel tank. I decided not to take out the tank, I used a heavy duty box cutter to cut on the mold line just before the tank. Not too bad. Much thanks to original post, his instructions were dead on. A 70 degree day made it easier to install. I placed the mat in direct sunlight for about an hour prior to make it easier to install.

[markeb01]

That turned out real nice. It almost looks stock in the photo. I really like the deep black color.

[markeb01]

Originally Posted by LostMy65

I wonder how the dark gray might look.
Maybe it wouldn't be as apt to show every smudge and footmark.
Posted via Mobile Device

It would probably make a difference. I have to admit though I'm very happy with my crappy rubber mats. I paid $5.00 for the pair at Walmart and they are really thin and cheap. I was looking for something that didn't have the normal sharp probes on the back to grip into carpet. The pair I picked have tiny little nubs on the back which are worthless on carpet or an MIP mat. But they generally stay in place and keep 99% of the footprints off the main floor covering. When I go to a car show or just want to take a picture of the interior I just pull them out and the rest of the floor looks like it's just been wiped down. I must admit the longer I own this floor covering the more I like it.

[dwntwn]

Excellent write up! Thanks for taking the time to do this, I've got the same job ahead of me (after the floor repairs)