Explain to me the layers of carpet...

[Cantedvalve 128]

So I stripped all the original carpeting from my car... 8 years ago.  There was the carpeting, and some other stuff underneath it that the mice like to play with.  What I DONT know is what layers SHOULD be under my carpeting, and what function they serve.  I have heard that there is mass-backing, jute, underlayment... I would have to guess at some point at least a couple of those terms are redundant.  What layers SHOULD be on the floor of my car?

[Ridge Runner 1,220]

Depends on the car ,Most Mach 1s had two layers of underlay for sound deadner ..at least the Cali. Cars ,then the jute backing with the carpet last of all. The jute backing is great for mice and rat nest ,and holds water very well if you have a leak .i have pulled carpets and backing out and found rust free floors ...if the car was not a leaker.

[moodster 55]

Mine is a stock California fastback and it had a layer of insulation like stuff with a black heavy rubbery backing.  I left that in there.  Then there is the jute backing on the carpet which came bonded onto the new carpet.  The old jute backing was mostly crushed and destroyed so it was thrown away with the original carpet.

david

[Cantedvalve 128]

Okay, so it sounds like you both describe something more than just the jute being under your carpets.  There is underlayment as well.  That could be why mine doesn't quite fit correctly.  I must explore this further!

Any non-Cali car owners out there want to chime in?

[Rsanter 158]

It is my understanding that there is the carpet and then one layer of underlayment under that.

i think it seems like multiple layers because as the cars have gotten very old that underlayment comes apart/degrades and seems to come out in multiple layers.

years ago when I would take cars apart you could often take the pieces out in one piece/layer as long as the car was not rusted or had never gotten flooded with water.

back in the day I had reused underlayment from one car into another car. I have not been able to do that in 10+ years

 

bob

[Ridge Runner 1,220]

Yep a good dry car usually had a good underlay that i would keep and reuse also ,it is like a black tar but it had like a tar paper backing . A good dry car ,jt would come out in about three pieces in the front . Both of my 69 mach 1s had double layer underlay and so did my old spring time yellow mach 1,i think it may have been an extra sound dead package because my 69 302 car only had one layer of underlay. When you do find one with double underlay one layer is usually like brand new 

[danno 128]

One more thing to consider when buying and installing the new material.  The underside of the car, especially above the exhaust and towards the motor, can get very warm in the summer.   If you are trying to air condition a car with a hot floor, it makes it difficult.   I added extra insulation under the front floor, over the hump, and under the dash.  There is no point in making your AC work harder than it needs to.  I used the flexible stuff used in homes to wrap around heating ducts.  Home Depot probably has it.

[cavboy78 28]

my interior is gutted now and had jute and underlayment. I will tell you what it will end up with:

- Chassis Saver then Dynamat Extreme then Dynaliner, and then carpet with jute backing...