Installing a Molded Rubber Floor Mat

Exmoor Trim in the UK manufactures a heavy duty half inch thick molded rubber floor mat for Series Land Rovers. It covers the floor, seatbox and the bellhousing surround on the firewall. Recently I bought the mat from British Pacific of Valencia, California. here's how I installed it.















I had to get this mat in quick, since I was due to go camping in just a few days. First task was pulling the seats, seat rails, and access panels. The seatbox section of the mat has no bolt holes in it and is designed to locate under the seat rails.
















I got some measurements of the Overdrive lever location from the gearbox tunnel cover and marked the mat with pencil. I used a 2 inch hole saw to cut the hole. It's a little off- I forgot to account for the thickness of the mat- but that's okay because it ended up cutting down on lever vibration and the shifting now has a dampened feel.














Putting the return spring and knob back on the 4WD Lever required some cribbing against the linkage from underneath.




























That way the lever was at its full height as I pushed the spring and knob back on.














I wore thick leather gloves to get the spring and knob located. It took many tries and my fingers were throbbing but the glove did the trick.

















Next, I laid the seatbox mat in place and located the bolt holes one by one. I put the bolts in their holes, felt for their heads, then drilled through the mat. There is a better way to do this- by taking the seatbox out- but I was pressed for time.










Anyway, it worked out fine. On final assembly there were only two holes that were out of alignment, but I just re-drilled.

















Here is the worst part of installing the mat over the seatbox: the clearances between the box and the gas tank are minimal. Too tight to drop a bolt through and get a nut on the end.



















Where that was the case, I ended up installing some of the bolts upside down.

















I used needlenose pliers to get some bolts in place.

























Once I had all the bolt holes drilled, I began cutting the access panel holes out of the mat. Cuts were also made around the handbrake lever.




















I used an X-Acto knife and number 11 blade to cut the mat. I drew the line in pencil using a straightedge, then scored it, then flexed the mat along thew score line and carefully cut it down. Kind of like doing surgery.























Once all the access panel cutouts were made I got the seat rails bolted in, along with my Tuffy Box (which by the way is a great comfort upgrade for Series rigs).













Here's the seat rails in place. Whenever I install new components, I decide whether I should use new fasteners. When I first rebuilt the truck I got a lot of genuine British fasteners from a source in Canada, but not a complete vehicle kit. For this project I got all new hardware to for the seat rails.








All in all, the mat went in without much trouble and it looks great.








In these shots you'll notice a Hardura covered horsehair pad on the gearbox tunnel, an old piece of trim I'd been using. Unfortunately due to the thickness of the new mat, it fouls the Transfer case lever, so out it came after this photo was taken.







All and all I'm pleased with this upgrade. It's cut down on road noise and rattles and I can hose out the floors. Best of all, no more curled up floor mats under my feet!