wolf8218

Hey there guys.

While messing with the center console (aftermarket head unit) I saw that some of the carpet on the passenger side of the transmission tunnel is coming out from under the plastic covering.

How can I fix this?

Looks like I bought a Ford whenever some one rides in it

cruzin2

you need a tunnel heat shield. lots to choose from and is common in warmer climates and roadracers. may need to replace the carpet if its already shrunk.

FRDnemesis

Welcome to the club. Do a search on this forum and you will see it has happened to quite a few of us. Supposedly the carpet was cut too short from the factory and when your tunnel gets hot, the backing starts to shrink and will "continue" to shrink.

wolf8218

I am considering the heat shield, but getting it done at a shop will cost ~700 bucks.

Don't know if it's worth it.

Was thinking about putting some velcro strips on it, but I don't know where to mount it, because it's RIGHT in front of the hand brake lever, so it cannot be anchored.

Thoughts?

FRDnemesis

Velcro will not stop it. Either pay money for the heat shield/matting now or be like me and have to pay to replace both sides (driver/pass) of the carpet $800.

Buy the matting for the interior tunnel and tackle it yourself during a weekend.

wolf8218

That's not really isolating anything though.

It has to be on the underside to prevent convection/conduction from the exhaust/drivetrain through the sheet metal to the cabin.

If I put the interior matting in, the heat has already entered and will ruin some other part of the cabin.

erikszr1

remove seat, trim carpet from around seat mounting locations and wherever else it needs so the carpet can be shifted towards console. ive done a few of these. takes about 1/2 hour. i dont think it has shrunk, i think it has relaxed and doesnt reach. the holes are not in correct spots. nothing is being ruined from the heat, just a little trim is all thats nec. unless the heat bugs you, the insulate.

66L72

My passenger side was too small from about the first year on.
I put heat shield in after year 2, for heat not the carpet. Now the drivers side has shrunk down. I tried to pull it back up but there is not much give there.

Car is mostly a track rat so I think I will just get out a black,sharpie and color in the aluminum foil stuff so it's not so visible.

Bill Dearborn

Insulate inside the cabin Vs underneath. The heat isn't going to damage some other part. Insulating under the car could cause more damage than anything else. There really isn't any room under the floor panel for insulation and you have to pull the complete drive train to insulate the tunnel properly. The rear of the tunnel is completely open to exhaust and transmission heat so you would have put insulation over top of the transmission. You could also try wrapping the exhaust with Thermotek heat wrap but that would eventually fall apart since it would be exposed to a lot of road debris.

If your carpet is like mine it would have to be moved at least an inch. The floor openings in the carpet are sufficiently large you could move the carpet toward the tunnel but the holes where the emergency door opening latches are located would be exposed once you moved the carpet. Another issue with moving the carpet is it is formed and has a jute backing in some areas so it doesn't want to bend where it hasn't been bent before.

Bill

Jawnathin

Any recommendations on a specific product to use? Will something like Dynamat work? Prefer something light weight if possible.

Will be ripping apart the interior soon and I figure I might as well get this done while I'm in there.

allanlaw

BTW carpet is an excluded item under the GMPP extended warranty - I learned that a few months back

tim414

there was a thread several years ago bout this. Was 'not' covered under warranty either.

hiznhrz

All good information but several suggested approaches seem to conflict with one another. Do all Z06's eventually have this problem? Is it "luck of the draw"? If you're one of the unlucky ones, is there a long term fix?

66L72

Well mine is an 06. One would imagine that GM knew of the problem very early on and made a change to fix it on later years......sorta like the valve guides.

Random84

How about some high quality spray adhesive or epoxy? It would have to be relatively thick to grab the carpet backing; but if you use alcohol to wipe down the tunnel surfaces it should hopefully stick pretty well (versus two-sided tape that might break down in the heat)?

Just a thought.

wolf8218

^I don't think that would work in my case. There is no static backing where mine has separated. It is right where my e-brake handle is.

I don't know if something like this would help prevent it from happening on the driver's side.

http://www.lgmotorsports.com/product...oducts_id=1565

Mongose

Corvette 2006 Z06, mostly track miles. On the Incredible shrinking carpet on the transmission tunnel. I have this problem. I'm thinking of getting the ACC replacement carpet for the driver/passenger side. Do you think it is "full" cut and will fit as it should? I called them, explained that my carpet no longer is covered by the top tunnel trim. They said they use factory sized molds and it should be identical to original. Sooo this means it's longer on the tunnel then the original that's on the car now. So it should fit under the trim as it should. Can anyone verify this for me? Thanks

iwantaz06now

I'm pretty sure for less money you could just buy those transmission tunnel drapes from one of the vendors hear on the forum. It'll hide it and it'll look better. Look at apsis & ds vettes

LMB-Z

2006 Z06. Mine is doing the same thing, only on passenger side. Took out passenger seat, cut slots in holes to accommodate moving carpet. Pulled carpet up and under console. Kept in place while replaced seat to keep carpet from "slipping" back down. Two hours later, 1" gap between carpet and console. I tried using Liquid Nails to keep it from moving. Didn't work. Then tried Gorilla Glue. Didn't work. Finally took rear of carpet that covers the console, the part behind the seat, pulled it up and then put contact cement on it and under console. Seems to be holding for now.

LeftLane Z06

http://www.exoticvette.com/insulation%20c6.htm