Drying out carpets...
Discussion
Cheers. I've ruined two towels so far and a sunny drive with the top down and heater on is looking like it might be a few weeks away 
I've ordered a couple of 1kg desiccant bags, will report back how they work. They can live in the Landrover if they prove effective at drying out the Spit.
Never been this bad before, but by jingo it didn't half chuck it down going over Shap!
I've ordered a couple of 1kg desiccant bags, will report back how they work. They can live in the Landrover if they prove effective at drying out the Spit.
Never been this bad before, but by jingo it didn't half chuck it down going over Shap!
I'd have thought the carpets would be easy to remove from a Spitfire?
What's underneath them? Layer of under-carpet/sound-deadener? That'll be waterlogged, too - probably more so than the top layer. If you can take a sill trim or door plate off, and lift the carpet up a bit, you'll get a much better idea of what you're dealing with. Assuming the hood is, umm, less than hermetically sealed (which, after all, is how the water got in, right?), then any kind of dehumidifier or dessicant is going to be trying to draw all the moisture from the atmosphere as well as the carpets - and it'll take it from the easiest source first.
What's underneath them? Layer of under-carpet/sound-deadener? That'll be waterlogged, too - probably more so than the top layer. If you can take a sill trim or door plate off, and lift the carpet up a bit, you'll get a much better idea of what you're dealing with. Assuming the hood is, umm, less than hermetically sealed (which, after all, is how the water got in, right?), then any kind of dehumidifier or dessicant is going to be trying to draw all the moisture from the atmosphere as well as the carpets - and it'll take it from the easiest source first.
If you have sound deadener under the carpet, it'll be water logged (depending on how much water got in). Had this happen when the brake servo seal went on my old Corsa C. Full interior was removed and it took a week with constant heat to dry the sound deadener and a few days with some fan heaters on the carpet to fully dry. If you don't fully dry, you'll get a damp smell and mould. Best to do it the right way.
It's a leaky Spitfire - "they all do that sir" - so if you continue to be commendably brave and use it in the rain you will not solve it this way. I'm afraid you need to take up the carpets and any sound deadening underneath, remove drain bungs from the foot wells, ensure the floors are well painted, then fit rubber mats only. It will still leak but what gets in will now be able to get out! Well done for using it in the rain.
TooMany2cvs said:
I'd have thought the carpets would be easy to remove from a Spitfire?
Footwell carpets are usually easy, as is the rear parcel shelf one.The seats bolt through the main cockpit carpet, the "H" dash support through the transmission tunnel one and the footwell side and sill carpets are stuck down though.
//j17 said:
Footwell carpets are usually easy, as is the rear parcel shelf one.
The seats bolt through the main cockpit carpet, the "H" dash support through the transmission tunnel one and the footwell side and sill carpets are stuck down though.
This. I have Dynamat down, so that doesn't absorb as much as the fluffy sound proofing. The seats bolt through the main cockpit carpet, the "H" dash support through the transmission tunnel one and the footwell side and sill carpets are stuck down though.
Vax. It's the only way to get the bulk of the water out so you can start drying with a fan heater. It is also the only way to prevent the dreaded stench.
Hire shops always have them so it's dead easy and you also get to clean your carpets at the same time which is never a bad thing.
Then you just need to ensure free flowing air, preferably with a fan heater to actually dry it all out.
Hire shops always have them so it's dead easy and you also get to clean your carpets at the same time which is never a bad thing.
Then you just need to ensure free flowing air, preferably with a fan heater to actually dry it all out.
Reminds me of doing a rally with the french some years back. Floor mats afloat, so when the sun came out I took the carpets and underfelt out at lunch time and put them on the hot bonnet. The French looked on in amazement, but half-way through lunch it suddenly seemed that a load of carpets were on the bonnets! In this case, I go with a fan heater, slow speed. hood up to dry that too, doors open and battery disconnected to stop it draining (or remove interior light bulb) then just shut the garage door a come back another day. Gentle drying is the key.
Dollyman1850 said:
TooMany2cvs said:
If it's in anything like a Spitfire, I wouldn't be at all surprised - because it's trying to dry the entire atmosphere out, not just the car's interior.
One is assuming the roof is up 
As a fellow Spitfire owner if the carpets are wet I hate to think what his towle's like!
(That's the near obligatory Spitfire towel that gets folded up inside the roof to stop the quater windows scratching the rear window on the 4 days a year you can get the roof down - and sits across your legs the rest of the year to catch the assorted drips and leaks.)
(That's the near obligatory Spitfire towel that gets folded up inside the roof to stop the quater windows scratching the rear window on the 4 days a year you can get the roof down - and sits across your legs the rest of the year to catch the assorted drips and leaks.)
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