My First Significant Mod: Herculined Interior

JeepPilot · **Posted:** Wed Apr 16, 2008 1:55 pm

Howdy all,

Since I don't have the $$$ for serious mods/additions to my KJ, I decided to go with a relatively cheap, but significant mod/fabrication. I Tore the carpet out of my KJ and am now laying Herculiner. Spent all afternoon yesterday removing the seats and tearing out the carpet. Spent all morning today cleaning and prepping the surface of the floor before laying down the Herculiner. Put down the first coat and now I'm waiting for it to dry.

Back seats pulled up to lay Herculiner where carpet once was

Going to lay down a full second coat, and then one last coat on high-traffic areas (ie where people put their feet). I have heavy-duty slush mats that will cover the wires for now, but I'll eventually fabricate some plastic covers.

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Apr 16, 2008 2:29 pm

will be interesting to see if it is quieter now or not?

RkyMtnKJ · **Posted:** Wed Apr 16, 2008 3:07 pm

there's been a lot of talk about this in the "Oh Yeah Baby" forum or whatever about people wanting to do this, so great timing!

Keep us updated! I like the look but those visible wires on the drivers side are an interesting problem. Im anticipating some more pictures :lol:

JeepPilot · **Posted:** Wed Apr 16, 2008 4:34 pm

RkyMtnKJ wrote:

there's been a lot of talk about this in the "Oh Yeah Baby" forum or whatever about people wanting to do this, so great timing!

Keep us updated! I like the look but those visible wires on the drivers side are an interesting problem. Im anticipating some more pictures :lol:

The "Oh Yeah Baby" topic is actually what piqued my interest and made me get off my butt to go do this.

I just checked, and the first coat is just about dry. Gonna go out in half an hour to put the second coat down. If all goes as planned, the Herculiner should be completely dried, cured and ready for use come tommorrow, at which point I will reinstall my seats.

Yellocoyote, I'm looking forward to when you get around to doing it, I'd love to see some pictures. If you have any questions when the time comes, ask away.

Tommud, I'll let you know if I feel any difference in the sound.

More pictures to follow.

jsc7002 · **Posted:** Wed Apr 16, 2008 5:22 pm

how do you plan on covering up the wires?

JeepPilot · **Posted:** Wed Apr 16, 2008 6:19 pm

jsc7002 wrote:

how do you plan on covering up the wires?

Once I tore out the carpet, I discovered these two plastic panels in the front left and right seats that covered up the wires. Once they are Herculined, I'm gonna put 'em right back in. That should cover up about 75% of the wires. For the time being, I've got some slush mats that are going to go in both the front and back, but I will eventually fabricate some plastic covers to cover up the other 25% of the wires that are exposed.

shaggy591a · **Posted:** Wed Apr 16, 2008 6:42 pm

how much did it cost? I was thinking about doing that too, I hate the carpet.

JeepPilot · **Posted:** Wed Apr 16, 2008 8:40 pm

Ran me about $90 total for the Herculiner kit, some cheap rubber gloves and a couple of cheap plastic roller paint pans. I would recommend getting a thick pair of rubber gloves though, and do the job in a ratty long-sleeve shirt that you don't care about. I wound up Herculining my hands and arms, and had to sponge my arms raw to get it off. :roll:

The 3rd coat is down and my seats are going back in tommorrow morning.

riptricket · **Posted:** Thu Apr 17, 2008 10:00 am

I think it looks awesome!
It should have been an option from the factory, but you know they'd have charged you 1000 or 2!!!

CaKJFreedom · **Posted:** Thu Apr 17, 2008 11:52 am

That looks sweet!

DryBones · **Posted:** Thu Apr 17, 2008 12:23 pm

I don't think I like it. Sorry. I will wait for the finished product before I really decide though. A rubberized material cut and fit instead of carpet probably would have been better if available.

CaKJFreedom · **Posted:** Thu Apr 17, 2008 12:39 pm

That's a lot of contours, I'm not sure if there'd ever be a cut to fit for it.

JeepPilot · **Posted:** Thu Apr 17, 2008 1:25 pm

Thanks for the comments everyone, much appreciated.

Yellocoyote, it was about 75 degrees outside when I layed down the first coat. Probably took about 3 or 4 hours for it to dry enough to lay down the second coat. If the weather over on your end is in the 70's, you'll be just fine.

Drybones, I agree with you partly. I wish Jeep's came with the option of a molded rubber floor rather than carpet. Gotta make due with what we're givin' though.

The third coat has dried, I have reinstalled the seats and my Libby is ready for use.

This is the extent of the wires that are still visible. My slush mats cover them up partly, I will find something else to cover the rest of it up.

Herculined the plastic side moldings at the door entrance

Layed down the slush mats. Driver's side...

Front right...

Rear...

As far as durability, I layed it down pretty thick and it's really tough. I don't think I'll have any problems with it.

I took my KJ for a short drive. To answer anyone's questions about noise, there is a slight increase of road and engine noise, especially from the front passenger side. If I have my music turned up just a little bit, the noise is unnoticable. I don't mind at all.

KJ04 · **Posted:** Sat Apr 19, 2008 8:06 am

Might be an idea to put in some drain plugs while you're at it.

Guest · **Posted:** Sat Apr 19, 2008 6:44 pm

Auto Custom Carpets makes vinyl carpet for pretty much any vehicle....way easier to clean than regular carpet OR this stuff...plus you retain your insulation

Kudos on doing this though, your cajones must outweigh mine by about 6 pounds! I couldn't convince myself to do such a permanent interior modification to my DD

rescu2000 · **Posted:** Tue Jul 08, 2008 9:58 am

Here is an idea for a variation of this that some people might like:

Use fiberglass resin to stiffen the carpet that is in the jeep, then hurculine it. (This is similar to hardening fleece on custom sub boxes)
You can use just resin to retain the texture of the carpet (and the color if you use good resin - not Walmart or Lowes Resin)
You can add some bondo (and bondo hardener) to the resin to fill in the texture and get a smooth surface (it will be thick and paintable)
You can add fiberglass weave or mat to add strength (if you need it)
You can sand and/or paint it if you want instead of herculiner
You can cut drain holes, just seal around them good to keep water out from under the carpet
It retains the sound deadening and the molded look

One major drawback: You could have a very difficult time accessing the wiring underneath. You could cut the stuff into sections and remove it if you ever needed to though.
Rescu2000

My First Significant Mod: Herculined Interior

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