Silly carpet question
 

On many (all?) of the '84-'88ish Targa's I've looked at, when I lift up the front mats, the carpet underneath doesn't cover the entire floor - there's a sizeable section that's bare metal. Is that how the carpets were originally installed? Or, is it possibly because there's been a moisture problem and someone has cut out a bad section of the carpet? If it's a sign of moisture-laden carpets, is that a reason to steer away from the car? I know all Targa's leak, so I would expect the carpets need to be replaced earlier than in coupes.

...Bruce

Bruce--
I don't know the answer but will check when I get home tonight - I've got an '85 and can't say that I've ever lifted up the front carpet - I have additional mats on top, so I've never had the occasion, but now you've got me curious.

OK, here are the layers you should have:

Top is the floor mat. Usually thick maybe rubber backed with the Porsche logo perhaps. Some cars may not have a floor mat.

Under the floor mat is the floor carpet. This is part of the car's carpet set. On the driver's side it's two pieces; one piece for the floor itself and the other goes around the pedal cluster.

Under the floor carpet is the bare floor of the car where you should see the factory sound deadener; a thick, hard, plastic-like tar paper that may be black or body colored.

Under the sound deadener is the sheet metal itself.

SCQ
 

The floor carpets are made so that they can be removed for
cleaning. Since these are the pieces that usually "wear out" first, this design makes it easy to just replace the under foot sections.
See the PelicanParts catalog for replacement pieces.

Fred Cook
'80 911SC coupe

Yup,
just as John said - carpet and then floor, so there's been nothing wrong with the cars you've looked at.

Ok. Looked at a couple more today and I think I have it figured out now.

Thanks...Bruce