Rhino lining interior?
 

My car currently has no carpet which I don't mind, but since I'm not trying to shave every pound off my car for racing it seems unnecessary. The carpet would add some sound deadening and a touch more civility to the car.

However, new carpet will have to be cleaned, will eventually get dirty and have to be replaced again.

Has anyone rhino lined their interior? They can color match any carpet, it is supposed to be fantastic as a sound deadener, tough as nails, won't get ruined by dirt, and might even add a little structural rigidity as well. I don't know what the cost is, but I might pursue this option.

I've been thinking about this as well....

Slick when it's wet or oily, looks like junk. My roommate's Blazer is rhinolined and it works in that, but not in a car.

I think the wet and oily would be less of a concern. Any grease or oil while working can be wiped of with a solvent. When it's raining the top will be up, and when I get in I'm putting my feet on the pedals not dancing on the floor.
My carpetless, scratched, painted floor looks like junk too.

I've seen some really nice jobs, and the texture can be made much finer for this application.

I just emailed the local rhino liner place. I'll see what they quote me.

Yeah, maybe like 2 times in 100,000 miles.

I vote just do it, and if it sucks you can still cover it with some carpet! In for pics.

Not sure how I feel about this stuff but if it turns out good and not expensive it would be a great alternative to our shitty ass cheap crap miata crap they call a carpet.
My car only has 58k miles on it and the carpet is already shit.

I'm thinking the same thing. It shouldn't be too expensive, but I probably won't get a quote back until Monday. Let's face it. The carpeted area in the miata is probably less than half of a small pickup truck bed.

I saw the interior of a jeep done in tan and it looked fantastic. They sprayed it on with very low texture.

It does appear that you need to get it done professionally if you want quality end results. No roll on or brush on at the house job.

I've heard it's very heavy. Heavier than carpet, in^2 for in^2.

^ I wonder, then, if it can be applied in varying thicknesses depending on the application. A light-duty app like our cars would require less, I would think, than the bed of Bubba's F150.

Why did you post a thread if you already made up your mind? I am curious to see how it turns out though.

I'm in for cost and results too. I've been thinking about a rhino'd floor mat area for a while. I painted my driver side, looks decent but it won't last long at all. The rest of the car looks fine bare, although loud.

My post was more to see if anyone had done it. If speculating that it is going to be bad is the only negative response about it and it's cost effective, then I am going to have it done.

It appears to be sprayed on up to 1/4 inch with most applications being 1/8" - 1/4". They can color match any color. So if you have a tan or blue interior it's not like you have to go with black.

Weight for me is not my main issue. I don't track competitively. When professionally applied it is sprayed on hot and much more durable than the diy application. Another aspect that peaked my curiosity about this was when I saw a mythbusters episode where they blew up a truck with and without the bed-liner. The difference in destruction was amazing. The truck with the bed-liner really held together. It has me wondering if this would act like a poor man's seem welding. Probably too much flex in it, but maybe it will help. Car audio guys are spraying the inside of their vehicles with it and getting substantial differences in before and after results (google research, not personal experience). This has to be a result of decrease flex in the vehicle. Sound deadening will probably minimal, but it could get rid of some rattles.

All in all, my research is suggesting no negative aspects, only potential positives. It isn't going to have that thick large texture bedliner look.

http://rockcrawler.com/techreports/r..._finished2.jpg

http://rockcrawler.com/techreports/r..._finished3.jpg

http://rockcrawler.com/techreports/r..._finished4.jpg

"The first test drive was amazing. The Rhino lining is the best stereo upgrade I have done yet. It keeps out more noise and vibration than the carpet ever did. It is now very easy for the backseat passenger to hear the front seat passengers on the highway."

I got my 2000 Silverado bed rhino lined and am very happy with it. I have a 1950 Willys CJ-3A and I plan of getting the interior of it rhino lined as well. The place I went to told me it's lifetime. I said, "what does that mean?" He said, "if you can grab it and peel it off, we'll re-do it for free, but if you take a pick axe and smack it around, it's on you." I can't complain with it. The difference is, I haul a lot of shit with my truck. I suggest for a miata interior, go to wal-mart and buy the roll on kit of herculiner and do it that way and save a few hundred bucks.

162,500 miles on my 1990 miata and the factory carpet still looks original. I personally think the rhino lining would look really tacky inside the car and would just go for new carpet and some nice floor mats. I also don't think it's going to offer any structural enforcement to the car. It is after all just a coating.

I agree with dustinb, it just wouldn't look right or offer anything structural. It's nothing more than durable...

I don't like Rhino Liner, but would use another brand. I will probably do this when I finally reach my snapping point with these fucking rattles and squeaks and rip my interior out, especially if and when I decide to do the LS1 and make this car a weekend/track car.

I would use a professional spray in liner and a gun that would work with something with grit, like sand. Make something that feels like skateboard grip tape vs a slick and smooth textured surface. If you are worried about weight, only do the floorboards and other larger flat sections.

also wondering how much this would cost, i'd imagine it would quiet down the interior quite a bit. and i'd probably go black

Thankfully our cars are small, so probably not much more than to do a full size truck bed, if not less.

...and yes, I am Mr. Obvious

I have been thinking about getting this done under my carpet in the cabin and trunk on my soon to be daily LS1 car to help with a little of the road noise.

How much? I'd really only want transmission tunnel and on either side, so foot wells and seat areas. MAYBE behind the seats up to the metal panel, but that's it.

Damn youdjp0623, you've reminded me of a yet another project to look into, hopefully it turns out to be stupid expensive or stupid heavy, so I can forget about it.

I think it's only going to cost about $200 bucks if I take the car in with it stripped. (which it already is except for seats and console. I bought it without carpet. I plan on having the floorboards, behind the seats and the convertible top area. I didn't think about the trunk area.

I don't think it will look tacky if done correctly. I think if you try to do it yourself with a brush or roll on method it could end poorly.

I think the Honda Element's entire interior is waterproofed plastic crap, made so you hose off the whole bottom half of the car's insides (Obviously don't blast the dash, HVAC cluster etc)

But true body undercoating spray is a more durable than most bed liners you'll find. That stuff lasts decades, then you can bust out the pressure washer on *most* of your Miata's interior.

For $68 shipped this looks like the same stuff from the factory sprayed on the frame.

http://i12.ebayimg.com/06/i/001/26/52/40b7_35.GIF

DYNATRON RUBBERIZED UNDERCOAT/ GAL /AUTO / TRUCK / :eBay Motors (item 110329777056 end time Jan-17-10 14:53:37 PST)

I wonder how the coating will take to the heat on the transmission tunnel. I know mine gets smokin hot on the drivers side....That would suck if it heated up enough to become tacky and then stuck to your leg. I suppose it'd be any easy fix though just by putting some reflective heat sheilding between the dp and the tunnel

I'll ask about this. I'm hoping it will act as a heat shield.

Not too sure if it'll act as a shield or not, but I don't think you'll have a problem with it getting tacky or what not, considering it's usually used on truck beds (direct sunlight) and black, so I imagine it's designed to hold up to heat half-way decent.

It's usually very expensive unless there is a generic option now. Hurculiner DIY kits suck in comparison to the real Rhinoliner, so I don't suggest doing it yourself.
Is it really that hard to vacuum carpet?

I didn't use rhino liner brand but I did this. I have no carpet - tub is red, and I wanted to add a bit of durability to the footwells so I used spray-on rubberized bed liner. It's not thick or heavy and it offers more traction than the metal tub. I like it, I just masked off the foot area and basically sprayed on a permanent floor mat, so the rest of my interior is still the red metal but the footwell is black. Works great. I would not use the really chunky and thick rhino liner, but look into something like what I used.

Any pictures Ryan ^^

In for doing this to my interior, i would hate to paint the entire interior and have it chip away from getting in and out all the time. Plus the bare metal without carpet isn't my favorite.

I have helped lots of buddies rhino line the interiors of their jeeps for offroading and mud cleanup. I actually plan on doing it to the exterior of my samurai just for the bulletproof durability. Just don't get the cheap crappy stuff, it chips off and gets brittle.

Also, Durabak is like the same stuff but they have it in an assortment of colors and you can get it glossy (without the rubber chunks) or textured, its a bit more money but it's worth it if that's what you're going for.

the company i paint for has done some pretty exstinsive testing of rhino lining and other simular products. i'll see if i can get the different specs on it.
i do know that the rhino lining will withstand 12 guage birdshot at the distance of 4 feet the bbs embedded themselves into the material and a pressure sprayer washed them off did not go to the metal pretty mean shit.
and if you fuck up putting it on it's a holy nightmare to get off.

Do it!! I had a gutted 91 civic hatch with only a dash, seat, and cage. I got it sprayed and it was much more enjoyable on the street. I think it looked great too. I would abandon any thoughts of making your car more rigid with it though. It wont. In for pics.

I'm going to try to go Wednesday for a quote. I was waiting for it to warm up slightly.

I got the quote today and it was much higher than expected, but I'm positive I can get the price lower. For the are forward of the shelf it is $500 for the rhino lining and $75 for the extra UV coating.

She said a jeep interior is normally $600 to $650

I think I could get everything for $475 out the door.

I looked at the different spray patterns and was very pleased with what I saw.

This is still considerably more than carpet (which I believe can be had for $250), which also includes the shelf.

She said to rhino line the shelf would be an extra $25 but she recommended not doing it because of all of the wiring and that there were a lot of different surfaces to cover.

Where does everyone recommend buying carpet? I'd like to compare this with carpet further. It appears that I could buy two carpet sets for one rhino coating. The carpet will offer the most sound deadening (which is important to me), but more maintenance (which was pointed out earlier to be minimal).

Rhino lining with UV won't fade easily. Who has experience with carpet fade? How long did it take? My car spends many "top down in the sun" hours parked.

I'd like someone else to get a quote in their area just to see what price differences we can find?

Please respond with your opinions.

ebay carpet supplier

165 bucks shipped is pretty low...I cant comment on quality though.

I can. It's thicker amd stronger, more shag/thick felt then the stock loop pile carpet. That being said it doesn't form nearly as nicely as stock carpet, looks "loose". Get gospeed or na6cguy (i think) to show you a pic, if they're the ones I'm thinking of, you can tell the difference. Obviously it's brand new though, and the color is amazing, my black was BLACK.

djp0623, you decide if your going through with this? I'm just excited to see how it'd come out!

I think that I have decided against it. If I could talk the price down it would still be pretty expensive. It's about twice the price I thought it would be based on the area being lined. I think a carpet kit will be in my future. If I could have to professionally done for $250 - $300, then I would do it.

Damn, I was lookin forward to it :facepalm:

ditto, perhaps a DIY'r will step up?

Sorry to dig up a old thread. I ordered my DIY Herculiner kit and I will have my car done in a few days.


I got so fed up with having to mess with my carpet. I order the kit in black and will be doing the transmission tunnel and floor. I am going to keep the stock dash, center console and carpet up on the rear shelf. Should turn out pretty nice.

I think keeping the rear shelf carpet is the way to do it. Trying to do everything would end up not looking very good. If I get tired of carpet, I'm going to do the same thing. Post pics when it is done.

Ugly as fuck. Get shag carpet squares cut and throw those in the floor if you're gutted.

I just got a email from the store I order the paint from, black is out of stock and will not available for another 2 days. They asked me if I interested in a few other colors and red popped up. Now i'm sort of on the fence. Black or red...ehh, probably black.

One of my E30 buddies did this in his daily and it dramatically lowered the noise and heat from his car. His 4" downpipe would still cook your feet with the carpet, not with the bed liner.

Yeah for sure, I want to keep it looking nice. I will make sure I post pics of the entire process.

It will look fine, probably better than carpet. The car is not gutted: stock dash, console, rear shelf carpet.

Fuck, be careful with that stuff. If it's the same as the 2-part epoxy liner I used 13 years ago, you'll never get it off *anything*. I made the mistake of doing a messy job on a 914 a week before taking a trip, and I spent the entire 2-week vacation with people staring at my hands. "Mommy, what's wrong with his hands?" "Don't stare It was probably an accident at a factory" I got some on the bathtub while cleaning up and it was still there 5 years later when my parents sold their house.

FWIW, it turned out great. I covered over any bolt holes in the floor pan with duct tape and painted the stuff right on. One big rust hole under the driver's seat was covered with a piece of tarp and duct tape, then painted over. It was fine 2 years later.

I'd definitely do it again. It ain't pretty, but it looked impressively functional in the crazy yellow 914. In fact...it might be fun to do a totally waterproof Miata interior. Ditch the top and just store a big rain poncho in there.

http://www.lizardskin.com/
This is what I will be using.

Get before and after weights.

If anyone is still interested in getting their interior rinolined. We just did our truck.

We went with linex, we liked the finer pattern. The entire 8' bed was <$400. I believe a good portion of the cost is in "prep". Everywhere that is lined has to be sanded first, then masked. If a DIY guy did all the prep, I bet it would be very reasonable.

Also, shop around. Some shops value their "time" much more than others. We found a wide spectrum of quotes.

The rigs I've been in that are rhino lined sound like tin cans. My carpet was trashed in the floorboard area, so I covered the bottom of some homemade diamond plate mats in Velcro. It is now permanently attached to the carpet, so even if tech wants to try to pull it up, they can't (unless they take the carpet with it).

That would be nice for those of us with insulation under the carpet. I have FATMAT, and it is NICE. The tunnel is luke warm, and with the windows up, the car stays nice and cool. Roll the windows down, and the heat from the engine is IMMENSE, even on a cool night.

Only thing keeping me from doing the same is the heat from the trans tunnel, as mine is still a daily driver. It's already hot enough in the summer, I don't need any help making my cabin an oven.

It will be just as good as carpet, if not better. I've had a few friends do it and it works fine.

I'll be doing both carpet and lizard skin mainly for heat.