My new invention REVEALED!!

I beg your pardon, pls note my signature...

 

Anyone know how I can get in touch with Birdman or where I can get at least one set of mat grabbers?

 

Just look at a Birdman post and click on the Fuseblock link on the text at the bottom of his post.

He is great to work with.

Stephen

 

Thread bump.

I installed a set of mat grabbers yesterday.

Undoing the seat bolts is no problem...slide seat all the way back and unscrew the two front bolts with the appropriate fastener tool. Mine required a metric allen key.

In installing the grabbers, I found it easier to slide them into place under the seat tracks, position the mat without pulling it into the grabbers, and mark both edges of the grabber position on the mat border with a medium size felt-tip pen.

Next, remove the grabbers and the mat and pull the grabbers into place where marked (it takes good position for leverage and a hard pull to do so). If they are loose afterward, give each a medium blow with a lead or deadblow hammer. This will seat them firmly.

The rest is easy. Slide the grabbers into place at the seat tracks, make final small adjustments for position, retighten the bolts, and you're done.

 

I bet this would fit other cars as well. Just possibly another car which uses bolts to hold the seats to the floor. Mmm...what other kinds of automobiles would that be?

 

Mats have been driving me nuts. The "whole" 500 miles I've put on my car.

 

I'm in Birdman. Great idea!

 

I hate these things. They destroyed my new mats by ripping holes in them. Beware!

 

Wow. Sorry to hear. I have after-market mats in my car which came "pre-ripped" when I bought the car. I repaired them by gluing two 4" square pieces of cotton to the bottom in the critical spots with ShoeGoo. Bridman's grabbers have been working great.

 

It wasn't apparent to you how they work just by looking at them?

 

Mats are intended to be consumable items. They are there to protect the carpets from wearing out by taking all of the wear themselves. This is just accelerated wear, acceptable as an alternative to having the mat slide forward.

 

Let me be clear. They ripped very long holes in my new mats. Each of them punctures a small hole in the mats. That part is fine. The problem is that the same forward pressure that causes your mats to slide forward does not abate with the installation of these little guys. But that forward motion now leads to long holes in the mats. Within a couple of weeks (literally), the mats were right back where they would have been without the mat grabbers, but now there were four inch holes where the mat grabbers had done their damage. That was not preferable.

Others may take a different view. More power to you. My only point is a word of warning. Beware -- use of these may destroy your mats and not ultimately solve the problem of mats creeping forward.

 

I'll have to agree with Mark.
If they don't fit, don't try to force them. They will tear up the stitching. I tried forcing them but they wouldn't grab my mats. I just gave up at the end.

If they worked on mine, it would have been great.

 

Here's what I did with my old mats that I place over my new and clean with red prancing horse mats. It has been years since I did this and still holding very well.
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Nice tile Mike. ;-)

 

Thanks Jim!

 

Hey you should sell those, get them powder coated too. I see a market for them

 

Mike, is there a patent pending on that?

 

I'll have one made of Titanium wire or some sort of special gold plated alloy but it's going to cost more.
I'll eveninclude the allen wrench for loosening the bolt on the rail.

 

The tile is nice. I am a tile setter. But even I never considered tiling my sports car's floors. Hmmmm... Maybe a lil horsey mosaic?

 

I used Birdman's grabbers to fix my fire extinguisher:
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Nice, that seems like a patentable idea.

 

are these still available?

 

I need them too. Any availability?

 

I have a set and have to say that they are so darned gnarly I took them out.

Once your carpet is pushed into the device, the carpet is virtually impossible to get out again. That means if you want to remove your carpet to clean (etc) you need to loosen the seat and remove the carpet and clip together. My carpets (aftermarket) tore at the point where the clip was holding them just from day-to-day stress. In other words; these things are awesome.

Clamping picture hanger D-rings under the seat and punching holes in the carpet for zip ties is a sturdy but less permanent way to hold the carpet.