Labor Day Weekend, what a good time for working on the car. I did two panels of carpet: the right rear fender, and the right rear door. Tried to match up the ribbons of carpet and failed miserably. The pattern shifts around so much while cutting, it's just impossible. I really shouldn't even try. Besides, the overall effect works regardless.
The mosquitoes were horrendous in the morning. It's hard to operate a caulk gun while a half-dozen mosquitoes are landing on your arm! They were probably so bad because it rained hard yesterday, and everything was wet. By noon the sun had burned off most of the dampness, and driven off most of the mosquitoes, which made it a little more tolerable.
I bought some cheap mah jongg tiles from Ebay, to use on the car. Nice sets are incredibly expensive -- too expensive, as things on Ebay tend to be. But these tiles are plastic, and have a strange fourth suit (looks like asterisks) instead of winds, dragons and flowers. This makes them useless for play, so they sell for cheap. I got 200 tiles for $15!
It's too bad that this set can't be played with, because the tiles are nice and heavy, with good engraving and a satisfying "clack." But they're perfect for the car. I glued the asterisk tiles face-down since they aren't true mah jongg tiles. Unfortunately the battery ran out in my camera, so I only got one photo of the tiles on the car. I'll take more pictures when I get new batteries.
I used Liquid Nails this time, so I could compare it with silicon. Liquid Nails dries so fast, I didn't even need tape to hold things in place! However, the fast drying meant that I couldn't glue an entire strip of carpet at once. I had to glue a section, pat it into place, then glue the next section, etc.
The bad thing about Liquid Nails is its appearance. Silicon comes in several colors, including clear. But Liquid Nails only comes in a nasty light tan. It's much more visible when it seeps out from under a piece on the car. I was able to cover most of the blobby spots on the carpet by putting fish over them.
On the bright side, Liquid Nails seems to spread more easily than caulk. So I can get a thin coat on a mah jongg tile, unlike silicon which always ends up a big blob. If I'm careful, there shouldn't be anything seeping out from under.
Anyway I'll have to see how well Liquid Nails holds up at high speeds. If it's as strong as people say, I think it will become my adhesive of choice for small objects. However I think I'll go back to silicon for the carpet strips.
looking for those inexpensive mah jongg tiles