I have that same lovely brown carpet & a similar but smaller gap, 1/4"
+-, & w/ the GW type rubber mats on top, low & behold, the food
crumbs, gap, etc. all are not seen or are not an issue.  I never knew
there was a vinyl strip there originally as mine appears to have also
been removed?

YMMV,

Mr. BZ-coffee pools nicely in the divots on the mats

On Jun 23, 2010, at 11:00 AM, Mike Rocket J Squirrel wrote:

> Jay Lefstein's post about needing new carpets triggered this post.
>
> On my '84 with dark brown carpets, there's a gap between the frontmost
> carpet (running crossways under the feets of the driver and passenger)
> and the carpet between the seats. It's about an inch to 3cm* wide and
> was originally filled with a nice clean dark brown vinyl strip.
>
> Well, that was then, this is now. Those were the good old day, a
> simpler
> time.
>
> Now the strip is partially covered with a creepy black tarlike
> substance
> with food crumbs embedded into it. I think the tarlike substance crept
> out from under the carpets. The food crumbs -- well, it's pretty
> obvious
> where they came from.
>
> I could slap a bit of duct tape over it, but maybe there's a slightly
> less unattractive solution?
>
> ============
> * Mixing units. It's not just for Frydaye any more.
>
>
> --
> Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
> 84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
> 74 Westrailia: (Ladybug Trailer company, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.)
> Bend, OR
> KG6RCR