A couple weeks ago I posted a thread about finishing up my 1951 Suburban. I am currently working on a solution for the rear floor area and have followed closely the discussion about Battleship Linoleum, as well as several other threads that cover this topic that have been posted in this forum over the years. My original floor was there when I got the truck, but it was very badly checked and flaking off, so I had to remove it down to the plywood. I wanted to get something done on the floor for a couple of upcoming shows, so I explored a lot of alternatives and found a product called G-FLoor at my local Menards (and later on line). This is a vinyl product that is the right thickness, comes in a couple configurations, in three colors, in a 5' x 10' roll (which is a perfect size for fitting to the Suburban), and is relatively inexpensive (I paid about $140 delivered to my house via my local Menards store, who only carried the product in the store in black). I chose the ribbed pattern which has raised ribs every 1/2" or 5/8" (instead of indents like the original floor). The stuff is designed for garage floors and similar applications. It can be glued, but I decided to cut it to fit and let it lie on the floor, with only some double-sided tape at front and rear to secure it.
I'm very satisfied with the results. It lies pretty flat, cuts fairly easily, and the tan color that I chose blends in very nicely with the original color of the Suburban interior as sold by Jim Carter (they don't make a maroon color like the original linoleum). The only downside that I could detect is the fact that the product shrinks and expands slightly (about 1/8") with weather changes (a fact that the manufacturer mentions in their installation instructions); so when it gets hot in the rear compartment, a few small ripples develop--nothing too serious or unsightly, and it lies flat again when the weather cools off (I suppose one could trim it sllghtly smaller if you wanted to avoid the small buckling in the heat).
To install, I made a paper template with all the locations of the seat mounts and body mounting washers, etc., then traced those on the back of the G-Floor and then cut them in with a sharp utility knife and snips, a bit smaller than the actual outline. After laying the piece in the Suburban, I trimmed up to the correct edges with a sharp utility knife and worked it in so that it fits pretty nicely.
It's not a perfect solution, but as I said, it's relatively cheap, looks good, and will serve the purpose until I find something better; and perhaps best of all, it can be easily removed if I want to do something else.
I attach a couple of pics to illustrate how it now looks in the Suburban.
