Glazedham42

iTrader: (4)

Please excuse the post here guys. I realize that this probably should be in the for sale section. I'm about to pull my hair out trying to find some decent carpet for the project car. I'm ready to paint the fenders and put them back on, then all that's left is interior.

If anyone has a black or gray carpet set in good to excellent condition please let me know!!!!

I'm switching the interior of my 7 from the hideous red, over to black and gray. I've considered buying a new carpet set for the car, but I've heard many times that the aftermarket sets are cheap crap. I don't want to pay $150-$300 for a set of cheesecloth carpet. I'm also tired of spending huge amounts of money on the car right now, so I think I'm gonna go used on the carpet.

IF YOU HAVE USED BLACK/GRAY CARPET PM ME OR EMAIL!!!

Thanks fellas, I know you'll come through!
Jamie
glazedham42@aol.com

QuagmireMan

have you checked british victoria(sp)?

Glazedham42

iTrader: (4)

I knew that they had carpet in their catalog, but I've heard bad stuff about their carpet sets. Heard that they were VERY thin, and just all around poor quality. I am a firm believer that its pretty hard to beat that plush Mazda factory carpet... then again I could be wrong...

Hades12

Lowes has black auto/marine on the roll.

Jbar3987

I'd check ebay, they had some a while ago.

I'd try to find some on there for you but the school has it firewalled .

Glazedham42

iTrader: (4)

Really? That's very intruiging. How is the quality of the carpet? Is it nice high pile? I really want to have a nice THICK carpet in this car when its done. I can't stand having thin cheapo aftermarket carpet. I'll probably use the Lowe's on-the-rol stuff and just re-carpet the hatch myself, if it is high quality. Then I can get some black carpet for the passenger area hopefully from somewhere.

Hades, do you think I could use that carpet to do the entire car? I'm not sure how it would fit the contours of the car up front. I would think it would be nearly impossible to re-carpet the car with something that wasn't molded...

I bought some red carpet on a roll from Autozone when I originally did my interior. It was very thin and cheap. I was rather disappointed, but it held the car over for a while. This is the end-all-be-all restoration for this car now, so I want to make sure I do it right this time.

Thanks for the help so far guys!
Jamie

slashdawg00110

I know you said used and I know you know how to search, but have you looked at some older threads about carpet? There were some solutions other than the cheesy VB sets.

BTW, hurry up there. I want to see more pics of your restored vehicle. It's what I would do if I had half the patience you have.

Good luck.

Glazedham42

iTrader: (4)

I am a few body panels and one interior away from a finished restoration. Expect to see some more serious progress soon, as well as videos. The car is running and dialed in pretty well finally. So hopefully I can move on to other things beside the engine now. Thanks for the faithful following..

Hades12

The stuff at lowes was a mid grade, Not reall deep but not to thin. you should be able to use peices and make a full set. continours may be hard. I was planning to use it to do the hatch area.

Glazedham42

iTrader: (4)

Sounds good Hades. Do you remember a rough price off the top of your head? I imagine it is per foot right? How wide are the pieces? The first time I re-carpeted the hatch I had to sew two pieces together. Is it wide enough to cover the entire hatch?

Thanks for the quick responses. I'm getting excited about starting this project....

gsl-se addict

iTrader: (3)

I did a similar project on mine, but I only did the hatch area. The stuff I used was a light grey push automotive carpet that I got at a local fabric shop. It came in 72" wide rolls, so that was good for the length. I bought 1.5 yards (54") which was good for the width. I then pinned the old carpet to the new carpet to use as a pattern. Because of the nature of the carpet, all of the edges had to be bound with binding tape. I sewed it in such a way that the stiches were not visable from either side of the carpet (blind stich). It took a lond time because I did it all by hand, and the method I used required going around the whole thing twice (once to attach the binding tape to the bottom of the carpet and once to attach to the top). I used polyester top stich thread (thick, strong). It ended up taking 66 yards of thread and 9 yards of binding tape (man that was a lot of sewing) to gol around the whole outer edge and around the storage bin openings. I secured the carpet near the storage bins with velcro instead of those plastic pins Mazda uses. That way it is easy to remove, there is some adjustability, and the method of holding the carpet down is not visable. It was a good amount of work. It took me probably 3 or 4 days working several hours a day, but it only cost me about $30 or so and I think it looks better than a lot of the aftermarket carpets (better then what Mazda used back there too, if you ask me).

It came out pretty nice, but I wish it was darker (maybe I will dye it someday). They also had black, but it wasn't really black. It had all of these little gray spots mixed in, so the light gray was the choice. The only other thing, is when you put something on the carpet, the pile tends to lay down (I believe it is called a cut pile instead of the loop pile the Mazda uses on the front carpet), but it is very soft and plush. I will try to take some pics at lunch time, if I can borrow my friends camera. I also recovered the storage bins to match, but I still need to do the drivers side as the hinge is broken so I need to get a new storage bin.

This type of carpet molds pretty easy, so you may be able to use it in the front as well. I am not sure how quickly it will wear though. You can check local upholstry shops and see what they have. The ones around here didn't seem do have any good quality automotive carpet, though. All they had was this thin stuff like Mazda used in the hatch area (no backing, no real pile). It looked more like the stuff people cover their speaker boxes with.

Good luck.

Kent

Glazedham42

iTrader: (4)

Thanks Kent. I'd love to see some pictures of the carpet if you can get some for me....

Hades12

the lowes suff had a low cost per foot. Cant remeber the width.

gsl-se addict

iTrader: (3)

Sure, Glazed. I will post up the pics in probably like 2 hours from now. Try to get 72" width so that you don't have to try to attach smaller pieces together. Although, if you had to, you could make the seam under the plate between the storage bins and the rear part of the hatch.

RotaryRocket85

i have the front and mid out of a 83 and a 79 both are in good shape, black in color...

Glazedham42

iTrader: (4)

How much would you want for the black carpet out of the 83? Is it possible to get some pics as well? Thanks for the offers!

Jamie

RotaryRocket85

...

gsl-se addict

iTrader: (3)

Here is the carpet that I put together:
http://oregonstate.edu/~abelk/images...s/DSCF0177.jpg

http://oregonstate.edu/~abelk/images...s/DSCF0178.jpg

http://oregonstate.edu/~abelk/images...s/DSCF0179.jpg

http://oregonstate.edu/~abelk/images...s/DSCF0180.jpg

http://oregonstate.edu/~abelk/images...s/DSCF0183.jpg

http://oregonstate.edu/~abelk/images...s/DSCF0183.jpg

And here are the seat covers that I am working on. They are made from UltraLeather and Alcantra (synthetic suede). I have a ways to go on them, but they should look good when done.

http://oregonstate.edu/~abelk/images...s/DSCF0181.jpg

http://oregonstate.edu/~abelk/images...s/DSCF0182.jpg

Kent

RotaryRocket85

the front piece is in verry good shape!! the mid piece has a few rips, but remeber thats the piece that goes under the seats so it doesnt matter...

rotor vs. piston

If you look at JCWhitney (I know I know) they have three different quailitys for our cars. I can't really remember but I believe I got the midium for mine and it's pretty nice. I agree nothing beats factory carpet on our cars, though I don't have the patients to find a good set of OEM carpet. Though of course it does cost about $150+.

smnc

I'm thinking about these
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...spagename=WD1V

If you click on their store link, they have a 'Essex Super Plush Carpet' for an extra $60... That's what I want I think...

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

I bought the base line carpet from VB for my Z and returned it. I ended up going to the local auto upholstry shop and ordering the color and style of carpet I wanted, (did a complete color change on the Z). Very happy with it and it was less than $50 more than VB.

I've also bought carpet from 1AAutomotive.com, through one of thier eBay auctions. The carpet nap isn't as thick or as deep as oem, but over all pretty decent. You can upgrade to a better carpet.

With all the effort you're putting into the car, check with your local auto upholsterer. You might be quite suprised at what they can get, and you will get the color, oz. weight and nap that you want.

DAVID GRIMES

I concur 100%. See what is available and get exactly what you want already padded and formed for your car. Why play roulette ?

smnc

No good locals around for here...

rxtory

yo just get any carpet from your house or any thing like that did my initerior with it looks good speacialy in the hatch