Making Carpets

[Allenk]

Has anyone made their own carpets and can it be done affordably? I'm just building a daily driver and the cost of the kits would be better served on a different part of my car.

[Raynald]

i do it !, i bought nice black carpet and used my old one for model and my wife sew a trim all around and i save a lot of US money and time for waiting for it ... and i am sure it fit better than my old one ....
Ray

[Allenk]

I was thinking of trying to cut it in, in 2 sections glued, since I don't have any templates.

[Kurt B]

You can get the far less expensive rs carpeting. It's feltish, gray for a few hundred bucks.

I've done carpeting just by putting in a kit and that is hard enough believe me. Not like cabriolet replacement hard, but certainly lots of work in the garage with a staple gun. It just happens to be harder than you think it will be. It's not that you won't get it in there. You will, but it's not going to be good as you'd expect, I think....and if it's bad enough, a friend might put a "I (heart) Guadalahara!" bumper sticker on it.

[Allenk]

Hey I just learned how to spell Guadalahara.

[caliber60]

Cheapest RS lightweight carpet set is less than $300.

[Trust Me]

I made my own carpet for a 914 I once owned. Turned out very well. Got some carpet from Home Depot and cut it out useing the old carpet as a pattern. Oh, I did not use any 1970's shag carpet either.

[BGCarrera32]

I just picked up an RS carpet set in domestic black needle punch, with a special order binding, extra binding and and extra yard of carpet. You get floor mats, kick panel pieces, rear skirts to replace the vinyl next to the back seats, RS rear deck piece, etc. Under $300 shipped from Bob at www.appbiz.com. Very nice stuff for the money. He advertises in the back of Excellence magazine. You can obviously make your own and go cheaper, but you need a decent sewing machine for going through the carpet and binding, and you'll burn some time doing it. Just beware...

-BG

[47silver]

the po made the carpet in our car, looks like crap. i think carpet making is not an easy task as you need a heavy duty sewing machine etc. our carpte bunches and does not lay nicely at all ,
we have new from pelican and will post picts after we install i would think you would be better off to get a used set that is in pretty good shape.

[Trust Me]

I used 3m spray glue. It worked very well.

Originally posted by Allenk
Hey I just learned how to spell Guadalahara.

Sorry, but no you didn't.

[Allenk]

Dang.

[slater]

I just finished making my carpet and gluing it down. Took me the enitre weekend and cost me about $35 in carpet and $7 in glue. I didn't have any patterns, so i made my own with some paper.
Everyone that I told I was doing my own said "good luck with that!" but it honestly turned out great. (I wish i had a digital camera to show you) I think the name of the capert i used was flex form.. anyway, is stretches a little bit so that you can form it around and into corners as you glue it down. It is just plain dark black, but it made things so much easier. The only thing I didn't do was sew trim around the outside of the peices, but when I glued it down tightly you can't really see the edges unless you pay close attention.
I am really happy with the way it turned out and nobody has been able to tell the difference. It can be done if you have some patience! Just a couple tips about the glue- Make sure you use a glue that is okay for high temps ( i used 3M Super 76) because it can get hot in a car in the sun, and some glues will get sticky again if they get too hot. Also, if you use the flex form carpet, you HAVE to glue it down. If you let it just sit in there, it can get distorted or stretched when you step on it.
Anyway, if you go for it, good luck and post some pictures!
-kris out

[slater]

Guadalajara

[Chuck Moreland]

Originally posted by BGCarrera32
I just picked up an RS carpet set in domestic black needle punch, with a special order binding, extra binding and and extra yard of carpet. You get floor mats, kick panel pieces, rear skirts to replace the vinyl next to the back seats, RS rear deck piece, etc. Under $300 shipped from Bob at www.appbiz.com. Very nice stuff for the money. He advertises in the back of Excellence magazine. You can obviously make your own and go cheaper, but you need a decent sewing machine for going through the carpet and binding, and you'll burn some time doing it. Just beware...

-BG

I just installed this same needlepunch RS kit in my '73. It is very good quality.

The lightweight needlepunch is not durable as Sliverknit, but is much more so than the felt with very little weight penalty.

Unless you have experience doing this type work and a good carpet to use as a template, you will not get a result as nice as the appbiz kit. At under $300, it would be hard to justify making your own unless you are doing it for fun.

[slater]

Well, for under $50, it WAS kinda fun, and it looks great. maybe i was lucky it turned out the way it did, but i still think with a lot of patience it can be done and look great.

[Harlan Chinn]

Try Quetzalcoatl...If you need heavy duty sewing done, buy the materials, cut the pattern and take your carpets to tailoring shop (asian) with a heavy duty machine.

[BGCarrera32]

At under $300, it would be hard to justify making your own unless you are doing it for fun.

...and that folks was my rationale.

[caliber60]

$750 with German material (exact match) and labor. Are you sure you want to make the carpet yourself? Even buying the carpet set to install yourself is not a easy job. It's not just buy it and put it in. There is a lot of gluing and stapling involved.

[dotorg]

What year car are are you wanting to make one for? I've got a new set that I know fits '68 years, and probably others that I'm trying to get rid of...