Faded carpet, rear window

[stone43]

Dumb new Porsche owner question (with many more to follow): My 85 cab (neglected for long time by spoiled rich person who did not know what he had) rear deck under the totally wasted plastic window carpet has gone from a one time aesthetically pleasing and matching black to a horrible looking black/brown.

Question: any (easy) way to restore the black color without replacing the carpet?

Question: If there are any San Diego readers here, any recommendations as to where to take the car to get rear window replaced? OB Upholstery ($270) is the only quote so far.

[rob911]

Rear shelf carpet - I got one from a breaker as part of a "new interior", mostly from a bent 964. The power seats, doorcards with pockets and rear shelf all fit just fine. Rear quarter panel need some modification.

Failing that take it out, remove the old rug from the board and staple on some new carpet/vinyl/leather. A specialist upholsterer might get a good match. If not maybe you willl find a trim shop to supply OEM carpet pieces. Southbound (in UK) made me a cab cover from OEM material so someone sells the raw materials.

[johnco]

being the cheapo I am I used some $6-7 carpet dye from Walmart to restore some faded carpet in my 74. didn't have to remove the carpet as the spray wipes off vinyl and leather without staining if you overspray. one can did everything. the carpets were black but faded to a greenish/black in spots. worked great and the carpet looks new now. I'm not sure how long it will last but at the price I can do it over and over when needed. and the carpet didn't get hard as I expected. I even touched up a few spots on the door panels and rubber trim. matched perfectly! there were some cheaper, bigger kinds of a different brand but didn't work as nice as the smaller can. I can check the brand name for you if you want

[stone43]

Thanks John, yes I would like to try the carpet dye method before taking the carpet out. Let me know the brand when you can.

[Judi]

Once you do replace or dye it you need to keep it from happening again. The PO of the Cab we just bought had taked a Porche golf towel over the carpeting. The car is red w/ black carpet and the towel is red and black, roo. Looks good and my 14 yr old car has nice unfaded carpet throughout.

[johnco]

I found the can. it was called MolecuBond color refinisher (as seen on TV no less) . works on leather, vinyl, fiberglass, etc. it restored my Targa top to shiny new color from faded black 2-3 months ago with no change since. Actually, I did every thing faded in my car with one can. even the side window rubbers that were faded grey cloth covered rubber and they also look great. you don't really need to mask anything because it wipes off easily when wet. even off the metal without discoloring the paint. after several months there is no change in the color or fading. way cheaper than replacing anything.... $6-7

[Moses]

now sells aerosol leather and carpet dyes.