body and interior Carpet / Upholstery Replacement

[Tulah007]

Do yourself a favor and buy Esty's carpet kit. I mean you spent all that time removing the old carpet underlay and adhesive then stripped the rust ( I hoped you por15 it or at least used a good epoxy like SPI). Why not splurg on an awesome looking carpet for your baby. ? Just sayin.

I bought a carpet set and trunk boards last month. It was Well worth it. I did the same thing to my 73 tii you did during my restoration of 2 years body , paint & mechancal (it was converted to carb now back to fuel injection) I say treat yourself . You'll be more then happy with her carpet kit. Here's a pic of me laying out the FatMat. Which I think is well worth the money. It Keeps out the heat and noise. I've got it in a few other cars with crazy exhaust systems and it's almost silent in the cabin with the windows closed. Also it' helps your sound system a lot . It's well worth the price tag.

Just be sure it's the butyl version. I would never settle for the Home Depot version. IMO it's not the same.

Either way keep the pics coming

Cheers,

Tony

Edited March 19, 2015 by Tulah007

[flagoworld]

Ah that's more sound proofing than I put. I should do under my rear seats as well... Think I should put some where the shifter is? It already has the stock tar, as it was in perfect condition...

 

I've certainly contemplated on numerous occasions buying Esty's carpets. It's not even that much of a splurge. But I keep coming back to wanting to gain the full experience and learn as much as I possibly can and so have to at least TRY it myself. Carpet is <$2/sqft, so I can do it for under 80 bucks. If I don't like it, losing 80 bucks isn't a big deal to me and I can just buy Esty's.

[Tulah007]

I say do it once and do it right. However I own a shop so I got that motto from , I only get paid to do it once.

Catch my drift. Esty's carpet is kick ass. You wouldn't be disappointed.

[Grover]

I'd encourage you not to be dissuaded from trying it yourself. The best upholsterers in the world didn't come out of the womb with their skills, every one of them had to sew something for the first time, and I'd almost guarantee that their first piece of work didn't look that great. I think the desire to do as much of the work as you can is admirable and to be encouraged. As you say, carpet (by the yard) is pretty cheap, and if it doesn't meet your standards, you can always rip it out and try again, or buy one of Esty's kits. Two other quick thoughts:

 

If you intend to sew carpeting, you need a very capable sewing machine, a standard household machine will not manage it at all. Ideally you want a very strong machine with a walking foot. As me how I know... If you "just" want to make your own templates, cut the patterns, and then have a pro bind them, this is not super hard, just time consuming, but can be very rewarding.

 

Regarding the material. Depending on where you live, I'd see if you can find an automotive carpet distributor in your area. The carpet will generally be a bit thinner than household carpet and more pliable to get around curves. I buy my materials from Keyston Bros. who have several locations around the US. Technically they are a wholesale company, but they've always been willing to sell to me as a hobbyist if I show up at their front door. You can also buy heavy duty thread there, vinyl, binding, etc... The nice thing about going there in person is they have tons of sample books of all the materials and you'll get a better sense of what it looks and feels like vs. just looking at photos on-line.

 

Good luck.

[nbcbird]

Flago--I you want to but raw carpet material try World Upholstery or GAHH. I have a complete (used) set of sectional carpet that you could use as a template if you go that route (I live in Seattle).  Keep in mind that Esty's carpet set already has binding on all the edges and ready to glue in.  And she has many colors to choose from that will approximate the original. I have had a very bad experience with the Keyston Distributor in Seattle simply trying to but upholstery thread.

Edited March 19, 2015 by nbcbird

[esty]

i agree with Grover, try, you might surprise yourself, then if it doesn't work out you can buy a set from a lot of different places that will drop in and look good...

 

i started making carpet soon after i bought one of those molded carpet sets available online...it was very difficult to install then when in the car, it looked like crap...i bought a cut& sewn set from an online vendor and still wasn't satisfied because it was probably the cheapest carpet, cheapest looking, poorest fitting carpet i've ever seen and he only offered carpet in 3 colors so i had to compromise on the color from the start...

 

i bought a set from world upholstery and after getting in in the car felt like i'd been robbed, again, cheap carpet and poor fit...i finally bought a set from another online vendor and thought the 3rd time was charm until i had it in the car...the quality of the carpet was good but it was very bulky and i still wasn't satisfied with the fit

 

although it is easier with an industrial type machine, not everyone would want to invest the kind of money and devote that much space to a machine.... i find that a cheap Singer or Brother sewing machine (from walmart) does everything i need to or want to do... as much as i do, they don't last much longer than a year but at such a low cost i look at them as a disposable item and when one craps out i throw it in the trash and buy another...it's a cost of doing business

 

i started from scratch, made my own patterns from the car instead of the original carpet set and went thru a lot of carpet before i got a fit i was satisfied with....my patterns & technique have evolved over time and i learned how to do what i wanted to do with a lot of practice....you can do it if you persevere and there's not much that's better or more rewarding than doing it yourself

[flagoworld]

@ Everyone: Thank you for your input and I'd love to support the community(Esty in this case) as much as you would. I am fully aware that Esty's carpets will make me smile. The only thing stopping me is that I greatly enjoy doing things myself, trying, learning, discovering, and the biggest reason I bought my '02 is because I want to do exactly that. It's my first project car and the car I'm utilizing in my endeavor to learn about cars beyond what I need to know to upkeep my daily driver ('07 Jetta).

 

@Grover + Esty: Thank you for the support and thoughts on doing it myself. As I mentioned, I will do exactly that, fiddle with it a bit, and if I can't come up with something that looks nice I fully intend to buy a set of Esty carpets. It's all about the learning experience!

 

Thanks for the tips! I'll post more pix once I make a little more progress. Fiddling with some stuff in the engine bay at the moment.

 

@nbcbird: By "Set of sectional carpet that I can use as a template" do you mean  someone else's carpet set that you ended up not using, or do you mean the original? I still have my original and was planning on basing my custom job on that.

Edited March 20, 2015 by flagoworld

[nbcbird]

Flago--It is an original complete sectional carpet set carefully removed from my '71.  Would be a lot easier to use than the molded variety.  PM me if interested, I live in the Northgate area and can give you some tips that might help.

Edited March 21, 2015 by nbcbird

[Saintz]

There are 2 types out there.

 

Those that roll up their sleeves and have a go and those who pay others to do it for them.

 

Good on you for "having a go" flagoworld, you'll appreciate it much more in the end knowing you did it yourself.

[scim]

 

I bought 5 rolls of the Home Depot sound deadener. I even doubled it up in front to replace the Masonite/Foam part that was factory. Mine was intact but extremely UGLY and could not bring myself to leave it in. I know  I could have cut my own carpet pieces but the sewn edges look very nice so I went with an "Esty" kit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are you happy with the Home Depot sound deadener?  I am at the point of doing something, and am reading through threads on the Forum.  A friend recommended MurderMat.  HD deadener would be far less expensive and it looks like a few members have used it.

[flagoworld]

I will say this: if you tap on the underbelly of the car and listen inside with and without the deadener it makes a wooorld of difference.

[scim]

@ Everyone: Thank you for your input and I'd love to support the community(Esty in this case) as much as you would. I am fully aware that Esty's carpets will make me smile. The only thing stopping me is that I greatly enjoy doing things myself, trying, learning, discovering, and the biggest reason I bought my '02 is because I want to do exactly that. It's my first project car and the car I'm utilizing in my endeavor to learn about cars beyond what I need to know to upkeep my daily driver ('07 Jetta).

 

@Grover + Esty: Thank you for the support and thoughts on doing it myself. As I mentioned, I will do exactly that, fiddle with it a bit, and if I can't come up with something that looks nice I fully intend to buy a set of Esty carpets. It's all about the learning experience!

 

Thanks for the tips! I'll post more pix once I make a little more progress. Fiddling with some stuff in the engine bay at the moment.

 

@nbcbird: By "Set of sectional carpet that I can use as a template" do you mean  someone else's carpet set that you ended up not using, or do you mean the original? I still have my original and was planning on basing my custom job on that.

Are you going to go with the original look when doing replacement carpets or carpet material?  The original carpets in my car are faded but in okay shape, probably musty though and may replace  I have the salt/pepper carpet, not sure what the original stuff is made of?

[esty]

I have the salt/pepper carpet, not sure what the original stuff is made of?

it's synthetic material

[scim]

it's synthetic material

Didn't mean to get off on my carpet problems!  It's related though... I haven't tried cleaning mine up yet, thanks for the info that the originals are synthetic.  I see a lot of recommendations for your kits Esty, where to look at those kits?  Thanks.

[esty]

 Esty, where to look at those kits?  Thanks.

http://estycarpet.blogspot.com/

 

and i have a few threads in the "for sale" forum with some advertised