When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I'm in need of some advice. I've thoroughly searched the forums and didn't really find the info I need. I'm finally replacing my 33 year old carpet with ACC cut-pile with mass backing. It came with jute padding glued to the back, but thinner and in less areas than the factory jute padding. The factory padding came off the stock carpet rather easily and is in great shape. It fits into the floor pan areas very well so I'd like to re-use it. Would doubling up the jute make the carpet sit too high or should I tear the jute off the new carpet and just use the factory jute? I'd like to get some ideas before I start fitting the carpet so I don't have to pull it back out. Thanks all!
The old padding likely has odors not readily apparent. If it was my car, I'd toss it. When I installed OCC Mass backed cut pile (their best) in my 1996 Impala SS, I discarded to original stuff. I had to fiddle with and trim the ACC to fit. That was very annoying!
The old padding likely has odors not readily apparent. If it was my car, I'd toss it. When I installed OCC Mass backed cut pile (their best) in my 1996 Impala SS, I discarded to original stuff. I had to fiddle with and trim the ACC to fit. That was very annoying!
Originally Posted by stron3
Thanks for the input. I know it going to be a fight fitting this thing properly but I’m going to take it slow!
I don'y understand why the fitting fight. On the factory assembly line, they toss the carpet in and center. Done.
I don'y understand why the fitting fight. On the factory assembly line, they toss the carpet in and center. Done.
It’s an aftermarket kinda thing. Even the best stuff is close but never perfect. I’ve replaced many OEM carpets (in different makes & models) and they fit right in straight out of the box.
I don'y understand why the fitting fight. On the factory assembly line, they toss the carpet in and center. Done.
Originally Posted by stron3
It’s an aftermarket kinda thing. Even the best stuff is close but never perfect. I’ve replaced many OEM carpets (in different makes & models) and they fit right in straight out of the box.
Thanks for your response, to my (mostly) rhetorical question. In my 25+ years of professional automotive experience, and decades of hobby automotive work, I have learned to REALLY dislike the majority of aftermarket parts and "modifications".
I wouldn't use the old jute padding either. I realize sometimes aftermarket isn't perfect, but when it comes to soft items that absorb years of smells, dirty moisture and whatever else, I'd rather have new. By the way, what color gray is that called?
I wouldn't use the old jute padding either. I realize sometimes aftermarket isn't perfect, but when it comes to soft items that absorb years of smells, dirty moisture and whatever else, I'd rather have new. By the way, what color gray is that called?
I definitely understand what you’re saying. The jute on the back of the replacement is just so thin and seems incomplete. I’m considering putting the OEM in a tub with soapy water, rinsing, and letting it drip dry completely, if only to see what happens.
The color is called Dove Gray. It’s a perfect match to the unfaded areas under the rear seats.
I definitely understand what you’re saying. The jute on the back of the replacement is just so thin and seems incomplete. I’m considering putting the OEM in a tub with soapy water, rinsing, and letting it drip dry completely, if only to see what happens.
The color is called Dove Gray. It’s a perfect match to the unfaded areas under the rear seats.
Might want to add a gallon of White Vinegar (Costco, Walmart) to the wash solution, as IT is the solvent for Coffee.
Might want to add a gallon of White Vinegar (Costco, Walmart) to the wash solution, as IT is the solvent for Coffee.
Good idea. I’ve owned this car for 30 of its 33 years so at least I know there’s nothing super nasty going on! The floor pans are mint so there’s no mold issues.
I
The color is called Dove Gray. It’s a perfect match to the unfaded areas under the rear seats.
Okay thanks! I'm getting ready to buy new gray carpet for my 89 Firebird and that was the name I was looking at. Seeing it out in the light in your pic pretty much confirms that's what I need.
Okay thanks! I'm getting ready to buy new gray carpet for my 89 Firebird and that was the name I was looking at. Seeing it out in the light in your pic pretty much confirms that's what I need.
Awesome! If there’s any doubt ACC will send you some samples. That’s how I was able to match mine up. Good luck!
The jute on the back of the replacement is just so thin and seems incomplete. I’m considering putting the OEM in a tub with soapy water, rinsing, and letting it drip dry completely, if only to see what happens.
Originally Posted by mikeceli
Might want to add a gallon of White Vinegar (Costco, Walmart) to the wash solution, as IT is the solvent for Coffee.
I like these ideas. Might even do a rinse with some bleach in the water to kill anything living in there.
I like these ideas. Might even do a rinse with some bleach in the water to kill anything living in there.
Make sure you do NOT mix bleach with any other cleaning product, or vinegar, ONLY WATER. It only takes a little bleach, in water, to kill mold(read the lable).
Quick update to my thread. I'm just about finished with the install. I tore off the new jute padding from the back of the new carpet. It seemed a bit thin and didn't have the same coverage that the oem had. I re-used the thoroughly cleaned oem jute. As for the ACC carpet itself, the fit is pretty good with the exception of a few areas. It was tough getting it to conform to the trans tunnel but it's close now. The dead pedal pad is kind of in the wrong spot but I can live with it, especially with the floor mats in place. Considering there's not many options these days for carpet I'm overall happy. If you're buying the ACC get it from RockAuto, just a little over $200 and $20 to ship.
In the car business since 1973 and I will never understand why the "aftermarket" does not get it right! Especially the foot pad, you would think they can move it to the correct position. Sometimes I wonder if things are "close" to avoid patent infringement lawsuits. But then, dealers should state in advertising material, what the "takeaways" are, before the customer pays shipping and is surprised by things not quite right. my two-cents.
My son and I put ACC carpeting in a 1996 Impala SS. We had to fight it and trim for HOURS!
In the car business since 1973 and I will never understand why the "aftermarket" does not get it right! Especially the foot pad, you would think they can move it to the correct position. Sometimes I wonder if things are "close" to avoid patent infringement lawsuits. But then, dealers should state in advertising material, what the "takeaways" are, before the customer pays shipping and is surprised by things not quite right. my two-cents.
My son and I put ACC carpeting in a 1996 Impala SS. We had to fight it and trim for HOURS!
Copyright infringement is exactly why the carpet does not fit properly.. it's an unfortunate outcome of GM, and others wanting tons of money to use their design, when there's so little profit-potential for the company making the parts. It's just a part of dealing with aftermarket parts. You try to find the parts with the best fit and finish, and hope for the best. The jute padding issue has always puzzled me, though. If you can find an auto upholstery supply shop, near you, they usually stock various thicknesses of jute padding on a roll. Just buy that, lay your old padding on top, and cut it out. It's like the padding under your carpet at home. You really don't want to re-use it, if you can avoid it. If you must, then some of the above-mentioned cleaning methods are a really good idea.
DR.K.
Quick update to my thread. I'm just about finished with the install. I tore off the new jute padding from the back of the new carpet. It seemed a bit thin and didn't have the same coverage that the oem had. I re-used the thoroughly cleaned oem jute. As for the ACC carpet itself, the fit is pretty good with the exception of a few areas. It was tough getting it to conform to the trans tunnel but it's close now. The dead pedal pad is kind of in the wrong spot but I can live with it, especially with the floor mats in place. Considering there's not many options these days for carpet I'm overall happy. If you're buying the ACC get it from RockAuto, just a little over $200 and $20 to ship.
It's not that there aren't many options, it's that there is NO other option. It's just ACC, and ACC knows it.
I recently received ACC's second attempt at getting it right. Looks much better than the first.
The first shipment, early springtime, had major workmanship issues. I unloaded on them and was very critical. Spent a week or two trading emails with dialogue and pictures; it got ugly. Then I had them send UPS back to pick it up.
Then I looked into the possibility of having my original carpet re-dyed, which apparently is possible, but some areas were pretty worn and not correctible, so ACC and I agreed on a second attempt. But if my carpet had been in better shape, re-dying would definitely have been the way to go. And after all of this, personally, that's what I recommend people do, condition-permitting: steam/extraction clean and re-dye; you'll be happier in the long run, no messing with carpet that probably won't fit correctly.
The new replacement carpet is still not 100%, but nothing major this time; a much better job, probably about as good as it gets. It's all laid out, trimmed and ready to install, but not yet because I began a couple of other interior projects while the carpet's been out of the car. They did correct my cited concerns, but I have a couple of new concerns with this one, so we'll see eventually.
My original cargo carpet still looks very good--and it FITS, of course. So I removed it and cleaned it. It doesn't match the new, of course, but that's the price I'll pay for wanting a product that FITS. Not sure about the possibility of getting it dyed to match the new, but probably won't worry about it.
Jack Akers was in my cargo well. I did a search for him, but couldn't find anything related. "Inspected by," perhaps? And this gem of a paper is stuck, literally, in the cargo well forever, otherwise facing disintegration. And cool to see the OEM tag on the bottom of the cargo carpet. But sadly, no build sheet in the car--unless it's in a door panel.
It's not that there aren't many options, it's that there is NO other option. It's just ACC, and ACC knows it.
I recently received ACC's second attempt at getting it right. Looks much better than the first.
The first shipment, early springtime, had major workmanship issues. I unloaded on them and was very critical. Spent a week or two trading emails with dialogue and pictures; it got ugly. Then I had them send UPS back to pick it up.
Then I looked into the possibility of having my original carpet re-dyed, which apparently is possible, but some areas were pretty worn and not correctible, so ACC and I agreed on a second attempt. But if my carpet had been in better shape, re-dying would definitely have been the way to go. And after all of this, personally, that's what I recommend people do, condition-permitting: steam/extraction clean and re-dye; you'll be happier in the long run, no messing with carpet that probably won't fit correctly.
The new replacement carpet is still not 100%, but nothing major this time; a much better job, probably about as good as it gets. It's all laid out, trimmed and ready to install, but not yet because I began a couple of other interior projects while the carpet's been out of the car. They did correct my cited concerns, but I have a couple of new concerns with this one, so we'll see eventually.
My original cargo carpet still looks very good--and it FITS, of course. So I removed it and cleaned it. It doesn't match the new, of course, but that's the price I'll pay for wanting a product that FITS. Not sure about the possibility of getting it dyed to match the new, but probably won't worry about it.
Reading your experience I feel lucky that my ACC carpet was acceptable in fit and build quality.
I also explored the option of a cleaning and re-dye. I ultimately chose to replace, but I may try to give it a go with the original carpet and see what happens. Given the current state of aftermarket replacements I'm hesitant to throw out the OEM.
My original cargo carpet still looked good as well. For whatever reason it didn't fade like the passenger area. I kept it. Yes, the color isn't a perfect match but I'm not sure it matched perfectly when new either.
Interesting that you think your carpets were different colors. Mine are different too. The cargo carpet, which didn't fade, ironically, since it's the one completely exposed to the sun underneath the rear glass hatch, has always been much darker than the passenger carpet. Even its OEM tag says it's Dark Grey. The passenger carpet has always been lighter and silvery, a completely different color and tone than the cargo carpet, yet it's the one that faded, except underneath the seats. I always assumed that's what GM meant by calling the interior color, Medium Dark Grey: Medium Grey passenger carpet, and Dark Grey cargo carpet.
I'd originally gotten Dark Grey Cut Pile from ACC, both passenger and cargo, which is a great color match for the interior, depth of color and tone. And I'd have had matching carpets. But they botched both carpets. That's when I removed my cargo carpet and steamed/extracted, and it looked "like new" again. So I decided to reuse it, rather than risking that ACC would simply try to "fix" the piece they botched. So I made a deal to remake my passenger carpet in Ultra Plush Medium Grey and call it even. The passenger carpet in UP would cost almost the same as both pieces in CP, and that would also save them the cost of having to remake both pieces.
The problem for me, UP Medium Grey is nowhere near matching the color of ANY of our grey carpets, yet it's the one they offer for 3rdgens in the UP line. Go figure LOL. It's a beautiful color, and the UP is beautiful thick carpet, and it will coordinate nicely in the car because there are so many different tones of grey in the interior, but it leaves me back where I began: with two different colors of carpet. But I'm used to it after 33 years.
Regarding the jute pad, OE used two thicknesses: the pad beneath the front seat area is twice as thick as the pad beneath the rear seats and cargo carpet. ACC used one thickness throughout, the thinner of the two, except they put NO padding beneath the rear seats. The thinner pad will be fine with the UP carpet, which is twice as thick as the CP. But for the rear seat area, I removed the pad from the original carpet and am using it again in that area with the new carpet. It's in fine shape, and it doesn't smell. Well, if it smells, it's my own smell, so I don't even notice LOL. Besides, the rear seats/area have never been used in 33 years, so nothing ever got soiled back there.
Still, other than having the "new car smell" again, if my passenger carpet hadn't aged so poorly, I'd have had it re-dyed and kept it. It was all precut, right, holes and all, before installation, and it FIT perfectly? So it makes no sense that ACC can't get it right, just like that. So if anyone feels his/her carpet is still good enough to reuse, then by all means, spend your money on making it "new" again, rather than wasting your money on ACC carpet.
I've been hedging on whether or not to post about this, but I'm in the mood to trash ACC at the moment.
Two attempts by ACC to get my carpet right, and they screwed up both times. There will be no third strike; two strikes is OUT. ACC is completely incompetent and should get out of the business, and I stated as much, and A LOT MORE to them after they botched the second attempt. I've been traveling during my unemployment days this summer, so I told them as soon as I return, I'll be hauling it to the local landfill, chocking up my dealings with them as a lesson learned. But I can use it as knee pads for working on the car by cutting the carpet it into pieces, rather than dumping it.
In their first try, they cut the carpet badly all the way around, and they managed to get adhesive on the faces of the fibers in areas that would not have been hidden from view. So back it went.
In their second try, the carpet over the trans tunnel was much too tall. The rest of the carpet was molded well and fit everywhere, just as it should. But that left the carpet standing about 1"-2" higher than the tunnel. I could've made it work beneath the console, by splitting it up the center and removing some material; which I certainly should NOT have to do. But I wouldn't have been able to do that in the rear seat area. But rather than giving ACC a third try at it, I simply ripped them a new one, using every synonym for "incompetent" and "idiot," including the new-era combo, "stupidiotic," and told them I was going to trash it, then trash them.
Anyone with thoughts of a new business venture lately, maybe they should consider going into the Automotive Carpet Industry. They can't do worse than ACC.
So goes my search to restore my OE carpet. Color can be done, but not sure about worn spots yet. Looks possible. Anything is, right? I always find ways to accomplish the things I REALLY want to do, so we'll see.
As I previously stated, my son and I FOUGHT the ACC molded carpet, as we installed it in a 1996 Impala SS. I kept thinking HOW could anyone F this up? It not like weatherstrip, where 1/8 " Off could mean a leak, or door slamming situation. And this was on a HOT day, where the carpet was softened up. In the winter, I suppose the install would have been impossible.
Anyone with thoughts of a new business venture lately, maybe they should consider going into the Automotive Carpet Industry. They can't do worse than ACC.
It's really a shame there isn't better. I would have gladly paid double or triple the amount that I paid to have had something that was a better fit. You can put a price on your time and aggravation....
Just saying if they are both selling ACC carpeting for third gens, you would THINK they would consider the competition? Dont get me wrong, I have had great orders with Hawks, I really do like their company. .
I actually replaced my original carpet with one ordered form my Pontiac dealer in 1993. It dropped right in as well. Will be interesting to see how this goes when I replace it with an ACC one.
It might have to do with actually holding inventory? I am not sure if Hawks actually stocks the carpet. Rock Auto just drop ships it direct form the manufacturer.
Part of it might also be economies of scale. Haks probably doesn't get as good a discount, and then they feel, like all their other stuff, they need to make "$XX" off the product.
Some of the stuff they sell is reasonably priced and some is insane
It's not that there aren't many options, it's that there is NO other option. It's just ACC, and ACC knows it.
I recently received ACC's second attempt at getting it right. Looks much better than the first.
The first shipment, early springtime, had major workmanship issues. I unloaded on them and was very critical. Spent a week or two trading emails with dialogue and pictures; it got ugly. Then I had them send UPS back to pick it up.
Then I looked into the possibility of having my original carpet re-dyed, which apparently is possible, but some areas were pretty worn and not correctible, so ACC and I agreed on a second attempt. But if my carpet had been in better shape, re-dying would definitely have been the way to go. And after all of this, personally, that's what I recommend people do, condition-permitting: steam/extraction clean and re-dye; you'll be happier in the long run, no messing with carpet that probably won't fit correctly.
The new replacement carpet is still not 100%, but nothing major this time; a much better job, probably about as good as it gets. It's all laid out, trimmed and ready to install, but not yet because I began a couple of other interior projects while the carpet's been out of the car. They did correct my cited concerns, but I have a couple of new concerns with this one, so we'll see eventually.
My original cargo carpet still looks very good--and it FITS, of course. So I removed it and cleaned it. It doesn't match the new, of course, but that's the price I'll pay for wanting a product that FITS. Not sure about the possibility of getting it dyed to match the new, but probably won't worry about it.
Jack Akers was in my cargo well. I did a search for him, but couldn't find anything related. "Inspected by," perhaps? And this gem of a paper is stuck, literally, in the cargo well forever, otherwise facing disintegration. And cool to see the OEM tag on the bottom of the cargo carpet. But sadly, no build sheet in the car--unless it's in a door panel.
I found a paper a d tag in my cars very similar friday night. Didn't take carpet out just pulled it up a little and found it. Was the first time I ever took spare tire cover and tire out
I think my carpet maybe restore able. Need to get stains out but how does one go about updating the faded areas, etc? I am reading it can be stained to the original dove gray? How is this done and where would someone get the right stuff to do it please?
all this negative comments on the ACC replacement has me thinking I should reconsider just getting my original cleaned up.
The guy who buffed out my GTA mentioned there is a spray paint for carpet for when you can’t get the stain out. The way he made it sound an auto body paint store should have what you need. The only tricky part is color match. Might be worth a shot to retain the perfect fit carpet that’s in the car.
Why is hawks third gen so much more expensive than Rock Auto for the same brand?
Hawks is "so much more expensive" than everyone else selling thirdgen parts. It's always been that way, even back when they were just another thirdgen junk yard. They just have a heck of a good name, and have had great advertising. At this point they're the Walmart of thirdgen parts, no changing it.
The guy who buffed out my GTA mentioned there is a spray paint for carpet for when you can’t get the stain out. The way he made it sound an auto body paint store should have what you need. The only tricky part is color match. Might be worth a shot to retain the perfect fit carpet that’s in the car.
Hawks is "so much more expensive" than everyone else selling thirdgen parts. It's always been that way, even back when they were just another thirdgen junk yard. They just have a heck of a good name, and have had great advertising. At this point they're the Walmart of thirdgen parts, no changing it.
Yeah that makes sense. But I will say i am mostly happy with their customer support and shipping speed.
Coming late to the party here but I have used a mixture of baking soda, dish soap, and hydrogen peroxide to remove some pretty nasty smells. Ok I had to use it on myself and my dog when he went after a skunk. If it can get rid of that smell it can get rid of anything!
Coming late to the party here but I have used a mixture of baking soda, dish soap, and hydrogen peroxide to remove some pretty nasty smells. Ok I had to use it on myself and my dog when he went after a skunk. If it can get rid of that smell it can get rid of anything!
Not late at all! Every bit of info helps! I looked my existing carpet over and I am going with the clean up and re dye route. Next spring that is!
So just to follow up I found detailking.com They have the dye and also a spray can paint/dye to cover spots that wont come out. I am glad I came across this thread. Now I know what I m going to do with my original carpet....FIX IT!
When I was looking to buy my carpet I wasn't exactly sure what color I wanted to go with so I contacted Stock Interiors and they sent me out I want to say four sample squares. However when I decided on a color I ended up getting the carpet from Rock Auto because they not only had the best price including shipping for the kit with mass backing, but it was in stock. Essentially everyone out there is just selling ACC carpet kits, so in my opinion just find the place with the best overall price and order from them.
