Carpet

[Bainzy]

Never really liked the carpet that much in my 78 1500, couldn't really put my finger on why. It's a non-moulded black one bought for its restoration in 2003, and its not the fit that bothers me as that's perfect, it just looks flat and out of place.

Went to Gaydon on tuesday and now I realise why! Looking at the last spitfire off the line, its interior felt totally different. The carpet was soft, wooly looking and really really cozy feeling. Gave the car a very different vibe inside that I liked, much like many other classics have that my Spitfire seemed to lack. Looking closely at it, it looked like the material was made differently, like it was some sort of thick, tall looped fibre whereas my repro ones look like the fibres are straight, thin and a lot shorter.

How do I get my hands on something thats a lot closer to this OE carpet? I don't really care if its not moulded.

[Scottie55]

Try Aldridge Trimming or Parklane Interiors. They do carpets and possibly can advise ref your query.

Neat website by the way  :)

[Bainzy]

cheers!  :)

[Howard81]

I'd be interested in this too, my MKIV has an aftermarket carpet set in it that is dire.. It looks cheap, doesn't fit and is generally nasty. Let me know if you find a decent one!

[Bainzy]

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/c-76-carpet.aspx

This company looks really promising. I think doing the gearbox tunnel with uncut carpet might be a bridge too far for me to cross right now, but I reckon many of these types of carpet would look the business covering the sidewalls and floorpans. If we did do this DIY Howard, we'd probably find that fancy Wilton wool carpets still work out cheaper than a moulded set.

I have a Park Lane Classics 1290 vinyl set for the dash top and edging to get on with, so it'll be a while before I do anything with the carpets, which gives me plenty of time to research this further!

[Howard81]

That sounds good! Tunnel carpet would be a real faff though!

Do you (or anyone else) have detailed photos of an original Spitfire carpet? I don't really know how it should be. For example, the side vertical carpets at the left and right of the footwells is just a bit cut approximately to shape and glued to the car. It looks crap, especially as it has no binding on the edge, which is in full view. I can't believe Triumph would have used such a naff carpet to be honest!  In comparison, my Dolomite has a neat price of hardboard cut to shape, covered in vinyl and screwed in place. So much neater and nicer!

Does anybody actually produce a carpet identical to the original?

[Bainzy]

As far as I'm aware, no, nobody produces an identical one. The moulded ones everyone sells that are made by Newton Commercial are correct in that they are moulded like originals, but the pile of the carpet is wrong.

I have some Kodachrome slides sent away to be processed that will be back soon, when they come back I will scan them as I took some pretty good photos of the inside of the last spitfire off the line when I was at Gaydon. They should show you what the carpet looks like, and should be pretty sharp as I bounced the flash off the car's headlining to evenly light the interior!  ;D

[Dicky Blighter]

You could always use the sort of carpet moderns use that is glued direct trim panels/shell and moulds nicely to contours. Bin all the hardboard backers and replace with mdf and plasticard and end up with a result like this: (screw heads have since been capped with same stuff and now invisible)
came from here -
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/6M-GREY-CAR-TRUNK-BOOT-LINING-CARPET-TRIM-CLOTH-LINER-/370372365961?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item563be9ce89