New Carpet Templates

[Lee Hedges]

Many T34 owners are in-need of replacement carpet kits and very few have been satisfied with the kits from the suppliers like West Coast Classics (SoCal) & Sewfine (Colorado). Pieces are cut wrong, too short, or too long. There's no design for the earliest T34s 1962-63 with the rotary heater knob.

Paul Colbert & I have decided to create an authentic series of carpet templates for the five different patterns. 1962-63 LHD, 1964-66 LHD, 1964-66 RHD, 1967-69 LHD, & 1967-69 RHD.

I've begun by tearing the carpet out of my 1962 and using the original carpet photos from various years have been able to create the template pattern for the 1962-63 LHD series. Paul will fit the templates into his 1963 to confirm they fit properly. Then we'll get a full carpet kit made based on the templates and fit them to my 1962. Once everything fits right we'll be sharing the template sets with Lenny at West Coast Classics, who has the experience to create these kits for T34 owners.

Who might be interested in either a carpet template set or a complete carpet kit for their T34s? I can supply copies of the templates to owners that plan to have a local shop cut the carpet kit.

[Greg Skinner]

Sewfine has relocated from Colorado to Texas, but the move did nothing to improve the cut of their carpet kits. Still, the material they use is great and if the car is actually at their location you can get the job done the way you want.

As for Lenny, his quality is renown, however his dead on attention to authenticity is simply not there. He showed me a Type 34 carpet kit and I told him why I did and didn't like it. He really didn't want to hear it.

Sewing up a carpet kit costs the same amount of money to do it right, or to do it wrong. I really don't care who makes it--I will buy a kit, but only if it's done correctly.

[Thom Fitzpatrick]

Jul 26, 2012 18:01:05 GMT -8 Greg Skinner said:

As for Lenny, his quality is renown, however his dead on attention to authenticity is simply not there. He showed me a Type 34 carpet kit and I told him why I did and didn't like it. He really didn't want to hear it.

I had the same experience when I had him made the interior for my lowlight ghia. And when the carpet pieces didn't fit, it was my fault.

Sewing up a carpet kit costs the same amount of money to do it right, or to do it wrong. I really don't care who makes it--I will buy a kit, but only if it's done correctly.

+1

[Thom Fitzpatrick]

Are these any good: www.vintagecarparts.de/artikel.php?set_artnr=343863S

[Lee Hedges]

That's the problem I've found from so many T34 owners that have tried to order a complete kit. No shop does it right.

The KG.de kit is no different and appears to be based on the late-model T34. They've made one huge piece for the rear cargo panel that doesn't match the area I've seen. They did not cut openings for the front heaters, rear heaters, rear armrests, seat belts on tunnel, etc. And they've forgotten about the rear seat vertical panel vents. And God forbid you're an American and they don't get it right ... mega expensive return shipping if you're not satisfied.

I based my carpet templates on the original carpets I've taken photos of in the past, then fitted the panels to my 1962 LHD & 1965 RHD. Paul's going to fit the same set to his 1963 LHD.

[Thom Fitzpatrick]

This is good to know; to some newb like myself, the carpets pimped on the various websites look great.

I'm down for a set.

[Marcus Plonsker]

That is also my experience: no carpet set fitts exactly to my 62 LHD.
So I decidet with my carpet-dealer to fabricate my own template based on the leftovers of the old carpet and studies of photos. Its in production at the moment. If anybody needs help, please let me know.

[bobnotch]

I've installed the Sew Fine kit in my own car earlier this year. You can see pics of it in my build thread on the Samba. There are also notes that I've made, along with Greg's comments as well. Mostly what I've found is their kit is a T-34 "generic" kit, meaning it's for multiple years, but nothing specific. They do have crayon marks on the underside for where to cut out for the different heater controls, but the center section of carpet is about 3 inches too short (so you really need to make sure you're cutting in the right spot), and the rear jump seat kick panel carpets are about 3 inches too short (doesn't go up and over the rear seat frame). There's also no cut out, or even a marking for the cut out for the front heater outlet on the tunnel. In my case, since the center carpet is short, you end up with a "half moon" shaped cut out for it, rather than a "full circle". Also, since they bind and sew trim on around the shifter opening, getting it to fit (seat) correctly becomes a challenge. Otherwise, the rest of the pieces fit pretty well. It would have been nice IF they had used rubber parts, rather than binding for the heater outlets, the shifter, or the "Lincoln" armrest openings (like OE). But, in my case, I didn't have enough carpet left to know what it really should have looked like. I'm pleased with how it turned out though, all things considered. IF they could just take care of those "minor" issues, it would be a nice kit. Just my take on it, and YMMV.

[John Kanters]

I just purchased a carpet kit from West Coast Classic thinking it was the best available but reading this I'm a little concerned at what is going to turn up here on top of that I found them a complete nightmare to deal with and would not buy from them again, terrible communication and big delays in processing the order which seems to be the norm of so many companies these days.

[Lee Hedges]

I can help you with the WCC carpet order, John. I'm having the same issues with Paul Colbert's order. Missing pieces, some done in two pieces that should have been done in one piece, and very poor communication.

[John Kanters]

Thanks Lee, the carpet kit has finaly been delivered to my shipper so unfortunately won't be in NZ for another 6 weeks or so.
I can only then unpack and inspect it, from everything you hear about West Coast Classic I thought they would be to one to order from but it seems I have made yet another mistake.
Right from the beginning I was told 10 days to complete the order (we had a shipment going out of CA) and 6 weeks later after many many emails its been delivered
This is one of the reasons I do what ever I can myself because of the utter frustration dealing with incompetent companies and being on the other side of the globe multiplies your problems 10 fold.

[Tom Reay]

I have done this twice now.
For my 65 I had purchased a set from Sewfine, but the color wasn't right (my fault, not Sewfines). I did use the set as a template and I sold it later.

For my 68, the carpet was the original set, so I used it as my template.

This time I used German Squareweave carpet that I purchased from World Upholstery worlduph.com/samples/squsamp.htm





I went for Charcoal, but black may have been closer (but not by much):
original on the left


Next I worked out some layouts (Buddy is in the picture for scale purposes, he's a medium size cat)


Understand that I was trying to make sure the "grain" was in the same direction as the original carpet pieces. Here is my final layout with the cut pieces -


and



I believe it came to 5 yards of material on a 52" bolt. I will try to double check that. I know it was around $450 for the material and
$125 to have the bindings and rubber parts sewn on.

Nylon is about a quarter the price for the material. (check it, I seem to remember it was a 48" bolt, but I wasn't concerned with the grain direction). Cutting both squarewaeve or nylon is a breeze, even with half way decent scissors (even better with your wife's fancy ones -but don't tell her).

Tom

[John Kanters]

I had seen you post those pics before Tom and thats exactly what I would have done except I got my car with no carpet at all so I had nothing to base it from.
Have made quite a few carpet kits in the past and its not that hard which makes it even more dissapointing to hear that WCC don't bother getting it right.

[John Kanters]

Recieved my NZ$1600 West Coast Classic carpet kit and the news isn't very good, only recieved 16 of the 19 pieces with many many wrong and fitment issues.
Have emailed them with a list of problems but I'm not holding my breath. very upsetting.

[Thom Fitzpatrick]

I had a similar issue with WCC carpet for my '56 T14. I was having a local upholstery shop do the install, so I had them deal with WCC directly. Long-story-short, the pieces didn't fit, and WCC had to send several replacement pieces, but according to WCC, it was a combination of my car being wrong and the upholstery shop not knowing WTF they were doing. By the time all was said and done, I paid an additional $800 for the local shop to re-work the carpet.