Replacement carpeting - bad news

[KDirk]

Well,

I thought I would do the service of informing the forum that ACC, the company that manufactures the replacement carpeting sold through most outfits that supply custom molded auto carpeting, has decided to no longer offer the rear cargo piece, and now only offers the front passenger compartment portion.

I ordered new carpeting for my 1991 Reatta in flame red about 2 weeks ago. It should arrive Monday, 4/14. I was told when I ordered that the cargo area carpeting was no longer offered. Further inquiry yielded no real explanation for the decision to only offer half the set, but that is the situation.

Obviously, this is a problem in that it will be very difficult to recarpet the cargo area including the 2 "pockets" without molded carpeting. They do offer matched flat carpet by the yard.

I opted to do this, with the optional latex backing (stiffer poly backing is standard) so it was more pliable and easier to contour. Even still, I will not be able to do a "one piece" job if I plan to re-carpet the insides of the storage pockets.

Once I have the carpeting, I will evaluate how best to tackle this problem, and will post my results back here for future reference.

The thing that gets me is why the heck they decided to drop half the carpeting package, but still offer the other. It makes no sense at all. I spoke at length to the people at ACC, and at Car Motorsports from whom I actually ordered, and no real reason could be given, just that the rear part was discontinued.

Yes, I am irritated by this but what other option do I have? I know I can get a decent finished product on everything except the "pockets" using the latex backed yardage. I will have to employ some ingenuity to do those and still make it look decent.

Anyone else considering doing new carpeting in their Reatta should keep this in mind, unless we can "persuade" ACC to start offering the full set again.

KDirk

[Roadster90]

One of my Best Friends and his Dad own one of the finest custom boat and auto upholstery and top businesses on the lower Eastern Seaboard and has accquired Flame Red Carpeting for me (flat piece) before.....ACC kind of rings a bell as to where they got the carpeting from, but not positive......I will question them about this next week.

[matthewlawe]

In early 2007 I searched extensively for complete

molded carpets. Many sites do not offer them for

our Reattea while others require finishing touches

(usually to the rear deck with extensive cutting and

pasting, as it were) and of these particular sites the

carpet is coarse as Vincent Vega mentioned

and may also not hold up.

In late August 2007 I purchased a complete set from

carmotorsports. Their supplier at the time did not have

the accessory pieces for the 1988-89 although they thought

so. I was then supplied with extra carpeting to fashion on my own.

No problem. During this transaction, their supplier

went out of business and they had to find a new supplier

which apparently they have. The lack of molded carpet for

the back deck lies somewhere between the old and new

supplier. Perhaps contacting the new supplier directly

might answer your concern.

The only other probable source I found at the time was

stockinteriors but since I chose carmotor sports I did not contact

them directly. Also, I found JC Whitney offered molded carpets

but, if I remember correctly, their supplier was stockinteriors.

What is the website for ACC? Is it accmats.com or

auto-interior.com?

During my transaction with carmotor sports, I was

left with the impression that molded carpet was

limited to stock on hand while they searched for

the new supplier.

When I installed the back deck molded carpet, I

elected to remove the fiberglass back deck for

ease of installation. I don’t know how molded

carpet is fashioned…perhaps if they have a

fiberglass back deck to work from….?

Keep us informed.

Regards

matthewlawe

1989 White/Blue

[KDirk]

Matthew,

I went through the same situation you did. I searched through several suppliers online, and decided on Car Motorsports mostly because I had heard good things about them, and because they offer the best (IMO) custom embroidered mats with a choice of licensed Reatta Logos. I got my mats with the sunburst (circle R) logo. Got these Friday 4/11, and was very pleased with the quality.

Anyway, when I talked to them initially, I was told they had just recently changed suppliers (to ACC, Auto Custom Carpets) and that the accessory kit was not available but that I could buy yardage to roll my own. Then, after getting color samples and further discussion, it was discovered that ACC was only offering the front half of the carpeting.

Chad at Car Motorsports seemed surprised by this, as it was apparently a recent development. I must have been the first person to order Reatta carpeting since this change happened. He talked to ACC, but the rep at ACC couldn't offer any explanation, just that their master catalog had no listing for the cargo carpeting piece. Apparently, the previous supplier had this piece, but ACC does not.

So, I was left with the option of fashioning my own rear deck carpeting from flat yardage. I ordered enough to do this, and to do the accessory pieces and I'm hoping it'll come out decent.

As an aside, stockinteriors.com gets their carpet from ACC also. This is borne out by the fact that the code numbers associated with the color samples and the color names are the same as those in the ACC catalog. I think stockinteriors.com still lists the rear cargo carpeting, but I will bet it is not available through them either and their web catalog simply hasn't been updated to show this.

Also, when carpeting is made (and all molded carpet sets are made to order from what I can discern) ACC uses the actual floor pan (or a mock up of one anyway) as a template to reproduce the original shape and contour of the vehicle's floor to get proper size and fitment.

If ACC is lacking the cargo area "shell" to use as a template then perhaps we on the forum can find a way to supply them with this part so they can begin offering the molded cargo area carpeting again. I don't know if this is why they are not offering it, but it is one possible reason. Lack of demand may also be a factor.

I am hoping I can do a proper job with the yardage carpet, but it is frustrating that I could not get the molded one any longer due to a supplier change.

If anyone has information that differs from what I found, I'd appreciate them posting it here.

KDirk

[Barney Eaton]

I have sold custom Reatta floor mats (in the past) and have been dealing with these (carpet) people for years.

The reason they offer the front and not the rear..... The front mold they have works for the Riviera, Reatta, Toronado, and probably the Eldorado & Seville fronts.

So with the mold, all they need to do is put a piece of the correct color carpet in there and PRESTO they have a molded front carpet.

The Reatta rear is another story. At least 4 year back, Jim Finn furnished a rear shelf as a pattern for ACS (not ACC) in Dalton GA to use to make the rear shelf. They found that their carpet would not form into the deep storage compartment in one molding. So their solution was to give you a piece of carpet for the shelf and two formed pockets for the storage compartments. The factory carpet appears to be one piece, I have never stripped the carpet from the backing so my opinion is based solely on close examination of the area.

The initial problem ACS had was color match. They had a burgundy carpet that matched our cars but that was all.

I believe I was instrumental in embarrasing them to custom dye the tan. The shades of tan they had were not close to ours. I told them at GM used that same tan on lots of cars and if they expected to sell their carpet, they better develope a better color match. Also, in my mat research, I could not find a vendor that could match the Reatta grey or blue carpet, so if you cannot supply the complete color line, you are only offering a partial product.

I never intended to become involved with the carpet as I already had experience selling mats and knew that I could sit on inventory of mats for years (they don't sell that well) and mats sell faster than carpet sets, so I was not interested in carpet sets. Allen at Car Motorsports got the carpet thing rolling and if they have sold a dozen Reatta carpet sets, I would be amazed.

Bottom line..the company that makes the carpet, want to sell carpet (in volume) and a few sets of carpet for our cars is not a big carrot. The Reatta rear shelf is probably a bigger problem to make and keep customers happy than the small profit they make.

I think you will find that ACS (and maybe ACC) supply the carpet and do the molding. Places like Car Motorsports only do the selling.

One additional point, they were only going to make the front and rear carpet. I ask about the door and console carpet and I got that "deer in the headlights stare"

These companies MUST offer a complete kit because if their color match is slightly off, you will notice the difference on the sides of the console and less so on the doors.

The last I heard, you do get the extra carpet for the console and doors but it is not cut to fit.

[KDirk]

Barney,

You are correct on all points. I knew that Car Motorsports, stockinteriors.com, etc. were just "middlemen" selling ACC's product, though ACC does sell direct as well at accmats.com.

I didn't think about the shared application with other vehicles, this makes a big difference in that they can cover several vehicles/years with only one mold. Since replacement auto carpeting is a fairly low volume business limited to restorers and the occasional anal-retentive fanatic like myself, there is a lack of incentive to offer something as unusual as the Reatta cargo deck carpeting.

It means warehousing a somewhat awkward piece to use for the mold and then there is the issue of the quality of the fit as you pointed out. Those, with the very low volume of sales is probably the key factor here.

I also find it interesting that matched colors were not all available. I had to have them send me 5 samples (different shades of red) but I did finally find one that was a dead-on match for the 1991 flame red. I'd have thought that neutrals (grey, tan) would be easy to find, with the blue, red and burgundy being more difficult.

Anyway, at least now I know more of the background on this, and can stop grumbling about it and just do what I need to do. I appreciate your insight on this.

KDirk

[matthewlawe]

I have to agree with both you and Barney. Supply and demand.

At any rate, I was very pleased with what I received and

found that installation was easier than I had expected.

Regards,

matthewlawe

1989 White/Blue

[Roadster90]

One of the mentioned compainies (I think) has a "FLAME RED" OEM product....yes...named "FLAME RED". My friends made a "Boot Carpet" Mat for my S/S. You will never get anything to match absolutely perfect to the original....even in the shade (garaged), colors are going to fade or change tint a little.

[KDirk]

Nic,

That is correct, ACC is the company with a color named "Flame Red". That is what I ordered. What is strange is that it was not listed in some of the color charts I found online. Also, it has a 4 digit code number (8801) most all the other colors are 3 digit numbers (i.e. ACC's standard "Red" was #815). Maybe it is a more recent color offering they added?

Flame Red ended up being the correct shade for the 1991 Reatta (imagine that!) while most others were too dark. Also, for future reference, it is a near perfect match to the Red #15 of Car Motorsports custom mats. This made it possible to have mats that really appear to go with the carpet.

As well, I ordered some yardage of sierra grain vinyl to do some custom upholstery work on the interior and the name of the color on the supplier's chart was also flame red. I Can't remember the name of the manufacturer of the vinyl now. The supplier (middleman) was 5 Star Upholstery if anyone is interested. I ordered it through a local fabric store, had to be shipped in.

I guess GM just used the name that the material suppliers gave the color, rather than coming up with something fancier for marketing purposes. Interesting that these carpet and vinyl came from two different manufacturers that had nothing to do with each other.

KDirk

[Guest Greg Ross]

With flat carpet stock it should be possible to get a reasonable looking finish. The existing formed carpet in the storage compartments will have to be reused, these areas won't be faded anyway!

Suggest if you're not skilled with the use of very sharp implements you run the risk of letting blood on your new material! Hire someone to do the fitting here for you. Will most likely have to cememt the carpet down to hold its' shape. Where the edge of the bin cover lands is where the new carpet would have to be trimmed in to blend with the old. (and the seam/ cut line will be hidden!)

May be necessary to cut a few scallops to roll the carpet up around the radius from the flat to the rear compartment panels.

[KDirk]

Greg,

Thanks for the input, that is pretty much what I was planning to do. If I can cut some pieces and seam them back together with the right contour, I may be able to re-carpet the bins also, but this would be a lot of work. Inside of the bins is not faded, but slightly dirty/stained so I would like to do them also. Your point about using the recessed edge under the trap door to hide the seam is spot on also.

I will plan on taking pics and posting here so others can see how I've done it. I know the top and front (angled part) can be done with good results, just need to have the patience to do it right.

KDirk