I thing I found carpet to match oem Options

[PanelBilly]

https://www.upholsterysupplyusa.com/product...ver-knit-carpet

Is this the right stuff?

[scallyk9]

@wonkipop
Not even close to the original salt and pepper carpet in my LE. PanelBilly's internet find is much closer so I'll be interested in hearing comments from Bruce if he receives the swatches he requested.

I need to make a correction. I just checked the door jamb sticker and the COA and my LE (4742914854) was actually built during the end of February, not early March. It is correctly recorded in Jeff Bowlsby's LE register.

I've not seen original carpet in an LE produced earlier than mine but it might be nice to hear from any other LE owner's that still have original carpet.

[wonkipop]

@wonkipop
Not even close to the original salt and pepper carpet in my LE. PanelBilly's internet find is much closer so I'll be interested in hearing comments from Bruce if he receives the swatches he requested.

I need to make a correction. I just checked the door jamb sticker and the COA and my LE (4742914854) was actually built during the end of February, not early March. It is correctly recorded in Jeff Bowlsby's LE register.

I've not seen original carpet in an LE produced earlier than mine but it might be nice to hear from any other LE owner's that still have original carpet.

then you must have had needle loom in your LE?


the samples i put up are for loop pile. - (usually regarded as higher spec/quality than needle loom).
loop pile is what my jan 74 1.8 has.
have the original carpets, along with the set i made for RHD and it is as per these color swatches. ie the top brown one on the loop pile page. the early black is at the bottom.
the anthracite i posted is very close to the original black loop pile in the factory swatch .
salt and pepper or mottled which they changed to isn't on the original published swatch brochures but its pretty much like the brown mottled one on the brochure and the MB stuff is either exactly the right stuff or very close.
my mate has a couple of early 70s mercs still with the original factory carpets.
one has a brown interior, the other is black. brown one looks identical to the salt and pepper brown loop on the 914 swatch (second from top) and the black one the same as the black loop pile the 914 switched to later in 74. i am pretty sure on the source for that later 914 loop pile. but only when it comes to black. always drawn a blank on the early style brown 914/VW loop pile. even the black is tricky to be sure you are getting the right stuff. both are laced with fine white fibres like grey hairs when you are turning 40 (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) - very unusual stock to find these days.



material linked to in the original post is noted as sliver knit.
sliver knit does not look like needle loom in real samples and nothing like loop pile.
so - yes it will be interesting to see if that material is a match for the original needle loom.

as remarked before i have a feeling that 911s had sliver knit. its more like a kind of soft fluffy but closely cropped material. 914s never used the 911 materials - they used VW stock carpets. more is the pity in some ways as you can still easily get all the 911 carpet base material. not so the VW stuff from the same era.

you have to find a section of carpet that was covered in the car originally to get the match just right. not sure how the blacks faired with time but the brown carpets in the 74 were extremely vulnerable to fade and discolouring within a very short period and deteriorated rapldly which might explain why VW switched to MB loop pile later in the production run. some carpets probably faded within 2-3 years so they became aware of the problem - it would not have been in just 914s but across the upper end of the VW range. the deterioration problem could also be the reason its so hard to find a match for that original loop pile (at least the brown version). whatever it was it seems no longer produced anywhere maybe because its known to be a faulty material not suited to UV exposure?
it also stains if it gets even a little moisture. discolours to a kind of green color.