Hey all, so I drove the old 914 to work today so I could take a few quick pics of the GT floormats I made on Sunday.

When asked how to get correct GT floor mats, Norbert Singer said to go to the German equivalent of Lowe's and buy some matting, then cut it to size.

So I decided to experiment. After consulting factory photos of real GTs, I tried to match the rubber Porsche used at several hardware and building supply stores. The stuff at Home Depot and Lowe's was too wide in pattern. Eventually, I found what I was looking for (more or less) at a local place in SF, Pacific Building supply for $6.99 a foot. I bought six feet, and it turns out I needed all of it.

This is what I came up with:

A little closer:

From the left:

One more:

Thoughts:

As an experiment, it went pretty well -- but I would definitely want to do it over with the things I learned along the way.

Cutting the rubber with a razor is easy, but trying to get all the cuts, curves, and details right using old floormats as a reference was a learning process -- and that means I'll need to do it again to get it really, really right. The area around the pedals was pretty tricky, and I will redo it with a different approach if I do it again to get it right. My biggest mistake was around the gas pedal and the governor. This has to be right or you get binding against the pedal rod.

So I'd count on doing it twice, doubling my $45.60 outlay for materials.

Still not sure I like them in the car, either. The car feels cheaper inside in a bad (though not overwhelming) way. It's pretty subtle (took my art director several tries to figure out what changed, but once he got it, he thought it seemed like a bit of a downgrade).

I'm gonna live with them for a while and decide if I like 'em -- but it might be that you have to go whole hog GT inside the car to get the mats to look right. If so, I have some decisions to make. I like the interior in my car, so not sure if I want to do GT door panels (have the parts, but speaker placement -- or deletion? -- plus no more locking from the inside has given me pause), radio delete, backpad delete, headrest delete, racing belts, carpet delete (maybe), etc.

There's one other thing for those of you considering this: noise and a cheap feeling under foot. Cars get carpeting for a reason... Not sure it's a big deal yet, but my feet sure make funny, hollow sounds now...

Hope this is helpful info for someone!

pete

Great work. It is kind of hard to see the pattern, but it appears to be a very narrow stripe; 1/8" alternating perhaps? Could you measure it for us please?

Looks good. Seems like they would be very handy if you drive in inclement weather of have oily/greasy shoes.

Since they are GT mats, what is the HP gain?

It's all in the ribbing. I'd say at least 10 hp in a /4, and maybe 15-20 for a /6.



pete

Took three more:

And now you can see what I mean about this being an experimental piece -- the fit and cuts around the pedal holes are crappy!

noticed the exhaust your car had...its a /4 right??? what kind of exhaust is that...sorry to get off topic, jsut very very curious....PM me if you want...thanks

Lets see a picture of the seats............. Look like GTS??


Bob

And last but not least, something with better scale perspective.

I didn't measure the ribs, but they are TINY. Maybe 1/32 or 1/16 on 1/16 or 1/32 spacing...

Yep, it's just a four.

That's an Abarth exhaust I picked up used for $50 years ago at Partsheaven. They thought it was a VW bus muffler and I didn't know what it was either, so you can imagine my pleasant surprise when Jim at EASY identified it.

Bolts up to 2.0-liter HEs.

Only ever seen one other, also on a red 914, in Walnut Creek. That one was nicer than mine (the bottoms of my pipes were scraped off by the muffler's PO).

Sounds g-r-e-a-t.

pete

nice pete!

when you make new ones, im sure my car wouldnt kick out the old ones for not being perfect LOL

Very nice Pete.

Click to view attachment

Sharpen the end of a short length of 1/2" copper water pipe and use it as a hole punch on each end of the pedal openings. Then all you have to do is cut the straight lines between the punched out ends to make a nice clean opening. If the sharp end of the pipe gets messed up all you have to do is ground it down and sharpen again.

I agree, the mats look OK and they may be functional but they sort of "cheapen" the look of a non GT interior.

-Jeff

Soon as I'm done with these, they're yours -- if I can stand to give you these crappy prototypes.

Otherwise I'll just make you a set that are better. Turns out a friend might have some of this stuff in his garage that he was going to throw away. I.E. free material. Wonder how much?

pete

I did the same thing - but I get the material from a buddy who works for Granger. It is a bit thicker.
I usually make a new set each year before our local concour if I have time. If not, Armour All low gloss makes them look almost new as well.