New Carpet Options

[BRGChimaera430]

Hi all,

I'm after some advice for my '93 Chimaera. I'm in the process of giving it a good overhaul and would like to sort the carpets as they are very faded and threadbare!

What options do I have available, would I have to take it somewhere to have new carpets fitted or could I buy replacements that I could fit/get fitted?

Its already fairly striped and so now makes sense to do it but it is not really driveable. I'm near Oxford if anyone has any suggestions.

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks

[Yex 450]

Adrian and his team at Central TVR have some carpet options on their website.

http://www.centraltvr.com/model/chimaera/category/...

I had a look when I was up there a few times and the quality felt good.

[swanny71]

Yex 450 said:

Adrian and his team at Central TVR have some carpet options on their website.

http://www.centraltvr.com/model/chimaera/category/...

I had a look when I was up there a few times and the quality felt good.

I bought a set from Central and fitted them myself a few years ago - good quality, easy to fit and have lasted well.

[BRGChimaera430]

Thanks both for the quick responses, they look promising.

Swanny, how did the fit compare to the originals, was there any issues with them not being quite the right size or anything?

Also is it just a case of gluing them down or was their any other materials required?

[sheel]

Bought mine recently from a company up north,so called their "better" quality. Not very impressed would not use them again. Pm me if you want any further details
Rich

[swanny71]

BRGChimaera430 said:

Thanks both for the quick responses, they look promising.

Swanny, how did the fit compare to the originals, was there any issues with them not being quite the right size or anything?

Also is it just a case of gluing them down or was their any other materials required?

All of the bits (there's a lot of them) were present and correct in the set from Central. The shape of all them all were spot on but maybe half required a trim of an edge or two - I think they supply them purposely like this to allow for any subtle differences from car to car.

I replaced my underlay also as this had perished badly, much of it coming away with the carpet.

I have some pics, and a carpet 'map' I've posted somewhere on PH previously which might help you, if you can't find them drop me a message and I'll email them to you.

Top tips:

Take pics and make notes as you remove the old carpets.
I numbered each old piece as I removed it and then identified its new brother and numbered it the same. Odd numbers passenger side, even numbers drives side - some parts looks very similar but are different each side.
Carpets are 'layered' in places so number them sequentially - fitting the new ones in the correct 'reverse' order to removal is then easy.
Buy a box of new Stanley blades and some hooked blades.
Sharp scissors - buy a new pair, they'll likely be blunt when you finish.
Prep is important, get rid of all the old glue/dead underlay.
I used spray on bostik and liquid bostik - can't remeber how much but it was more than I expected.

Be patient and methodical, drink lots of tea and be careful of the glue fumes. I loved doing the job.

Couple of pics here but I can't find the carpet thread
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[BRGChimaera430]

Hi Swanny,

That's great, thanks for all the info, I really hope I can achieve a finish as good as yours!

I know you were fortunate enough to get the carpets at a good price and I know all things TVR are expensive but i'm really hesitating to fork out that sort of money, £390 seems a lot of money for some carpet!

Any cheaper alternatives before I take the plunge will be appreciated!!

[Mark_S_24]

I'm sure it's been discussed before & there aren't any cheaper sets as far as I know.

Here is another option, with different qualities of carpet.

http://www.carcarpets.co.uk/tvr--chimaera-400-c.asp

HTH
Mark

[portzi]

BRGChimaera430 said:

Hi Swanny,

That's great, thanks for all the info, I really hope I can achieve a finish as good as yours!

I know you were fortunate enough to get the carpets at a good price and I know all things TVR are expensive but i'm really hesitating to fork out that sort of money, £390 seems a lot of money for some carpet!

Any cheaper alternatives before I take the plunge will be appreciated!!

Best bet for yourself is to remove all your old carpet out very careful so you can use it as patterns. Go to your local carpet whole saler , don't use carpet right or any high Street or retail park rip off merchants. Once you have your chosen carpet , get yourself some nice piping material again from whole saler. Now you can save alot of money by cutting the carpet down to size yourself should not take longer than half a day's work. Take your cut carpet and piping to a decent seamstress with a industrial sewing machine to do your piping to carpet pieces. Once complete simply reglue new carpet into place, job done

But too be fair l paid a professional car trimmer in Lincoln £500 to refit my whole carpet take out the old and replace with the new. These guys have the correct tools and knack of making a job look professional and far better than l could ever achieve, but the above is an option l would go for if l was on a really tight budget.

Edited by portzi on Monday 16th May 18:14