[Mr. G]

Well they must be making these in China these days as they have become rather crappy in the fine detail department. This is going in the '73 Formula and I began installing the rear piece first but couldn't figure why the jute backing was not lining up with the foot wells as the factory one did. Turns out the jute is just cut in a rectangular shape and slapped on the carpet with no thought given to where it should be. This jute was about in the center of the carpet with the driver's side rear corner 7" forward of the rear corner of the carpet and passenger side 14" forward of that corner. neither side sat in the foot wells and was mostly situated up under the front seat which is useless. I removed the jute padding and reused the old piece from the old factory carpet but still haven't fitted the rear piece in yet as my patience was gone and I needed to address this when in a better frame of mind. The front piece still has to be dealt with and I am expecting similar problems there. I have done about eight of these carpet replacement jobs in the past, all with ACC carpets and never had this type of problem which is why I say these carpets must be made in China. The only good thing is my car restoration projects are coming to an end and I am thankful that my wife made me promise not to buy any more cars back in 1999. Anyone use a reproduction carpet they like recently?

[SR-71]

Hopefully you contacted ACC or whomever you purchased it from to complain to them as well as on the forum. They are or used to be the best.

[Mr. G]

I looked up where these are made and it says Alabama. I thought about contacting them to complain but since this is the last carpet I will ever buy, and after removing the jute that they put on it I am sure the warranty is void. I decided to continue on with reusing the original jute padding as it is tailored to fit exactly and has cut outs for seat belt mounts etc. which ACC carpets do not. Something is different about the quality of these as I have used two of these in the past two years, one in a '77 T/A and one in a '71 GTO and had no problems with either.

[Mr. G]

I did some looking around at reviews and see that quite a few folks have had similar issues with these carpets and most comment that quality has degraded in recent years. One comment stated that ACC has bought all their competitors, so they are the only game in town anymore. This just makes restoring cars less enjoyable and more frustrating along with the stuff that comes out of China.

[mgarblik]

The first carpet set I received was just not usable. After spending 8-10 hours trying to fit it properly, I just gave up and threw it away. I had had it over a year and modified it to try and fit it and it was just a no go. The primary issue was the molding process in the passenger front foot well. It was creased and crinkled up to the point I just couldn't get it to lay flat and the heat molding would not allow any repair. I tried a steamer and other methods. I also had issues with the jute backing pieces which I was able to resolve with several hours work. So I ordered and paid for a second set of carpet.
The second set was better, but far from perfect. Had to cut, re-glue the jute backing in various areas. The passenger front molded foot well area was better than the first set, but far from perfect. Thank God for factory rubber floor mats! I worked another 8-10 hours fitting the second set. I give the installation an A- B+ after all that work. My car is an SD-455 and I wanted it to be really nice. Just have to live with it I guess. I don't know of any other source that's any better unfortunately.

[Mr. G]

I did finally complete installing the carpet in the '73 Formula and had similar problems as you mentioned. The carpet does not lay on the floor very well in either the front or the back and the jute was better on the front piece than the back but still not right. Same issue on passenger side foot well that you mentioned and like you I decided that I would have to live with it. it did take me 4 days of frustrating work to get it done from start to finish. In the old days it could be done in one day easily.

[mgarblik]

Glad you got it done. You just have to wonder, how much longer would it have taken at ACC to really make the carpet nice? An extra 2-3 minutes? To save all that time installing it? I would have gladly paid an extra $100.00-150.00 for carpet that actually fit just right like the OE stuff. But I didn't have that choice. Good luck with the rest of your car.