Mr Mike recommends Automotive interior carpet http://www.automotiveinteri...cc/84_88fieroacc.htm on his website but the Fiero store also sells it, Does anyone have experience with either one? I'm looking at switching to black, thanks for your input.
I bought new carpet from http://www.stockinteriors.com for my del Sol. I haven't installed it yet, but it looks quite good as far as quality goes. When looking for new carpet, I found many threads on Honda forums that recommended them, and the finished install pics I've seen from people that used the carpet, all looked quite good.
Don't know about Fiero Store or Automotive Interiors carpet. They might all be the same.
Yeah. I'm not sure either. The Stock Interiors carpets come with extra material on the edges, so they are trim-to-fit, but they are molded for the car as well. I don't have my del Sol carpet installed yet, but I do have it unrolled and sitting in the floor in my house, and it looks like it will fit pretty good when I get to the point of installing it (have to fix a couple leaks, get rid of the rubber on the floor pans and install sound deadener first).
Either way don't expect 100% stock fit and finish. The carpet is thinner has less padding and doesn't fit as snugly in the corners as you would expect. But it's good enough for all but the pickiest people.
Are you picky about the padding, or about how it fits in the corners?
The Stock Interiors site has an option to add extra padding, and as I said they are trim-to-fit molded carpets, so they should fit pretty good, though I haven't used any of their Fiero carpets (the original carpet in my 87 GT still looks almost new).
I've not really seen anything bad about them, though. You could do some searching to see if anyone on other forums has complained about fitment issues.
Yes I would highly suggest to leave the original carpet in place, although that will make installing the seats an interesting and challenging experience.
If you switch to black (as I did) the carpet will be pure black and not the salt and pepper look of the original. That may be okay or it may not since you are picky. Also I don't know the correct carpet terminology but the fibers are not looped they are straight. That is going to make the texture different. Again, it doesn't bother me, but a picky person might not find it appealing.
Don't know of any alternatives other than to start with your own flat sheets and cut them to fit. But it's not easy to get flat carpet to fit a 3D surface. The molded aftermarket carpet does a pretty good job, but it's not a 100% OEM fit in my opinion.
I gate the FS carpets and am very pleased with them. The first gray they sent was a little too light colored for me. They were very good about exchanging them for a darker gray sent from LLoyds. Really nice and thick and fit very well.
You usually cant beat a custom upholstery shop installing carpet. They cut and sew it individually to fit. Thats a lot more expensive than buying a premolded one for the average person. When you get them, you usually have to do some trimming under the dash, kickpanels and door sills and to me its the best bang for the buck. Use LOTS of fresh razor blades and try to cut on the backside of the carpet if possible. I do all my own and customers, from cars and vans to motorhomes. Ill use at least a dozen blades on an average car job with a molded carpet. The toughest Ive had to cover is front floors of full size vans. You have to make a million little cuts and slices to get it to set down everywhere.
