ACC Custom Carpets - UPDATE

I realize the options for carpet are limited. In my case, the only source I could find for my '66 Coronet was ACC. Not sure what everyone thinks about them. I am still trying to force the carpet in the back to work. When they took the 'blank' and molded it, it apparently was not positioned correctly in the mold. One side has an excess of material and on the other side, I am struggling to even get it to cover under the seat. Hoping that by gluing it I will be able to get enough so the rear seat will cover. I also made the mistake (which I now realize) of adding their option for the "Mass Backing" which was supposed to cut down on road noise, etc. What a mistake that stuff is. I have no clue how I am going to get the carpet to tuck under the sill plates. The "Mass Backing" will not bend and truthfully makes the carpet a real pain in the butt to work with

Anyone else have similar experiences with this? I was thinking carpet would be a slam-dunk.....the only thing slammed is me getting madder and madder about how poorly this stuff installs!!

Shave the backing off on the carpet that goes under the sill plates.

Would be awesome to do that. Its some kind of heat bonded stuff like real dense rubber/plastic. I thought the same thing and have pondered if I can somehow do it with my Dremel or something. They take the stuff all the way right to the edge.

Try sanding it off with a 3 inch disk sander and a real coarse grit like 24 just dont sand thru the other side. I herd options when ordering that you could get extra large excess carpet so you could trim to your desire but I think that option is only for the front.

I did their carpet in my Shadow (k car) a couple years ago.

I would agree on the molding/positioning accuracy. Front to back was ok, would have liked more to tuck under the back seat and side to side from door sill to door sill they could have added 3" more down each side to allow for more positioning and trimming out around the outboard seat track bolts and seat belt anchor points.

went with the mass backing because it did have that originally. Not sure how the original chrysler carpet was done but I suspect it was made on a dedicated mold/forming die for that floor pan with more care and accuracy. If the original molding was done with the mass backing already applied then they must have started with a lot more and trimmed off the rough edges because the ACC stuff you could still easily see the stretching 'tool marks' from where they held the carpet. In a few spots I did take a knife and scrape off some of the mass backing where it had lumped up from being grabbed/stretched in the molding process.

I'll give them a 9/10, if they left a bit more to fine tune the edges I would say 10/10. The carpet I installed was plusher and thicker than the carpet it replaced, even in the unworn spots the old vs new comparison was not comparable.

The mass backing may be the problem. The original 60s-era OEM carpets had jute backing.
That hard plastic stuff may have distorted the contour of the actual carpet.
I've never had a fitment problem with ACC, which I've used on many cars, but it's been a few years since the last one.
I generally ended up trimming the sides, and occasionally the firewall area.
I'm wondering if someone had the bright idea of supplying less material to reduce costs, and it's not exactly figured out...

I did a 70 Challenger with ACC carpet back in 1988. I know, probably not the same as what they put out today. I don't remember a problem, but nowdays I dont remember much . I think my original carpet in the Challenger had a tag that read : acc " Color match was close or same.

I've replaced the carpet in several cars over the years. I think they've all been either ACC or Newark Auto from J.C. Whitney. I have no preference and buy based on the pricing when I need it. I've had great results from both and been disappointed by both. Currently, I have a new ACC waiting to go in the '71 Charger.

I just ordered ACC with mass backing last week for my road runner and installed it friday night. Yeah, the rubbery stuff is a little tough to work with, but ya just gotta trim and check, trim and check, until its right. I probably had 2 inches of overlap between the front and rear carpet, so in a Dodge with a longer wheelbase it would be close.

No complaints from my experience. The interior sound is MUCH quieter!

I tried trimming with heavy upholstery scissors from furniture building, but a utility razor worked best by far. We melted holes for the seat studs with a soldering iron.

The Dodge floor pan is the same the wheel base is made longer in the suspension so the carpet will work.

Update to my install....after MUCH cursing, I finally got the rear carpet installed. I contacted Stock Interiors (who I bought the carpet from) even though when it showed up it was in an ACC box. They told me that it would not be a problem to install with the backing on......I say...NO WAY, NO HOW. The Mass backing is just too thick to allow the carpet to roll over the pinch welded portion of the floor where the sill plate has to lock it down. I finally took a Dremel with a drum sander and ground all of the Mass backing off at the area where the carpet wraps onto the sill. There is no way it could/would work otherwise. Lesson learned....DO NOT order the Mass Backing option, even though they tell you it will fit better and lay better. Hopefully tonight I can get the front carpet in with less effort!

I used mass backed ACC on my Challenger convertible a few years ago, and even though it was some extra work (and sore and blistered hands that took days to recover) it was worth it. I don't recall the sills being a huge problem to deal with. Cut a relief in the carpet piece where one half of the carpet overlapped the other, and had to do some trimming to be able to install the sills such that they didn't rub against the interior door panels when you closed the doors, but all in all it wasn't too difficult. Of course, with E bodies being popular they may have optimized the design of the carpets for them better than the carpets that they sell far less of.

Same here, no issues with the last ACC E body carpet with mass backing that I installed, and I just recently put in an ACC high cut pile in my 4th gen Pontiac Trans Am with mass backing, the TA carpet is one huge piece with a ton of contours, again no issues...

Mike

Glad it worked for some. Maybe for these earlier cars they just dont put the effort in. It certainly did not fit well (three nights of fighting with just the rear...so far) and the mess it made to sand the backing off was a real pain. Not many options though, so just making it work

Showtime Restorations Cherryville, N.C. Formally Motorparts South you will not be disappointed.

IIRC, AC Dorsett was the initial carpet supplier to Motorparts South, and then AC Dorsett was acquired by ACC Carpet around 2009/10?....

So does MPS (Showtime) have a new supplier? or are they carrying the ACC line?

Another full night of fighting the front carpet. I had to go find the ACC box to make sure that it was even labeled as the correct carpet for the car. The front carpet fit even worse than the rear. Maybe ACC is using a mold that just it not compatible with the older cars. I thought the pans were the same on the B-Bodies from '66 all the way to '70. I can see how if the Mass Backing was put on in an exact profile of the correct pan how it would make for a decent install. I am just suspect that they have quality issues that prevent this from being a good product. The accuracy to which they mold the 'blank' of carpet is not good. The application of the foam padding to the rear of the carpet is really poor. WAY, WAY off location, necessitating even more trimming (and swearing). In the end, I will eventually get it in there...but, definitely not something that fit well. My next car, I will most certainly look at other options.

ACC is junk......Everyone sells it and they will tell you its the best. Right , Its junk but that's what there is unless you have a few thousand to spend on your carpet. Ive sent a few back after being assured that I was getting the best carpet money can buy. Its junk. did I say its junk? Yeah IM not telling you anything you don't know. Only 2 things you can do, keep working on it ,it will go in with A lot of effort or don't . After a few sets I just gave up and put in what everyone kept selling me and Im not happy but I have carpet and Theres other places on my car that will get more money.

I hate to label based on my recent experience. I can confirm that the particular set of carpet I got was indeed junk. Possibly, as noted, maybe ACC spent more time in getting the more popular models correct. I can see that that they would sell a ton more E-Body carpet than sets for a '66 Coronet. I will get it eventually and it will be better than the 53 year old carpet that I removed. I would definitely look at other options and read more feedback in the future.

My carpet set was short on the firewall side.
But I really don't care.
You only notice it when it vacuuming the car.
Other than that i am happy having any carpet at all.
I bought the car with no carpet in it.

Wanna real battle installing carpet. Try Trim Parts brand. You have been warned

I agree with this statement completely.I purchased a Trim Parts carpet for my 4 speed 70 B-body.There was so much extra material on top of the tunnel I had to try to take a slice out of the carpet.Long story short,that POS went into the trash can and I installed a different brand carpet.

I ordered an ACC with extra material on all sides and had zero issues. Cut the gas pedal into the corner of the heel pad and used bank money bags full of lead in the low corners and let it sit for a couple days. Easiest way to cut it is with a utility knife with hook blades. Cuts from the back very easy. Used 1/2 conduit heated with a propane torch for all the holes.

Like the heated conduit idea!

I havnt ordered carpet in several years but was looking the other day for my 72 Satellite and saw the mass backing. Can someone please post a pic of it. In the past the carpet came with jute backing on strategic areas with ACC or Trim Parts. Can you still order with jute?

You CAN still order with plain back. The Mass Backing is about $40 or $60 more (Can't remember how much). Its a thick rubbery coating that is bonded to the back prior to them putting the insulation on. As I said previously, if the mold was correct to form, I can see how this would be better as it holds its shape for sure. In my case, with the poor quality, I think it was a hindrance.

The mass backing is just a heavy rubber binder, think of it as having a layer of Dynamat applied to the carpet, IMHO I prefer the mass backing, last few carpets that I did for myself and customers rides, I specified mass backing on ACC carpets...


here's 2 ACC carpets showing their undersides for comparison, the top ACC carpet circled in red is just the standard nylon binder and jute backing, the 2nd ACC carpet circled in yellow is mass backed with jute backing

Mike

Oldjonny, I'm just curious, did you have dynamat or a similar product adhered to the floors prior to your carpet installation?

Mike

I did not put anything else down prior. Car started out as a 100% original, 1-owner, with nothing changed...but, the carpet was way, way nasty from time. So, the carpet was supposed to just be a re-fresh. Lots more to the story now from when I started this, but the car will be on the road soon and I will post some pictures up.

Going back to Showtime Restorations (Motorparts South) I do not know who supplies them but there carpets FIT!! I just installed another one in a 74 charger 4-speed car, it fit the tunnel great with approximately 8 inches of excess around the perimeter. Just trying to help, hope all the issues work out for everyone.

ACC bought out Trim Parts carpet line so who knows what is what anymore. Lots of consolidation going on in the resto industry right now, Trim Parts bought out First Place auto who had the best whiskers. Trim Parts did sell PUI which was absolute junk so hopefully they are using the First Place stuff instead.