Brad, Your Mom's GN is probably one of the few left on the planet that wasn't raced, or have wrinkles at the roofline. Duane
Scott, First off I buy ALL my carpets from ACC, I have known the people from ACC for years. I traveled the car show circuits as a vender, like they do, for at least 12 years, doing 42 car shows a year. I have seen, or sold all brands of carpets, and like ACC's products. All 68-72 GM A-bodies have the same floor pan except for the Cutlass/442 Fastbacks. Their rear floor pan is a little different due to changes caused from the slope of the roofline. If you buy a Chevelle carpet for a 2-door, or a 4-door, then they fit "perfect", for the same year Buick, Pontiac, Olds, except for the above exception. NOW, we are talking about 3 & 4-Speed carpets here, not 4-doors, or 2-door automatics, so before you get upset thinking I am making guys spend an extra $50.00 for the same carpet set, I think you should keep reading. Now I have not purchased a carpet set for 10 years, but when I bought a carpet for a 70 Stage 1 4-speed I was sold a Chevelle 4-speed carpet. The humps on the Chevelle 4-speeds are large and square on the top, and the carpets are molded to fit this. They work great for a Chevelle, but if you have a 70 Stage 1 4-speed, with a front bench seat and NO console, what are you going to do with a carpet with the wrong contours. It was easy for me to return the carpet the next weekend, and bring the original to show the guys the differences. We all agreed that a regular 68-72 automatic A-body carpet would work perfect for a Buick with any trans, due to the small Buick 4-speed hump. That's what I sold for years with Classic Car Interiors, and never had a single return. Lets skip up to today, Jim Lore stated that ACC now lists a Buick 4-speed carpet set, obviously ACC made a new mold, over the last 10 years, for the Buick hump, and now sells 2 carpet sets for 68-72 Buick A-bodies, an automatic and a manual. Now if you guys want to "save money" by buying a Chevelle 4-speed carpet set, and try to install it, more power to you. Hopefully you will see the changes BEFORE you cut anything. Then you can pay the shipping to return the carpet, get the higher priced correct Buick one, and continue with the installation. If you already have the rear half installed before you see the differences, or cut it, then you bought it. Now you get to order a new higher priced "correct" carpet, with shipping, and again can continue with the installation. Either way, you are probably out more then the price difference between the 2 carpet sets. The choice is up to you, have at it. I want to say something here, and then I will get off my soapbox. I try to help fellow Buick nuts from falling into the same pitfalls that I have fallen into over the years. I generally make sure to do my homework before opening my mouth, because many people seem to listen to what I have to say. There is a certain amount of responsibility that comes with this, so I try to be very careful with my answers. I spend a lot of time researching this info, and the articles I write, before I say anything. Maybe that's why I don't have my own cars finished. Duane
Duane, your input and opinions are highly appreciated, maybe more than you realize!.... Thanks! :beer As far as ACC carpets, be aware that many vendors carry and sell them....you can often save $50-75 by purchasing from a vendor like Legendary, Ames, Ground Up, etc and get the same product. Again, If you are buying for a Buick 4 speed car, a Chev or Pontiac carpet may be different!!.... Too bad ACC charges more than their vendors, I bet they lose some sales, and $$$. I purchased two sets from Legendary @ $115 each, and a set from Ground Up @ $99. The Chevelle (auto trans) and Buick (auto trans) have the same pn, The 4 speed set has a different pn....... I couln't get a part number from the ACC site, so I couldn't compare the Buick set to say, a Chevelle set......that just makes it harder to find out if there is a difference.....Sooooo like Duane said, the extra $$ (buying from ACC) might be worthwhile for knowing you're getting the right product the first time. To further complicate things....it looks like ACC now offers different padding materials. For my '66 4 speed application, they offer a $60 extra cost option....for a different 'MASS' padding material???? Poly is standard....watzupp??? Total would be $235 per set! Ouch! Hope this info helps somebody.....I'm really not TRYING to confuse anybody!
Scott, The floors are the same....but on a car with a floor shift manual trans, the floor is cut out for the shifter, and a small 'hump' is welded onto the floor to help enclose the shifter mechanism. In the case of a Buick, it may only be a hump a few inches higher than the floor. But on some other models, the hump may be 6 inches high, with a flat top, so a console of shift boot may be mounted flat. here's a pic of two Chevelle humps....same year, one with console, one without.
just to be certain... Next question for the auto cars. Is there a difference on the floors between a column shift and a console shift?
Hub asked, "Next question for the auto cars. Is there a difference on the floors between a column shift and a console shift?" The floorpans are the same except for the following; The console shift floorpans have a hole cut into the hump, where the shifter cable goes through, and they also have the braces for the console. The column shift floorpans have no holes cut into them. Duane
I've heard that a good deal of the vendors selling carpet are selling ACC's. I am looking to buy for my Wildcat. I have seen it numerous places for $99 and ACC's site shows $174. I point blank asked the customer service person why the price difference when it is most likely the same carpet. She said "Alot of vendors buy from us in such volume that it is hard for use to compete with them." Do what!? At first it sounds crazy. But if you think about it, they get volume from their resellers and gravy from the buyers who go direct. Seems the trick is to identify who really resells ACC. Am I missing something here. Who resells ACC? Rick
Rick I got the same drift but not wanting to make a mistake on the manf. or the 4 speed cut I paid the $175.oo directly to ACC. They cut it the next day and in two days it was delivered to NC from Ala.
FlynBuick, I was leaning that way. Other vendors had 4 shades of red. ACC had 1 and it is the bright red I have seen in original photos of my year car. ACC says that was the only red for '65. I think it is worth the $ to be sure. Rick
My ACC carpet fits like dung. It is too short on the passenger side, so I have to have a small piece cut and laid in there... which I have yet to figure out how to tack down. i suppose I'll glue it. And the floor area where the hump meets the firewall on the pass side is not molded correctly. FWIW, it looks like I took the high hard one here.
Price increase Well I finally decided to bite the bullet and pay full ACC retail on the carpet for the Cat. The price was 174.00 on November 29.....today 217.00....a 25% increase! :rant: I wonder if I can still get it for $99 elsewhere? I guess it doesn't pay to research sometimes. Any other suggestions? Rick
Wow! Let me know if you have success elsewhere. I didn't get around to ordering yet either. Wasn't expecting a big hike like that!
I emailed ACC to whine about the price and this is their response: Dear Rick, I am sorry if you were given misinformation about that 1965 Wildcat. Did you call and get that price? Or did you see it on the internet? We are having a price increase, but it doesn't take effect until Dec. 31, 2004. You could try some of our major accounts to get a better price. Contact 1A Auto. They have a website at www.1AAuto.com. Please let me know if I may assist you further. Michelle Batey Customer Service x220 800-633-2358 1A said they only sell ACC carpets and it is supposidly drop shipped directly from ACC. Price was $149.95. I pulled the trigger on it. I don't want anymore surprises. You might be able to find the $99 stuff if you keep looking but I wouldn't go past 12/31. Rick
Thanks Rick! Hey Jim L- Did you ever roll it out and trial fit your carpet per Jim Dubya's suggestion?? I'll pull the trigger from 1AAuto, but if you're having a fit problem I'll order the automatic carpet and cut per Duane's suggestion.
