What am I doing wrong? Aftermarket carpet doesn't seem to fit.

Yet another frustration along the way of getting my AE86 back on the road! The stock carpet has 6"x10" holes worn through in the foot wells, is threadbare elsewhere, and is thoroughly soaked in brake fluid and who-even-knows-what other nasty messes, so it isn't worth the effort of cleaning and reinstalling.

When I took this car off the road years ago for this round of upgrades, I ordered a replacement from ACC. Fast forward several years, a move, replacement of both master cylinders, a new shifter location for the six speed, and a thorough floor-cleaning to arrive at the present.

The carpet is a molded replacement with the mass backing, and has most of the right structures in the right places, but seems like the transmission tunnel part of the carpet is four or five inches too shallow! I get that these things don't drop into place out of the box, but this one seems like it just....doesn't fit. It also really doesn't want to stretch.

I haven't trimmed the edges yet, and I cheated both outside edges as far inboard as I dared. The seat mounts to a pair of box-like mounts at roughly the same level, one on the inner rocker/floor, and one on the side of the tunnel/floor, so I lined up the outer ones on each side, slid the carpet inward a couple inches per side to try and gain material, and bolted it down. I tried heating it with a steam cleaner, and then had all of my 210ish pounds working one side, and my 230 pound buddy on the other. Both sides still "tent" up to the tunnel, and both inside seat mount bumps in the carpet are floating at least four inches above the actual mount on the floor pan/tunnel. It seems like we got only about 10% of the stretch we needed to make it fit.

The outer seat mount is just visible on the left edge, and the short dark vertical shadow on the right edge is the inner seat mount that is supposed to be at the same height:

Here you can see the carpet hanging like a hammock strung from the tunnel to the rocker:

Can't really get my foot on that gas pedal! The rubber reinforcement should be roughly flat/level!

I then tried slitting the front of the carpet straight down the middle along the top of the tunnel, back almost to the shifter, thinking to hide the gap in the carpet with the console. It wouldn't help the rear, and made only a small portion of the improvement needed on the front.

I haven't attempted a return because the purchase was years ago, and I've already cut the carpet. Am I just boned? What else should I try? If I bought another carpet and ACC doesn't fit, are the carpets from Stock Interiors any better?

I've only ever replaced carpet with OEM stuff. Sometimes it seems too small (though not that much of a difference). In thise cases I've either set it outside in the sun or carefully used a heat gun to warm the carpet. It fit properly then.

See if you can find an upholstery shop around. I kinda think there is something about steaming involved in fitting carpet, but I could be wrong.

My first thought is heat gun.

Can you make cuts on the underside through the backing but not the carpet? If you made a series of cuts a few inches apart parallel to the trans tunnel under the seats and up the sides of the tunnel, you might get it to stretch easier and you'd still have padding on the top of the tunnel and wouldn't see or feel the thinned padding.

I have done a few of these, depending on the brand some of these just dont fit right. When I worked in the evening at an upholstery shop, I would put in the carpet at night and then they would take the car outside on a hot sunny day and let the sun cook the car and then when I came back in it would be ready for me to put back together.

I had an issue when replacing the carpet in my trans am. My issue was that there was too much carpet. Accidentally cut too much of it and had to be creative. I used a heat gun, a carpet steamer, etc to stretch and mold it to fit. Still had issues where it wouldn't fit it certain places. So i cut the whole mold in half at the tunnel to fill the gaps near the doors. If the AE86 has a big center console that might help you out.

I need to replace the carpets (yes plural) in my S2K as after 11 years the red is faded and worn. Was going to go aftermarket but theres a limited selection so OE is looking like the only way to go.

I'd LOVE an OE carpet....sadly when I bought the ACC five or seven years ago, Toyota was sold out in all colors except bright blue fronts and red/maroon rears, and at $250-300 for each section! It doesn't seem that Toyota availability has improved since.

This issue, plus the unobtanium door cards ($400+ used if you can find them, and probably in so-so shape) makes me want to sell this car and buy something with decent parts support...

You can take a clapped-out or stripped AE86 and make it an acceptable track car with the current aftermarket, but trying to either restore one or even just make it into a decent driver with trim and an interior is impossible.

Zero results on eBay right now, and two sets in black on Yahoo Japan auctions at roughly $250 before any shipping, any fees, and any broker fees, and neither of those is in great shape, and neither is the right color!

Try ironing? (Might melt) or you could place heavily weighted thugs on top, or glue it in the critical spots. Gluing wouldn't be permanent if you use the right material.

I know with Opels there can be several different floors based mostly on transmission options (Kadett has at least 4 different tunnels). Any chance you got the wrong carpet?

Typically those carpets have a polyethyene backing which becomes pliable above 374°F, so you really need a heat gun to have a chance at stretching it. Even then, it's hard to heat enough area to make that work.

PS I worked for an automotive carpet supplier in the past. They used ovens the size of the carpet to heat the backing, then flipped it over and placed it into a shaped cooling mold. The ovens were just big heat guns.

Thanks for the thoughts, but I think it is time to give up. I already tried a bunch of weight, I also tried a heat gun. I thought about closing it up tight and parking it outside, but we've recently transitioned from summer sunny weather to low 70's and partly cloudy, and I suspect the stretchability gains would be minimal. The manufacturers using 374 degrees for molding seems to back up my experience with heat.

The troubles I had with the heat gun were that coming from the top side I was either melting the carpet fibers and only maybe just beginning to gain a tiny bit of pliability in a small area, or waving it higher/broader and not making a dent. I tried from the underside and couldn't really get access, so I took it out, found I could only get sufficient heat into a very small patch, and would lose the heat by the time I got it back in the car to stretch. I tried from the underside in the car nearer the edges and mostly just burned myself and melted the stock sound deadening on the floor to gooey, and I really need the stretch in the middle.

It seems like the heat gun needs to close (6" or so) on the high setting, working a small area for around 20 seconds or more to get enough heat into it to get it remotely pliable...and the affected area is so small it is hard to work once hot. Any further away, less heat, or shorter isn't enough to loosen it up any...and the required heat is close to the danger of burning/melting zone.

I tried to think creatively about other ways to heat it...won't fit in an oven, space heater inside the closed car?...nope, terrible idea....do I know anyone who works someplace with a big autoclave?...can't think of one.

As far as fit goes, I am only aware of a few tiny variations in the '84-'87 coupes, Toyota moved one seat mount a little bit lower, but not enough to impact carpet fit.

I've also since found out that Stock Interiors carpets are made by ACC, so that answers the question about which is better.

Could it be the wrong carpet? Who knows? Other than the tunnel being way too short, it doesn't look like the wrong shape/size/molding. I ordered for an '84-'87 coupe (AE86) which is identical to my '85 liftback AE86 everywhere carpet touches, and I remember checking the pack slip when it arrived. Since returns are impossible once the carpet is marked/trimmed/altered, the only way to confirm would be to special order another carpet, and if it is still wrong, swallow the cost of the original, plus the cost of shipping and return shipping for the new one, plus a 25% restocking fee....probably at least $100 experiment in top of the cost of my current carpet.

One thing I have been wondering is if ACC makes just one '84 to '87 Corolla carpet molded from a FWD floorpan, and markets it as fitting RWD cars. They do have separate listings, but that only really says anything about the way their catalog is written, and nothing about their manufacturing. I've encountered confusion before with aftermarket parts, and it makes some sense, both cars were branded Corollas in the States, and the AE86 was introduced in '84, as were the AE82 FWD Corollas. The AE86 was killed off at the end of '87, and the FWD AE92 replaced the AE82 at the end of '87....and the two different platforms shared the same range of engines. An AE82 has similar bracing on the floor and similar seat mounts to an AE86, but a much shallower tunnel. I wonder if the ACC AE86 carpets would drop into an AE82?

Do you have the old carpet? Could you make a mold from it and then use the mold to form fit your new carpet? Sounds like a lot of work, but if you're Able to then offer that as a service to fellow hachiroku owners you could bank.

I'm guessing you've checked out this place too.

Stock Interiors

trucke wrote: I'm guessing you've checked out this place too. Stock Interiors

Ugh I forgot about this site. Nothing for the S2000 (needs carpet). OE Replacements at cost are $250 a side.

I purchased a carpet for a trans am here. It was such a pain in the ass to install. Read above.

I figured it out...my carpet is an AE82 FWD carpet.

This is why we use chassis codes, folks! I call it a liftback, you call it a hatchback, carpet seller A calls it a two-door, carpet seller B calls it a three-door coupe, carpet seller C calls it an '84-'87 Corolla Sport, carpet seller D thinks all Corollas are the same.

I emailed Stock Interiors requesting the appropriate fit for an AE86 chassis. Their part number is 3974...I think ACC calls it part 1171, I think.

In reply to ae86andkp61:

And this is why aftermarket stuff usually doesn't fit... most of the time, if they manage to make an exact copy of a factory part, they don't recognize that there are subtle differences between models and sell a part as a blanket fits-all part.

(need to find eBay auction of plug wire looms advertised as fitting TDI Jetta)

This morning oldeskewltoy came over with his carpet and some AE82 knowledge and we sussed out the details as best we could.

For the sake of posterity, and on the hopes it may help someone else down the road avoid the same expensive mistake I made, here is my best understanding of the situation with regard to Stock Interiors part numbers and descriptions....I had added chassis codes to the list! Don't worry about 2-door vs 3-door....don't worry if your AE86 is a liftback....trust the chassis codes!

Stock Interiors "Corolla" carpet listings, made by ACC

AE92 3975 '88-'91 4 Door Sedan

AE82 8123 '87-'88 FX Hatchback Complete Kit

AE82 8124 '87-'88 FX Hatchback Passenger Area

AE86 3974 '84-'87 2 Door

AE82 8122 '84-'87 4 Door Sedan

AE82 8121 '84-'87 Liftback

TE72/AE71 8896 '80-'83 2 Door Rear Wheel Drive

TE72/AE71 3973 '80-'83 4 Door Sedan Rear Wheel Drive