I just trailered home a 1978 black pearl 280Z that was bought new by my cousin. 

She drove it for 20 years and took fantastic care of it but it's still a 40 yr old car and the carpet is really badly faded. It also has that 'old car smell' that I'd like to address as well.

When I brought it home I thought the carpet was tan/light brown it's faded so much but it looks like it was originally black.  On the one hand, a black car with an all-black interior is kind of 'blah' but that was the original color... any reason not to change it to grey or something lighter?

Who are the best/preferred carpet sellers for these cars? i'd like it to fit nicely and not require a lot of trimming and fitting if at all possible....am I asking for too much?

I'll be posting a lot pretty soon as I've got a few key things to deal with on the car, i'm doing searches here but I know info changes over time.

Thanks for any assistance you can provide, Keith

 

 

I used carpet paint on my 78 , faded carpet in good cond it looks good and feels good.

Edited May 3, 20179 yr by black gold man

May not be of help, but I got the moulded carpet kit with sewn edges from Black Dragon (no longer in business).  It worked fine for my purpose's.  Like anything else of that nature, you'll have to work with it.  Nip, Tuck and heat gun love.

I live for that old car smell   You could try MSA, http://www.thezstore.com/page/TZS/PROD/40-2579

But I also have had good results with spray can carpet paint.

I've had good luck with Rit Dye when returning the black color to the 46 year old carpet  on the cargo shelf on my Z over the years.

Dennis

I tried the MSA original loop carpet and it was OK but required quite a bit of fitting.

Second time around went with Chester and Herod in So Cal.  My car is a transition year car and so it took some time to get it right but in the limit they stood by their product and I ultimately got what I wanted.  It was also not without some fitment issues but minor in comparison to the MSA set that I had purchased earlier.  They also (supposedly) provided carpet kits for many of the early models that came from the factory without carpet and so have quite a history.  They were also great people to work with.

Hope that helps.

Mike.

My 45 year old carpet was so rotten that no black dye would have helped it.

You may have some bad rubber allowing water to get in, that old musty car smell?

I live in a very humid area and found a gun safe dehumidifier in the cabin helped a lot.

https://www.amazon.com/Improved-Eva-dry-E-333-Renewable-Dehumidifier/dp/B000H0XFCS/ref=sr_1_2?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1493815584&sr=1-2&keywords=gun+safe+dehumidifier

Never had a drop of water leak into my Z. That's more than I can say about the 5 British sports cars I've had.

I purchased the Newark Auto Products 7 pc. kit..Quality looks good.  Need to find snaps to install yet for the front.

Then some Jute under pad like the factory had.