Making car mats

[crzymx]

Now i think its time for new mats as the old ones are quite worn and yuck. Trying to avoid paying 80-100 for genuine i came across the idea of making my own.

Now i was thinking either buy some nice material, or some generic car mats and just trace and cut to shape. What do you guys reckon. Anyone tried something similar?

[philz]

Buy some at supercheapauto for $8, save the hassle.

[PUR157]

If you were handy with a sewing machine (or knew someone who is) I can't think why not... definitely be able to personalise it to your own taste too
But remember the golden rule of DIY... "measure twice... cut once..."
The problem with generic ones is that most are made for 4door, 4 seat passenger cars... so it might be abit more difficult to find a set that fit
That being said... our old 626 (late 80s early 90s model) floor mats fit OK in my MX5 with a little bit of coaxing

[Garry]

I got some made to measure mats from Ebay for around $30. They are made somewhere in Melbourne, sorry I cant find the company details. The fit and quality is as good as the genuine Mazda mats and they come with a heal pad on the drivers side too. 12 months on and they're still as good as new which is more than I could say of the genuine mats. Not sure why you'd bother doing it yourself for that price.

[wun911]

You can buy aircraft grade carpet, its made hollow fibres backed onto a woven plastic mesh. Because its aircraft grade its very fire retardant, very durable, noize insulative, and has non slip properties and best of all its LW (42.8 g /sqr F).

You can have the words MX5 or MIATA stiched on for an extra 10 bucks; but for an extra 20 you can have the mats embossed, worth it in my opnion because, stiching incorporates the added weight of cotton thread and no they dont have CF thread I have already asked them.

So who is up for a GB on 2nd hand aircraft grade carpets?? (I want the 2nd hand ones because when they are worn down a bit they should weigh less)

[crzymx]

Thats why, i could always cut them, and have my gran stich them. Autobarn quoted me 110 to get in mx5 mats. Why when i can buy them genuine for like 80 bucks. Which ones from supercheap fit?

[wun911]

A couple of hundred bucks and you could have a couple of squar feet of aircraft grade carpets.

Imagine how much lighter and safer your car will be...

It will handle better because of its LW attributes, and its non slip so you can stuff up when your driving...

[crzymx]

For a couple of hundred bucks, i can have 1 of many performance upgrades so i think the aircraft carpet is out of the question. That being said, there is no way there will be any noticable difference in handeling or performance with these so called LW carpets.

[wun911]

Those generic carpets weigh a ton, you wont know the real differnce in performance untill you put it onto a balance and weigh it.

[crzymx]

They weigh nothing compared to the thousand other miscellaneous items you will find in your car. In terms of handling, you have to be out of your mind to think it would make any kind of difference.

[grump]

edge stitching carpet can't be done on a normal machine, and if you don't edge stitch it it will just fray and look like crap in no time.

[Alex]

find a material you like
borrow some proper mx5 floor mats (shaped for perfect fit including around the foot rest and edge curves)
trace out onto new material
cut
fit
smile

that's what I did, turned out great

[Mr Morlock]

grump is right of course. A domestic machine cannot handle the thickness of a carpet. If one cannot find a suitable size off the shelf a trimmer can make it easily- shop around.

[crzymx]

My grandma is a seamstress or however you spell it. Its her trade. all i have to do is cut it.

I think ill go for this option its a lot cheaper. Ill find some cheap mats and do it. Only problem is it will be without embroidery

[wun911]

You can go to carpet stores and ask if they stich up the edges aka ask if they can make rugs etc.

Tryin to stich carpet by hand with a needle isnt going to be fun for granny