69 polara trunk mat

polarnj

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I only see a repro for the convertibles, does anyone know the difference between the conv. Trunk mat and the sedan or coupe one?
 
As the basic floorpan might be the same, where the spare tire is stowed would be different on convertibles. Which would relate to the slices for flaps to go under the spare tire mounting brackets on "the hump" between the wheels. Plus the new slices for where the spare tire mounts on the flat part of the floorpan.

How many re-sellers have you checked for what you need? The Polara probably had a thinner vinyl mat with a colored pattern on top of it. My '70 Monaco Brougham DH43 had a black carpet back there and a black carpet tire cover. Looked so much better and the carpet did not trap moisture under it. It went nearly to the back seat lean-back, so it gave the illusion of a deep, black cave past the spare tire.

Enjoy!
CBODY67
 
My original is a plaid pattern vinyl mat. I like the idea of the black carpeted one, I guess it was only on the Monaco?

So the conv. mat would fit, it's just cut in a different place?
 
The carpet mat might not be correct for the Polara, but I would do it as it does not trap moisture under it. From normal temperature swings, over time.

If they just sliced the mat, that would be easy to put some Gorilla tape on the back to keep things together. If they actually cut slots, that would be another thing.
 
The difference is the location of the spare tire bracket.

Sedan/Coupe
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Convertible
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Alan
 
I only see a repro for the convertibles, does anyone know the difference between the conv. Trunk mat and the sedan or coupe one?
What I did for my '70 300 was find a cheap piece of automotive carpet on eBay and cut it out using what I had left of the original mat as a pattern.

Cars could be ordered with a "trunk dress up" package that had the black carpet along with some black cardboard panels. Here's a thread with some pictures of trunks with this package. Trunk Dress Up
 
If you're working with a clean slate and deciding between the vinyl trunk mat or carpet, carpet may be a faster and less expensive solution.
In addition, the vinyl mats are prone to trapping water which leads to the dreaded rusty trunk pan.
This link shows what I used when replacing the rear carpet in the 69 Imperial.

 
On the mat that was in my '70 Monaco Brougham, all edges of the OEM trunk carpet were sewn with a solid edge-protecting stich. Which would be expensive to do, as it was about 1/2" wide and was solid, side-by-side, for the full perimeter of the mat. To keep the mat edges from coming apart.

What did y'all use to seal the edges to keep them intact? I realize that such is probably not needed, because of the use and location of the carpet, but did y'all take pains to determine which way "the grain" of the carpet "weave" ran and such?

Just curious,
CBODY67
 
On the mat that was in my '70 Monaco Brougham, all edges of the OEM trunk carpet were sewn with a solid edge-protecting stich. Which would be expensive to do, as it was about 1/2" wide and was solid, side-by-side, for the full perimeter of the mat. To keep the mat edges from coming apart.

What did y'all use to seal the edges to keep them intact? I realize that such is probably not needed, because of the use and location of the carpet, but did y'all take pains to determine which way "the grain" of the carpet "weave" ran and such?

Just curious,
CBODY67
Didn't need to do anything with the edges. Auto carpet doesn't fray or come apart on the edges easily and being in the trunk, you aren't dragging your feet across the edges or things like that.

You can sew a vinyl edge on it, or maybe even get a home carpet place to serge the edge. Mine has been in my car for over 10 years now without the edges fraying. Still looks good and cleans up nice.

The trunk carpet in my 300L has a black carpet that was the factory option. I don't know if it is original carpet, but it has no edge either. It might be interesting to see what the factory did.
 
If I recall the trunk carpet from ACC had sewn edges on them, but the problem with their carpeting I found was you couldn't purchase a single piece of trunk carpeting that would cover the entire floor. Two were needed. The factory carpet was one piece.
As for the edges, I didn't do anything to them either. They are tucked away either under the cardboard dress up, behind the spare tire and taillight cover as well as down into the rear quarter extensions.
 
What I did for my '70 300 was find a cheap piece of automotive carpet on eBay and cut it out using what I had left of the original mat as a pattern.

Cars could be ordered with a "trunk dress up" package that had the black carpet along with some black cardboard panels. Here's a thread with some pictures of trunks with this package. Trunk Dress Up

thanks that does look really nice, I'm guessing the carpet has no backing just rug on both sides?
 
About the spare cover, I'm wondering if they sell one maybe for the Charger etc. that would work?
 
The OEM trunk carpet in my Monaco did have serging all around it, factory. Looked really nice, carpet and serge were black. As was the spare tire cover. No cardboard side panels. No vinyl spray backing on the carpet, either.

I looked the other night, (seems like it was REM?) and found black or gray trunk carpet. Spare tire covers in gray. "Fleece" was the weave, IIRC. Don't recall pricing.
 
thanks that does look really nice, I'm guessing the carpet has no backing just rug on both sides?
Mine has a plastic like backing on it like other auto carpet, but not quite as nice as most, but still that same backing. This is why I specify "auto carpet". I took a pic of the backing.
About the spare cover, I'm wondering if they sell one maybe for the Charger etc. that would work?
I found a plain vinyl one for an RV or Jeep. Another eBay deal. Then I cut a round piece of plywood to sit on top of the spare so that gives me a little storage under the plywood and lets me pile things on top. Gotta remember that I have a convertible with less trunk space.

Backing

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Excuse the mess. The little bags are some concoction Mrs. Big John makes to keep the mice out. (I live in farm country and mice are an issue). The cover can be pulled tighter so it looks nicer.

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The OEM trunk carpet in my Monaco did have serging all around it, factory. Looked really nice, carpet and serge were black. As was the spare tire cover. No cardboard side panels. No vinyl spray backing on the carpet, either.

I looked the other night, (seems like it was REM?) and found black or gray trunk carpet. Spare tire covers in gray. "Fleece" was the weave, IIRC. Don't recall pricing.
Do you think there were side panels at some time? The trunk dress up packages I've seen always have black cardboard.

I'll have to take a pic of my 300L.
 
When I bought the Monaco, it was in 1975 and it was used with about 83K miles on it. Totally "normal" and unmolested. Having been bought new by a higher-line female department store employee and then owned by her daughter for a few years. It did have a trailer hitch in its earlier years, but that was obviously removed when the fuel tank was cleaned out by the Dodge dealer near where she worked (service RO was in the glove box).

It did not have side panels, but seems like the '66 Newport Town Sedan did. With the heavy rubber mat that was standard. Same on the '67 Newport CE23.

It's been a while since I've been in those trunks, but probably need to look. Only print film existed when I bought the cars and I felt no need for documentation at the time. They were just normal cars.

CBODY67
 
I have to correct myself... My 300L does have a vinyl edging and I think it was replaced somewhere along the line, but not really sure. This car was equipped with the trunk dress up.

Linkage for auto-pilot is sitting there (gotta try to get that hooked up) and the rear mounted power antenna.



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This gives me a perfect excuse to show @Samplingman my bowling ball bag. Again. For maybe the tenth time! :rofl:

View attachment 690945

That is a beautiful Truck ‘n Treat!

As for the OP, here is mine. Mr Cheapo Samplingman found this one on clearance. It fits the trunk perfectly, just need to cut the slot for the spare tire and patch up the open parts.


IMG_2715.jpeg
 
That is a beautiful Truck ‘n Treat!

As for the OP, here is mine. Mr Cheapo Samplingman found this one on clearance. It fits the trunk perfectly, just need to cut the slot for the spare tire and patch up the open parts.


View attachment 690986

Looks great, what kind of car is that in? Mine has a plaid pattern. Is that a new repro?
 
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