Rant - Too many people selling you the incorrect pattern trunk floor mats

[FURYGT]

I am so sick and tired of the large number of venders who know nothing about C Body cars that are selling you the wrong pattern trunk mats.

Bought a plaid pattern mat for your '68 Fury? Throw it away as it is wrong. It should be the gray houndstooth pattern. As the owner of a survivor '68 Sport Fury and other '68 Furies with their original trunk mats I know this to be true. The only exception that I know of is my early August build '68 Sport Fury that I bought from the original owner that had a foam backed cloth trunk floor mat.

Plaid mats belong in '67 & '69 Furies and possibly in the '65 - '66 cars but not all of these years used the same plaid pattern. Herringbone print mats were used in '70 - '72 Furies.

Before you buy a trunk mat ask the question of what is correct for your car on this board before you spend your money. Just saw eBay seller collectorsautosupplyinc selling several incorrect pattern mats for a lot of money. These go for $80 - $90 from folks like Dante's not $190!

This is one of my biggest pet peeves. Vendors selling incorrect items as being correct for our beloved C Body cars. ACC is not the only vendor but I happened to have an old catalog page showing the different patters available for all cars, not just MOPARS and thought that posting it would be helpful.

Bill

 

[commando1]

I assure you that most people buying a new truck mat are clueless themselves on what is correct.
For them correct means new.
It's like trunk splatter paint. GM Grey-blue from AutoZone? Close enuff.
And guilty as charged.

 

[FURYGT]

It's like trunk splatter paint. GM Grey-blue from AutoZone? Close enuff.
And guilty as charged.[/QUOTE]

Tsk, tsk, tsk. You should be ashamed.

 

[Big_John]

I had a bunch of 69 B bodies. I noticed that there was no rhyme or reason for what pattern the trunk mat is. They may have spec'd a certain pattern from the manufacturer, but who knows? They may not have too.

It's a moot point for me.... I use a piece of cheap auto carpet I bought on ebay.

 

[polara71]

Putting the mats in the trunk is a death sentence. I would rather see someone reproduce trunk carpets and spare tire covers

 

[rapidtrans]

I seem to recall reading somewhere that items like trunk mats could vary by assembly plant or vendor.
I witnessed a very heated argument at a GTO show over "correct" coatings and paint colors in the engine compartment. Fortunately a nearby attendee happened to be a GM buyer back in the day. He explained that both guys could be correct as goats were built in a couple of plants often supplied by different vendors.

 

[commando1]

It's like trunk splatter paint. GM Grey-blue from AutoZone? Close enuff.
And guilty as charged.

Tsk, tsk, tsk. You should be ashamed.

Had it been a restoration... Yes.
It wasn't... So I'm not.

 

[stubs300]

When I got my 66-300 it still had the original mat in the trunk, Dried out enough that if you looked at it hard enough it'd break. It was just a black thin ribbed mat, nothin fancy. Replaced it with a old oriental rug leftover from my folks house. It's a trunk! Who cares what the mat looks like is the way I see it, unless you like and want the original look. Then good luck finding what your looking for and being happy in the end.

 

[mrfury68]

You & I discussed this topic at Carlisle last month Bill. Do your research before you shell out the cash.

 

[FURYGT]

You & I discussed this topic at Carlisle last month Bill. Do your research before you shell out the cash.

Exactly. I do my research before hand and have never bought an incorrect trunk mat. Before they made ones for C Bodies I was ordering the vinyl in a large enough piece to make my own.

 

[ayilar]

The original trunk mat in my car is still good, but torn in a couple of places. I plan to keep it in place and to protect it by covering it with a new one (which will also be cleaner for whatever I happen to put in the trunk). Just found this thread after ordering the following item on eBay: 1970 Dodge Polara Convertible RUBBER TRUNK MAT Grey Plaid Pattern 70 | eBay

--> Has anyone else bought from this vendor?

--> I want to keep things clean in the trunk, so am thinking of getting a spare tire cover. Suggestions? I see three patterns at the following site, thoughts?

Dodge Charger Parts | Body Components | Trunk Components | Spare Tire and Jack Accessories | Classic Industries

 

[cantflip]

Gee it'd be kinda nice if they even listed wrong parts more often... let alone occasionally having something right... 74 up C body parts are very slim choices... fortunately 2/3 of mine are in great shape.

 

[FURYGT]

The original trunk mat in my car is still good, but torn in a couple of places. I plan to keep it in place and to protect it by covering it with a new one (which will also be cleaner for whatever I happen to put in the trunk). Just found this thread after ordering the following item on eBay: 1970 Dodge Polara Convertible RUBBER TRUNK MAT Grey Plaid Pattern 70 | eBay

--> Has anyone else bought from this vendor?

--> I want to keep things clean in the trunk, so am thinking of getting a spare tire cover. Suggestions? I see three patterns at the following site, thoughts?

Dodge Charger Parts | Body Components | Trunk Components | Spare Tire and Jack Accessories | Classic Industries

That mat's pattern is incorrect for your car. In my experience the correct pattern for 70 - 71 C bodies is the Herringbone pattern shown in my post above.

 

[Big_John]

The original trunk mat in my car is still good, but torn in a couple of places. I plan to keep it in place and to protect it by covering it with a new one (which will also be cleaner for whatever I happen to put in the trunk). Just found this thread after ordering the following item on eBay: 1970 Dodge Polara Convertible RUBBER TRUNK MAT Grey Plaid Pattern 70 | eBay

--> Has anyone else bought from this vendor?

--> I want to keep things clean in the trunk, so am thinking of getting a spare tire cover. Suggestions? I see three patterns at the following site, thoughts?

Dodge Charger Parts | Body Components | Trunk Components | Spare Tire and Jack Accessories | Classic Industries

I wouldn't put the new one over the old one. Take the old one out and if you want to preserve it, that's great, but just put the new one in.

 

[69bfan]

Back in the day, Chrysler had at least two and sometimes three different vendors for any given part. Based on the location of the assembly plant, the vendor of choice would be the one closest to the plant. Thus variations in some parts. I have to say that trunk mats typically follow a certain pattern, so that is the rationale that the manufacture will market a piece to the market place. Most vendors do not want to stock any given mat in three different configurations.

I know from being a stocking vendor for both ACC and REM, if the customer wants his trunk mat made in tan plaid and the general opinion is that they were gray plaid, it is no problem to have one made up in the requested color. It may take a couple of days to get it cut, but that availability it out there. The problem is that some of these vendors are basically just drop shipping product from some other vendor and have no knowledge of the product or they made a bulk purchase of a certain style and that is what they are trying to move.

 

[FURYGT]

Back in the day, Chrysler had at least two and sometimes three different vendors for any given part. Based on the location of the assembly plant, the vendor of choice would be the one closest to the plant. Thus variations in some parts. I have to say that trunk mats typically follow a certain pattern, so that is the rationale that the manufacture will market a piece to the market place. Most vendors do not want to stock any given mat in three different configurations.

I know from being a stocking vendor for both ACC and REM, if the customer wants his trunk mat made in tan plaid and the general opinion is that they were gray plaid, it is no problem to have one made up in the requested color. It may take a couple of days to get it cut, but that availability it out there. The problem is that some of these vendors are basically just drop shipping product from some other vendor and have no knowledge of the product or they made a bulk purchase of a certain style and that is what they are trying to move.

While the above may be true in regards to different vendors, in my experience with C Bodies since the early 1990's owning including survivor cars, having owned and having parted out many C Bodies with original trunk mats with the part number stamped on the back and seeing many C Bodies in person and on the internet my experience has been:

1967's & 1969's used the large plaid style trunk mats
1968's used the grey herringbone pattern trunk mats
1970 - 1971's (and I think 72's) used the herringbone pattern trunk mats

My experience is based on cars built at several different assembly plants including Canada. I'm not sure that I have ever had a west coast built C Body car come through my hands so again, this is based on my 27 or so years of experience with C Bodies and I have learned to never say never when it comes to Chrysler manufacturing and vendor parts suppliers.

 

[rapidtrans]

Then again they're "C" bodies, not restored one-of-one "E" bodies. I'm not loosing sleep over the mat pattern in my car.

 

[ayilar]

(...) in my experience with C Bodies since the early 1990's owning including survivor cars, having owned and having parted out many C Bodies with original trunk mats with the part number stamped on the back and seeing many C Bodies in person and on the internet my experience has been:

1967's & 1969's used the large plaid style trunk mats
1968's used the grey herringbone pattern trunk mats
1970 - 1971's (and I think 72's) used the herringbone pattern trunk mats

My experience is based on cars built at several different assembly plants including Canada. I'm not sure that I have ever had a west coast built C Body car come through my hands so again, this is based on my 27 or so years of experience with C Bodies and I have learned to never say never when it comes to Chrysler manufacturing and vendor parts suppliers.

Here are pictures I took this morning of the original mat in my own all-original 1970 Polara 'vert. The first two pics are in natural light, the last pic is with my iPhone flash on (to show the pattern better).

I'll let you know if the mat that I've ordered matches -- doubt it, and I have only myself to blame.

If anyone knows a firm that makes a spare tire cover with the same material, or if anyone can comment on / share experience with the ClassicIndustries items I'd listed above (likely non-original, but helpful to keep things clean), then I am all ears:

1960-1976 Dodge Charger Parts | MD4049 | Mopar 15 Herringbone print Spare Tire Cover | Classic Industries

 

[ayilar]

As an aside, the first photo in my latest post above (#18) shows that I have replaced the original double-stripe spare (which was in perfect shape and very clean even though it seems to have been used once in its life, given the 4 small stones embedded in its grooves) with a new spare matching my other 4 new tires (Hankook Optimo H724 | P225/75R15 whitewalls). I'll keep the original carefully at home, and in case I have a flat, will be able to continue with a safe-to-drive spare.

 

[ayilar]

I wouldn't put the new one over the old one. Take the old one out and if you want to preserve it, that's great, but just put the new one in.

Happy to do that, but can you tell me why?