Original carpet or replacement?

[richardgoesfast]

Hey guys,
Trying to figure out if I (somehow) have original carpeting in my 1970. I've removed seat to have reupholstered so I've had good access to carpeting underneath. When I pulled it up, see photo, it has this sort of padding material that looks organic and certainly does not look to be of recent vintage. The other thing is I found 7 miscellaneous screws floating around under the carpeting, which makes me think that these were loose screws and stuff from going down the line and why bother removing them, just throw the carpeting in. It kinda seems to me that if the carpeting was replaced at some point, whoever did it would have removed the loose screws at that point.
The other thing is, there is no marking or stamp that I can see on the underside of the carpet. Nothing that says Chrysler or anything. Does factory carpeting have a stamp on it? What does the photo look like to you guys, original factory carpeting or a replacement?

 

[cosgig]

That appears to be the original carpet. Mine was much the same, and I would’ve reused it, but it was too mousey, and a little tattered in places.

 

[richardgoesfast]

That's kind of what I'm thinking, especially with the miscellaneous screws I found underneath the carpet. But I've been told the factory carpet would have a stamp on it saying it was Chrysler or something like that. Do you remember if your carpet had anything like that when you removed it?

 

[69bfan]

From what I have seen, the OEM carpet would have a small tag glued in place showing the vendor, JP Stephens, a part number and a date code, etc. As per the OP question as to if this is the OEM carpet, it appears to be very similar. From my experience, the OEM jute padding was a bit thicker and and more fibers. But it is very close. If your going to replace the carpet, I know of guys who would be interested in purchasing the jute padding for the OE cars that they build. The jute padding was outlawed years ago and the shoddy padding is nothing like the jute padding as found on the OEM carpets. Years ago, I could buy large rolls of the jute padding. It was a bit thinner than the OEM piece. You would simply cut to the correct dimensions and glue in place.

 

[richardgoesfast]

From what I have seen, the OEM carpet would have a small tag glued in place showing the vendor, JP Stephens, a part number and a date code, etc. As per the OP question as to if this is the OEM carpet, it appears to be very similar. From my experience, the OEM jute padding was a bit thicker and and more fibers. But it is very close. If your going to replace the carpet, I know of guys who would be interested in purchasing the jute padding for the OE cars that they build. The jute padding was outlawed years ago and the shoddy padding is nothing like the jute padding as found on the OEM carpets. Years ago, I could buy large rolls of the jute padding. It was a bit thinner than the OEM piece. You would simply cut to the correct dimensions and glue in place.

Hey, that's a cool clue about the tag, thanks. I've got the driver seat out and I'm going to lift up a bit and see what I can see. Thanks for telling me that is called jute padding. Do you know when it was outlawed? That could also help me date this maybe. I'm not replacing the carpet, which only has some noticeable wear in one area on driver's side, it's good otherwise (amazingly). Also interesting to know that the jute padding, if I was recarpeting, actually has some value.