Yes, let's talk about the metal clips. Now that I see them in Bonzi's picture, it looks like they have one curved leg that would press up against the tab on the floor. A neat idea. Now I want some too, so if anyone has a source for these, or has a set of 4 they'd like to sell, I'm interested.

Close up pictures of these clips would be nice, as well.

Found the clips on the parts CD. The part number is 74995-E4100, the description is "CLIP - SPRING FRONT FLOOR TRIM".

Here are 2 photos of the clips in question. My camera seems to be myopic today but you can see what they look like. They fit under the tab welded to the floor. They are 2 5/8" long by 1 7/8" wide and the lift is about 1/4" and were clad plate but a little rusty now. If they were bunnies I'd have them make some sets for you guys.

Bonzi Lon

Folks, the "jute" padding that comes with the MSA kit is utter crap. I replaced all of that padding with some nice 6 lb/sf material from Home Depot. I used the same 6 lb/sf material for the tranny tunnel vinyl after I ripped out all of the decrepit, smelly horsehair jute.

Bo,

I heard that about the carpet padding, thanks for conifrming. I bought a set of carpet from CDM, forgetting it was cut pile. The padding looked similar to MSA's but was well-bonded to the carpet and was probably of better quality based on your report...

All the carpets look the same in photos, but with variable pricing...Is there a single vendor? That's what I want to know.

The MSA kit DID NOT come with a true "jute" backing but a thread/material type stuff (as in dryer lint) as noted in post 11 and as Bo mentioned. The "ORIGINAL JUTE" that came with the car is of much better quality and heavier and appears more water resistant than the "stuff" that is on the new kit. Like I said I will try to remove the thread/material stuff and use my "Original Jute" as it is in excelent condition including the tranny tunnel.

When I first saw this type of backing I had a feeling it would not hold up as it just pulls away in pieces (like dryer lint) except where glued.

Funk & Wagnall's--jute, 1. A tall annual Asian herb of the linden family. 2. The soft, lusterous fiber obtained from the inner bark of this plant, (Corchorus capsularis or C. olitorius).

Therefore, the backing that is on the new kit CAN NOT be called "jute", but is really floor sweeps from a cloth factory.

Bonzi Lon

Dryer lint and floor sweeps from a cloth factory are apt descriptions of the "jute" that is attached to the MSA carpet kits.

Don't knock MSA for that...It's pretty standard stuff for carpet padding. Not defending poor quality materials, just saying it's not limited to just one vendor.

This is as close as I could find to the definitive jute discussion:

http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9168&highlight=jute

No one commented on a good source, I wonder if there are any updates?

Unfortunately, the original "horse hair" jute was NLA many years ago. Nissan superseded the material with a compressed padding.

I believe this the jute is similar to the Nissan material.

http://www.lebaronbonney.com/osc/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=191

Keith

I replaced mine with the MSA. My oringinal jute just flaked away after all the years. The MSA's might be different but if it lasts half the amount time my oringinal did that's fine with me. I'll be long gone by then.

Steven, I am not knocking MSA for the padding as they do not manufacture the kit. MSA is just a reseller. However, the padding itself is deserving of our scorn.

I'll also add, like others have said, that the MSA rear deck carpet piece did not come with the luggage strap slits. When I mentioned this to Sal one day (MSA is 1 mile from my office), he said that they were aware of the problem and looking for a new vendor. I doubt this went very far since his departure.

I cut slits in my carpet for the luggage straps as is shown below. Disregard the wrinkle in the carpet between the shock towers. When I put the spare tire back into the car, the tire cover was slightly warped and thus sticking up causing that wrinkle. I have since removed the tire and the carpet lies flat now.

I've been doing a little reading of jute material, and some vendors offer what's called a "MASS BACK" option, a black, rubberized backing that is thicker and a little more sound proofing than the original jute material. Does anyone have any experience with this? Just a though/suggestion of one of the options that could be used. Here is a link to one of the vendors that offer it. I don't know if its offered with our carpeting kit, have not had a chance to call them to find out.

http://www.1aauto.com/help_center/faq/carpet.html#q10

That is the FAQ section of the vendor, and they also offer a carpeting kit for our Zs.

Justin