To find the carpet I just went to the local carpet shop and asked to look
at industrial carpeting.  I originally intended industrial as it has a
shorter/smaller pile or height.  A regular home carpet would be taller
and too "fluffy" (I obviously don't know the proper terms for all this)
and wouldn't be a good fit when you consider folds and going under the
reaar seat (I have a 7-pass van).  I took out the middle seats because
doing a lot of hiking and traveling I can use the space for gear and
rarely had so many people in it that I needed the extra seats.  So that
way I could use one big piece of carpet without all the cutouts, making
it a lot better look over the OEM carpet.  The fact that most industrial
carpet is scotch guarded and *way* more durable than regular carpet were
added bonuses.  I have the darkbrown interior (seems like most Vanagons I
see from '84 and before are either brown or light blue on the interior
with the brown the overwhelming majority) and the same brown is a common
industrial carpet color so I was able to get a cheap short roll of scraps
that gave me enough  to do my van twice over.  Nice huh?  Cost me $110
when I was all done but that included a roll of underlayment aka thin
padding layer that goes under the carpet and makes it much more
comfortable, also helps to fill in the spots where the middle bench mount
cut-outs are in the weird VW wood foam padding stuff that's under the OEM
carpet.

Hope this helps!

>Where would I go to get the carpeting, what would I ask for?
>-Hans
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Tolga Morawski" <tolga@MAC.COM>
>To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
>Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2004 10:23 AM
>Subject: [VANAGON] Subject: Re: best mod for vanagon?
>
>
>> Hey there,
>>   My vote for best Vanagon mod would have to be industrial scotch guard
>> carpeting.  I pulled all the factory stuff out and replaced with a color
>> matched carpet that was not only stain proof but a much better pile and
>> more comfortable on bare feet.  The factory stuff is like paper and once
>> it's matted down is pretty much worthless.  I cut the new carpet by
>> matching it up to the pieces I removed and after 7 years it's still looks
>> like new.
>>   I also wanted to ask what the WR-1 starter relay is for?  Perhaps if
>> you're not getting enough juice to the starter?  Fill us in.  Also the
>> Kennedy Engineering radiator bleeding valve might be worth explaining (or
>> post where to get one) in the context of the radiator fill thread.
>>
>> Take Care,
>>    Tolga
>>    '84 7 pass.
>>
>> >----- Original Message -----
>> >Date:    Wed, 3 Mar 2004 00:09:30 -0500
>> >From:    lauterba <lauterba@BELLSOUTH.NET>
>> >Subject: Re: best mod for vanagon?
>> >
>> >I have two simple modifications on my '84 that save much grief: 1) Bosch
>> >WR-1 starter relay; and 2) Kennedy Engineering radiator bleeding valve
>> >(makes refilling and bleeding the cooling system very simple).
>> >
>> >John Lauterbach
>> >Macon, GA
>> >'84 7-passenger
>> >------------------------------
>>