Okay, I think I've got it figured out... - NCRS Discussion Boards

Okay, I think I've got it figured out...

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  • Jeff

    Okay, I think I've got it figured out...

    ...and it only took 30 years.

    Those who were on this board B.C. (Before it Crashed), may recall that I am somewhat preoccupied, (ok, obssessed) with 61 black rugs. At first,I never gave them much thought because when I went to buy replacements, I didn't have any trouble getting an NOS rug set (from Mid America in 73, 4 or 5, I think).

    They were the exact 'salt and pepper', black and aqua blue that my originals were (in the clean, unworn places). But, as my luck (mostly bad) would have it, they were in a friend's attic when (his luck is bad, too) wife burned his house to the ground (she still calls it a 'small house fire'). Anyway, I had to toss them and have never been able to find anything but the 'black and olive' salt and pepper, commonly available now.

    I am currently in the process of having a custom area rug made so I can then have it cut into a carpet set. This 'rugquest' has led me to the fact that the flecking in the black rugs was originally from the Jewel Blue interior set. Think about it, the red interiors had red rugs with black flecks from the black rug set. The Jewel Blue rugs had the black flecks from the black rug set. So why would anyone decide to manufacture a whole different color (olive) just to mix it in with the black rugs? Does anyone think black and olive is such a good color combination that it's worth all that trouble?

    So then, where did the olive repro rugs come from? It's dirty Jewel Blue. If you look at my original rug remnants, you will see that the top 1/16th-1/8th inch is olive but that the rest of the stalk is Jewel Blue. I now think that someone started reproducing rugs with 20 years worth of dirt ground into them and it caught on.

    Am I missing some key point here? Can it be that simple?

    BTW, if anyone has NOS black rugs or raw yardage, please e-mail me.

    Regards,

    JP
  • Jerry Clark

    #2
    Re: Okay, I think I've got it figured out...

    Hi Jeff:

    This is an exercise in deductive reasoning any engineer would be proud of. Flawed ? Possibly, but logical :)

    jerry

    Comment

    • dale pearman

      #3
      Re: Okay, I think I've got it figured out...

      In 1989-90 I worked for Eckler's as their straight axle research specialist-buyer. One of my first jobs was to straighten out the black carpet color in 1961-62 Corvettes. With the help and coaching of many very knowledgeable 61-62 guys I was able to come up not only with the right color but also the name "olive Black". I had an unmolested NEW sample to work with as well as a dozen or so samples taken from the driveshaft tunnels (all were protected over the years by overlap of the other pieces of carpet) of original cars with unchanged carpet sets.

      I owned a new 62 when I lived in Boston and it had a black interior. I remember the carpet looked olive drab with black specks. When I collected the samples at Eckler's they brought back memories. LaFayette Spinning of Dalton Georgia came up with an olive/black thread contailing a black nylon tracer. That is to say that 85% of the thread was fabric while the remaining 15% was the jet black nylon superimposed on, or actually integral to the thread. When LaFayette wove this composite thread into carpet material a black, with olive cast carpet resulted with the characteristic salt & pepper black "flecks" randomly scattered in the weave. We ran about seven dyes until the woven carpet matched EXACTLY my NOS sample. Auto Custom Carpet cut the product for us and began retailing it themselves. Al Knoch picked it the following year.

      So I guess I'm the guy responsible for copying a "dirty-old" faded, piece of junk and having it catch on. The color of the olive black carpet sets today is a tad off but still VERY close to original. I'd like to know how you make out with your carpet project.

      Dale Pearman

      Comment

      • Jeff

        #4
        Dale,if I put my original rug over Al Knoch's...

        ...sample, the salt and pepper is night and day different. The OEM is several shades lighter and much more definitely from the 'aqua' family than the olive. I agree that the OEM rug does cast a slightly 'olive' tint depending upon the angle of viewing but that is the overall effect of the black flecking darkening the aqua tufts, not the fact that the color of the tufts themselves is olive. Additionally, the Knoch sample has much more (probably on the order of double) the percentage of black to aqua/olive, the black is wrapped somewhat differently and much more loosely around the aqua/olive tufts, as well.

        When you were at Eckler's did you ever have an NOS set of Jewel Blue rugs for comparison? I haven't had much luck in finding anyone who will let me take apart a low mileage Jewel Blue interior to see some virgin carpet.

        Thanks for you help,

        Jeff

        Comment

        • Wayne W.
          Extremely Frequent Poster
          • April 30, 1982
          • 3605

          #5
          Re: Dale,if I put my original rug over Al Knoch's.

          I want to know if a small house burned completely to the ground constitutes a small house fire.

          Comment

          • Jeff

            #6
            Apparently, yes, at least to his wife it does...

            ...and I want to know why when only one station comes in on your radio it's always Country?

            JP

            Comment

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