Project EHR: Floor Mat Menagerie

One challenge outfitting the 2001 Bullitt interior is the unusual Dark Charcoal color (code 9W): it really looks like dark smoke, but is clearly not black, or even grey. Some pieces of the dash and pillar coverings and headliner appear to be another color entirely. I decided to get some floor mats since the Mustang only comes with two for the front, and well with my five- and seven-year-old kids riding in the back seats, four mats would be better.

There are two brands of floor mat I zeroed in on: ACC and Lloyds. ACC makes carpet kits for many cars, including Mustangs, while Lloyd Mats pretty much owns the high-end floor mat business. One thing to get out of the way now: you won't find an exact match to the Dark Charcoal carpet color (unless you have already replaced your carpet itself with the ACC replacement kit).

Four ACC mats with Bullitt logos (in front) are $100 (or $60 plain).
Photo shows 2 original front mats and 2 ACC replacements.

I decided that I didn't think the ACC color was quite right for me, the Bullitt logos were redundant since the threshold sill plate says Bullitt in black already, and I really wanted contrasting binding around the edges like the GT500.

Enter Lloyd Mats. Simply put, getting color samples was a hassle from the Lloyd Mat distributors. I called seven or eight and two agreed to send some samples, but only one ever did (and it took a month). Lloyd Mats sent some additional samples directly when I had given up on seeing anything from their distributors.

I'm posting the color samples here to hopefully save others the hassle. Of course if you have a common color carpet, e.g. Black, there's no benefit in seeing the samples beforehand. :)

Actual Lloyd Mat samples against clean Dark Charcoal Ford carpet.
The flash went off here, so use as reference for color saturation, not hue...

I went with Ebony "Ultimats" with Silver Neon binding. Ordering for a 1999
instead of a 2000-2004 opens up some additional Mustang logo options.

The mats fit great and add some visual interest to the interior.

The rear mats even have an angled edge that fits around the roll bar. :)

I ended up buying these from the CarID website since they had come through with the carpet samples, although I had never bought from them before. The mats were $140 after a $10 coupon online and arrived in just two weeks. (The Neon Binding, rather than a carpet color binding, was an additional $9 option, while the Mustang logos were $29, all included in that price. Silver thread was no extra charge.) The preliminary research was a hassle, but I definitely like the look of the mats.



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Project EHR: Laying the Foundation for a Quiet Interior

The first project to tackle on the Bullitt was to quiet down the noise in the cabin. The Nitto tire upgrade helped calm road noise at the source quite a bit, but the drone of the exhaust quickly grew tiresome and my four- or five-hour drives were draining. I have used Dynamat Extreme before on my '66, and it is just a great performing product.

Amazon sells boxes for about $130 shipped, which is a great price.
Each box of Dynamat weighs 20 pounds.

I removed the seats obviously, but did not completely remove the center console because it wouldn't come out without lifting the hand brake handle straight up and that wasn't happening (without breaking something). Use work gloves to avoid Dynamat's death-by-a-thousand-cuts syndrome, and a small roller or stiff plastic bottle helps flatten it all out. I did this in 90-degree heat, which helped the product lay out easily, but was pretty uncomfortable for me. :)

Dynamat on the driver's side,

and on the passenger's side,

and under the rear seats,

and in the trunk.

I used almost all of two boxes. I'll buy a third box here shortly to finish the trunk, and then do the rear shelf and roof. Not sure I will do the doors, but probably will if I have some product left.

So far, the cabin is quite a bit quieter. I'm kicking myself for not using my iPhone's decibel meter app to give concrete numbers for before vs. after, but the improvement is very noticeable even though I'm maybe 2/3 done with the project.


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Project "Executive Hot Rod" (EHR)

After owning the 2001 Bullitt for more than a year and realizing it is really a great car (just like I thought), I've decided to revamp the interior. The interior is basically stock now except for some gauge rings and a couple Autometer gauges and a roll bar.

I think the interior could use a little more contrast (specifically beefing up the silver accents with real aluminum), could be much quieter, and have a look and feel a little more like a modern car, but perhaps not necessarily a modern Mustang. It was built a long time ago, and of course Ford tried to save money on the design and finish of the car. So there's room for improvement here, but with an eye toward staying true to the Bullitt theme.

Here's where I'm starting:

The Bullitt interior has a lot going for it; I'm going to try to build on that.

Some examples of more modern design for inspiration:

2011 Shelby GT500: Leather, Alcantara, and deviated stitching.
Floor mats are darker with logo and silver binding.

2005 Ford GT: Aluminum accents and a honking fat steering wheel.

911 GT3 RS: Alcantara and leather throughout with dash gauge pod.

2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302: Leather, Alcantara, and dash gauge pod.

 I'll update the blog as I make progress...

Rat Rod: Revisited

On my cross-country journey to bring home a silver 2006 Mustang GT back in August 2009 I happened upon a slammed rat rod traveling down the highway in Tennessee. In fact, it was so wild I snapped a photo for the blog.

Fast forward two years to just last weekend when I was checking out the "Carolina Classics at the Capitol" car show in downtown Raleigh. I happened upon a rat rod that I thought was the same car. Upon closer inspection, some of the details were a little different, but the tall red wheels sure looked the same.

I spoke with the owner (and showed him a pic on my iPhone) and confirmed in fact that his buddy owns the very car I saw in Tennessee. After needing to sell the wheels for a new rear end that required a different offset, they now are sitting under this cool '28 at the show. Small world...

This car drew a crowd at the show.

This is a '28.

Embracing the term Rat Rod.

50s style Cadillac air cleaner—too cool.

L O U D

Hand painted

Street legal?