I'm always looking to save money. All of the pre-molded carpets are fairly expensive, but there are some suppliers that sell the plane automotive carpet in flat sheets that are 6ft long. I'm not affraid of some hard work. Has anyone done this the hard way? What was it like?

To hell with mildew/

 

I just bought an 88 crx si, the guy I bought it from replaced the carpet in the manner you describe. He had the car taken down to some place that does car upholstery, and they custom fabricated it. I am not sure how they made it form so well with the curves of the car... although there are some high spots, but it looks great.

My advice is to go down to a car upholstery shop, and ask them how they do it, then grab some carpet, and get to it. Good luck.