The best weapon against mold, mold smell, and rat smell is ozone. We have used ozone on moldy/rat poop cars before with really good results. I have heard that certain materials can have adverse reactions with ozone, so do it at your own risk. We've used ozone in 100+ newer vehicles without a problem. Ozone quickly neutralizes any organic substances/smells, and reaches places that are difficult to clean (like in the hvac system).
Will have to start somewhere
- Thread starter Peter Coomaraswamy
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Right on, that was my next question regarding the tank- what to use instead of the foam, I will seek for the 3M. The tank is remarkably clean on the inside so I'm going to leave that one alone but I ordered new steel fuel lines since they look pretty bad from the outside.
Regarding the ozone- how does that work? I'm most concerned with under the dash, the HVAC system, inside the seats and under the headliner.
I plan on removing the carpet, upon preliminary inspection it seems remarkably well preserved. I thought I would carefully remove it and have it professionally cleaned, then use some kind of system to clean the insulating mats that are under that and attached to the floor exceptionally well. From what I can tell there are only about 4 small areas on the interior that need metal repair, one on the fender and some holes under the wiper motor.
I have a pretty talented carpet guy, do you think there would be any interest in trying to match the carpet (yes I know,it won't be original) but if it looks almost identical it might be a relatively inexpensive way to refresh some of the forum's interiors. -Just throwing that out there since this is an intact carpet even with the little vinyl tabs and cut-outs
Regarding the ozone- how does that work? I'm most concerned with under the dash, the HVAC system, inside the seats and under the headliner.
I plan on removing the carpet, upon preliminary inspection it seems remarkably well preserved. I thought I would carefully remove it and have it professionally cleaned, then use some kind of system to clean the insulating mats that are under that and attached to the floor exceptionally well. From what I can tell there are only about 4 small areas on the interior that need metal repair, one on the fender and some holes under the wiper motor.
I have a pretty talented carpet guy, do you think there would be any interest in trying to match the carpet (yes I know,it won't be original) but if it looks almost identical it might be a relatively inexpensive way to refresh some of the forum's interiors. -Just throwing that out there since this is an intact carpet even with the little vinyl tabs and cut-outs
Did some reading on the ozone machines- Most say they are great, some say they leave a smell- has anyone had any "bad" experiences? And, can you rent them anywhere? they're not too cheap and I hope I don't need one more than once or twice-
Thanks
Thanks
Ozone is O3. Oxygen we breath is O2. Ozone is less stable than regular O2 molecules, so it releases the extra oxygen that then bonds with other materials. For our purpose, it oxidizes anything organic living and/or smelling. Mold will not survive. Smell causing organic molecules will not survive either. It's similar to hydrogen peroxide, which is H2O2. Water is H20. The extra oxygen is released, which is why it is very effective at killing mold and removing any organic stains like blood and wine.
What you do is put a device in the car that converts the air into O3. The longer you leave it on, the higher the concentration of the ozone in the car. Essentially all of the air in the car will become toxic to mold and smelly substances. Because it is a gas, ozone's reach is much farther and thorough than you can get by hand. I suggest removing the carpet before running it since it's harder for the gas to get concentrated under the carpet. If you can't find someone with a machine (detail shop, tool rental company, cleaning company - they use them in hotel rooms to remove smoke smell), you can buy a cheap ozone generator for about $100-$200. I can recommend a cheap one we use via PM if you like.
You want to avoid breathing ozone as it can irritate your lungs. Hold your breath, start the machine, then close the door. I would run it for 1-2 hours depending on how bad the mold is. The key is getting the concentration up. A 2 hour sessions is much more potent than two 1 hour sessions. Once done, hold your breath, open a door and walk away leaving it to air out for about 15-30 minutes. It will smell a little like chlorine for about a day. After that it will smell like new. All of the old smell will be gone. To be safe, you may want to remove any light colored plastic trim in the car. I've only heard of ozone yellowing plastic but it's never happened in any of our vehicles. I'm sure it depends on the type of plastic .... It's really quite amazing how well it works though.
What you do is put a device in the car that converts the air into O3. The longer you leave it on, the higher the concentration of the ozone in the car. Essentially all of the air in the car will become toxic to mold and smelly substances. Because it is a gas, ozone's reach is much farther and thorough than you can get by hand. I suggest removing the carpet before running it since it's harder for the gas to get concentrated under the carpet. If you can't find someone with a machine (detail shop, tool rental company, cleaning company - they use them in hotel rooms to remove smoke smell), you can buy a cheap ozone generator for about $100-$200. I can recommend a cheap one we use via PM if you like.
You want to avoid breathing ozone as it can irritate your lungs. Hold your breath, start the machine, then close the door. I would run it for 1-2 hours depending on how bad the mold is. The key is getting the concentration up. A 2 hour sessions is much more potent than two 1 hour sessions. Once done, hold your breath, open a door and walk away leaving it to air out for about 15-30 minutes. It will smell a little like chlorine for about a day. After that it will smell like new. All of the old smell will be gone. To be safe, you may want to remove any light colored plastic trim in the car. I've only heard of ozone yellowing plastic but it's never happened in any of our vehicles. I'm sure it depends on the type of plastic .... It's really quite amazing how well it works though.
Peter, what is the part number for the steel fuel lines? Only one is listed I think as a return line.
Thanks Lawdog, I will see if my local detail shop has one, I know the guys pretty well, Chris, I was going to make my own from 5/16 fuel tubing, please stop me if that's not the correct size or if you know of a better way- thanks.
That works, I am re bending e12 pipe and it hadn't been easy.
Great work Peter, I see the red screwdrivers came in handy.
Thank you sir, Blast! I see a little more mildew on the filler neck cover... OK tomorrow... I might have to install an ozone machine as an aftermarket option! Actually this project might be fun if it wasn't so darn nasty!
Mario has X-ray vision
Without removing the interior (as I did yesterday) Mario described the extent of the rust almost perfectly! He missed 2 spots (under the washer motor- quite minor and under the drivers seat riser). The other 4 spots were described in writing and on the phone perfectly. This will be a fairly easy fix I hope. Improper placement of jack was likely the cause of some of this nonsense.
Without removing the interior (as I did yesterday) Mario described the extent of the rust almost perfectly! He missed 2 spots (under the washer motor- quite minor and under the drivers seat riser). The other 4 spots were described in writing and on the phone perfectly. This will be a fairly easy fix I hope.
Improper placement of jack was likely the cause of some of this nonsense.Attachments
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I got all the carpet removed without any major difficulty and brought it to a friend who owns a quality car wash and detail shop. He explained to the detailers the importance of cleaning the carpet correctly and gently so by tomorrow I hope to have an original carpet set- all clean and shiny. Do you think it might be worth it to have a reproduction made? I would not be surprised if we could come up with something very close to original regarding the carpet and then we have a very good model for the vinyl and stitching. I have installed the 375.00 carpet available on line and the quality is not anywhere close to original and the fit is not as good as it could be. I don't want to bash the seller because I think you get what you pay for, and their product is affordable but I think some of us might like a little more.
Thoughts welcome-
Thoughts welcome-
Leatherique
So I got my restorer and some other spooge recommended to revive my leather seats. I am trying the product on the rear seats. So far so good but I still have a couple of more applications to apply before I can tell if it was worth it or not. I thought I would post a picture for reference.
So I got my restorer and some other spooge recommended to revive my leather seats. I am trying the product on the rear seats. So far so good but I still have a couple of more applications to apply before I can tell if it was worth it or not. I thought I would post a picture for reference.
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If I had thought of it sooner I could have recommended that you contact Griots Garage to have him sponsor "Before and After" using all his cleaning products!
Those seats look like new! Lets see how they look after the treatment soaks in. I think they will still look great, the condition was very good to start with.
Those seats look like new! Lets see how they look after the treatment soaks in. I think they will still look great, the condition was very good to start with.
Carpet
Peter,
A friend took the carpet from a 2800 that had low mileage and had it cleaned then installed into his coupe, came out fantastic. It is amazing what a proper cleaning can accomplish. I would not buy the reproduction unless the original is totally worn out. If you do buy, get deQuincy's since the carpet will look original.
Peter,
A friend took the carpet from a 2800 that had low mileage and had it cleaned then installed into his coupe, came out fantastic. It is amazing what a proper cleaning can accomplish. I would not buy the reproduction unless the original is totally worn out. If you do buy, get deQuincy's since the carpet will look original.
I was planning on using the original cleaned set in the Polaris coupe, but thought I would use these originals to make a template and then try to find an exact match (or as close as possible) for the carpet and see if we could make some really high quality sets and offer them to coupe owners. My carpet/interior guy does allot of boats as well as cars and I am hopeful that we can find some really excellent carpet that will match the original loop and colors and density and have the proper backing- we'll have to see what happens- I hope to post some pictures tonight.
