How do I get rid of that old musty odor?

[mlaw7]

Does anyone have any recommendations on how to get rid of that old musty odor lurking in the nooks and crannies of a 30+ year old Z car?

My goal is to get the car's interior as close as possible to how she smelled when she rolled off the showroom floor sometime in late 1977-78.

I've got the entire interior, dash and carpet out and have been cleaning dust, grime and STUFF from as many places as I can reach. Have also cleaned up the dash, seats, door panels, vinyl trim and plastic interior trim pieces as well as the inside areas of the rear quarter panels, hatch area and behind/underneath the dash area back to the firewall.

I've also let her air out quite a bit, in addition to the time she spent at the paint/body shop.

My car smells a lot better now as do the interior trim pieces and door panels. However, I can still smell lingering traces of that funky odor here and there. For example, I haven't been able to completely get it out of the door panels or the seats.

I know that the new headliner and carpet will make a big difference, as will new seat covers when I'm able to get them.

Is there some product out there that will do the trick? Am I asking the impossible?

How do you clean the hardboard on the door panels and rear deck? What about Lysol?? Has anyone out there had any success with this?

[Jack T]

You may want to go down to the local auto parts store and buy a can of the ozone spray. Roll up all the windows and close the vents. Spray the contents of the can for a couple of seconds into the interior and then close the door. Leave it sit overnight and repeat a couple of times if necessary. You will be surprise at the difference.

I had a house that got significant smoke damage years ago, and after they did the ozone treatment it was odorless free. I used a small cans from the auto store when I first bought my Z three years ago and it did wonders there as well. For $6 and 10 seconds of labor, it is hard to go wrong.

Of course if you do not neutralize the source that generates the odor, it will come back.

Jack T

[=Enigma=]

Isn't ozone harmful to vinyl? If so, I'm not sure I'd want to subject my dash or most of the interior to this treatment. Anyone know if this stuff poses the same risk as natural ozone or whether either is damaging to the interior?

[dustin_haru]

hey did u try fabreze auto??

or u could go to walmart and buy some of there awesome fresheners they work pritty good..

[70 Cam Guy]

Isn't ozone harmful to vinyl? If so, I'm not sure I'd want to subject my dash or most of the interior to this treatment. Anyone know if this stuff poses the same risk as natural ozone or whether either is damaging to the interior?

I think he meant Ozium. I used to use this stuff all the time in just the manner he was talking about. Spray into car and close the door. My old Camaro would get a little musty/mildewy smell after a while so I'd spray and let it do its thing

http://www.atmosphereproducts.com/product_images/ozium/index.html

Original scent was the best if I recall, it really doesn't take much to fill the room. It is pretty strong at first, but like Jack said, let it sit and you'll be surprised. Also, like he said, if you don't find the source, it will likely return after a while

[adamr]

Ozium! I smoked like a chimney in my Lexus for years. I finally quit. Had the car detailed, then fogged it thoroughly while leaving the A/C blowing on high (11;)). Get out of the car immediately after spraying. Let it circulate for 5 minutes, windows rolled up, of course. Then, air it out. It will smell like Ozium for the rest of the day, and part of the next. Should smell fine after that. I have done this many times. Yes, that means I have quit smoking many times. I hope this time is different. Either way, my car smells great.

[Jack T]

Ozium is what I used, and it does contain ozone which I believe is simple charged oxygen molecules. It occurs naturally in the environment and it is what you smell after it rains. I do not know it's impact on plastic, but I suspect it is less than almost anything you would put on it while trying to scrub out the smell. I don't understand how it works, but as others have stated, it does work well.

[FastWoman]

Ozone would do it. It's a triatomic oxygen molecule (three O's, not the usual two). It's formed most commonly during lightning strikes, electric arcs, etc. It's that peculiar, not unpleasant odor you smell when a brush-type electric motor is running. The O3 is rather unstable and "wants" to give up its extra O to another molecule, thereby oxidizing it and neutralizing it. It will indeed degrade rubber, vinyl, and other materials, but short term exposure should have very little impact. If you're worried about it, you might wipe everything down with Armorall just before gassing the interior.

After you're finished, you can spray the interior with "new car smell," which I think is available in a can.

Having said this, I find nothing wrong with the very faint odor of "old," as long as it's not from cigarettes, dogs, rat droppings, mildew, and other stinky things. "Old," by itself, is a dignified smell. I was frankly relieved as the heavy odor of the PO's Fabreeze wore off.

[John Coffey]

You also need to remove the headliner, cardboard pads behind the dash, etc. and clean all of that. The seats themselves store a lot of smells.

[kjphilippona]

I will have to give Oxium a try, my dad always kept a cover on this car under an awning and never rolled the windows down. I also found out why he only drove it on sunny days, it has been raining non stop for the past few days and even with a cover (not water proof) the passenger side floor board was flooded :disappoin

[mlaw7]

Having said this, I find nothing wrong with the very faint odor of "old," as long as it's not from cigarettes, dogs, rat droppings, mildew, and other stinky things. "Old," by itself, is a dignified smell. I was frankly relieved as the heavy odor of the PO's Fabreeze wore off.

Well said! In a way, it's the same with vintage guitars. I like to think of it as the fragrance of "classic." Or put another way, an olefactory patina.

[=Enigma=]

If you're worried about it, you might wipe everything down with Armorall just before gassing the interior.

Armorall? Blasphemy I say! I'd rather slather my dash with ozone or Ozium than use that stuff on anything I care about. But enough on that topic, it's been beaten to death several times.