my 911 SMELLS!

[jfw834]

ok so I reluctantly admit it, after other people telling me, that my 79 SC has a musty kinda old smelling interior. I haven't noticed so much at all with open top driving, but when the car has been sitting with the top on and windows up, it stinks pretty bad upon opening the door.

So how do I get this 25 y/o interior to SMELL as good as the exterior of my car LOOKS??

would love to hear some ideas. I tried a small air freshener and it only poorly covers up the smell and I have decided that I need something to actually REMOVE the smell. I also cleaned the leather seats/dash and it didn't really do anything as far as smell goes.

short of ordering a new carpet kit from pelican what do I do?

I asked the same question a couple years ago. Best answer (as usual) came from Early_S_Man. He told me to pour dry granular laundry detergent into a or some shallow flat pans an sit around the interior. Did the trick.

[bell]

clorox makes a nice "dissinfectant" spray bottle, i use this on cars at work that i have to work on that smell funky.......along with our work trucks
i'll have to check exactly what it is, but it works well IMO.

check to see if your carpet is moist anywhere.....that cou;d cause mildew....my targa had one spot that was moist before my interior rebuild.


edit: didn't see marks post.......what a great idea

[Trust Me]

Good tips. A little off but, my Land Cruiser has a funky smell that I just can't get rid of. Bought it used. It has a faint wet dog smell. It has no leaks or moisture of any kind.

[VaSteve]

Maybe yours smells "wrong" or something, but mine has a distinctive Porsche smell: Leather, burned oil, dried sweat from white knuckle drives...you get the idea. I keep the top on in the garage just to go out and bask in the aroma. I aslo run the car with the garage door shut if that tells you anything about me

[emcon5]

Fabreze. Hose it down.

Tom

[Bob's Flat-Six]

You've got to get the natural smell back.
Mine has it's original leather/ German plastic and rubber smell, with just a hint of gasoline & oil. I love that 911 smell.
I should bottle it

[unclebilly]

Stuff bounce (or any other fabric softener) sheets under the seats. Jam one under each seat between the springs and the foam. Change them every spring or more often if you eat at Taco Bell...

[bigrubberjeep]

So true, a 911 over 10 years old smells like no other car

[jfw834]

did some more research...

anyone ever hear of leaving a small thing full of vinegar in the car for a few nights?

also someone said to leave a chopped up apple in the car for like a week.....it draws in the odor and leaves an apple scent?

I tried the dryer sheets the first day I got the car, that also just "covered up" the smell

emcon5, if i use febreeze will the scent of the febreeze go away eventually? and will I need to keep using it?

[Steve87-911]

Originally posted by VaSteve
...I also run the car with the garage door shut if that tells you anything about me

LOL!

[88'3xBlk911Cab]

There is a product used in RV's called "dries-z-air". They are crystals that you put in this plastic container and they draw out the moisture in the interior. There is a pan in the unit that collects the water that it pulls out. Empty the water out every couple of days. My folks used these in their campers and RV's every winter in Oregon....it rains A LOT in Oregon and we never had a mold or musty smell issue.

[Aussie]

Nilodor works pretty well.

http://www.nilodor.com/

[anthony]

On my recently purchased car I found a light dusting of mold growing on the bottom of the rear factory carpet pieces. It seems like that porous dimpled backing is the perfect place for mold to grow.

I took those two carpet pieces out and the car is 50 times better. I was thinking that some day I may just put in a whole new carpet kit unless the originals can be cleaned.

[Loual]

I agree with Anthony. You need to find the source of the musty smell, and it's probably mold or mildew somewhere, likely under the carpet, especially in a targa or cab which is more likely to have leaks that allow the water in there in the first place. The smell is just a symptom of a larger problem. Good luck!

[89911]

If you have a dehumidifier, set it up on one of the seats, close the window and run it for a day or two at a resonable level, (40-50%) humidity to dry out the interior. Then, hit it with some odor killing (Febreze auto?).

[FLAT6FAN]

Auto Detailers usually have a product to rememdy this. I have had both dogs and people get sick in my old Lexus. The detailer has been to remove the odors so that it not noticeable, even on a hot summer day. You may also want to put a fan on the area of the car that smells for a couple of days.

If you are down in the Costa Mesa/Newport Beach area Mario at Detail King (17th Street & Orange in Costa Mesa) is the guy to talk. He does a lot Porsches for dealers in the area. Good Luck.

[Zeke]

Originally posted by anthony
.........I may just put in a whole new carpet kit unless the originals can be cleaned.

Detailers put the carpet on the ground a hose it down, scub it with soap and rinse with the hose. They suck the water out of the carpet with a shop vac and set in the sun to dry. Nothing special about cleaning catpet for them.

As far as killing mold and mildew, most mildewcides have a bleach in them. I'd be careful using a bleach, even on the backside of carpet. But, you gotta do something or it'll come back. Perhaps Lysol, but Lordy, the smell.

[anthony]

Sunlight (UV) also kills mold. Maybe a multi-pronged attack is needed: mildewcide treatment followed by carpet shampooing, followed by letting the carpets fully dry in the sun.