That Old Car Smell

[TomoHawk]

I'm referring to that musty smell old cars have. It might be from the old carpet foam, mildew or mold, gasoline leaks or whatever. Does anybody have a defensive plane to get an old car to smell 'better?'

 

Driving with the windows down helps, but it comes back with a day or so in ther sun.... or rain.

[Tim240z]

Go to your local parts store and get an aerosol product called "Ozium". Works great. Someone at work had a cat pee in his NEW car and it smelled terrible, but Ozium did the trick.

Tim

[TomoHawk]

I remember Ozium from the '70s... I was kind of expecting a suggestion that I clobber everything with Febreeze?

[Pop N Wood]

Personally I like the old car smell of my Z.

 

I was going to suggest febreeze. My daughter threw up a quart of yogurt on a 100 degree day. I lived with the smell for 3 days before using febreeze to completely remove the smell. Leaving your windows open when it is parked should also help.

 

BTW, ozium also works, but it only attacks the smell in the air. In fact, it was so effective at killing smoke smell that the Navy considered having a tube of it in your pocket as possession of drug paraphernalia.

[Cruez]

I'm with Jim..

 

I like the smell of the old Z...

 

Ozium works great though.... like he said, for smells in the air...

[fl327]

ozium. dont hotbox without it.

[Guest tx84ae]

I LOVE the smell of old Z-cars! They all have the same distinct aroma that can't be beat.

[TomoHawk]

I like the smell as part of the old-car thing, but when it gets kinda strong, it ruins the effect.

[Guest Perry]

OK I'm gonna spread some random heresay that someone told me. The source is an old car guy who has rebuilt, repaired, hot rodded, just about one of every vehicle on the planet since the 40's.

 

Old plastic dashes of that era were made of a material that loses moisture all the time, particularly in heat. It's this drying out that produces that funny old car smell that all the old Datsuns seem to have. This is of course assuming you don't have a leak somewhere causing mildew.

Whatever it is I love the smell of my old datsun, It was the car my wife and I dated in, and we both like to sit in it occasionally and reminisce because the smell brings back memories of cruising around together.

By the way, my car still smells the same after sitting for over a year with no interior other than the dash, which seems to support the old guys theory. and another thing, he swears armor all should never be applied to plastic/vinyl dashes or it will crack from drying out. I use "Nu Vinyl" which he seems to approve of, it looks just like lotion and the car really smells like an old datsun for a day or two after applying.

Perry

[TomoHawk]

So if I remove the original dashboard, I could probably get rid of most of the smell, right? There will probablly still be some odor from the carpets, but I think Febreeze and some fresh air might be ablle to handle that.

 

Where can you get a dash to completely replace the original that doesn't have any (older type) foam, or any foam at all, in it?

[Guest Perry]

I don't think he was talking about the foam, it's the vinyl/plastic covering. and don't forget this is heresay, I'd hate to see you spend a bunch of money on something that didn't fix the problem because of me.

Make sure you don't have leaks, a lot of older cars leak at the windshield into the dash area and mildew grows under the carpet there.

I've used Ozium in cars for years and it works great, get the little can and put it in the glove box.

Perry

[TomoHawk]

I think I would agree with the foam degradation theory, as foam and other materials, like the particle board produced around the same time, had chemicals and solvents in them that would come out slowly over time. The heat in a car with lotsa glass only helps the chemicals/smell come out.

 

But you never know. I usually say, "It's always something SIMPLE, no matter what YOU think."

[RPMS]

My suggestion is a combo approach: Use Febreeze extensively inside the car wherever there's insulation, carpet, or padding. Spray the heck out of it. Then leave the car parked in the sun all day long on a hot day with the windows cracked about 1". The moisture in the febreeze will take the smells away with it as it evaporates.

 

Then go through the entire car with a damp washrag and clean ALL the vinyl. Dust holds onto smells, and just wiping down every surface in the car will do a surprising amount of good. There's lots of dust in the ductwork behind the dashboard and behind the plastic panels in the rear of the car. If you can remove them and wash them with mild detergent and water, that will help, too.

 

Also, be sure to take your seats out and spray the underpadding with febreeze, too.

 

Good luck!

[Z-TARD]

This may sound weird, but I got a brochure for the new 350Z a few months ago, and the paper that its printed on smells exactly like my 240Z.

Probably a plot by Nissan to get old Z owners to go out and splurge on the new 350Z. Have they no shame?

 

 

 

Mike

[Moridin]

Any one ever heard of an Ozone bomb. Someone told me about this once, but I never really checked into it. Basically using O3 (like 02 but with one more oxygen atom - aka ozone) to absorb smells and all. I think something happens chemically, where the O3 breaks down to O2 when that extra oxygen atom bonds with smelly stuff. Someone who has gone through more than one semester of chemistry would be much better at explaining this stuff. Just a thought.

[Guest gtmattz]

When I was in highschool my dad had a 260Z that I got to drive quite a bit. When I got my old beatup 78 280, the first thing I noticed was that when I sat down in it, it smelled the same as my dads. I love that smell! brings back memories of screeching 180's in the parking lot after school let out and doing 120 on the hiway back from school ( that last one was the last time i got to take it to school, lol, the guy that sold the car to my dad was out working in his garden and heard "a sound like a banshee" up on the hiway and looked up to see my flyin by then he had to call my dad and ask how fast he was going, of course)

 

sigh, the good ole days

[Guest silverbullet]

OK I'm gonna spread some random heresay that someone told me. The source is an old car guy who has rebuilt' date=' repaired, hot rodded, just about one of every vehicle on the planet since the 40's.

 

Old plastic dashes of that era were made of a material that loses moisture all the time, particularly in heat / and another thing, he swears armor all should never be applied to plastic/vinyl dashes or it will crack from drying out,Perry[/quote']

 

I think your source is correct as I have heard the old polymers(vinyl,plastics) weren't made as well as they are today and give off a lot of fumes, I am convinced that this is the reason my lower windshield has that foggy film on it even soon after cleaning. I am not what I would consider an "old guy" but have been using (or used to) Armor All for more than a few years and I feel your guy is correct as dashes in my family did seem to get a little brittle if you didn't use it regularly, I have been using Turtle Waxes "2001" for a while now and am happy with it. TomoHawk, just my 02 but I would do just like RPMS suggested also if you haven't taken your heater motor/blower out you might want to do that, I took mine out about ten yrs. ago and it was covered with black funk don't know what it was for shure but I think it was yrs. of particles from the dash piling up on the blower fan I used electrical spray cleaner to spray it off so as not to damage the motor(was in a hurry).