How do you get rid of that smell??

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mikec4193
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How do you get rid of that smell??

Post by mikec4193 »

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So I was told this car has sat for several years in a garage/shop as the previous owner had passed away...thankfully no mice nests which is a wonderful thing...
I took a hot soapy bucket of Murphys Oil Soap and wiped the seats down in the front and the back...then I put some leather dressing on the front seats in hopes of getting the stink out...

It is not the smell of anything dead which is a good thing...it is not the same smell as what I had in my VW bug...this is like a old stinky stale dead air smell...like an old trunk full of old stale stuff...

I did find 4 pieces of old stinky red carpet still attached to the car...2 on the inner rocker panels and the other 2 were stuck to the inner wing panels...they were pretty ripe when I pulled them out....

Any one have any good tricks to freshen the interior up on the little cars?

Thanks for any insight.

MikeC
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Chief
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Re: How do you get rid of that smell??

Post by Chief »

If you're quite sure there's nothing left creating the smell (e.g. under the back seat or something like that) and it's just lingering then a large basin of coffee granules works if you're happy to leave the car closed up for a couple of weeks to let it absorb the smells, there's also bicarbonate of soda as an alternative.
moggiethouable
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Re: How do you get rid of that smell??

Post by moggiethouable »

Check the roof lining.
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mrs.smith2012
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Re: How do you get rid of that smell??

Post by mrs.smith2012 »

I’d also suggest bicarb, great at absorbing fusty smells!
POMMReg
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Re: How do you get rid of that smell??

Post by POMMReg »

Chief wrote: Sat Jun 27, 2026 12:31 am If you're quite sure there's nothing left creating the smell (e.g. under the back seat or something like that) and it's just lingering then a large basin of coffee granules works if you're happy to leave the car closed up for a couple of weeks to let it absorb the smells, there's also bicarbonate of soda as an alternative.
...and if you don't like the smell of coffee?🤪🤣
Further investigations uncovered it was an inside job!!
Mervin
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Re: How do you get rid of that smell??

Post by Mervin »

"It is not the smell of anything dead which is a good thing.
Leather is obtained from dead cows. I'll shut up now. :wink:
59Elva
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Re: How do you get rid of that smell??

Post by 59Elva »

Febreze or those little Christmas tree things that hang from the mirror? There are all kinds of room freshener products out there if you don’t mind the replacement smell. Is there evidence of mold or mildew?
Bill B
Bill B. ‘59 Pickup USA
mikec4193
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Re: How do you get rid of that smell??

Post by mikec4193 »

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The best way to get the old car smell out of the old car is to take the pieces that smell out of the car...I wiped everything down several times so we will see how is smells when I put all these pieces back into the car...

Fingers crossed it smells not so old at that point in time...

MikeC
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