ltoolio

I've searched high and low here on RL, as well as multiple Google queries, but can't seem to find a consistent, working answer...

I've started my winter projects now that she's shut down for a few months and one of my projects is to really give the interior a good, thorough cleaning in the hopes I can get rid of the old, musty smell.

I'm slowing taking out all of the carpet and putting it through a cold wash cycle, cleaning up and covering/replacing all the foam on the frame (I did quite a bit a few months back), and I've got some of the lava/charcoal bags sitting inside.

However, I suspect I've got a fair amount of stink sitting within the seat padding, but am not sure if there's any way to neutralize beyond taking them apart.

I have tried a couple runs of an Ozone Generator in the car, but it only deadened the smell for a few weeks. Right back afterward.

I currently have the seats in my office, and have done some disinfecting / vacuuming, baking-soading on the bottom, but I'm not sure how much that's going to do long term.

Any trick I'm missing?

Thanks in advance!

MainePorsche

https://rennlist.com/forums/928-foru...=porsche+smell

ltoolio

That's one of the threads that I've been on a few times.

I've already done pretty much everything in it, with the exception of the dash foam. That's coming out soon, but man....the car just stinks. Not sure if the Dash/console contribute the major amount to it, but if they do - I'll be happy guy.

L_perm

I've got the same problem. I can't tell exactly what the culprit is but my list includes:

- the carpet
- the vinyl
- the porous, molded foam under the carpet
- the foam padding in the seats
- the obnoxious amount of nasty old glue under the back seats and carpet (seriously, Porsche?)

I think it's actually a combination of all of the above. I sniffed the different items, and all of it stinks in its own way. The combination is musty with a bouquet of leaching chemicals and inorganic decay. The damn thing was made back when the rest of us didn't know what the chemical companies have always known--old plastics (and some new) belong in a toxic waste dump.

My solution--I hope--is too tear everything out and start over. Gonna have Bob at Classic 9 redo the whole interior once I get it stripped out. I don't know how I'm going to get all of that glue out without taking the paint under it too.

If my seat pads stink, and I can't get rid of it, then I'll either buy some 997 seats, or make some new ones. PITA!!

I'm glad that I spent extra on a relatively low mileage car that is in great mechanical shape. At a glance, the interior looks okay. But, a closer inspection of the interior has proved disappointing. I don't see any solution other than a complete do over.

And no, it doesn't smell anything like my 997 or 958. The 997 has the natural leather interior, and it smells like leather. The 958 just smells new--I wouldn't call it a leather smell. And my old '66 Mustang 289 Coupe with Pony interior didn't smell bad at all--completely unrestored original.

Good luck,
Louis

The Forgotten On

My issue with the stink was only when the car was parked and the interior got hot.

It turned out to be the padding underneath the front carpets (water makes them super stinky) and the insulation under the dash.

I redid the under dash insulation using 3M thinsulate while I had the AC torn out and redid the carpets entirely. Now the funk is gone and it smells like a car.

The under dash foam can get funky from water that can get through the recirc housing above the CE panel. It's best for the interior and the CE panel to redo the caulking around the housing to make sure it is water tight.

Tom in Austin

I have my carpets out and the molded foam covering the center tunnel and under the back seat cushions stinks. Not sure what I'm going to use, but after all the work to get to this point, can't imagine keeping that stuff in the car under the new carpet ..

wpgshark

Has anyone tried an ozone generator?

If they can remove the smell of smoke, they might be effective.

My 88 had a smell, but after removing the interior to refinish it and washing the carpets in the washing machine, I used some Bissel steam cleaner product that eliminates odors and has Scotch Guard in it. None of the interior parts have any smell, although I haven't reinstalled them.

I plan on trying the ozone generator on a Volvo convertible I'm working on which has a lot of smell. Much of it I traced back to the foam in the roof that had deteriorated.

LAnce

docmirror

I had an issue with this on an old car too, and my kid who is the chem engineer advised me that 99% of the time it's gonna be decaying organics somewhere. Another place to look is the AC evap drain tray and tube. The drain tray can get full of nasty mold and it'll stink a lot. Make sure the drain tube is open and clean the tray out with chlorine.

Speaking of chlorine, this is an excellent thing to wipe all the seats with in a reduction of clear water. I'd start with that, and do all the surfaces, including inside the little door pockets where goo can accumulate. Replacing ALL, and I mean ALL of the carpet segments will help too. When I redid my GT, that's the job that worked best for getting a better smell.

hwyengr

Since it smells just like my first VW, I've got a certain fondness for Old German Car Smell.

ltoolio

I have...blasted it twice. Only seemed to kill the smell for a few weeks.

I didn't realize the dash foam and insulation was so prone to a similar propensity to stink. Hoping the removal of both will help.

The original owner removed the AC system, so not sure if the drain tray/tube. Something to check, though.

Also - I like the idea of the full interior wipe-down. Didn't consider that originally.

prescott

Mine had it bad too when I first bought my 88.

Ozone generator helps. I bought one and gave my cars several 30 minute treatments. Deep carpet cleaning helps. While the carpet is out, cleaning the bare paint with a degreaser (Simple Green or Orange) helps, and they smell good. Cleaning the leather thoroughly and treating it with a good product like Leatherique helps. Foam and the glue holding it around the car can be stinky and should be removed (think wet foam bacterial nightmare stench). You can replace with quality sound deadening MLV. All this is easy, and there are posts on them if you need to look them up.

The hard stuff is getting to your AC condenser and cleaning 30 years of snot out of the box and off the condensor face. Clean out the fan box and replace the fan motor WYAIT. Roger's replacements are a breeze (remember you have to change the pins!). That made a HUGE difference in my car both in smell and HVAC performance. It was a fungal and bacterial Club Med in there. I should have cultured and seen what the population was! I agree with cleaning drain tubes too. Organics are the problem, and if you have flood/leak issues with the car in the past, replacing all the cloth may be your only answer.

Now my ride has a nice leather smell with maybe a hint of performance engine. Not girly, not stinky, just about right for an old Porsche. Certainly better than when I started. Completed the condenser clean about 6 months ago, and when I get in my car now it smells like....a 928!

Landseer

Pull the c.e. panel and slide your hand under the tar/foam insulation against pass footwell. If that gets wet, and there are a couple ways it can happen, the moisture can stay trapped ad infinitum.

Imo000

It's the horse hair used in the seat padding that makes the 928 smell like an old European car.

RennPartsDirect

I just had all 4 seats recovered and new carpet installed inside my '82. The seat padding I think it the biggest offender. My upholstery guy liberally sprays the foam cushions with Lysol to kill any bacteria and mold (if present) and then he uses his steamer to thoroughly heat them and clean them. He does this several times until the smell is neutralized. He did the same to my 911 seats. I bought an original donor pair to be reupholstered since the ones in mine were from a 944. Those smelled something terrible. He repeated the process 4 or 5 times and now the interior of the car smells of only new materials (for the most part). I would not be certain how you would remove the smell without completely reupholstering your seats to fully expose both sides of the foam...

dr bob

Steam works great for seat foam with the covers off, but by that time you might want to get with Rob or Paul C to get new replacement pads and be done with it.


The now infamouse "old German car" stink was cuased by the horsehair and similar stuffing in the seats. Get it a little damp and warm, and the stable smell would eventually overcome the leather tanning fragrance.

Good or bad, my sense of smell deteriorated a lot while I was, for almost 15 years, with the largest perfume manufacturer in the world. It's not Chanel. Eventually consumers decided that they wanted less in their household products, but the damage to my fragrance sensors was done.