Any suggestions on how to get rid of the musty smell from an old car...other than replacing the seats, headliner and carpet? My car has been garage kept but still has that antique car smell.

I have already thought about keeping McDonald's fries or a pizza in there...but, that is only masking the smell.

 

I think some of it comes from the outgassing of the older plastic materials like dash components and steering wheel rings, etc. But another source may be from mold/mildew in the fabrics, perhaps a good cleaning/shampoo of materials may help. I would suggest you could try one of those ozone air purifiers for a weekend and see if that helps.

 

For general fabrics like my musty old tin can camper, I've had good luck with Febreze. It really does seem to kill the odor rather than mask it.

 

WHY? I love the "old car" smell. It takes me back to better days. People would pay big money for that smell if you could put it in a aerosol can. It smells that way for a reason.....It's old.

 

I love the way the Cutlass smells old too! For some reason, it just makes me smile every time I get in! LOL!! I had a guy at a show this summer ask me if I minded if he stuck his head in the window and smelled! I told him to go right ahead. He said he loves the smell of the old cars too! She doesn't smell musty...just old!

 

A large container of Arm & Hammer put into a pan will help absorb odor when put in the interior. When you have good weather, rolling down the windows and opening the doors will help air it out.

 

Do you have it in the garage right now? If so, I would leave the windows rolled down. Like 69w3155 said, you could use the arm and hammer in a tray or just sprinkle it in the carpet and vacuum up after a couple of days, either way, it should help alleviate the smell.

 

Or you could try a tin pie plate full of vinegar sitting on the floor on each side...remove before moving

 

Thanks for all the tips...Oldsguy, for my passenger's sake, I am glad it is the plastic gassing and not me

First, I will start with the baking soda, vinegar or Febreze. If that does not work...maybe spend some cabbage to get an ozone air purifier.

I have the car in the garage and I have the windows cracked a bit - but it is under a cover and does not get much air circulation.

I do not mind the smell...I have had quite a few old cars that smelled "old". I married a princess and she does not want to ride in a car that smells old.

Maybe there are not too many women out there, like Cutlassgal, that like the smell.

 

My wagon smelled kinda funky untill I started leaveing the windows down every chance I get. I also put a vanilla litte tree under the seat, I like vanilla, and helps keep the car smelling good.

 

My car sits 24/7 in a garage WITH the windows down all the time. In the years I've owned it, the smell has not gone away. As for the air freshener trees..I think they smell worst. IMO anyway.

 

If it is in a garage I suggest removing the cover and rolling the windows down. This will help the interior air out some. Personally, I like the green trees. I don't need any of those funky smells like yellow, black, or blue. I will stick with green!

 

My wagon has the typical old mopar scent, even with always sitting windows down in the garage, but I like that scent.
My cutlass smelled of b/o and cigarettes (not even cigarettes, but the horrible smell left in fabric after smoking in a car). I tried airing it out, air freshener trees, NOTHING WORKED! I pulled my entire interior apart and shampooed it in my living room and reassembled. Now it smells good.

 

The back seat of my 69 drop top went thru 6 high school boys. When I re did the interior, I left the back seat as a "Shrine"

I'm afraid to smell it.

 

I love the smell of outgassing plastic in the morning.
I open the door, bury my face in it and snort my interior.
I'll take a pass on Jamesbo's back seat though.

The plastic outgassing is the good new car smell, you can see the plasticizer fog on the windows above any plastic or vinyl from it.
It's probably the carpeting if it has the mildew funk smell.

 

Ha, reminds me of my old 83 Custom Cruiser. Thing had 10-15 air fresheners tied to the emergency brake. The car always had a nice smooth vanilla ice odor to it.

All cars have a smell. I never noticed if my old vehicles had a similair smell. My 87 Cutlass Ciera smelled like mildew, and had creatures living in it. Took care of them by bug-bombing it. Never found the dead squirrel. Trunk stunk to high heavens. It jumped in there while I was working one day and never made its way back out.

My current vehicle, a 1978 Thunderbird, does not have an old vehicle stink to it. Just smells like upholstery and vanilla(air freshener).

--Ryan
(saving for a 68-72 Cutlass!)

 

Wow! That would be sick.