Tales from the Garage - You have no idea how irritated I am

On Sunday I was working in the garage, going over a couple of things on my motorcycle. I lost (but found tonight) the anti-rattle clips for the rear caliper. I poked my head in my RX7 to see if for some reason they made their way in there. When I did that, I smelled a faint urine type smell which further added to my irritation but I kept on my frantic search for the clips. Well, I'm out there tonight doing some spring cleaning. I thought I should figure out what the smell is, thinking somehow something got wet in there. I look and what do I see? Mold on the door panels, steering wheel, seat belts, shifter boot - you name it.

The only thing I can think of is, here in Baltimore, during the last 7 weeks we've had approx 5ft of snow; that has now all melted. We have also had several inches of rain over the last two weeks, and the ground is now very saturated. The garage doors are not seald very well plus there is a drain in the floor which provides a source of humidity. I guess I'll start by capping the drain.

Welcome to my world.

grab a couple of those chemical dehumidifier tubs and stick them in the car. Should have em at your local hardware store.

Thanks. I've got to run to the big box home improvement store tomorrow. I gotta figure out if any of the interior bits can be saved though.

CamaroKeith wrote: Thanks. I've got to run to the big box home improvement store tomorrow. I gotta figure out if any of the interior bits can be saved though.

Should be able to save it. My dad had a 55 Chrysler that he kept under a cover outside. Once a year I would go and remove the cover, clean the points and get it running and clean all the mold off the interior with some mild cleaners and a sponge. Then he would drive it once or twice and put the cover on it and wait for next year.

After 4 years of that mom handed me the title and said take it home. I stupidly sold it a year later...

mold is really bad this year....

How can we blame this on Toyota........time to lawyer up.

I haven't opened my Z up since last fall. It doesn't have door seals in it and is sitting outside under a non waterproof cover. There's probably 3 inches of water on the floor. Most of the interior got canned when I got it, and it's already really rusty, so no big loss there.

My parent's boat typically needs to be de-molded every spring. It's doable but not fun. I forget what they use but I believe its some sort of weapons-grade bleach-based marine store product.

I keep the Buick's windows rolled down a bit when it's in the garage. Seems to keep the mold away. I also lay cardboard or plywood on the garage floor under the car to keep moisture away from the chassis. I'll be doing epoxy on the floor in the spring.

skruffy wrote: I haven't opened my Z up since last fall. I There's probably 3 inches of water on the floor. *** and it's already really rusty,

If theres enough intact sheetmetal to hold 3" of water that almost qualifies as rust free in datsun circles!

lesabre400 wrote: My parent's boat typically needs to be de-molded every spring. It's doable but not fun.

I hang a bare light bulb inside all winter. Keeps it dry enough.

I remember a boat we had that we had paid good money to have winterised professionally. Seems they either shut the fridge, or it closed on it's own. What we found inside come spring qualifed as intelligent life..

My Challenge(d) Camaro was full of mold after just a couple of weeks. i just removed the interior. It wasn't worth trying to save.

its been so wet here that the north walls and undersides of the soffits on my house got covered in gunk! i can only imagine what would be lurking in a stored and closed up car

A coupel of friends had the same problem. They don't have a garage and have to store the cars outside under covers. The mold was bad. Really bad.

lesabre400 wrote: My parent's boat typically needs to be de-molded every spring. It's doable but not fun. I forget what they use but I believe its some sort of weapons-grade bleach-based marine store product. I keep the Buick's windows rolled down a bit when it's in the garage. Seems to keep the mold away. I also lay cardboard or plywood on the garage floor under the car to keep moisture away from the chassis. I'll be doing epoxy on the floor in the spring.

Both of the windows of both cars were rolled down and there is cardboard under the front 2/3's of the RX7. I don't really thing I could have prevented this.

I did get two tubs of Damp Rid and stick one in each of the cars.

This would have bit hard if I had something really nice in the garage.