MOLD what to do???

[sn95gtvert]

I traveled to Bozemen Montana for work. Left my car with my cover on parked outside my house. when i returned 11 days later my whole back seat has mold on it, the headliner a lil and a bit on the passenger seat.

there was no trace of mold before i left and the car had a good clean out about 60 days ago, including taking the seats out and cleaning them and carpet.

my question is what do i do? i have the woven cloth interior and fear the mold can never be removed from the material. if i cant save it, what do i do in the mean time (between interiors) to contain and battle what has happened?

thoughts, experience, smartass comments welcome!

these are the kind of seats im trying to save.

 

[KillNThrill24]

I had the same exact thing happen in my Camaro. It's a convertible too. Except I have leather in that. Honestly my carpet was pretty fckd but I pulled it all completely out and scrubbed the shit out of it with a good carpet scrubber and most of it's gone now. No longer smells like mold either. I had to remove the carpet from the trunk permanently as water kept finding it's way back there... The seats, since yours are cloth, just try the same thing man. Rub a dub dub, you gotta scrub! Lol it should get most of it out

 

[GMSMOKR]

Sorry to hear that...when I was younger and working in Detailing for Ziebart tidy car company, When a customer came in with a problem with Mold in the Car all we did was 1:Vac out the Car "Good" to get any or as much as possible Mold or Dampness out.
2: Get a Spray bottle with a Mild Bleaching agent inside and to kill the mold " In your Case 10% Bleach 20% Murphy Oil Soap 70% Water"
3: Let is sit for a few hours with the Windows Down
4: Vac out again Good or the area that you worked on.
5: If you can keep the Car Ventilated for a few days.

By the way I worked at Lear seating from 94 to 99 and most likely done your driver side seat..If you decided to pull the seat let know what Initials are under it. Mine is JJ
We cleaned them this way before we sent them to Fords in Dearborn MI...if they got something on them.

 

[CC'S95GT]

and find the leak.

 

[ttocs]

is that a pic of the mold? I don't see it....

 

[Mack]

and find the leak.

It could very well be that the moist came from the cleaning a few weeks earlier, couldn't it? I mean, there doesn't have to be a leak.

 

[RichV]

The resto places sell the big dessicant bags, the same stuff they put in electronic packages to soak up condensation. Put a couple of those in there when you store it.

 

[CC'S95GT]

It could very well be that the moist came from the cleaning a few weeks earlier, couldn't it? I mean, there doesn't have to be a leak.

sure, that's a possibility. Oregon gets lots of rain and humidity too. and the cover could have trapped the moisture inside of the car.

 

[sn95gtvert]

ttocs - that's a picture for reference on the style seats I have. (not my car)
I would post pictures of the damage but my phone went through the washing machine the other day. different but equally annoying problem atm.

Mack - the car has a leak, i highly doubt the mold came about because of the clean out. I find it strange that after 5 years of ownership this sort of problem just pops up in just over a weeks time.
the only leak I know of is right beside the drivers seat. water droplets will hit the door panel and splash to the drivers seat and inside the door cup.

 

[sn95gtvert]

sure, that's a possibility. Oregon gets lots of rain and humidity too. and the cover could have trapped the moisture inside of the car.

tons of rain, but i guess while i was gone we had a few sunny days with the cover on the car any moister trapped inside must have been heated. thats my only guess as to how it accelerated so quickly.

 

[KillNThrill24]

Sounds like maybe your molding is going bad on your driver side on the top itself. Mine did. And I had to replace it then add another strip ontop of it (yes looks kinda goofy) too keep the damn rain out lol

 

[whiplash473]

just torch the bastard

 

[sn95gtvert]

just torch the bastard

its insured while parked outside my house, I have a $15,000 policy not a bad idea.
altho i dont know if i can do the fraud thing. so burn it down, leave a note and try to make it look like a hate crime.

 

[John Nich]

take EVERYTHING OUT! bleach everything, replace carpet, steam clean seats and leave them out in the sun to kill the mold. or just replace them with JY leather seats.

 

[sn95gtvert]

i wont see sun until march here in oregon. the car is my daily driver. I have no garage or shop space.

if it stops raining tomorrow i might blow it apart finally but i still dont know where or how im going to clean/dry the parts.

 

[John Nich]

first things first take the rear seat out, Just two tabs push in and it lifts up and out, if that jute padding under the seat is wet, either throw it in the trash or put it in the dryer and that'll take the water and stank outta it, when my convertible top leaked that thing would hold smells and water for weeks. also worried me that it would rust the floors out quicker.

 

[CC'S95GT]

can you get a pic of the window where the leak is. It might be as simple as adjusting the window so it sits tighter to the seal.

 

[whiplash473]

its insured while parked outside my house, I have a $15,000 policy not a bad idea.
altho i dont know if i can do the fraud thing. so burn it down, leave a note and try to make it look like a hate crime.

if youre gonna do that dont say anything about it

 

[sn95gtvert]

if youre gonna do that dont say anything about it

lol not really going to burn it down, although i do feel that way sometimes.

the leak comes from the drivers side latch on the top, local shop quoted me at $350 to fix it awhile back.

my top has been shrinking slowly for a few years and its making things more difficult to seal.

 

[KillNThrill24]

^I hear ya there man! My rear Window came un glued and the top had shrunk so bad that I have about 3 layers of clear adhesive and gorilla tape haha..

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