What a beauty, the colour is perfect. Seeing mothballs worries me though.
Reminds me of a joke we said as kids;
How do you see mothballs?
With a magnifying glass!
Nice car. I don't think the mothballs would bother me as much as that headrest.
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Prince Edward Island
'64 Parisienne CS "barn find" - last on the road in '86 ... Owner Protection Plan booklet, original paint, original near-mint aqua interior, original aqua GM floor mats, original 283, factory posi, and original rust.
The car likely just came out of storage. A lot of people put mothballs in the car during storage to repel mice. Hard to tell if that headrest is permanent or not.
Very nice car . My brother uses mothballs all the time. I tried to get him to stop because of the chemicals they release and the smell. Everybody else I know uses shaved Irish Spring soap and it seems to work good.
And that's what worries me. Usually the mothballs went in because the mice had been in there.
It would be hard to know until you looked at it in person, but I see that more as an 'ounce of prevention'. Lots of people put a lot of care into storing their cars, which would include putting in mouse prevention techniques "just in case". I've seen some even put their car up on jack stands to remove weight from the suspension and avoid tire flat-spotting.
Then at the other end of the spectrum are folks like myself, who drive it in, take out the battery and call it a day...
Remember the old "mothballs in the gas tank" trick to supposedly boost octane?
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Prince Edward Island
'64 Parisienne CS "barn find" - last on the road in '86 ... Owner Protection Plan booklet, original paint, original near-mint aqua interior, original aqua GM floor mats, original 283, factory posi, and original rust.
"Once used freely to knock out pesky clothing moths, pungent mothballs come with their own set of issuesnamely, they're made with one of two toxic pesticides (naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene). "These chemicals work by transforming from solids into odorous vapors," says Kari Warberg Block, founder of EarthKind, a company that makes plant-based bug deterrents. When repeatedly inhaled, they can trigger headaches, nausea, dizziness, and even anemia. (If you have an active infestation or want to take measures to prevent one, follow our guide to moth-proofing your home sans mothballs.) To make matters worse, the smelly gases can easily embed themselves in the grain of wooden furniture, imparting a stench that can endure for years.
Luckily, with some tough intervention and patience, it can be banished. Here, Warberg Block shares her top methods.
Absorption
Leave bowls of cat litter, white vinegar, or coffee groundsall of which neutralize smellsin the drawers or compartments of a dresser or wardrobe. "Activated charcoal is also a powerful absorbent that's sold in little bags in organizational and home stores," says Warberg Block. "It works by trapping odors in little catacombs, eliminating them naturally." We like the Moso Bamboo Charcoal Bags (from $10, containerstore.com). Or, try EarthKind's Stay Away Moths Pouches ($26 for 4, earthkind.com), which are filled with absorptive corncob and cedar wood, and fragrant essentials oils like rose and citronella; these can both reduce the odor and keep the pests away.
Fresh Air and Heat
Together, they can lift unwanted aromas from wood. If you can, take the piece outside on a sunny day and remove any drawers. "The heat will speed up the sublimation process, turning any remaining mothball particles into gas that can drift away," Warberg Block says, "and the ventilation of an outdoor or garage space will keep it from settling into other soft surfaces in your home." If the item can't be moved easily, try opening the windows in the room where it's located and aiming a blow-dryer or space heater at it (from a safe distance) for 15 to 30 minutes daily for up to three days. For this approach, wear a face mask to minimize inhalation of the fumes."
I didn't copy/paste the last suggestion, as the above applies to wooden furniture but should be applicable to a car interior, but here it is: "If the above strategies don't work, your last resort is to lightly sand all of the item's exterior and interior surfaces"
Another site suggests leaving baking soda, like the little fridge packs you can buy in your grocery store, inside to absorb the odours.
Sounds like leaving it outside on hot sunny days with the windows down would pretty much do the trick, but I don't know how long it would take to get rid of the smell. I haven't seen mothballs in years... and I'm not talking about the ones on moths, as I've never actually looked for them.
That mothball smell would be a deal breaker for me. It keeps me away.
That said, it is quite a nice example. Is the front bumper bent in?
Yeah, I'd say that somebody smacked the lower part of the bumper on the end of a high curb or a rock or something. I wonder if it could be pulled out by attaching straps to something immovable, like a telephone pole or similar, and pulling it out with a come-along jack... or slowly backing up while somebody watches the bumper?
