Nice and sunny this weekend and for a change, minimal 'honey-do's', so I decided I was going to work on getting the Trooper running again.

Unfortunately, when I went to try and roll it closer to my garage, not only is the outside covered with fuzzy lil green things (pressure washer took care of that pretty easy!), when I opened the door, so is the inside! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />

It's been sitting all closed up for several months during our heavy duty rainy season, so I should have anticipated this, but too much going on...

Anyway, any advice or suggestions from detailers or anyone who's had to clean up a similarly ignored vehicle?

The hard surfaces shouldn't be too bad, I figure a bleach solution and a toothbrush, I'm thinking mostly about the cloth portion of the seats and the carpet. I'm not overly fond of the brown/tan interior, so potential discoloration isn't too much of a concern.

And, yes, removing the carpet completely and Line-Xing the whole floor is a possible consideration. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Once I kill the green growy things inside, I can get back to trying to resurrect this thing!

TIA

Jay

Thats my vote! And if the seats are fairly moss ridden, I would look at replacing them, or at worst a seat cover.

The rest seems pretty straight forward.

Next time you leave a vehicle parked for a few months , especialy where its damp , leave the windows cracked just a little for ventilation.You won't have the mold/mildew problem then.I had a vehicle parked for 4 years , in a covered area , but it was sealed or airtight , so damp got in , but I had the windows opened about half an inch , and no problem.Of course for the rest of the vehicle I started it up every couple of months and moved it around a little.But always have some air flow through when you leave a vehicle sit for a while <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

I'm probably a bit too paranoid, part of my job deals with our home weatherization program and I've been reading a bunch of e-mails dealing with respiratory problems from mold, so I want to make sure it's dead! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" />

The rest gets to be a 'chicken or the egg' thing. I guess I can gut it to not worry about the mold/mildew and then if and when I get it running can worry about how much money I'm willing to put back into it as far as Line-X, new seats, etc...

Thanks (and you too, Barak!)

Jay

Some people are allergic to mold and some aren't. A few people are very allergic to mold. Only you or your allergist can tell if you are...

BTW I am an environmental consultant, including mold, so if you need any advice let me know...but it seems you are on the right track. Clean it up, hopefully without making it airborne any more than you have to.

Hopefully the mold hasn't degraded the upholestry...I have see it basiclly degrade cloth to where it falls apart wherever the mold spots were.

I had mold growing under my carpet and what not, sooo I just ripped out the carpet and Herculined the interior!

If the seats are wet, then mold probobly is growing under the upholstry, so I say ditch the seats to be safe.

Herculined Interior is aweosme! I had some more water get in after I finished it, and I just mop it up!

Well I don't know if having the windows a little open would help at all. Well, at lease not for me. When I was working in my eng. swap I had my amigo sitting under a roof, it never got wet, and I had the soft-top off the whole time and even like that I still got some mold growing on my sit belts <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/angry.gif" alt="" />

Sal

Even though it doesn't get wet , there is always dampness in the air.Having the soft top off is too much air to have.You want the windows cracked just a little bit , not too much.If they are open too much , it defeats the purpose of having them cracked a little.A good example would be to cruise a junk yard and look in some of the vehicles they have.The ones with no doors , or even no windows will be pretty moldy.If you find some where the windows are just barely cracked , you won't see anything , unless it was wet to begin with , like a leaky floor or something and the carpet was soaked.Then theres too much moisture all ready , and if you had the windows all the way up , your truck would be all fogged up in the morning as it has no where to go , plus the extra water in the carpets.