Hi, I want to restore my 92 Camaro Z28 Convertible to original condition. First a few facts. It hasn't been on the street since 2004. It sat in my yard for a few months then got put in my pole barn under a cover since 2005. I finally have the time to drive it again but the mice invaded it. So I would like some help figuring out what all I needs to be done before trying to start it.

Here is some basic info. It smells horrid. I set traps for several days to make sure all the mice are gone. I found nests on top of the motor, in the trunk, on the carpet and under the back seat. Four nests so far. Under the hood has mouse dropings eveywhere. The fluids are all old including the partial tank of gas.

So far I've taken out the seats, console, carpet and started taking the IP apart to check the duck work. The interior damage so far is the carpet smells, the pad and some foam insulation have been used for nesting and the one rear set is missing some foam. I also climbed under it and found that the rearend, rear stablizer bar and drive shaft have rusted badly. The front rotors also look to be quit rusted.

Any info you can give about what needs to be done to get rid of the mouse smell and make the car safe to drive again would be appreciated.

Thanks for reading this post
Mike

 

Oh man thats a bummer. I had to laugh though...I told my wife on your page about the mice on top was an advertisement for Orkin Rodent Solutions and below is a Terminex ad. Sorry about the mice and rust. I hope you can get your Camaro back to where you want it. Looking forward to some pics of your ride.

 

This sounds so familiar, lol.

When I got my vert, it had rats living in it. I threw every piece of cloth that was in the interior in the garbage, and found a big nest in my dashboard, and they also cheewed up countless plastic parts including seatbelt trim, strut dust caps, and the blower motor.

After replacing the carpet, seats, and welding in half a new floor, the smell pretty much went away but you can still smell that something was in there when you get close to the floorboards.

I was just going to put some air fresheners IN the dashboard, and see if that helped, haha.

Good luck!

 

IMHO--
Check ALL wires under the hood, even the harness plug(s) on the firewall where they go into the car. Check ALL wires that run to the fuse box.
Check wires behind the radio console//climate controll.
Tail light wires. Maybe the wires to the gas tank.

If the rust is surface rust on the rotors, spray them with BrakeClean & see if there is pitting.
Put it on jack stands, & inspect the drive shaft & U-joints.

Tires dry rotted?
Get the old gas out, when you put good gas in, add some water remover ( auto parts store, KMart, AutoZone, etc )

Rent a rug steam cleaner for the seats & carpet-- get the stuff that says it removes pet urine//odor.

That is what I would do.

{ Teach that darn cat that the ONLY friendly " MOUSE " is the SmallBlock Chevy!!!}

 

Mouse waste is a pain in the ***. The nests aren't a big deal, just suck em up with a shop vac. The worst part is the smell, and about the only way to get rid of the smell is to remove the soiled parts and replace them. You might have to scrub anything else that's had mouse urine exposure with Clorox and water, or Lysol, something strong that will neutralize the odors.

As far as the rest, I'd put in a fresh battery and see if it'll start. If it starts, run it down and top it off with fresh gas. The rest of the fluids shouldn't really matter, but an oil change is a good idea. Chances are the rust on the brakes isn't a big deal, a couple stops will probably knock the rust off. If you're really worried you can clean up the surface with 3M surface prep pads. They'll still look a bit funky, but after a few stops they look like new.

 

This happened to my 86 s10 when I put a crate motor in it . They got in through the firewall and F'ed everything up. I tried everything to get out the smell but it was a complete loss . Including the whole wiring harness. Had to replace EVERYTHING and even still on a hot day I could smell it , well hardly but it was there .

 

This isn't all that helpful a reply, but I remember growing up my dad had his '67 Firebird towed home after he bought it to restore. It had nice in it too. I remember he set traps and when he caught one he chased my mom around the house with the dead mouse stuck in the trap. One of those childhood memories that was probably only funny if you were there...

 

I'd change the oil before starting it. The oil may have separated by then. I got a car once that had sat for several years and that was the result.

 

I would definitely drop the tank and clean it. or atleast get the old gas out, put new gas in with some stabilize or something of the sort. some plugs wouldnt hurt, new battery. if your worried about the rotors and see if they can be shaved alittle.check all electrical connections.

Best of luck. Hope you can get it started.


also it might not hurt to change the oil and put a little amount in the cylinders to help lubricate them on the first start.

 

Time to post an update. So far the passengers area has been gutted. The carpet pad got chewed a little (ordered new carpet from ACC). Part of the foam for one rear seat got chewed. Not enough to be a problem. I started cleaning with Fabreze multi-purpose cleaner. I Cleaned the duckwork and dash mate. My son and I almost have the IP back together. No chewed wires so far. Next up is to clean the floorpan if it ever warms up again here in Michigan.

Thanks for all the suggestions

 

OY!!!! i too am restoring a " barn find " 86 iroc mines been a rat haven for 8 yrs ,29,475,6 miles so far its EVERY brake component gas tank ,lines hoses ,EVRY rubba part on da ca so i know what you mean.its as if ...long ago some insideous engineer with long range goals designed our cars to be tasty havens for rodents

 

There are two areas commonly overlooked you need to check. The cowl area where the wiper transmission is is a spot they tend to nest in. Also the dash ducts. Drop the blower fan and see what it looks like. Often they nest in that as well and you will find it loaded with feces, bodies and nesting material.

 

Update, after reading the last post. I checked the blower motor. What a mess. After getting that cleaned the smell of the car improved quit a bit.

On to what's been done so far. We finished putting the interior back together. While cleaning the trunk. I found a nest under the spare tire and behind the left taillight. I had to re-wire the trunk and taillight. After getting these things done. The car doesn't smell.

On to trying to start this thing. I changed the regular tune-up parts (dist cap, rotor, plugs & wires). I also changed all of the fluids except for the antifreeze.

Now for the problems. The car will roll over and fire if I spray gas into the intake. Other wise I get nothing. I can't seem to get fuel to the cylinders. I first checked the fuel pressure at the fuel rail. At first I got no pressure. Then after turning the ignition on and off a few times I was getting varying pressures (20 to 30 psi). If I didn't release the pressure in between tests. I would get about 26 to 28 then it would jump to 40 to 42 psi when I turned it off and back on. This pressure would hold for a few minutes. Still no fuel to the cylinders. I'm thinking that the injectors are gummed up. What do you think?

 

Sounds like the fuel pump is toast! WHen you turn the key on, do you hear it prime? Fluctuating pressure could be an electronic issue, but more than likely, just a bad pump. Pretty typical at this point. I've had to replace mine when it had only 14k miles. Granted, it was 20 years old!!

 

Thanks for the reply Scott

Last night I replaced the fuel filter and added some Stabil to the gas tank. Today my fuel pressure was 44psi initially. It did start slowly dropping off as soon as the pump shut off. I lost about 10psi over 20 minutes. Correct me if I'm wrong but this should not prevent the motor from starting. If so what else could be causing my no start.

I should add that the engine will fire if I spray gas in the intake.

 

Scott - what was involved in changing out your fuel pump? I have a 92 RS that was converted from TBI to TPI before I got it. It has a stalling problem and I suspect the idiot didn't upgrade to a higher pressure pump to feed the fuel rail. Did you have to drop the tank?