Hey guys
When I got the car it's been sitting out for years. Close to 8. I love in Oregon so rain and all that doesn't help. It's a t top Camaro. Anyways spiders nested and the old owners sprinkled what seems to be baking soda to absorb the moisture and now it's like fused to the upholstery. Any products that help with it? Also the steering wheel is discolored was wondering of you guy recommend a stain that brings back the original factory color. Last but not least my dash lights are weak/out. Any idea how intensive that portion is? Work wise? It's my first rebuild car and I'm figuring things out slowly.

The interior was trashed. No t top housing or some light. Nothing holding the speaker covers back and the cloth for the speaker was ripped. Anyone knows a cheap place to get them? The t top housing?

 

Bulbs are relatively easy to change out in the dash. Couple of screws around the panel and it pops right out, recommend dropping your steering column though. The rest I'm not too sure about.

 

If your dash lights are weak, it's not just bulbs, either bad power feed or ground to the dash harness or the dimmer switch may be broken. Does the car run?

Sounds like all the cloth in your car is toast. Probably the wheel too. Might be able to help if we can see what you are working with. You can get sets of ttop headliners and speaker covers from most of the suppliers, but the aftermarket abs headliners aren't very good.
The speaker covers are held in by a screw at the top that also mounts the coat hanger.

I think you need to look at the floor pans of this car before you put any work into it. Leaking tops are notorious for rusting out the floors from the inside. Probably some nice rodent nests everywhere too. I would at least pull the carpet, seats and rear interior sail panels to see what you are working with.

 

Agreed. 8 years uncovered in Oregon. This whole car may be toast.

 

I don't think the car is toast by no means, you might need to go through your wiring, as for the seats: I used a bunch of upholstery cleaner and scrubbed for a week!!!! I used a full box of wypalls shop towels. Cost me about 20 bucks and a lot of elbow grease.

Also you could try a professional upholstery cleaning company, but they are not cheap. Good luck!!

 

where in oregon are you, I've got a few spare parts I could help you with very cheap, got an excellent driver's seat black cloth, center console, rear plastics, sail panel covers/probably in better shape than yours, etc, you can also go to the local pick n pulls & fins stuff, thanks, BTW, I'm in Gresham close to Portland.....

 

Requested pictures







This is what i found at picknpull they only had one t top

 

the dimmer works although it could probably use rewiring. but the bulbs in the center (temp gauge, fuel and part of the speedometer) are toast. also my right turn signal bulb is also fried. doesn't light up lol. we already pulled the carpet to check the floor board and took care of the nests lol. first thing i did, didnt want a rat hanging out on my shoulder on the 2 hour drive back LOL.

yes the car runs just fine, we did some extensive engine and tranny work before i drove it off.

I am in sherwood, i will PM you my phone number text me what you have pictures would be awesome! i can drive out to you also. or we can meet half way if you'd like...

 

I clean rugs & small carpets by hanging them on the fence, & then
use a power washer. Pre-treat as necessary with any generic
carpet/fabric cleaner. Amazingly effective.

The carpets look to be structurally sound enough to remove,
then clean like this, and I bet the results will be impressive. If the jute
padding is (probably) nasty, it's very cheap to replace, rather then try
to clean. Or, upgrade and add products like Dynamat.

Good luck, & keep us informed.

 

The baking soda may have been put down to disguise mold. There may still be moisture underneath. I'd strip it ALL right now. If it's salvageable/able to be cleaned, it's easier out of the car to clean and touch up with paint and/or dyes. Plus, you need to see how the floors look underneath which may be a second, currently hidden, project.

 

I finally found what I needed. Interior restoration is almost complete. I need to take care of the floor board and the back seats. But here it is.

 

If you still have the carpeting out you can also clean it with a home rug shampooer as well. I was surprised at how much of it I could actually reach, and it was really good at pulling additional dirt out.