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Well, it finally happened...mice have set up shop in my '81. I followed my normal winter storage routine and I thought I made it through unscathed. I took it out for the first ride of the season the other night and had to turn on the heat and that's when it hit me, that unmistakable stink of mice.
I'm looking for advice as to where I should start looking. I'm hoping the dashboard doesn't have to come out.
I had one build a nest in the lower seat belt retractor well. didn't know about it. mouse long sence left. but the nest held moisture. I ran a thread about it about 15 years ago. had to weld in a patch panel into the floor.
Just sayin, look everywhere!
I bought an 80 from my neighbor that had sat for 27 years. It has AC....I had to completely remove the entire heating and Ac components enough to vacuum and scrape out all remnants of who knows how many mice....many dead inside the duct work. They even ate at the fan blades and chewed through a couple of the blades. I don't have a lift and I am not a small guy so taking out the blower and all of the other components was the only way I was going to get it done, besides I was not sure all of the vacuum actuated dampers worked...I am now....after laying on my back or reaching over the fender....worst designed car I have ever worked on...looks cool but mice are a bitch
Pull the seats, check carpet, and then the speedo/tach is fairly easy to get out (from 78-82, at least). You could try an ozone machine, but I'd start by pulling the center panels and start scrubbing the vents. Ozone will get rid of lingering smells, but you need to clean the mouse nest/poop out first.
If the nest is in your HVAC box in the engine compartment, well, good luck with that.
Pull the seats, check carpet, and then the speedo/tach is fairly easy to get out (from 78-82, at least). You could try an ozone machine, but I'd start by pulling the center panels and start scrubbing the vents. Ozone will get rid of lingering smells, but you need to clean the mouse nest/poop out first.
If the nest is in your HVAC box in the engine compartment, well, good luck with that.
Yep, cats are the answer!
(BTW, I can give you a cat, and only just for my friends; a spare cat just in case, PM me)
at min remove resistor and poke around with cheap endoscope camera..and pull blower along with as much inspection you can do from inside..
any lights out in instruments? pull both console and tach speedo..
After dealing with a significant mice issue in my '70 442 convertible and then having the cat I hired to fight them urinate all over the rear seat, I am now unable to eat any desert that has chocolate jimmies or sprinkles on it.
Once I finally eradicated the rodent vermin, Febreze fabric spray then eliminated both the mouse and cat stench.
A few questions:
What you you mean by “pull the resistor”
Why do I need to access the speedo/tach
Do I need to pull the dash to access the blower motor
Do I need to pull the entire center console or can I just remove the side panels
And to think, I had traps all over the garage and they chose shelter over food.
Another way to get behind the dash is to pull the speedo/tach. I found mouse tracks, and poo, on top of my assembly. Willcox Corvette has instructions on removal (and other helpful instructions and diagrams). http://repairs.willcoxcorvette.com/1...l-with-column/
Do I need to pull the dash to access the blower motor
Not for the blower motor. This diagram may help. http://repairs.willcoxcorvette.com/1...-core-picture/
I believe to get to the heater core, you go from inside the car. For the AC evaporator, that is in the box in the engine compartment (pictured).
Do I need to pull the entire center console or can I just remove the side panels
Seats let you get to side panels, side panels let you get to center console (shifter surround), center console lets you pull the center gauge cluster. I don't know how deep you need to go.
As you dive into this, it would really benefit you to have copies of the 1981 factory assembly manual (previously called the assembly instruction manual, or AIM), and the shop manual.
Last edited by Bikespace; Apr 28, 2021 at 09:35 AM.
IF you have to take off the HVAC box on the firewall, you'll need to drop the exhaust on the Pass side to get to all the bolts/screws to get it out.
We did it with the motor out and it STILL was a PIA
When I purchased a 88 Pontiac FIERO, I discovered a small dead mouse in the HVAC Blower housing. Immediately, I began reading on what action to take, and the first thing most people say is to wear protective gloves when you are removing or working around places where the critters have lived. There were a couple of other places in the Frunk where I saw evidence that their friends had made nests. After I vacuumed all areas (multiple times), I began cleaning every surface with Fantasktic Spray Cleaner, multiple times. You could also use Lysol or any cleaner that will kill bacteria, and Eli ate urine. While I don’t have a cat, I keep open boxes of Fabric Softer in my trunk and interior of all my cars. After doing this for several years, the smell is not so bad, sorta like being inside of a clothes dryer. There are many posts on the Forum for ways to keep those varmints away from our cars.
Good Luck
Well Fast81, if it comes to that, there will be a beautiful red on red ‘81 that smells like Fabreze for sale.
Hopefully you can find and solve the problem from under the passenger side dash.
As others have mentioned, the HVAC box in the engine compartment is not easy to remove. I had already removed the exhaust and AC entirely, and this was still tough to get out. There's so much more room in the engine compartment now, though.
A few words...
HANTAVIRUS= mask and gloves!
Bi-polar ionization for smells... some say ozone....ozone and your interior do not live well with each other. Ozone is O3. BPI is O2- and O2+ which is the SECOND most powerful oxidizer. (this is my business).
Someone gave me a Rabbit Diesel for the same reasons.....all smelly C-3's gleefully accepted!
On the same lines....ever had a car where PORCUPINES ate every piece of rubber and plastic out from under the car? I have! (******! I tell you!) lol
Hopefully you can find and solve the problem from under the passenger side dash.
As others have mentioned, the HVAC box in the engine compartment is not easy to remove. I had already removed the exhaust and AC entirely, and this was still tough to get out. There's so much more room in the engine compartment now, though.
1. Start with a heater core and fan and build the C-3 around it!
Been there done that in an old Q45. If your first indication was when you turned on the HVAC, and you did not notice that there was any mouse poop in the interior of the car then they came in from the engine compartment side. Although some say it's a tough job I would start there and get into the evap. box. Guarantee there is a nest in there. Doing it this way you might maybe eliminate the dash work. Otherwise you are going to be doing both for sure. Good luck. If you don't have a cat or other animals that access the garage then lot's of Tomcat poison works well. Also check out the bucket with antifreeze in it mentioned here and on youtube. Traps alone are a very poor preventative measure. Be aware that once they have been there you need to be much more aggressive in the future.
Mice Advice
