My /4 2.0 is far from done. It needs rust repair and a lot of other shit done to it before I can even get back on the road of painting it and getting it put back together.

But next Monday I'm going to have surgery on my shoulder. Some months ago I tore the tendon on my rotator cuff, which has stopped this resto in its tracks because it doesn't take much working before it hurts like a bitch. So for some time now I haven't been able to do anything with it.

And after the surgery I'm expecting my arm to be in a sling for 6 weeks, with a total rehab time of 4-6 months following that. So I decided that this week, I'll get the hoods put back on it, store some of the interior parts in a mouse free environment, and get it pushed back outside so my dad has his garage while I'm healing up.

I just want to make sure I'm taking the proper measures to ensure that mice don't run rampant through the car (AGAIN!) while it's being stored outside. So here's what I'm thinking:

I've got some OSB plywood leftover from a remodel job I did earlier this year. Since the car will be on grass, I'm going to lay the plywood down and roll the car on top of it. I may even tack the sheets together with some 1x or equivalent to not only seal the seams from underneath, but to also help keep them from seperating when I roll the car on top of them.

I've heard that mice are deterred by the fresh smells of dryer sheets, detergents, car freshners and febreze type sprays. I don't know if that's true or not but I'll give the car a good once over with probably a combination of one or two of these throughout the interior and the under the hoods. Maybe even place a few traps so that if one of the little bastards does get in there, hopefully they won't last long.

I've also got a tarp big enough to cover the whole car and then some, so I'll lay that over top of it and then use whatever I've got laying around to weight it down the complete perimeter of the car to hopefully keep the mice from slipping in between the gaps. That will also help keep strong winds from grabbing one corner of the tarp and working it to the point that it eventually flies off.

Obviously my main concern here is the mice, because after all the nests I've cleaned out of this thing while tearing it down, I don't want to have to do that again. And I realize that if one of the little bastards was so determined, it could just chew through the tarp or from underneath the plywood; but I don't have any place inside I can store it for the long term.

And by the time I get it back in the garage, it's going to be winter, so I don't expect it to be totally mouse free by then; but I'm trying to do everything I can to minimize the little bastards' chances of getting in there.

So aside from what I'm preparing to do, does anybody have any other suggestions for me? Thanks.

moth balls? large cat?

Suggestions?

Plastic is cheap. Lay a plastic drop cloth over the plywood. This will block ground moisture that will go through plywood.

Put in some dessicants to attempt to keep air moisture under control. Won't do much if your area has high humidity, though.

Mice will get in. Get predator urine (or synthetic) and spray on the outside perimeter as a deterrant. Don't spray inside, or the smell will never come out of the car.

Zach

Didn't think of the mothballs. Thanks for the reminder. And the closest thing we have to large cats around here are the tomcats that wander in from time to time, but Helmet (my dog) does well to keep them out, so I don't think that'll do me any good.



I like the plastic idea. Didn't think of ground moisture. Good thinking as even that can assist the rust in continuing to spread. Not that I'm not doing anything about that. I did buy a couple spray cans of rust converter to at least slow it down if nothing else while I'm healing up.

Dessicant won't do any good around here tho- it gets wicked humid in the fall.

Good thinking on the predator urine. I think I'll go for synthetic tho- I just don't have the time to chase cats and snakes around in an attempt to get them to pee into a jar for me. Seems it would be more sanitary that way, too...

Thanks for the tips guys.

block the plywood up off the ground (moisture). several opened baking soda boxes will draw the nasty smells.

Moth balls! Nasty smelling bastards, but they'll keep eveything mammal-like at bay. No help for nasty spyders, because they have no ability to smell. And, they will find places to nest!

I much rather deal with varmints that spyders. Watch out for the Brown Recluse spyder - making inroads everywhere. They are the worst. Very small, very deadly.

Had a friend from San Diego that was bitten my one. Watched him degrade every year, until he died - 4 years later. Badass spyder.

I'll take mice anytime.
Pat

Bounce dryer sheets work very well at keeping mice away!.My wheat farmer buddy in Eastern Washington use`s them in all the wheat trucks and tractors.Dont be afraid to use lots and stuff them in all the nooks and crany`s ..two box`s should do the trick good luck

Plastic over the top of the plywood with enough to get the edges off the ground by a few feet on each side.
Plastic on top.
Use the tarp connectors they sell at HD to fasten the top piece to the bottom piece creating a sort of bubble affect...wrapping the car up.
Roll the edges of plastic together to create as air tight a setup as possible.
The clamps are cheap little round things that you wedge from one side of the plastic to the other without ripping the plastic...they work great...kinda a pita, but once you figure it out they are great.

Put two big boxes of moth balls in the car (with no interior) they work but they do stink up an interior.

Use the large blue tarp to protect the plastic from the sun. Plastic degrades pretty quick in direct sunlight...the tarps last about 1 year when in the sun. I have used double tarps also...just to make it super tough.
Also if you buy a bunch of plastic kitchen bags and fill them with sand, they make great tarp wieghts...make it very hard for any varmit to get under the tarp...cause the squirrels and chipmunks will go for it just to stay dry...

Take the tarp off once every month or two to check, scare them, and keep them out until the first snow comes...by then they will have found a different home.

Rich

I say No on the stinky moth balls when you can use nice smelling dryer sheets and put them inside the car all around every piece of interior and in the trunks and they dont smell like grandmas house...JMO

I agree with blocking the ground moisture.

I had my car sitting on gravel during last winter (no ground cover for the first few months) and I got alot of oxidation over the motor and trans.

It also didn't help that it had a car cover and a tarp over it, they trapped the moisture inside.

I like this idea. Turning my car in a ginormous pita... mmmm.... pitas...

Seriously tho, that sounds like a good plan. Will help keep ground and atmosphere moisture out; which is a good thing 'cause it gets wicked humid around here in the fall.

And I'll probably use a combination of mothballs/dryer sheets. Mothballs and synthetic predator pee (I'm still going for that Zach ) on the ground around and under the car, and dryer sheets/sprays/air freshners etc. in the interior compartments to keep the nasty smells of mothballs out. And I'm still going to set some traps here and there as added security- it's been my experience that you can never go too far when trying to keep mice out; because if one is so determined, it will get inside no matter what. I've heard adult mice can squeeze their heads down as small as 1/8" to get through a crack. Bottom line is, odors from mothballs and dryer sheets and the like will fade over time and once they do, it's open game for anything that wants to get in.

But hopefully these measures will keep them and any other nasty little critters out until I can get it back in the garage.

Once again, thanks for all the suggestions guys. Project: Mouseproofing will commence at one point or another this weekend.

I have a 11'x20' tarp garage, way better than tarping up a car.
Dryer sheets work, know it for a fact, but I had a customer fry an engine because he forgot he put them in the engine bay and they all got sucked into the fan.