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Eric P
Joined: 21 Jun 2017 Posts: 175 Location: NY, USA
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Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2017 1:03 am Post subject: That old German car smell |
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Most of you are probably familiar with the smell of an old German car. It isn't that "new car" scent, but it isn't a bad smell either. In my 924, I would describe it as an earthy smell with a hint of leather.
When I bought my 924S, the battery tray had been leaking into the passenger foot well for about 7 years while the car was stored outside. I had to completely gut the interior to get all of the mold and moss out of the carpet and padding. I thoroughly washed and cleaned the original carpet. While I was in there, I washed the floor pans then coated them with a rubberized bed liner coating to seal them. I also replaced all of the jute floor padding before replacing the cleaned carpet. I shampooed the seats and washed down every hard surface. Now the moldy rodent smell is completely gone but the car smells like carpet cleaner and spray paint.
Is there a way to get that old Porsche smell back? Will it come back on its own or is it gone forever? I'm going to re-cover the seats with new leather covers soon and I've been leaving the doors, sunroof, and hatch open to let it air out in my garage. I'm hoping that will help. I'm sure that spray paint smell will go away or at least fade after a few months, but I'm not so sure about the carpet cleaner smell.
I probably shouldn't worry about it, but the smell is part of the driving experience to me. Does anyone know what in the car makes it smell like this? Any suggestions on how to get my car to smell normal again? Or is that earthy smell not normal in the first place? _________________ 1980 924 NA, US model
1987 924S, US model |
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Kenodog
Joined: 25 Jun 2003 Posts: 2651 Location: Vancouver,B.C.
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Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2017 1:14 am Post subject: |
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Replace the headliner. I did this on my other 931 and the difference was immediate. Smelled neutral like a modern day used car.
Lee _________________ 1979 Euro 931, Olive
1981 931, Sabine
1991 Ford Ranger XLT 4x4, Ricky
1996 Ford E-350 ex-FedEx Van
2014 Mazda CX-5 (Kinderwagon)
2019 KTM 790 Adventure
2024 KLX300
2024 KLX140 |
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procyon
Joined: 09 Sep 2015 Posts: 70 Location: Peers Alberta Canada
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Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2017 2:11 am Post subject: |
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How hard is it to replace a headliner? And who sells them?
I don't think I have ever seen new headliners listed for sale. _________________ 1981 924 N/A (Now the parts car)
1980 924 N/A ( 5 bolt discs and better paint) MS II V3.57
2003 Subaru Baja
2021 Maxda CX-30 |
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Kenodog
Joined: 25 Jun 2003 Posts: 2651 Location: Vancouver,B.C.
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Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2017 2:47 am Post subject: |
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It took me about 6 hours start to finish to rip out the old one, clean the little bits off the surfaces and re-install a new one. There is no 'drop-in' replacement part, I went to a fabric store and bought a few yards of black patterned vinyl. It look EXACTLY like the original with the grain pattern on it. White cloth on the back. Cut the rough shape out using the old one as a template then start on one side and slowly glue it all around with 3M contact cement. When you are done just re-install to interior trim parts and a new sunroof seal and it looks and smells like new. Huuuuuge difference. Along with new carpet and cleaned hard surfaces inside the car will smell 110% better than before.
Leaky _________________ 1979 Euro 931, Olive
1981 931, Sabine
1991 Ford Ranger XLT 4x4, Ricky
1996 Ford E-350 ex-FedEx Van
2014 Mazda CX-5 (Kinderwagon)
2019 KTM 790 Adventure
2024 KLX300
2024 KLX140 |
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morghen
Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 8879 Location: Romania
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Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2017 3:42 am Post subject: |
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He wants the smell back not gone.
I loved how my 932 smelled, my 931 smells the same but my GTS wannabe(1983) barely smells like those and I had everything out of it and the car painted 10 years ago!
It took a year or so to get the new paint smell out and the old Porsche smell back in but its not as potent as the one in my 1980 931 or 81 932.
The 931 smells like a man's car...the GTS wannabe almost smells nice but I forgive it for being fast _________________ https://www.the924.com |
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Kenodog
Joined: 25 Jun 2003 Posts: 2651 Location: Vancouver,B.C.
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Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2017 3:47 am Post subject: |
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Oh well F**k, if he wants it back then why clean it in the first place ? The mold only enhances the 'old car smell'...lol
Personally I hate that smell. I want it neutral not 'weird vintage' with 40 years of fart soaked seats messing that up...
Me _________________ 1979 Euro 931, Olive
1981 931, Sabine
1991 Ford Ranger XLT 4x4, Ricky
1996 Ford E-350 ex-FedEx Van
2014 Mazda CX-5 (Kinderwagon)
2019 KTM 790 Adventure
2024 KLX300
2024 KLX140 |
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Eric P
Joined: 21 Jun 2017 Posts: 175 Location: NY, USA
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Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2017 4:32 am Post subject: |
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In all reality, anything is better than that musty rodent smell. I can live with a clean carpet and slight spray paint smell. Whatever was in there - I suspect the rodents - would make my allergies act up every time I went near it.
I do really love the smell of my old 924 though. It's definitely not the smell of mildew and farts. I suspect it has something to do with the glues, carpet, and padding that were used originally. It's a rustic smell almost like the smell of a forest and leather.
Kenodog- I do have to replace my headliner at some point because it's sagging from an old hatch leak. Do you have any pictures of yours? I guess I'm resigned to the fact that this car will never smell as nice as the other one so I might as well fix it. _________________ 1980 924 NA, US model
1987 924S, US model |
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Kenodog
Joined: 25 Jun 2003 Posts: 2651 Location: Vancouver,B.C.
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Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2017 5:05 am Post subject: |
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Eric P wrote: | I do really love the smell of my old 924 though. It's a rustic smell almost like the smell of a forest and leather. |
Lol, that's awesome. Makes me think of an Old Spice commercial. Let me just put my slippers on and settle into this overstuffed chair and I will tell you all about it...
In all seriousness though, sorry but I don't have the car anymore so no pics would be available. It is really not difficult to replace the headliner though, more just time consuming if anything. The best advice I could offer would be to remove the old one in one piece and use it to rough out the new one. I added about 3" overall to the outline so I had enough to work with without there being a big amount to get in the way. Remove both front seats from the car and prepare to have a stiff neck afterwards because you are doing it all upside down and sideways. I started with the front near the windshield and slowly moved rearward contact cementing as I went. You want to gently pull the material to smooth out creases. Once it is all to your satisfaction use a sharp roofing blade cutter (cat's claw) to trim the excess.
Olive ('79 ROW) has the perforated vinyl headliner now but Sabine ('81 N.American) did not. Personally I would just use non-perforated so you don't have to worry about the hole orientation. I just went to my local Fabricana store (local sewing store) and bought it off the rack. Cost me about $15 with tax. It looks EXACTLY like the original with the faux grain patterning.
Makes a world of difference to the smell of the car, I cannot say enough about that..
Leigh _________________ 1979 Euro 931, Olive
1981 931, Sabine
1991 Ford Ranger XLT 4x4, Ricky
1996 Ford E-350 ex-FedEx Van
2014 Mazda CX-5 (Kinderwagon)
2019 KTM 790 Adventure
2024 KLX300
2024 KLX140 |
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Rasta Monsta
Joined: 12 Jul 2006 Posts: 11723 Location: PacNW
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Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2017 12:36 pm Post subject: |
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Old German Car Smell = Horse Hair _________________ Toofah King Bad
- WeiBe (1987 924S 2.5t) - 931 S3
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Eric P
Joined: 21 Jun 2017 Posts: 175 Location: NY, USA
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Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2017 2:41 pm Post subject: |
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Rasta Monsta wrote: | Old German Car Smell = Horse Hair |
Where would I find horse hair in my 924? The bus in my shop has horse hair but I don't know of any in my porsches. On a side note, the bus has a similar yet slightly different smell. _________________ 1980 924 NA, US model
1987 924S, US model |
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Johann
Joined: 07 Aug 2016 Posts: 240 Location: Netherlands
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Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2017 4:41 pm Post subject: |
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I love the smell of my 924. think it is a combination of the seat padding and ageing vinyl that creates the smell. An air cooled Beetle also has a very similar distinctive smell.
My 964 also has a very distinct Porsche smell, but smells nothing like my 924. I tend to swap the cars once a month (because one is always in storage) and every time I get into the car after a month, the first thing I do is take a long deep whiff of that distinctive smell. Bliss
I am sure the smell wil come back Eric.
This is what my 924 looked like when i rescued it from a 20 year sleep.
I also had to deep clean it during the restoration process. It had mould all over the interior and smelled absolutely awful. After I cleaned it, it smelled like chemicals for about two months and then the standard nostalgic 924 smell arrived.
Just be patient. |
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Fasteddie313
Joined: 29 Sep 2013 Posts: 2596 Location: MI
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Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2017 10:47 am Post subject: |
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I had the carpets out of my 931 and cleaned them with laundry soap, spray painted a lot on the inside, used automotive seam sealer that smelled a LOT for a while, had it open as much as I could for a long time because I too had a battery box leak..
These days it has a nice old classic car smell.. Smells good, I admit I sniff it, lol..
The smell did come back..
Other cars that I have been around that had distinct smells would be an old 72 olds cutlass we had a long time ago that has a nice classic car smell, and the bimmers have a pretty good smell to them too. _________________ 80 Turbo - Slightly Modified |
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924RACR
Joined: 29 Jul 2001 Posts: 8803 Location: Royal Oak, MI, USA
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Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2017 9:34 pm Post subject: |
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I think maybe just a little bit is leaked/hot/slightly burnt oil too... _________________ Vaughan Scott
Webmeister
'79 924 #77 SCCA H Prod racecar
'82 931 Plat. Silver
#25 Hidari Firefly P2 sports prototype |
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morghen
Joined: 21 Jan 2005 Posts: 8879 Location: Romania
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Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2017 10:02 pm Post subject: |
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924RACR wrote: | I think maybe just a little bit is leaked/hot/slightly burnt oil too... |
+ fuel vapor embedded _________________ https://www.the924.com |
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