PROBLEM! MOLD!!!

So, I have no pictures (of the mold)…  But this is by far the worst thing I’ve had to deal with thus far…

When the car was outside, I was playing around and I had a brain fart. I took off a few of the door panels and removed the vapor barrier.  Here in BC, we get a lot of rain.  When I took the Vitara into the garage, it ended up warming up, and now there is white mold throughout the car.  I was dumb and hadn’t cleaned out the car yet, so there was a lot of mold.

I searched the web, and found the best solution (apparently) is a Borax, vinegar solution with hot water.  I started taking the entire car apart.  Seats out, seat belts out, carpets and all the side panels.  I then vacuumed out the entire car  and then took to soaking every piece of furniture and scrubbing the whole thing down.  Once I was done with that, I put a dehumidifier into the car and let it run for 4 days.  Then the carpet cleaner came out to clean the seats and carpets.  Again, dehumidifier for 4 days.  Car has no mold now and the carpets are spotless!  The seat belts are stained though so I’ll need to replace them (at least the front ones.  The seats are pretty worn out and I’ve decided I want power seats, heated seats.  Problem is I can’t find any… So the search begins.

I’ve decided that I’ll need to go through the wreckers and find seats that are close and make the bolt holes line up.  Then after all that is done, I’ll send them off to be re-upholstered at a local shop.  That way I can get new, comfy seats rather than the rat bagged ones that are in there.  My first thought is Dodge Durango seats, as I have a lot of experience with them (being that is my other vehicle).  We’ll see what I come up with.

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Moving into the Garage

So now it’s time to give the Vitara a permanent home in the garage.  Problem is my 3 bay garage has a bathroom in the 3rd bay and although it was close I needed an extra few inches to get it to fit.

So the rear tire comes off, and the bumpers come off.  This is when I realize that the “bump” the old owner talked about of the barn, was actually more of a slam into the barn.  The left rear bumper (the metal part) was bent and quite rusty, and the pieces that secure the plastic under the bumper were broken off.  Seems like it’s fixable but I’ll see what the wreckers have to replace these parts.  May just be easier to buy a new couple pieces.

Once the bumpers were off, I have 2 inches to spare and pull the vehicle into it’s semi permanent spot.

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