--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "David Teitelbaum" <jtrealty@xxxx> wrote: <SNIP> > I read some time ago > about a guy that bought a "barn fresh" project. He took it home and in > a short time his house was so infested (I guess it was an attached > garage) with spiders that he had to call an exterminater. Spider bites > can hurt. You also must make sure that you close even the smallest > holes so mice can't get to your pride and joy. <SNIP> Guilty. When I picked the car up, it was in "running" condition, but had been sitting between a row of wrecked parts cars, and a dumpster for several months, at least. So along for the journey home came a few daddy long legs, and a few black widows (which naturally left the noisy garage, but settled in doorways, and along the cinderblock walls). The infestation happened at my parents old house, but wasn't really that bad inside the home. Fortunetly, fire regulations stated that an attached garage needed to be seperated with heavy insulation from the main dwelling, and the garage door was a firedoor, with thick insulation. Plus, an alley cat from your local shelter can be a cheap, yet reliable source of non-toxic, efficient pest control. :) I didn't need to call in a pest control guy, but I did have to soak the windows, doorways, eves, vents, foundation, walls, and the utility vaults out in the sidewalk with diazanon. Followed up with regular treatments of Ortho home pest control (which actually gave the best results of all). And eventually, all of the pests were gone, and even ones that I didn't know about, down in the vaults. And as a positive, motivation to work on my car forced me to overcome my fear of spiders! Now they're just a nusance. More importantly, what I discovered scanning over many car restoration sites, and thumbing thru books on the subject, not a one ever mentions "delousing" a car as part of preperation for the restoration process. I guess that no one ever thinks of that, or perhaps I was some sort of a pioneer. Although I have heard stories about people getting bitten, or stung by insects at junkyards. Anywho, spiders can, and will hang out anywhere on the car, but there seem to be 5 spots on the DeLorean that they especially love to dwell. 1. Front Cavity. Above the chassis, below the pontoon, and around the suspension, this is a haven for spiders to dine on any insects that can easily crawl, hop, or fly in. 1. Front Striker Pins. You don't realize it, but when you close the door, a nice little cavern is formed, and I've caught a few spiders handing out here, that have built fresh nests over the weekend. 3. Accumulator Niche. If's a small spot, but it also streches the length of the chassis. Perfect for reclusive spiders, and the like, to lay nests. 4. Rear Cavity. Below the underbody, around the chassis, and above the Trailing Arm Shields. Short of the clogged intake below the windscreen, this was THE most filthy area of the car! Cobwebs, old egg sacks, spider/insect corpses, and a pile of decomposed leaves tangled in the mess. 5. Rear Pontoons. A double whammy here. Before, the other places have mostly been only accessable to spiders, and crawling/hopping incects. In the pontoons though, the air intakes allow easy access for flying pests. When my power antenna conked out, and I pulled the carbon canister, I discovered an old wasp nest slightly smaller than my fist. Along with more cobwebs, and eucalyptus leaves. So if you have a car which just sits outside in the warmer months of the year, you still need to be careful about other types of pests, than just spiders and mice. I don't know about what kinds of pesticides, or alternative repellants to spray to keep all of the creatures away. But your best bet may be to simply seal off the car entirely. A Carcoon seems like it would do the job, but I don't know how well it can seal out spiders, and keep rodents from chewing on it. Otherwise, keeping the noise/traffic up in the garage (if possible), regular spraying, and dropping some D-Con bait traps should keep things pretty clean. -Robert vin 6585 "X"