Bug Bombing

OK, so the new project is in the garage and I'm trying to figure out exactly where I'm going to start. I've been crawling around/under/over/inside the car for a while, looking at the condition and making sure there wasn't something "new and not awesome" waiting for me. The floors looked good, the cowl passed the leak test, and most of the the other typical Mustang afflictions were either not there or not bad. But I was noticing that every time I'd poke around at the car, especially in the engine bay and near the rear axle, I kept finding little dead spiders. And spider webs. And spider egg sacks. This is a shot where the rear shock absorbers mount to the floor pan.

I hadn't seen a live spider yet, but after having the car sitting in the garage for a few weeks, I started noticing little webs from the car to the floor. That was enough. Clearly something from the arachnid family was still stalking around in the car. I assumed there were at least a million of them. I decided the first step in our restoration was some good old-fashioned chemical warfare.

But it's not enough to just get a can of Raid and go spraying what could be seen. This car has sat still for nearly 30 years - there are likely lots of nasty little squatters and nest-builders in there. The overkill solution I settled on was a couple of fogging cans and a monstrous tarp from Communist Sweatshop Harbor Freight Tools. God bless 'em, they had a cheap 20' x 30' tarp that was plenty big enough to make a tent around the Mustang (might've fit two cars under there, but for $25, who cares if it's too big?) I even rolled the windows down and made sure there was plenty of airflow to let all the little terrors inside get their fair share of airborne death.

So, tent the car, put the fogging cans on some shoe box lids to keep them upright, pop the tops, hold your breath, and slide those little suckers under the tarp - quick like a bunny - one under the engine bay, and the other just in front of the rear axle. The best part is that with all the noise of the fogging cans hissing under the tarp, you couldn't hear the spiders gasping their last and going to that great big web in the sky. I waited three days before I uncovered the car. And what do you know - no more new webs were showing up under the car anymore. But later as I disassemble the car, I'll find spider carcasses in nearly every single crevice. I even found one between a u-joint and the drive shaft.  As far as effectiveness, I give this eight thumbs up! (OK, that's bad, I know...)