Unbearable mildew smell! Cant figure out the source! Please help. I bought a 1987 Nissan 300zx which sat for many years. Seems like rats made a home inside during the time it sat. I cleaned up all the carpets, pressure washed the car. But the smell wont go away! Cant figure out where the smell is coming from. Its a musty, rat urine smell.

 

Looks like you've found yourself a nice looking car! As for the smell, that just sucks. Anyways, here's some thoughts:

1. a UV flashlight should allow you to find the source (although it will find a ton of other sources of protein-based stains).
2. as a pet owner, I've had success combating urine smells with Nature's Miracle (no affiliation). You can find it at Walmart, etc. It may take a couple of applications. I recall watching an Inventors TV show (Why didn't I think of that?) and the developer was featured and he freely explained how the stuff works.

I hope this does the trick.

 

I had a Saturn that had a mouse habitat in it. I ended up pulling all the interior and washing it and using bleach on all of the inside metal surfaces. Mouse pee will get thru the carpet and into the pad and on the metal body. Only way to clean is a full interior pull and wash.
Good luck and dont break any of the plastic fasteners as they are NLA except for used.