The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Crap in the cab

Thought I should share this to save someone else a problem. Last April I started on my "48" cab to get it ready for the painter. Spent all day cleaning bird and mouse nests out of every spot something could possible be. I used a vacuume to make things worse. Did not think to wear a mask until I was nearly done, to late. The next day I came down sick, (105 temp sick) and a month later I was still somewhat sick. After being told I could have lung cancer they were able to narrow it down to a fungal infection in my lungs that grew nodes looking like cancer. Started treatment for that and now, a year later and more money in me then in my truck, I am still on meds trying to get rid of the fungus. This fungus is contracted from bird and or bat dropings the Doc said. They think I was sick when I started to clean which lowered my immunity and let the fungus take hold. Moral is be carefull when cleaning out these old trucks and wear a mask. I was also told to spray a clorox solution in the truck to sanitize it before starting, that can help. Both myself and the truck are doing good now but it has been a long year.

Wow!!! That's got to be good info worth posting as a keeper and reminder somewhere. Glad to hear you're on the mend.

Good warning, too bad you found out the hard way.

Wow that is scary. I used Spray Nine in mine before I cleaned it. The mouse dirt can be deadly too.

Hey Bart,

I wish I would have known this yesterday, holy crap, I just did this!

This was in the ceiling of my cab:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajporsche/8555434114/

Of course I just folded it in half and put it in the garbage. Hopefully I won't feel any ill effects from it, but no, I wasn't wearing a mask. I should've been as soon as I saw the home insulation the PO used to insulate the cab. Luckily there wasn't that much, and it came out very easy.

Scary. I'm glad you're past it now.

As Fred mentioned, mouse droppings have been looked at in the radio hobby with skull
and cross bones. I've read many warnings over the years about not breathing the loose
stuff when cleaning up the chassis on an old radio that’s been sitting in the corner of the
garage for decades.

I’ve got mice in the new barn, in spite of the Barr Bait traps I’ve got planted all over the
building. As a precaution I put a box of mothballs in both trucks. Don’t know which is
worse, the mouse dust or the mothballs. Went out to measure something in the cab for
someone on the forum the other day and bout got knocked out by the smell, hope I can
get it aired out before I start driving it this summer.
Denny G

Hampa(sp) virus is pretty dangerous, popular in the SW, frequently mis-diagnosed, so be careful. Friendly shop cats will take care of the mouse problem in barn/shop.

it's Hantavirus Ed, and is widespread ... it's passed on via dried urine as well as the droppings and saliva, don't even need to find an actual nest just material like cardboard or upholstery that they've been frequenting and leaving their offering on

and Denny, mothballs as a cure for mice are worse than an infestation, use spring traps instead of breathing toxic fumes

Bill

Wow, Glad you are better for sure. Funny how we ALL take little things we do for granted & not thinking about health risks. There are times I look back at things I've done & just shake my head wondering how I got threw it.....lol
Anyway Keep up the good work & keep healthy.

I did the same thing many years ago. Except I was cleaning mouse droppings and other assorted junk out of pianos. All summer I did that and did not wear a mask.

I also wound up with a fungal infection in my lungs. Tough to get over, and to this day I now have asthma to deal with.

Be very careful what you are cleaning up. Wear good protection around that old dust.

This reminds of an occasion during my working life. We were having a safety meeting in a basement room in one of our old Hydro stations. A company nurse was giving a presentation on the dangers of Hantavirus when low and behold a mouse ran across the floor behind her. She didn't flinch at all but I got a chuckle out of it.

I've read cautions here several times over the pass few years and have been aware of it. However, ONE of us being aware of it does not help the MANY.
I have not checked the tech tip section but I don't think we have a safety section. Maybe we should start a "Be Safe" tech tip list???
I get a little slack myself now and then but of all the years in Manufacturing it is drilled in my head....Safety FIRST

Thanks for the reminder.

You've probably got a pretty good idea there Alvin. Dang near
any one of these old truck have had a rodent on board at one
time or another. I didn't see any signs of it with the '50 but
I did when I pulled the seats out of the '54 and put the vacuum
to work and did a lot of wet scrubbing to keep any dust down.

Denny G.

yes, good idea to add this discussion to the Shop Safety Tech Tip, should be at the top of the list

Bill

The very same thing happened tome when I first got my 46 1/2 ton, I was cleaning all the mouse nests out from above my windshield and came down sick for about a month, I also made the mistake of not wearing a mask, I also didnt have any gloves on either, took a long time to get over it

I can't add it to the safety list in the tech tip section but the grand pappy said he'd get it on the list soon. I'm sure this alert may save someone a lot of health problems. Thanks,John, for adding it.

Don't forget pigeons ( http://www.wikihow.com/Get-Rid-of-Pigeons ) !

Fabio.

Very dangerous stuff. Always spray down the nest and droppings before cleaning to keep the dust down. Also, I always wear a mask and gloves for this operation.

I just bought a 1940 GMC 1/2 ton yesterday. I tore the inside apart today and plugged up 2 vacuum cleaners down at the local car wash with all the seat stuffing, mouse turds and seeds that were up in the headliner and under the seat. Then I sprayed the inside down with 1/2 bottle of Pine-Sol that I put in one of those pump up weed sprayers mixed with about a gallon of water. Smells a lot better in there now but I still need to pull out the gas tank and clean that out under there. I am just glad that the worst part is over with.

I think mice contribute alot to the rust outs in these old trucks, they urinate and crap everywhere in them. The only places I know of on a new or good TF cab that they can freely enter is the cowl plenum drains, and if they can get up there the cowl vent grill. It seems once they are in there they have no problem getting into the bottom of the seats, all through the plenum and heater, and into the glove compartment, and in between the roof and inner panel, once they pack in the fluff and it holds the urine and other moisture the rusting begins.

Yessir, the area above the windshield where the wiper motor is is a mess. It's not rusted thru but it's gonna take a bit of cleaning and I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to stop the rust, can't exactly get in there with a power wheel to clean it up.

dynosaurus,
I don't know how much room you have up there but one of the things that I bought for cleaning under the dash was a flexible drive for my drill. I put a small wire wheel on the end and got to places I couldn't otherwise.

that whole piece above the windshield comes out pretty easy, you're probably gonna have to remove the headliner anyway, its just a bunch of clutchead screws ya have to remove, just hold you're breath when you pull it out..lol
...besides you wanna take that piece out anyway to get to the windshield wiper motors

I went under the dash with rust converter. That gave the complete underside a sealed finish and rust is gone. I did not bother to paint over the finish since the sun, or anyone else, will ever see it.

I'm glad I ran across this thread. I've had the truck 3 weeks and found a dead mouse in the cab corner, I'm going out with a hepamask and give it a good vacuum and cleaning with some bleach water, everything will get replaced so I don't care if it might leave a bleach spot here or there.

What is rust converter?

I belive Phosphoric Acid is the main ingrediant in most rust convertors. It turns the rust in to a black powder.
Cleon

The active chemical/acid in a "rust converter" varies by brand. I checked several "rust converters" and a few had phosporic acid.

Look for the MSDS for the specific product in question.

Here are some active ingredients in a few "rust converters":

Four products had these active ingredients:
Tannic acid
2-BUTOXY ETHANOL (2-Butoxyethanol)

One British product had these ingredients:
METHOXY 2-PROPANOL
GALLIC ACID
BUTYL GLYCOL

Tannic Acid
Oxalic Acid
Ethylene Glycol 2-(2-Ethoxyethox)
ethanol

TANNIC ACID
METHYL CARBITOL
AMPHOROUS FUMED SILICA
2,2,4-TRIMETHYL-1, 3-PENTANEDIOL MONOISOBUTYRA TE
ALKYLDIPHENYLOXIDE DISULFONATE SOLUTION

Septone Rust Converter had:
Phosphoric acid

Esgard, Inc
Phosphoric Acid (CAS# 7664-38-2)
Nitric Acid (CAS# 7697-37-2)
Butyl Cellosolve (CAS# 111-76-2)