LagondaNet

[ksumrall]

Hello,

I recently bought a 1985 Lagonda, series 2 with CRT dash, chassis number 13441. The interior of the car has a very "old car smell", which I'm told from several people is a pretty common old british car smell. I want to get rid of it, or at least, greatly lesson it, so my clothes don't smell like the car when I get out of it. I read on the owner's car forum that jonc has a similar issue with his Lagonda.

So I've started to strip the interior so I can have all the carpets thoroughly cleaned, and the floor boards cleaned, and the leather seats cleaned, etc etc etc.

However, I haven't yet figured out how to remove the center console to free the two carpets under it. Can someone give me a clue? I'm thinking maybe I need to pry up the bottom of the center glove box area to access some screws. I really hope I don't need to unscrew it from under the car. That would suck. I've checked the diagrams in the workshop manual and parts catalog, and I didn't see what I was looking for.

Thanks to the forums, I've already learned how to remove the back of the rear seats, though I've not actually done it yet. I'll try later today.

Also, I may need to remove the head liner if it is also smelly and needs cleaning. Is that a job for professionals, or something I could do?

Help!!!

Ken Sumrall

[jonc]

Hi Ken, and welcome to the forum.

Actually, I don't have a problem with the smell - its my wife Helen who does! I found with my first Lagonda, 13277, that giving the leather a thorough clean made a huge difference, but that car has new carpets. I never found I needed to clean the headlining (which looks very fragile in that car).

With 13379, like you, it needed the carpets cleaning thoroughly, plus all the leather. In fact, I am still working on it..

To remove the center console, there is a screw under the base panel of the center console as you rightly guessed. The panel is not fixed down - you just need to carefully pry it up at the front edge. Be careful when you do this as it is made of a thin (and soft) piece of plywood with a taper on the front edge so it is easy to damage.

The front fixing is somewhere underneath the ashtrays. These can be removed by lifting out the removable part of the ashtray and then undoing the screws below. This should give access to the fixing. (This is from memory). You also need to remove the gear knob. This has a single allen headed grub screw accessed through a small hole in the leather part near the bottom on the front. It is an imperial size but I am not sure what. Once it is loosened, the gear knob unscrews and can be lifted off. You also need to unscrew the fuse box which will reveal the two screws which hold its leather-trimmed panel in place. Once this is lose, you have access to the area below to disconnect any stereo connectors etc. The fusebox and panel stay with the car when the console is removed.

The console is heavier than it looks and big and bulky. It is possible to remove it without taking the front seats out, although I had removed the steering wheel when I did it on 13277.

Good luck!

[ksumrall]

Thanks for the reply and info jonc. I'm pretty busy with the holidays for the next 2 weeks, but I hope to at least get the panel pried up tomorrow so I can see that screw. I tried briefly today, but I only had a flat blade screwdriver with me, and it didn't seem to be able to get a hold of the panel and lift it. I have a nice tool at home (the car is currently parked in the garage at work) that should be able to catch an edge on it.

I had previously unscrewed the fusebox and saw the parts you're talking about there.

FYI, how did you thoroughly clean the leather? I'm just going to take it to a car detailing place and hope the application of a few hundred dollars (and carefully explaining what I want done) will help. They also have an ozonator machine which they say will remove many odors from a car. They just pump ozone into the car overnight, and it neutralizes many odors.

[Vincent]

[jonc]

I used Autoglym Leather Cleaner and a small short-bristled brush. I did the whole back of the car with each piece on the bench. I don't think there is any other way to do a proper job of the parcel shelf pieces.

I more recently bought some Gliptone Liquid Leather cleaner and conditioner which I am now tending to use (as I prefer the smell).

Please report back on the ozonator - sounds like a simple solution if it works.

[Vrije]

We used to work with an ozonater in the old days to remove tobacco smell
from traded-in cars, that worked very good.

Harry

[ksumrall]

I finally got back to removing the center console. A big thanks to jonc for his write-up. I know he did it from memory, but it was very helpful. However, having just done it myself, I figured I'd repost his instructions with my additions so the next person can have a better guide to work with. So here goes:

============================================

To remove the center console, there is a screw under the base panel of the center console as you rightly guessed. The panel is not fixed down - you just need to carefully pry it up at the front edge. Be careful when you do this as it is made of a thin (and soft) piece of plywood with a taper on the front edge so it is easy to damage.

The front fixing is somewhere underneath the ashtrays. These can be removed by lifting out the removable part of the ashtray and then undoing the screws below. Once you've removed the ashtray, look for 2 screws underneath it that hold the metal bracket onto the car. You also need to remove the gear knob. This has a single allen headed grub screw accessed through a small hole in the leather part near the bottom on the front. Use a 3/32" allen wrench. Once it is loosened, the gear knob unscrews and can be lifted off.

You need to disconnect all the electrical wires going to the various switches and controls in the center console. Unscrew 2 screws on the rear of the center console, and you can then disconnect the two rear window switches. Also, you need to disconnect the rear lighter and the fan control switch. The easiest way to deal with the fan switch is to pull off the knob, unscrew the nut holding the switch to the panel, and then you have easy access to the 5 connections to that switch. Note which color wire goes where before you disconnect them. I drew a nice diagram. Once you're sure you've written it down correctly, disconnect the 5 wires from the switch.

Next you need to remove the wood trim around the shift lever and disconnect all the switches. To do that, you need to unscrew 2 screws in the glove box that hold the wood trim panel in place. They are the two inner screws of the 4 that are on that wall dividing the glove box from the shifter compartment. Do not remove the screws on the top of the wood trim. They are for decoration only and hold nothing together. Once all the screws are out you should be able to lift the front of the trim panel up and then pull the panel away from the glove box. But it won't go far with 10 switches to disconnect. After you've disconnected the 10 window and seat switches, disconnect the wires to the boot release switch, and also the cigarette lighter.

You also need to unscrew the fuse box which will reveal the two screws which hold its leather-trimmed panel in place. Once this is lose, you have access to the area below to disconnect any stereo connectors etc. The fusebox and panel stay with the car when the console is removed.

The console is heavier than it looks and big and bulky. It is possible to remove it without taking the front seats out, although I had removed the steering wheel when I did it on 13277.

=============================================

I also found a very slight gas leak in the rubber hose coming off of the fuel pump in the trunk. Well, I think it's the fuel pump, but I may be wrong. So I'm going to have someone replace the hose (I don't feel like dealing with draining a 25+ gallon tank) and also it looks like there is a little seepage around the fuel pump gasket too. At least this explains why i smelled gasoline in the trunk. Once that's fixed, I'll take the car in to get it thoroughly cleaned.

[ksumrall]

I see it's been 4 years since I posted. The short version of the story is, my car sat in a garage, then has been at 2 different mechanics for quite a while now.

The first one f-ed up the motor, and returned it on a tow truck not working. At least he didn't charge me after having it for more than a year. I stored it for a bit in the garage at work, then contacted the Aston-Martin dealer in Los Gatos. They have a mechanic who used to work on Lagondas in LA back in the 80s/90s. So, I took it there. They took somewhere between 6 and 12 months, but they finally got it working. Most of the time, they weren't working on it because they were short staffed and had other warranty work and agreements with the factory to get it done quickly. And they warned me it would take a while, so I'm not upset about the delay.

As a matter of fact, I'm happy I got to see it running well last week! The tires are probably the original tires from 1985, and the sidewalls are cracking, so I've ordered new tires, and I should get the car back in a week or so, once the tires arrive.

So I can finally start to work on fixing the CRTs/computer and cleaning the leather. Oh, somewhere in the last 4 years, I did take it to a detailer, and they used the ozonator, but it didn't help. They also cleaned the carpets which I had removed from the car, so they were cleaned well. I also had a car upholsterer remove the old carpet padding, and install new padding, and re-install the carpeting too. Now that the car is coming back, I can work on properly cleaning the leather.

jonc, I just ordered some Autoglym leather cleaner from Amazon. I'll give it a try. Did you condition the leather with Autoglym conditioner after cleaning? Also, you said you preferred the smell of the Gliptone Liquid Leather cleaner and conditioner. Does it work as well as the Autoglym to remove the old car smell? Or at least, keep the smell from rubbing off on my clothes?

Vincent, you said you used Savon De Marseille. That looks like a body soap, though I saw some articles online that say it can be used to clean leather. How did you use it? Grate it up, and mix with water? How much water? Did you use a brush or cloth?

As you can see, cleaning the leather is my next task. Then the electronics. I'm just happy to be getting a car I can drive around in. Time for a trip to Monterey in my Lagonda. Maybe cruise along 17 mile drive and go to the Pebble Beach resort and have a glass of wine on the veranda

BTW, the dealer said he'll be sad to see it go, as it is such a conversation piece. People would arrive to pick up their Koenigsegg or modern Aston, or Lambo, or whatever other expensive car they had, and stop in their tracks and ogle the Lagonda when they see it.

Thanks everyone for your help!