Exterminator needed for my Mopars

Having only a two car garage, some of my vintage Mopars remain outside in the weather. Next to the driveway are some pine trees that wasps seem to love. Last fall, I found that wasps had built a small but very active nest in the grille of my turquoise 68 Barracuda fastback parked near their favorite tree. The next day I discovered a second nest behind the rear bumper. Having no bug spray, I used WD-40 to kill the wasps all just as dead. There were still wasps around the trees, but the turquoise fastback was no longer housing any nests for the rest of the year. Two weeks ago, with the weather turning warm, I saw wasps scouting out the possibilities of rebuilding. So I moved the Barracuda to another part of the driveway where it has not since been bothered, and I have alternately parked other cars in that spot by the wasps favorite trees. The wasps don't bother my Dodge pickup, the Volkswagon Passatt wagon, or even my 67 Coronets when they are parked there. But, I parked my 68 Barracuda convertible there a week ago, and the wasps were imediately back within an hour, checking on the suitability for a new wasp condo in the grille area. I moved the Barracuda convertible out and dropped it off at a shop for some brake work before they could move in. No more problems. But today, I backed my white 68 Barracuda out of the garage for the first time this year, and sure enough, the wasps were back checking out the grille again. Three different 68 Barracudas, and the results are the same. This time when I moved the white Barracuda back into the garage, the wasps seemed to start showing interest in my blue 67 Coronet for the first time. I don't know where the wasps current home is, though they may be high up in all three trees.
My question is this, How do I keep the wasps away from my cars? I don't want them to dictate where I park my cars in my own driveway. And how is it that they can appear to be more attracted to Barracudas than other cars?

 

Well I know also WD is a great wasp killer, maybe spray some in spots of the car...wheel wells, under bumpers etc.

 

Try planting some rutabegas. It works for elephants.......


Seriously, we were starting to get some wasps around the eves on our back patio (facing south), so we bought a couple wasp catcher thingys - wasps fly in, but they don't fly out. Hang a couple in the pine trees......

 

jeez, i am soooooo glad you mentioned that.

i have to worst elephant problem.

 

Id just use one of thoes hanging bug zapper things. from a tree or something. Or dont give them anywhere to make a nest in. Seal things up if your done for the season with it. I know Jim, at one time I had 8 cars here. I was finding moths, hornets and such in mine. If you have bugs in the grill nesting, id just drive the car on a long freeway. Blow them out and ruin the nest. That worked on my 74 Chevrolet Vega and my 76 Monte Carlo, the others I had to drop bombs in.

 

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you should see the inside of my Tbird!!!....it looks like mice and rats held a rock concert in it !!!

 

Hippo's love rutebegas.

 

Heres a few photos of the blue Coronet with the trees in question in the background. As I took these photos today, a wasp was checking out the gas filler door. The finger notch for opening the filler door was the perfect size for a wasp's front door. I think I'll be a little nervous next time I stick my finger in there to open that gas door to fill the tank.
Since Elephants are not the problem, I'll check the wasp thingys that wasps fly in but don't fly out (wasp motel?). I'll look for them at Home Depot and Lowes. I might hang a couple one each tree and attach one to the antenna of each car. Thanks for the suggestions.

 

Jim, that's a fantastic looking car!

If I were a wasp, I'd want to set up house in your awesome Mopars too!



I've figured out the solution to your wasp problems...give your Mopars to me, and get ugly cars! Problem solved! :2_thumbs_up_-_anima

David

 

Thanks for the compliment David. Its a car that sits outside, and I'm still putting it together after minor body work and paint at Maaco last fall. I need to solve windshield and rear window leaks before I can install the interior.
The paint color looks stunning on an overcast day, but in bright sunlight (as in today's photos) theres a little too much metalflake in the paint to get a real decent photo. My friends have already nick named it "The Bass Boat". My local Maaco actually did a pretty decent job on the car. I plan to take them my 68 Barracuda convertible next. I know some Maacos are much better than others. This one was great to work with.
My other Coronet is a convertible. I took the side view photo (with my buddies smiling in the background) on our way back from Chryslers at Carlisle last summer. The rear of the vert sits a little low in this photo as the trunk is loaded with luggage and parts found at Carlisle.

 

So that's what WD-40 means - Wasp Debugger! Here I thought it was Washer/Dryer.

Heck of a Tip, because my neighbour gets them under his eaves. The official spray is like 3 times more.

 

Nice looking Mopars !

Good thing you don't have hornets - those things release a pheromone when they sting that tells the whole nest who and where you are. I had a heck of time with those guys in my back yard one year - you pretty much have to run out of their range to get away from them . . . .

 

So you were chased by Hornets till you were out of their range! Now thats Classic! What did you do? Throw a Javelin at their nest? Sounds like whatever you were doing to exterminate the little Gremlins, that they were prepared to Rebel. I thought they were all free-range Hornets. Maybe its different if your back yard was in a Metropolitan or Suburban area. How far did you have to run? Did you have to fly like an Eagle in the Concorde SST to go Cross Country to become an American Ambassador in another land. Maybe you shouldn't have been a Rambler, and had instead fought like a Matador when the Rogue Hornets came after you. If only there were a Machine that you could use to get rid of them. You could always pay for it with your AMX card.

(I couldn't resist. I hope you don't mind. I'm glad to see AMC fans here. If I don't find the right 67 Belvedere II wagon, a 67 or 68 Rebel wagon with wood like trim, would be another wagon I would consider.)

 

Hahahahaha I think you managed to get almost every AMC car made into that post. Maybe you should Pacer yourself . . . . . .