Car Covers Opinions? Which ones are best...??

Oops forgot to mention car covers. There are water resistant and water proof, neither of which keep water out. They do keep the dust off the car.

There are some that keep the water out but I went through 2 of them in no time. They are about half (if that) the thickness of a shower curtain liner. Mine only keeps the car dry because the little bit of water that gets in is blown under the carport so repels it. If a lot blows in it soaks the cover.

autobarn.net has fairly good prices or you can hit the local autozone if you have one and find one and might equal same price when you add in shipping or maybe even less. I like the "fuzzy" felt like ones but I have the other nylon type.

Stitch witchery tape or iron on patches work good for repairs on the nylon types. Just used the stitch stuff on the tear tonight and I have iron on patches for a small hole in back and to reinforce the hole you have to cut for the antenna.

I used a tarp for a year before I had a garage and way back I used a sheet of plastic with a sheet of pegboard underneath it on the roof. With out the pegboard there wasn't enough air circulation and I had toadstools growing in the carpet. Made a great green house then!

Guess that's all I can tell ya about car covers, which isn't a lot.

Oh and one more thing, I bought the shower curtainish ones on ebay and I emailed previous buyers to see what they thought of them. Now with the hiding the nicname it probably isn't possible. Of course also out in the desert I had the sun shining on it all the time and the wind was always whipping it around which didn't help with longevity. If it's not windy as heck often where you are you might get more life out of that type. Orrrr you can get you some good plastic sheeting and sew it so that it is more "fitted", add some elastic and some seam sealer or silicone. Might get a tad spendy then though. Not sure.


Deb

I have some thoughts about car covers, of course I seem to have thoughts on just about everything lately?
1. Most car covers will need to be lined to really protect the paint and to keep dust off.
2. The only real way to protect the vehicle from rusting on the bottom is to keep it inside and even then unless it is temperature and moisture controlled it will still develop surface rust on unpainted areas.
3. The best cover for outside storage I have found is to buy a cheep (Pepboys) lined cover and then cover that with a plastic tarp and be ready to replace the tarp every year or so.
4. For about the same money as what I listed in item 3 above you can do what I started doing several years ago. I purchase one of the 10 or 12'X20 temporary shelters that have sides and a zip up front. I then line the bottom with heavy plastic sheet, put the vehicle in then put a car cover on it to keep the dust off. I now have three of these and the oldest one is now 5 years old and for the $300 it cost getting five+ years out of it is about the same as replacing a tarp every year.

Scott...

The only problem with the "portable garages" is if you are in a windy area and if the area you live in allows them. Many don't. I used the top to mine to cover the car in MD as I couldn't use the full thing because of housing. It was bought to keep the car covered when I moved it from my dad's to my sister's place and it sat there for a year before it was brought to MD.

Friends of thiers had the same thing but had to take it down where they used to live because the neighborhood didn't allow them.

I have to say they are great when you can use them! Mine with one open end 10x20' cost $199 and I bought a cheap tarp to cover the other end. Cheapest way to cover cars, motorhomes if not too tall or any other stuff. And anchor them well, they are like a big umbrella sort of.

A felt type one under a tarp if you're protecting the paint is a good idea. I think the felt stuff would also allow circulation of air. The worst thing in the world is just a sheet of plastic or a tarp and no ventilation. Only reason I used the pegboard is to see if it would work and it was laying around. Got lucky and it worked. Plastic sheeting under the car in one of these garage things might help too as long as water wasn't going to get on top of the sheeting and create pools of water under the car.

I moved this into it's own thread from one of JC's capers. JC asked my opinion of car covers and so the topic within a topic began and ended.

So many have their opinions and experiences with different car covers and "garages" so thought it needed it's own thread.

Deb

I highly recommmend "Wolf" brand. I got one for each Torino. Very durable and a good fit for a universal cover. Can't remember the model, but I got the 2nd one from the top in their series. However, last time I bought one... a few weeks ago. Summit said that Wolf is going out of business, but Summit still has a lot in stock.

Originally Posted by ShotRod64

I moved this into it's own thread from one of JC's capers. JC asked my opinion of car covers and so the topic within a topic began and ended. So many have their opinions and experiences with different car covers and "garages" so thought it needed it's own thread. Deb

Hey mon Deb,
Very thoughtful there.

When I talked to Jeane this morning, I told her what I was doing, and that what I really needed was a car port/garage. She immediately asked how I was going to get THAT accomplished. I told her that I had this long curved driveway (she has been here before), and that all it would take is to do a 2"X4"X10'-0" structure just like a house, with the 10'-0" ceiling that would make Lorrie Van Haul fit easily into it. I could frame it in a week. THEN, it would be sided with 2'-0" X 10'-0" corrugated galvanized panels on the outside, 2'-0" X 12'-0" corrugated galvanized panels on the roof (slightly pitched so that rain would run to the outside of the curve),and sheet-rock interior with triple insulation so that it would stay cool. AND I put in LOTS of fluorescent lighting.

Jeane wanted to know how much all this would cost, and she said that she would spring for the cost of materials.

I'd build it so that it would have a large shop area at the end furthest from the entrance, and it would be air tight so that I could even do spray painting inside!

Anyway, that would be a lot better than just a car cover.

What I'm using now is a large plastic tarp with grommets around the edges, and what I do is put it over the 3.14 and then run a nylon cord through the corner grommets and tie them so that the bottoms at each end wraps around the front and back.

When it gets windy (like it did in Hurrican Ike, I tie plastic gallon water or milk bottle at each grommet hole and sit a couple of them on the hood and the trunk. These tarps are about $14.00 and last a year before they start to leak.

Still a garage is the way to go.

This will be my Autumn Project, and maybe even my Summer Morning project.

I have some updating to do about the heater, but will do that over in the proper thread.

Hope you are having as nice a day as am I.

JC

That's the type of tarp, kinda, that I used on the shotrod. I used bungee cords and would like tuck the ends under the car and run the bungee from one corner to the other across the front and the back and then in the middle tossed the bungee across under. But when windy I had others running the length of the side.

The tarp was the roof of my "garage" so it was way bigger than I needed. I discovered real quick to always keep some part of my body in contact with the car or I'd be practically electrocuted from the static electricity. Sliding out of the seat of the car zap is one thing but it hurts like heck, for real, when it is traveling out the side of your foot to the ground! I think finally all the static is gone from the shotrod's body but it took a while. I think what really helped with static was the king size old water bed sheets I sewed together like a fitted sheet for the car to go under the tarp.

That would be the deal on the carport/shed/shop/garage there JC!!

Deb

Originally Posted by ShotRod64

That would be the deal on the carport/shed/shop/garage there JC!! Deb

Hey mon Deb,
If it was triple insulated, I could work there any season, and any time of day!

Just got off the phone with Greg Donahue.

He said that he sent me a letter to my street address and that it came back because the P.O. doesn't deliver to street addresses.

He said that the letter said that they would have to wait till my personal check cleared before he could send the parts.

He said that the check cleared today, so the parts ship tomorrow.

He said that Monday is a holiday, and so to expect the parts next Thursday or Friday!

Sheesh!

Isn't this FUN?

JC

I am impatient and hate waiting on stuff! But we have to do it sometimes don't we!