Practically Classics Forum

My old Rover has been relagated to the driveway to make way for project spitfire. The issue I have now is do I put a cover on it or leave it open? If I leave it open I can see the issues with weather / rain / sun / snow etc, but if I cover it will the scratch the paint when the cover rubs the car in the wind? Advice or suggestions please!

Nick

I have used car covers for quite a few years.

I use a stormforce cover on the two cars I currently need to leave outside.

I bought them from the company below, and have had no issues in regards to rubbing or condensation.

http://www.coveryourcar.co.uk/

If you give me the Rover I will keep it dry for you! Oh well, was worth a try

I got one of these not cheap, before that spent loads on car covers . One's that lose there shape, Stormforce etc, was one.

Not an ideal situation but I think SEE YA's car tent is the best option. I have never got around to it (I don't have a need for it) but I reckon you could make a kind of large, fibre glass, car shaped jelly mould, that sat on a base. If it hinged at one end, you could drive the car on to the base and then drop the top down over it and lock it shut. I think it would be a bit more sturdy than the car tent type of thing.

Provided it doesn't leak and all it's seals are intact and it's been waxed there's no reason why it would need to go under a cover- it'll rain, it'll get wet,but the wind will keep it from rusting- it's ventilation that you need to keep any stored car in good shape and you won't get that under a cover. My Triumph lives under a carport type polycarb shelter at the side of the house, I only built it so I could carry on working through the winter. It cost me less than a hundred quid to buy the bits, and it keeps vertical rain off but it regularly gets wet round the edges if the wind's blowing- but that same breeze blows any damp away later.

Cars are always better under cover (The polish will last better for one thing) but not a cover that rests on the car itself. My first garage was a dilapidated sectioned concrete affair. It wasn’t the driest of things, in terms of dampness (It didn’t leak) but it was “Well ventilated” and so things would dry out in there. I was glad of it until I was able to build the garage I have now (Which for years was better than my house).

My late next door neighbour built a rather clever carport and in conjunction with his solid fence, adjoining shed and greenhouse, it became almost a garage. He fitted doors to the front end and had something planned for the back end but then he and his wife both died suddenly, within hours of each other (Nobody is certain what happened; one theory is that the husband found the wife dead and died from a heart attack), so they had very little benefit from it (His daughter and her family have now moved in).

MMOC recently had a favourable review of one of CoverYourCar.co.uk's models, I forget which. The tent & carport are great in theory but not all of us have access to land on which to place them; I'm likely to be buying one of their covers pretty soon as it seems to fit my needs very well.