Car covers?

[TC Chris]

I'm wondering if anybody has car cover recommendations. My storage-building owner donated one for the '65 Starfire and I need one for storing the '61 Chevy this winter.

For the Chevy, the first goal is just indoor winter storage, so he doesn't feel obliged to cover this one for me. But next summer it may sit outdoors, and a good all-weather cover might be a good choice (if there is such a thing). Maybe people have comments on the outdoor cover option.

It has to be breathable. Back about 1970 my Dad parked the Chevy out behind the garage and to protect it, he bought a big sheet of visqueen. Of course, that collected ground moisture condensation from below and the combo of water and solar gain lifted some of the Chevy's pretty Jewel Blue paint on one of the repainted fenders. It still bears the scar today. So we look for opaque AND breathable, but let's hear what those with experience have to say.

And for a good quality indoor storage cover, add your two cents' worth too. Maybe I'll buy two, one for the Olds.....

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

I wouldn't park your Chevy outdoors for any length of time. It will draw moisture in places you may not see, Up under the instrument panel, under the seats, under the carpet, in the trunk and of course the entire bottom of the car. You live in rust country. Covering it outside would make the moisture worse in many cases. The cover may interfere with air circulation. The Buick resides in a concrete storage facility, covered with a soft car cover, then the cover is covered by a tarp. I would highly recommend renting dry storage for your car. Once the rust gets started, it costs big money keeping it under control. All car covers are breathable. That's the reason mine is covered by a tarp. To keep the dust from penetrating the car cover. The humidity out here is low, so the Buick with a plastic tarp over the car cover is no big deal. I'm not sure I'd do that where you live. The dust blows around out here so bad that there is a quarter inch of dust on the plastic tarp every time I remove it. The Buick hasn't been washed since 1997. I give it a sponge bath, after a good blow with compressed air and a swipe with a California duster. Why don't I wash it? Water spots get in places you can see, but there is no way to access them. The wife got mine for my birthday one year. She said she Googled "car covers". Good ones are expensive. You have to cut a hole for the antenna, which is a pain. Get one plenty big. If you are going to use bungie cords on the cover, make sure it has provisions for those.

[TC Chris]

Outdoors would be summer-only. The real danger is sun: UV takes a toll on everything (paint, interior plastics, rubber), and so does solar gain through closed windows, baking everything.

Dust is minimal in MI. Bird droppings, acorns, leaves, we have those. And sun.

Where the Chevy lives, lots of people along the road have big pole barns for their boats and RVs. I was thinking about putting up a sign asking about summer-only storage. It would be nearby so I could walk to the Chevy and take a spin. They would get some bucks for an empty space and I'd get protection.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

Classic cars and their care and feeding can be a hassle when you live with limited room. Everybody around here with a classic car or a street rod has to pay for storage. There is a storage facility on nearly every block, it seems. There are three storage facilities going up around here that I know of, maybe that many more than I don't know about. Homes being currently built have no storage space at all. People put up storage racks in their garage, then park their cars in the driveway. The HOA technically limits how many cars are parked on the street, but there are thousands parked on the street just in our little part of the community. We are the only family in the whole west end of our complex that parks all their vehicles in the garage. The Mini and the golf cart share one side, the Tahoe has to be parked in at an angle to clear the water heater and the garage door. There is about an inch to spare. I don't know what we'd do if we had an electric car with its inheritently huge, cumbersome charger. We barely have room for the golf cart charger. The HOA won't allow car chargers on the outside of the garage. They keep building homes like they are possessed. All with no storage and with only a 20' long garage. I stored the Buick here when we were gone in the winter. I backed it in at an angle with less than an inch between the Buick and the garage door and between the Buick and the bedroom wall. The storage facility the Buick is in is a 20' stall. Typically, the 20' would be the free span of the room. The one I rent includes the thickness of the garage door and the uprights that hold up the building, so there is only 19', 8" in free span. The garage door drags the car cover when it moves, it's that tight. I need to find a more generous 20' storage facility. This one is the cheapest one, probably for a reason. The Buick is protected from the sun and the rain, but not from dust.