Car Cover Questions: Outside Storage.

MarcSpaz

Resident Trouble Maker
Established Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2016
Messages
2,760
Location
Location: Location:
For the car? Cause the fridge can't leave the house. LOL

I actually thought about that. It may happen in the Spring. Oddly, the weather hasn't been that bad yet. So I took the cover off and drove it a few times since I started the thread. I doubt I'll be lucky to have it last all winter. Chances are it will just sit outside and uncovered this winter.
 

CO Mack

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2014
Messages
474
Location
Earth
For the car? Cause the fridge can't leave the house. LOL

I actually thought about that. It may happen in the Spring. Oddly, the weather hasn't been that bad yet. So I took the cover off and drove it a few times since I started the thread. I doubt I'll be lucky to have it last all winter. Chances are it will just sit outside and uncovered this winter.

Here's how it went down at my house-

"Dear, we need a shed, pronto"
"Agreed, let's go get a shed"
<At shed store she asks to build a really big one to get junk out of house>
"Uh, yes. Sure" <I am man, you don't say no to a big shed. Mustangs end up parked in "Man Cave", I get sick of dealing with nasty yard junk>
"Dear, we need a shed, pronto"
"You have $2000"
:p
I bought a end of season special that was already built, so I could get it on site just as the first real winter weather was hitting...but all the crap is out of the shed/garage now.

BTW- on topic. I've parked a car outside with a cover on it and the wind moving the cover around wrecked the paint at all of the edges. Be super careful, modern paint is thin, and the cover these cars came with is not smooth inside, it's not meant for use outside in weather.
 
Last edited:

MarcSpaz

Resident Trouble Maker
Established Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2016
Messages
2,760
Location
Location: Location:
I wish it was that easy here. I need cou,t building permits, the ground where the shed would go needs to be leveled, and we are on low ground with wet-lands behind our house, so a slab needs to be poured. There is a laundry list of reasons that had delayed a shed.

Maybe next year.
 

CO Mack

Active Member
Established Member
Joined
Mar 28, 2014
Messages
474
Location
Earth
Dang, sounds complicated. Even in CA they let us build up to 125sqft without a permit.
 

tbone7467

Member
Established Member
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
Messages
96
Location
CA
Spaz did you ever figure out your cover? Im in the same situation with my cobra, i dont have garage space and im not driving much due to covid. Id love a solution. i hate to see the car getting beat up sitting there. the stripes cracked a few weeks after buying the car that was heart breaking.

TJ hows this cover?

Covercraft Shelby GT500 WeatherShield HP Exterior Gray Car Cover (2007-2009)
 

jayk17

Member
Established Member
Joined
Jan 13, 2014
Messages
146
Location
Ga
The Covercraft Noah is one of the best outdoor covers I've tried. Whatever brand you choose, be sure to clean your car first before using a cover to avoid unwanted scratches.
 

98 svt

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Premium Member
Joined
May 16, 2005
Messages
23,960
Location
Massachoooosetts
The Covercraft Noah is one of the best outdoor covers I've tried. Whatever brand you choose, be sure to clean your car first before using a cover to avoid unwanted scratches.


I have a Noah also. I keep my car in a covered carport, with a Noah car cover on top
 

4rd Toys

Polishing my SVTs....
Established Member
Joined
Feb 8, 2009
Messages
1,092
Location
Behind the wheel
My SVTF had to moved outside from the garage when I put it in "storage-mode" during the winter months. I use a Covercraft Brand "Noah" Custom Fit Cover for the SVTF along with a generic clear plastic cover to keep the Covercraft cover completely dry and to hold it completely in place with zero movement.

I used TWO of these "plastic" generic "dust" car covers that I always order off eBay in the fall and used Duck Brand "HD-Clear" tape to form or shape to the SVTF body lines. Especially around the front & rear bumpers to prevent the strong-winds from moving or blowing off the cover.

Get the 3-inch wide Clear Duck brand tape; it holds and does not fall apart like "cheap" clear packing tape during the winter.

Here's the tape which you can find on amazon:

HD Clear Heavy Duty Packing Tape Wide 54.6 yd 6pk | Duck Brand

Here's the plastic cover I'm referring to on eBay; I believe they have larger size covers than this one too:

Clear Plastic Temporary Universal Disposable Car Cover Rain Dust Garage Cover D | eBay

.....................................................................................................................................

I've been doing this since 2018, and have had zero issues.

Wish I could simply post pics off my iPhone... but the server won't accept...

So you can see what I do.
 

ANGREY

Well-Known Member
Established Member
Joined
Oct 24, 2017
Messages
553
I happen to have considerable experience and insight into this issue.

1) There are competing interests when it comes to covering a vehicle and much of it depends on where you're located and for how long you'll cover the car.

Many/Most manufacturers to NOT like to create impermeable membranes because they're worried about molding if moisture becomes trapped between the cover and the vehicle. While this is a problem in areas where the dew point is reached often, for MOST people who uncover their cars and use them at least infrequently, I find that permeable covers create more problems than they avoid.

There are many reasons to cover a car, keep bird shit, plant droppings, UV, dust, etc from wearing the paint surfaces and other vulnerable parts.

Other aspects that a lot of cover manufacturers consider or promote are ding/dent protection, but I find that to be a bit of a non issue. If you're worried your car is gonna get dinged (in my mind) you shouldn't park it there.

Having said all that, the BEST solution I've seen is the following:

1) Do NOT get the covers with plush liners. Yes they make it soft and easy on your car's finish, but over time, all that happens is whatever fibers/textiles the liner is crafted from break down and detach and it ends up creating a fine dust or residue on your paint job (meaning you have to wash the car EVERY time you uncover it).

2) Absolutely get a fitted cover. Wind action will DESTROY a paint job in no time. Spend the money and get something SPECIFICALLY crafted to fit your car like a glove.

3) Get a silicone or water sealant product and coat the exterior to make it water proof. If you do this, it'll prevent water that penetrates through the cover to the paint. When the cover is soaked, many times places where it rests tight (like the low spots of the hood, the trunk deck) or anywhere water can pond or pool, what you're left with when you uncover the car is a giant water spot of dried dissolved solids. Call it dust, salt, whatever, if your cover doesn't completely shed water, again, you'll simply have to wash the car EVERY time you uncover it. We could have a separate thread and debate whether washing the car affects the finishes on it.

I recommend camp dry (kiwi) but there's other products on the market. They're pretty expensive and don't go very far in coverage, so you'll end up spending about $80-$100 to waterproof it.

Yes, you run the risk that if moisture or condensation forms under the cover and you don't clear it for long periods of time, mold/mildew can form. But my experience is MOST people uncover their cars often enough for this not to be a concern.

So if you get a thin, non lined cover and seal it properly, every time you uncover the car you'll be left with a paint finish that's largely in the same state as you left it. No fibers from the liner. No salt/water staining from moisture that migrated through the cover. And you get UV protection for the poly parts and pieces and generally overall.
 

MarcSpaz

Resident Trouble Maker
Established Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2016
Messages
2,760
Location
Location: Location:
Spaz did you ever figure out your cover? Im in the same situation with my cobra, i dont have garage space and im not driving much due to covid. Id love a solution. i hate to see the car getting beat up sitting there. the stripes cracked a few weeks after buying the car that was heart breaking.

TJ hows this cover?

Covercraft Shelby GT500 WeatherShield HP Exterior Gray Car Cover (2007-2009)


Sorry for the late reply.

So, in the end, I tossed a tremendous amount of stuff and made room in the Shelby in the garage. The Shelby is long gone, now. But I have another car that I rarely drive and I even gave up on garaging it. Before I stop driving it for the season, I wash and seal the paint and just leave it in the driveway, somewhere out of the way.

I took the advice about using tape to protect corners, finding the better cover, etc. Bottom line was 100% of everything I tried flat out failed.

No matter how clean the car was, what cover I bought or how many edges I taped up, dust was blowing up under the cover and scratching every surface. I would pull the cover every couple of weeks to start the car and every time, I ended up buying a different cover and buffing the clear. I got sick of it and just made the garage work.
 

Users who are viewing this thread



Top