Damp garage or keep outside?

[NeoVR]

Ive recently become the proud owner of a Formula Red Chimaera 450.

As it was a bit of a "YOLO/boyhood dream" car - im now looking on how best to look after it.. even though its a "weekend" car i am intending to drive it regularly all year round - not keep a garage queen.

At the moment the car lives on the drive with a leven-style hood cover on.. which is doing a decent job of keeping the rain out so far, however the cat loves it - and I am worried about the paintwork (got it booked in for correction and ceramic coating in a few weeks)
Ive heard that full-covers are a big no-no for GRP cars as itll destroy the paint - so ive already kinda ruled that out.

I do also have a tatty old concrete sectional garage, that the car would just about fit in after a few tip runs to empty the crap - however overall its very damp due to leaky asbestos roof and cracked panel joints.

Now my thinking - even if i get the garage roof replaced/fixed, and re-seal the concrete panels its always likely going to be a bit damp due to lack of airflow - which i cant imagine would be good for the chassis.

I know the right answer is to get a new (bigger) garage built, or move house - yes that is on the cards, but not for a year or two...

So i suppose the question is, given the above - is the car better off staying outside? - it will be exposed to the elements (and animals) but it will have airflow to dry it off on the rare occasions its not raining..

Or, make the outlay to get the garage roof replaced in the short-term and seal up the panels as much as possible? - given the age and general construction - i cant imagine itll ever be fully water resistant and dry.

[Simon_GH]

Is it an option to move any valuable contents to a shed, leave the garage door open and use it as a car port? Outdoor car covers are ok when the car is clean and dry, but if you’re using it all year round, you’ll probably rarely bother using the cover.

[FunkyGibbon]

Welcome to the world of grins and growls.

IME unless you have a dry garage with plenty of airflow then you are best leaving them outside. The leven 1/2 hood will protect the hood just fine, and you are correct full covers are not great.

Mine is outdoors all the time. (Unless that is the cause of my recent suspension issue )

[GreenV8S]

If there is water leaking inside it'll never be dry. But you should be able to fix the roof and get to a point where that isn't happening. At that point it doesn't need much air flow to keep dry and you may already have enough. If not there must be somewhere you could add vents to get through air flow. Under cover protected from the elements will be far better for it than out in the weather with car covers.

[Plan B]

If the floor of the garage isn’t wet then that’s the preferable place compared to leaving outside. If you’ve got an electric socket in there then use a dehumidifier.

[W111AAM]

I would fix the roof and stop the leaks. I'm sure parking the TVR up in the garage hot after a drive will soon help dry it out!!! Plus been able to say its parked in a garage overnight has got to also help with insurance??

[NeoVR]

W111AAM said:

I would fix the roof and stop the leaks. I'm sure parking the TVR up in the garage hot after a drive will soon help dry it out!!! Plus been able to say its parked in a garage overnight has got to also help with insurance??

True - there is around a 25% difference in insurance between being garaged and not garaged.

I will start getting more quotes to replace the roof, quotes so far have been in the region of £1700.. so not exactly cheap.

[blueg33]

Outdoor carcoon? I put a dehumidifier in mine and the humidly is a constant 50% all year

[NeoVR]

blueg33 said:

Outdoor carcoon? I put a dehumidifier in mine and the humidly is a constant 50% all year

Carcoon is an option... maybe as is one of these (when they come back in stock)


My concern with a carcoon is the time/effort to put-up/take down... as id like to be able to take the car out on a regular basis.

[blueg33]

NeoVR said:

blueg33 said:

Outdoor carcoon? I put a dehumidifier in mine and the humidly is a constant 50% all year

Carcoon is an option... maybe as is one of these (when they come back in stock)


My concern with a carcoon is the time/effort to put-up/take down... as id like to be able to take the car out on a regular basis.

I can get my car out in 5 mins and 10 mins to put it away. On a hard surface like a drive its difficult to anchor a pop up garage. A carcoon with a car in it isnt going anywhere however windy. Plus as its an air bubble with an insulated base its easier to manage humidity

[sixor8]

I used a car cover on my last Chimaera, but it was a pricey 4 layer jobby. Covercraft I think it was but I sold it.

The car would dry without needing to remove the cover, it was breathable. The car STILL got damp if it poured it down, but the vast majority of the rain water doesn't then get in the doors; only a tarpaulin would be 100% rain proof but the car paint would suffer, as you mentioned, because it couldn't breathe.

I tried the Halfords all-season one of my last Cerbera and it stayed soaking for days after it stopped raining so I wouldn't recommend it.

[Lincsls1]

Get your garage roof sorted and try and seal the panels.
Keeping your car in a dry garage will protect it better than any car cover outside.
Some people keep their classics in a Carcoon within a garage! Very cozy.

[Belle427]

Weigh up the costs, can you remove the existing garage and erect the Clarke tent linked to above?
Sounds silly but the Clarke tent would have airflow and be dry.

[Byker28i]

Put the tent over the garage?

Has it got power? I was amazed at how much water a dehumidifier pulled from our old property when we first bought it (not when I found all the leaks).
I bought a second for my son's digs at Uni, which is now used in the garage, with a hose venting to the drain outside.

[anonymous-user]

Any nearby-ish storage facilities? Most big towns have them.

[NeoVR]

Belle427 said:

Weigh up the costs, can you remove the existing garage and erect the Clarke tent linked to above?
Sounds silly but the Clarke tent would have airflow and be dry.

Thats part of my thinking - i have enough space to put the clarke tent up on the drive and still keep the garage, its 5x cheaper than the garage roof repair, and bigger - although wife acceptance factor is an issue that im working on...

[Mutley00]

sixor8 said:

I used a car cover on my last Chimaera, but it was a pricey 4 layer jobby. Covercraft I think it was but I sold it.

Dont even think about using one of these! I used one for a couple of years (which I now assume is the time it takes moisture to permeate the glass fibre), then wallop - out of nowhere, microblisters everywhere. This was on original paintwork as well.

[Byker28i]

NeoVR said:

Belle427 said:

Weigh up the costs, can you remove the existing garage and erect the Clarke tent linked to above?
Sounds silly but the Clarke tent would have airflow and be dry.

Thats part of my thinking - i have enough space to put the clarke tent up on the drive and still keep the garage, its 5x cheaper than the garage roof repair, and bigger - although wife acceptance factor is an issue that im working on...

Wasn't there somewhere on here where someone had a storage container as a cheap garage, but it looked brilliant when boarded...

[phazed]

Pretty cheap to buy. A friend bought 2.

Clad them and formed a great small joiners shop out of them. Dry, strong and secure.

[sixor8]

Mutley00 said:

sixor8 said:

I used a car cover on my last Chimaera, but it was a pricey 4 layer jobby. Covercraft I think it was but I sold it.

Dont even think about using one of these! I used one for a couple of years (which I now assume is the time it takes moisture to permeate the glass fibre), then wallop - out of nowhere, microblisters everywhere. This was on original paintwork as well.

Well I used one for 3 1/2 years in the winter on a silver Chimaera, not original paint. And another one for 2 years (when poor weather, not all the time) on a Chimaera with only 2 year old paint and lacquer. Never had an issue! Perhaps yours was in the shade all the time? Or done up very tight so no air could circulate?

With the sun on them and a bit of a breeze, I found that the car and cover would be dry in about 6 hours without even taking it off.

A garage or car port is obviously best, but if you've a car that leaks in the rain and no other option, then they are something to consider. But don't buy a cheap one that doesn't breathe.