Discussion
Would welcome some advice on car covers. I keep my Alfasud in a reasonably dry garage and it doesn't get used a lot in the winter. Most of the time it stays pretty dry but when the weather changes, for instance the recent warm \wet spell it gets a layer of condensation on the body. As I don't think I can do much else to improve the garage, would a cover help prevent the condensation forming? Or will it just become wet and cause more problems? If I did go for a cover I was thinking of a breathable outdoor one which would be useful in the summer for outdoors. Are these OK for indoor also, or should I get a simple cotton one for indoors?
thanks
thanks
www.classicadditions.co.uk
fantastic company, I've bought two fully tailored indoor car covers from them now and will continue to do so again when new cars come and go.
Give them a ring and run through your requirements I'm sure they'll be happy to explain the options.
I must stress I have nothing to do with the company at all, I am just really impressed with them and so don't mind recommending
fantastic company, I've bought two fully tailored indoor car covers from them now and will continue to do so again when new cars come and go.
Give them a ring and run through your requirements I'm sure they'll be happy to explain the options.
I must stress I have nothing to do with the company at all, I am just really impressed with them and so don't mind recommending
TonyHetherington said:
www.classicadditions.co.uk
fantastic company, I've bought two fully tailored indoor car covers from them now and will continue to do so again when new cars come and go.
Give them a ring and run through your requirements I'm sure they'll be happy to explain the options.
I must stress I have nothing to do with the company at all, I am just really impressed with them and so don't mind recommending
At great expense I purchased an indoor cover for my XK8 from Classic Additions in 2008 on the promise that it would fit perfectly. This proved totally false as it is obviously for a larger car & totally unsuitable. Unfortunately as I live in Germany the postal charges were to expensive to return. In addition the logistics company they used required a round trip of 40 kilometers to pick up the parcel. Altogether very unsatisfactory & I would NOT recommend this company.fantastic company, I've bought two fully tailored indoor car covers from them now and will continue to do so again when new cars come and go.
Give them a ring and run through your requirements I'm sure they'll be happy to explain the options.
I must stress I have nothing to do with the company at all, I am just really impressed with them and so don't mind recommending
Myobb said:
TonyHetherington said:
www.classicadditions.co.uk
fantastic company, I've bought two fully tailored indoor car covers from them now and will continue to do so again when new cars come and go.
Give them a ring and run through your requirements I'm sure they'll be happy to explain the options.
I must stress I have nothing to do with the company at all, I am just really impressed with them and so don't mind recommending
At great expense I purchased an indoor cover for my XK8 from Classic Additions in 2008 on the promise that it would fit perfectly. This proved totally false as it is obviously for a larger car & totally unsuitable. Unfortunately as I live in Germany the postal charges were to expensive to return. In addition the logistics company they used required a round trip of 40 kilometers to pick up the parcel. Altogether very unsatisfactory & I would NOT recommend this company.fantastic company, I've bought two fully tailored indoor car covers from them now and will continue to do so again when new cars come and go.
Give them a ring and run through your requirements I'm sure they'll be happy to explain the options.
I must stress I have nothing to do with the company at all, I am just really impressed with them and so don't mind recommending
Tony, I'm with you. Bought a cover for my E46 CSL form Adrian and he was fantastic. I would also agree that they sell standard covers in 3 sizes, so if you haven't ordered a tailor made cover it will possibly be a fairly loose fit. One things for sure, they don't avoid customer service issues so whether you're in Germany or not, give him a call back to clarify.
I'm planning to have another made for my E9 CSL when the restoration is completed in May hopefully!
I'm planning to have another made for my E9 CSL when the restoration is completed in May hopefully!
Milsyboy said:
Tony, I'm with you. Bought a cover for my E46 CSL form Adrian and he was fantastic. I would also agree that they sell standard covers in 3 sizes, so if you haven't ordered a tailor made cover it will possibly be a fairly loose fit. One things for sure, they don't avoid customer service issues so whether you're in Germany or not, give him a call back to clarify.
I'm planning to have another made for my E9 CSL when the restoration is completed in May hopefully!
Rubbish. I specifically ordered an Indoor Cover for my Jaguar XK8 & got - rubbish! The Cover is obviously 2 or 3 sizes to big for the car with the bottom flapping around the car. I was quite specific when ordering & if Classic Additions dont understand plain & simple English then they have even more problems than I can imaging. I repeat I would not deal with this company again. I'm planning to have another made for my E9 CSL when the restoration is completed in May hopefully!
Myobb - that's what we were asking, was it a custom designed specifically made cover (of which I've bought 2 myself, and know of many friends/acquiantances to have bought some and they have all fitted, without exception, perfectly) or did you buy a generic small/medium/large cover (for which I'd assume an XK8 would be large?).
Knowing the company we're talking off and the service I've had from them I am, to be blunt, extremely surprised. I must say, I believe there is more to it than meets the eye. If the cover is a tailored one specifically for an XK8, and it does not fit, I cannot see why you still have it and did not send it back?
Knowing the company we're talking off and the service I've had from them I am, to be blunt, extremely surprised. I must say, I believe there is more to it than meets the eye. If the cover is a tailored one specifically for an XK8, and it does not fit, I cannot see why you still have it and did not send it back?
taznuv said:
Would welcome some advice on car covers. I keep my Alfasud in a reasonably dry garage and it doesn't get used a lot in the winter. Most of the time it stays pretty dry but when the weather changes, for instance the recent warm \wet spell it gets a layer of condensation on the body. As I don't think I can do much else to improve the garage, would a cover help prevent the condensation forming? Or will it just become wet and cause more problems? If I did go for a cover I was thinking of a breathable outdoor one which would be useful in the summer for outdoors. Are these OK for indoor also, or should I get a simple cotton one for indoors?
When I bought my Sunbeam-Lotus back in 1988, one of the first things I bought was a car cover from the NEC Classic show that year.IIRC, it was from Specialised Car Covers, which from a quick search seem to be still going.
It was an indoor dust cover, but seemed to cope pretty well with the winter dampness in the garage and the car didn't seem to be unduly affected by it over the next 17 years I owned it.
The cover fitted perfectly when ordered and certainley lasted well over the next 16-17 years, so would definately recommend them
http://www.specialisedcarcovers.com/index.htm
Edited by aeropilot on Friday 23 January 12:22
Rather intererstingly I spoke to the people making my new car and they say they no longer recommend car covers at all because, with the fleece lining, dirt gets stuck inside and ends up scratching the car. I want a tranportation cover to protect the car on the trailer when I am taking it to shows. Any thoughts on this?
When I bought my XK I had to evict my XJ from the garage I bought a cover for it from Auto Pyjamas (or what ever the company is called). I gacve up using it for just that reason. Unless the car and cover are perfectly clean before you put the cover on, you end up dragging scratchy dirt across your paint work.
I am not sure a cover will help a car keep dry in a garage (unless the garage is leaking). You might expect that if the atmosphere is such that moisture is condensing on the body work, it's probably doing it underneath as well, where you cannot readily see, and a cover won't do much about that.
My, personal view (experts please shoot down), is that indoors a cover will only be useful for keeping dust off and if your car is getting damp in an, apparently, "dry" garage, what you really need is a dehumidifier.
Consequently, I have a Saab convertible that lives outside under a tailored Noah cover from Covercraft (keeps the rain out and the bird droppings off) and my classics live in dehumidified splendor in the garage.
If you do go the dehumidifer route, there are 2 types of dehumidifier (so I have learned) the sort which uses a fan and some kind of dessicate drying material - Vertar sell them; and the sort which blows air over a cooled condensor plate (which you get in B&Q etc). The latter don't work effectively in cold garages because they freeze over. The former work in low temperatures and have the advantage of putting out a bit of heat.
If you have no electical supply in your carage, then there is a company which sells an enormous sleeping bag into which you drive your car that you then seal up. Moisture is then removed from the atmosphere trapped in the bag by canisters of some form of dessicate material that you leave in the car. You then dry out the canisters periodically by putting them in the oven. A digital monitoring device allows you to keep an eye on the humidity in the bag. A carcoon or an airflow chamber won't work if you have no electricity. Apologies, I don't recall the name of the company that supplies these, but they always seem to advertise on the inside back cover of Classic Cars.
I hope this helps.
Edit to add: agree that the car needs to be clean before you put the cover on otherwise it'll scratch the paint.
My, personal view (experts please shoot down), is that indoors a cover will only be useful for keeping dust off and if your car is getting damp in an, apparently, "dry" garage, what you really need is a dehumidifier.
Consequently, I have a Saab convertible that lives outside under a tailored Noah cover from Covercraft (keeps the rain out and the bird droppings off) and my classics live in dehumidified splendor in the garage.
If you do go the dehumidifer route, there are 2 types of dehumidifier (so I have learned) the sort which uses a fan and some kind of dessicate drying material - Vertar sell them; and the sort which blows air over a cooled condensor plate (which you get in B&Q etc). The latter don't work effectively in cold garages because they freeze over. The former work in low temperatures and have the advantage of putting out a bit of heat.
If you have no electical supply in your carage, then there is a company which sells an enormous sleeping bag into which you drive your car that you then seal up. Moisture is then removed from the atmosphere trapped in the bag by canisters of some form of dessicate material that you leave in the car. You then dry out the canisters periodically by putting them in the oven. A digital monitoring device allows you to keep an eye on the humidity in the bag. A carcoon or an airflow chamber won't work if you have no electricity. Apologies, I don't recall the name of the company that supplies these, but they always seem to advertise on the inside back cover of Classic Cars.
I hope this helps.
Edit to add: agree that the car needs to be clean before you put the cover on otherwise it'll scratch the paint.
Edited by Bob Turner on Friday 30th January 14:28
aeropilot said:
IIRC, it was from Specialised Car Covers, which from a quick search seem to be still going.
It was an indoor dust cover, but seemed to cope pretty well with the winter dampness in the garage and the car didn't seem to be unduly affected by it over the next 17 years I owned it.
The cover fitted perfectly when ordered and certainly lasted well over the next 16-17 years, so would definitely recommend them
http://www.specialisedcarcovers.com/index.htm
I have just ordered an indoor cover from Specialised Car Covers for my Honda S800 and I am very pleased with it as it is well tailored and fits perfectly. It was an indoor dust cover, but seemed to cope pretty well with the winter dampness in the garage and the car didn't seem to be unduly affected by it over the next 17 years I owned it.
The cover fitted perfectly when ordered and certainly lasted well over the next 16-17 years, so would definitely recommend them
http://www.specialisedcarcovers.com/index.htm
Based on this, I have just ordered another to fit my Morgan Aeromax and they have quoted a delivery time of 3/4 weeks, so it is obviously not off the shelf. I await its arrival with interest.
Usual disclaimers, just a so far satisfied customer.
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