Driving In The Rain - Windows Steam Up?

[as400]

Do your windows steam up when driving in the rain?...this is a question for those without the rare air-con option.

[BritishTvr450]

Yes and no.
In typical Tvr fashion that depends on how wet the interior or the areas of floor carpet that usually attract water are ( how well is the car sealed) in these vital areas.
And then there’s the roof that can leak.

Try drying out the interior fully and that usually stops it.,,,, until the next down pour

For many years I used mine as a daily and did find regular use and the constant warm engine / heater would keep carpets damp free.
I used to get water ingress through the seat belt mounting points through the body into chassis and front chassis bolts in each footwell until I used a combination of pre cut pieces of 3 mm body rubber and lots of mastic to seal those and the car stayed dry there after.
This will go a long way to reducing condensation but being a soft top almost inevitable you’ll have a bit of damp now and then.

[frontfloater]

My S2 used to do this. Although sheltered from direct rain in a carport, it always seemed to have a damp interior. I cured it by buying six of these :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192507912968

I put one on top of the dash and one across the transmission tunnel, plus one in the boot ; with 3 spares to swop over, once the first set became "full" after a couple of months. They dry out very slowly - several days if placed on a warm radiator, or several weeks if just left on a towel to evaporate - so having one set wasn't a practical solution. One in the car, one drying out, worked well.

The contents are natural seeds, apparently with no end-of-life. They are still working, about 10 years on, now in my Merc SLK.

Edited by frontfloater on Thursday 11th September 16:21

[indigochim]

As above I've you keep the interior dry its normally ok. I used to use mist-X on the inside glass of my Vixen as that had a woeful blower. Could be worth a try.

[David Goodwin]

There should be air vents in the rear bulkhead to help with this problem. However they are often used for speakers which stops the air flow.

[PabloGee]

Yes, mine have speakers, though I’m not convinced vents into the boot would do much anyway.
I tend to dry the inside of the car with a decent towel just before driving it (mostly the windows), but also keep a bit of an eye when not driving it during wet weather.

I have one (or more) of those moisture absorbing pack things that you can microwave.

Also, when driving and it’s getting warm in the cabin, I will drop the windows for the last ¼ mile or so to try to let some of the moist air out.
It’s not ideal, but these cars are not hermetically sealed like a modern car

[PabloGee]

I was told recently by a mechanic who was fixing a leak on a Focus that you can tell which cars have a leak because they are usually condensated on the inside on cold days.
There will be an area (even a pool) of wetness somewhere.

It’s worth checking the carpets under the floor mats, seats as well as the end of the footwells. There are three obvious leak points that can readily be helped.