HI, Dan...
Boy howdy, do we ever have a lot in common!
At 11:18 AM 12/26/97 -0600, DANIEL RAY wrote:
>I'm going to get a Technalon cover, which will let the moisture evaporate
from underneath after the car gets wet. I'm also going to try and find a
good deal on a full Tonneau cover, maybe used, which is cheaper than a top
(hood), which will have to wait until I can save up the money for the best.
1. Darlin' doesn't have a top either. Oh, and the tonneau cover is a lousy
fit. I have a good substitute waiting in the wings for whenever I get
around to changing the fasteners on the body and on the current tonneau to
ltd's. With the bad fit all the tonneau is good for is keeping cats and dew
out of the car, although it does a better job with the dew. :-)
>I suppose the idea of throwing a cheap plastic tarp over the car only
during heavy downpours is good too, as long as the tarp comes off once the
sun comes out!
2. Good intentions ruin paint. You have the right idea: tarps are temporary!
Sad story: I needed to park the MGA in a neighbor's driveway while we had a
big yard sale here. It rained the second day. I had to leave in a hurry and
asked said neighbor to put the car cover (bigger than a genoa jib on a 30'
sailer!) over Darlin' for me. Well... she thought the "car cover" was the
green plastic tarp I keep around for the monsoon season to toss over the
cover from time to time. Then for good measure she found some rubber mats
with the little sticky-out thingies on the underside and laid them over the
tarp on the bonnet and on the boot to keep the tarp from blowing. .
Lesson: DON'T DO THAT! The sun came out. I didn't know any better at the
time, so I didn't give it much thought. I wondered about that tarp, but I
didn't want to hurt my neighbor's feelings. Two days later I go to fetch
the car. Whoops! There were little paint pimples on the bonnet where each
little sticky-out thingie had rested on the tarp -- the paint actually
bubbled up The boot fared better, but there are some smeary faded patches
here and there from the tarp itself getting heated up while laying on the
wet surface.
I buffed and polished and rubbed and let the car sit in the hot, September,
Texas sun for awhile and the pimply surface sort of smoothed out. If you
look closely you can see the damage. And the smeary patches are shinier
than they were, so they aren't terribly obvious. I'm lucky that DOS
doesn't take interest in the car, and that I have the rest of the winter to
figure out how to tell her SHE needs a new paint job. Bummer...
>Thanks again everyone for all of the input.
>Dan
Just don't forget this rule of tarps!
Of course, the other rule of tarps is to look under every one you see to
find out what's under it...
Carol
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