car cover

[saltiga]

Its come time to lay my BJ8 up for next 3 months over winter, Is it better to use a car cover or just leave it and clean it every now and then? I have used a cover a few times in between runs and find it tends to put small scratches in the duco, The car is housed under a car port not in a garage. (cant use existing garage as its full of other cars) What's your opinion?? saltiga

 

[Bob_Spidell]

There's no definitive answer to this question. The logical solution, perhaps, is a high-quality (read: expensive) multi-layer treated cloth cover; however, I've had luck with a Tyvek cover from Budge that I've used for years that, on initial inspection feels like it might be too rough but never produced visible scratches in my BJ8's paint over 100K miles of long road trips (we always cover the car at night for security if not protection from the elements). Disclaimer: When I bought the BJ8 it had a fairly new paint job that appeared to be some sort of enamel that has held up well, despite my best efforts to sabotage it. If you have a lacquer paint job, well, YMMV.

Amazon sells what I think is the contemporary equivalent of a cover I bought over 20 years ago at Costo for about 30 bucks. The one I have is a #2, and it's a bit oversized but lends itself to being secured in strong wind--e.g. Victorville, CA--with some short bungie cords wrapped tightly around the knock-offs. It has the added advantage of being compressible to the size of a large watermelon, and the fancy cloth one I bought would have filled the entire boot (not leaving room for 2 spare fuel pumps, a spare water pump, a tackle box full of tools, a sizable box of random spare parts and fasteners and, oh yeah, a full-size spare tire ... just because). I think the #1 would be a good fit, even though Amazon claims it's 'not a fit' for an Austin-Healey 3000 (but they claim the same size is suitable in different materials).

NFI (I WISH I had a boatload of Amazon stock): https://tinyurl.com/gwhf6hc

Addendum: A less porous material--like Tyvek--may help in dust/sandstorms, but eventually the grit will get to the paint cover or no.

 

[Keoke]

When I am traveling I carry two.
One is a simple cloth cover while the other is a water proof Cover craft cover. I would use this same combination if I had to leave my car out side of a garage. Then the soft cloth cover insures that the car's finish is not damaged if I have to use the weather proof one.

Provisions for wind also should be considered and a cover that is slightly oversize is a bonus too.

Several years ago I was in BC to see a friend of mine. There was no covered parking in the hotel lot but the weather was good. So i put the cloth cover on the car and secured it with large rubber bands that I had cut from an old inner tube to each wheels knock off. When i got up in the morning and went to check on the car there was a small group of people around it peeking under the cover. I walked up and said can I help you? The said"YES THERE IS A HEALEY UP UN DER THERE" I said I know there is .They said we are from England and want to see it -
I took the cover off. The rest is History--