car cover

[sp53]

Hi all I have a question about car covering. I have run out of weather time on restoring my 1961 body tub. I have it kinda three-quarter sand blasted and the dirt striped off the bottom. The big problem is I live in Washington State were we have a lot of moisture and the vehicle is in a barn/ carport. Clearly if I had a bigger heated garage things would be different. Anyways, I was going to close the barn in good, and rap the car in a big tarp covering the bottom first. My friend that paints cars suggested putting cheap primer on then taking that off later, but sometimes the cheap stuff really sticks. The amount of rust I get might come off ease with acid because I have all the heavy cake on rust and the paint is off. I talked to another guy who is local restorer, and he said no big deal just scotch bright thing next spring and paint it because I still need to put floor pans in and do some small welding, so I do know I am just looking for ideas. Perhaps I could put some stamps on it and mail it to Geo or Dave. They live in a nice climate

Sp53

 

[TR3driver]

Never tried it myself, but I do know that some steel rusts much quicker than others, and British cars seem to frequently be the fast-rusting stuff. I wouldn't take a chance : put something on to stop the rust.

Even primer won't stop it for long, my primered Stag hardtop is almost rusted through in a few spots.

 

[DougF]

I would try to finish what you have stripped and apply epoxy primer. It should hold up to the weather and be ready for filler or paint come Spring.
My TR3 is in bare metal currently, but in an enclosed garage. It has a solid coating of light rust after an extended period of time. If you subject your car to the elements fully wrapped in a tarp, who knows what may happen. Water that gets in has no way out and you could have a real mess.
If you can't do epoxy, try some lacquer spray paint. It should sand off easier than enamels.

 

[BryanC]

I would put epoxy primer on the bare metal. You shouldn't have to strip all of the primer off when you do the additional work next year. Just take off the part that has to come off for welding, etc. The epoxy can be scuffed and painted over and you can put filler over scuffed epoxy. In fact putting filler over epoxy is recommended since the epoxy will help seal the metal. Scuffing the epoxy before additional paint will be easier than trying to remove the rust before additional paint.

Bryan

 

[TR6oldtimer]

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The best bet is to do the epoxy primer and seal exposed seams with a sealer. Removing primer where needed next year will be a lot easier then removing rust.

When covering the tub for storage, make sure the cover has plenty of room for air ventilation around, over, and underneath. Otherwise, you will in effect have it in a steamer.