Do you drive in the rain?

[drooartz]

A simple question. I didn't drive the Tunebug in to work today due to reasonable chance of afternoon thunderstorms -- my side curtain mounting screws need to be replaced and I haven't gotten around to it yet.

So do you drive in the rain? How is the Spridget top (specifically the sidescreen cars) in the rain? Reasonably weather tight? Would you leave your car outside in the rain?

 

[RickB]

My sidescreen car is not driven in the rain, mostly because I don't yet have a good top for it but also due to it having less visibility - I want to see more than I can in that car out in the rain.

I drive my later Midget practically every time it rains (it seems).
Not totally water tight, but what British car is?

 

[Morris]

Well... the forecast called for sunny skies when I left this morning... but that forecast did not pan out... so it looks I will be driving in the rain today.

As for water tightness, does the line "Who's the u-boat commander?" ring any bells?

 

[Sarastro]

What is this "rain" thing you speak of?

 

[SilentUnicorn]

if i never drove my car when it MIGHT rain- I would never get to drive it.


m

 

[Gundy]

I'm amazed these things were made in a country where it rains a lot. Our MGB leaks and it has roll up windows the Mk1 is even worse. Still they can be dried out. I've found those sham-wow things are handy for soaking up water from the carpets.
I try to avoid the rain but it happens. Several times we've been out crusing and had a sudden storm roll in on us while
the tops are down. It takes sooo long to put the darn tops up we just drive on with the top down and then dry 'em out when the sun shines.
Really poor designs IMHO.
I figure it is part of their charm. Kind of like the A series
rear seal leaking. Quaint quirkiness.

 

[Trevor Jessie]

If I need to be bone dry when I get there then I consider taking the modern car. If it is OK to be damp when I arrive, then I drive it.

 

[JPSmit]

I wouldn't normally but, as I indicate in another post, It was POURING on the way home the other day. Roof tight, small under dash leaks - had one window open and the side vent window open to deflect the rain and I was fine. In fact, even though I wouldn't make a habit of it, I was really pleasantly surprised how water tight it was and how well it drove in the very wet.

 

[Mental]

Last week when Oklahoma was struck with flash flooding a bizzare series of events led me to take my 72 to work, normally a 30 mile, 1/2 hour affair, but I had to go around the city and it took almost an hour.

I discovered the top was really just a suggestion and that the electrics are allergic to water. I mean I knew that, but hadn't <span style="font-style: italic">expereinced </span>it. The first to go was my wipers, then the radio, then the lights. But she kept trundling along and that afternoon it all worked again. I did chuckle and all the modern cars stalled by the sides of the road.

I had driven it to an autocross in a T-Storm previous, and aside from every mounting piont on the windsheild leaking, it did fine;

I deliberatly didn't buy a museum piece because I wanted to drive it.

 

[regularman]

I never let rain stop me. Some of the best midget and motorcycle rides I ever had were when they were calling for rain. If you wait for the perfect weather to do something, then its probably not going to happen. These cars were made in the UK where they have 300 or so rain days a year. Enjoy the ride, turn those 3 wipers on and keep going.

 

[Pythias]

If you drive in the rain, you invite the tin worm. The water collects at the base of the A-Pillar, and between the the outer body and the shell especially at in the rear quarter panels.

 

[spritenut]

Seems I always get stuck in the rain when ever I am far from home in my Sprite.
My wipers work, and I carry a small towel to defog the inside of the windshield because the demister that came with the Sprite isn't exactly quick.
And since the top, pedals, and side curtains leak and the car gets wet inside, the defrost mechanism does nothing with all the interior dampness.
I have drilled holes along the rockers, rear quarters, and A post sides to let any water out. I know where all the rust spots are and do everything possible to let those spots air out even though I have done whatever I could to rust proof the insides of the panels.
People often say something about my Sprite getting wet, I tell them that their $40,000 minivan is getting just as wet as my $10,000 Sprite.
My favorite was when I had a Healey 3000 going down the Parkway in a snow storm and the roads were salted. I was on my way to the Atlantic City car show held in February. Someone on the Healey list saw me and made a post about some idiot in a Healey in the snow and salt.
I said that was me in my "Salt Beater", I mean, it's not worth as much as my Ford pick up truck and besides, it's easily repairable. :wink:
BTW, Sprites in the snow are a blast!

 

[Trevor Jessie]

ooohh, Autocross in the rain! Where do I sign up?

 

[mrsprite]

If you drive fast enough with the top down you won't get wet!

 

[drooartz]

Thanks for the thoughts. It's not my intention to drive in the rain, but planning for those eventualities helps with summer mountain weather (20% chance of thunderstorms pretty much any day). I need to get my side curtains sorted better.

I'm not so much thinking of me getting wet (I ride a motorcycle, after all) as I am of rust issues.

 

[mxp01]

Rain has been my antagonist here in Nassau. One day I had the car parked with the cover on. It rained so hard that the entire cockpit filled with water, but the cover simply sagged so nothing got wet. I had to open the door to let the water out. The next day I put the tonneau on underneath the outer cover, but that day's storm produced the same result. It's gotten to the point that it rains every day, very briefly, very hard, and very much that I just run with the top on the car all the time and cover it whenever it is parked.

Mike Pennell

 

[texas_bugeye]

Yes! As fast as I can to the nearest bank, car wash, overpass, parking ramp,But the best is a Sonic Drive in you can have a bit to eat was you wait for a break to dash home.

 

[Hap Waldrop]

I just roll my windows up, turn my defroster and wipers on

 

[vagt6]

Call me anal, but I don't drive my Midget in the rain unless I'm caught by a unpredicted storm. My MK III has an older restoration and no rust that I've been able to find, but it also has little or no rustproofing or coatings, either. I'm not pushin' my luck with the tin worms by driving in the rain.

Pretty much the same with all of my LBCs, no wet driving.

Heck, I don't even wash my Midget with a hose. I normally wipe it off with a wet rag so I won't get water in any cracks.

I've got two nice, modern cars and a dual-sport motorcycle to drive in the rain. But not my LBCs.

Dry drivin' only!

 

[drooartz]

I just roll my windows up, turn my defroster and wipers on

What are these windows and defroster of which you speak?