Can hoodless cars be driven in all weather?

I see a lot of hotrods on here running hoodless and I have a few ideas kicking around in my head. I'm sure you Cali guys don't have to worry about rain, but does anybody on here truly drive a hoodless car everyday in any weather. If you are driving along and a downpour occurs will the engine die? I'm ***uming the main problem would be the distributor, I would imagine a good air cleaner will keep water out of the carbs.

Is there anyway to waterproof the distributor? Seems this is the only part traditional guys have to worry about since we don't have electronic boxes and ****.

I like the hoodless look for a project i'm planning but wonder if it would be practical for a daily driver.

 

it rains in california...

 

will you get high beams at a wet tee shirt nite...it doesnt mean anything to this tread but think about it

 

The old timers in the history books always ran hoods if they used the car year round. Try running without it - all kinds of things happen that you'd never get to see unless you try it. Take your first aid kit ...

 

Yeah i'm sure it rains in Southern California but probably not as much as some areas, didn't mean to irritate anyone.

I guess I should just push on and see what happens, sure it can't hurt anything seriously

 

Seems I've often heard
That kind of talk before,
It never rains in California
But girl, don't they warn ya,
It pours man, it pours -Albert Hammond

 

i was just kidding with you, it rains but no where near what you guys probably get. i lived in wyoming and it sure did snow, but thats a different story...

 

Ive driven mine in everything short of snow.

 

I would think u would have to adjust your rain/fuel mixture screw... maybe not. Some guys in here run carbs without any air filters too... who knows?

 

I was drowned out in a severe rain storm once. The problem was a rainsoaked air filter. it was the kind that was open all around.

 

I have driven my car in really heavy rain on the interstate with no problems. I do have covered elements on my carbs though.

It gives the block that nice fresh steam cleaned look!

 

I dirve mine in any weather or temperature, no hood or no top

 

Got helmet air cleaners but drive in the rain no hood and a hand crank wiper it don't matter to me it isn't a daily driver but could be and hell I drive it more than my new truck so why I'm still paying a truck payment I dunno

 

There's places in California that rain close to 100 inches per year.
I believe Crusty Nut and Humboldt Cat can attest to that, as can I.

 

The Dirtys drive ours !!!

 

I have just one year with mine on the road, but I was in a hellaious rainstorm in Lawrence Kansas last summer and drove it all around town and eventually down the interstate and it did not miss a beat. I was pleased and amazed.

 

Ive only been caught in the Rain a few times (well, probably three). I dont have windows or a rear window yet, so I was soaked, to the bone each time. Rain came in everywhere. It is the truck in my profile. I still havent made rear fenders or a bed floor, so I threw rooster tails right back into the rear window and side windows too.

For the actualy question you asked:

I have two 6" Mr. Gasket Air Filters(the cheap chrome ones) and my truck ran fine most of the way. I was really suprised. It started running a little rough as I would slow down as water was pooling in the wedges of the air filters and drips of water/mositure were being ****ed down the intake. It also made a pain to clean up on the polished valve covers, and the chrome peices with water spots. My Exhaust exits right before the rear end, and you could see the steam coming out of the exhaust. It wasnt anyting horrible, but you could tell it was like runnign with water in the gas. I hurried directly home each time. I have since changed the oil, and no water got through to there. The electronics of the truck worked just fine, no issues there at all.

You can do it if you just really want to, but I would put more thought (than I have) into it than just running normal stuff and dressing up your engine.

Youll notice Rodshop's intakes would be much more suited then what I have.

Ill be putting the hood on next time its forcasted for rain.

 

it's not a big deal....as long as rain doesn't get into the carb(s) when the engine is not running, you won't hurt anything.

 

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Is there anyway to waterproof the distributor? Seems this is the only part traditional guys have to worry about since we don't have electronic boxes and ****.

I believe I've seen some kind of rubber "boots" for the distributor that the boat guys use. And a old trick the off road vw racers used was to spray the dist. with hairspray.

The biggest disadvantage to running hoodless is that birds seem to delight in using the top of the aircleaner for target practice, but on the bright side, you won't have to rake any leaves off your lawn as ALL leaves will fall directly on your motor.

 

yeah, thats what I was going to say too. They have these rubber boots that go over the distributor like for vw sand rails and baja bugs. I dont think i would go through the trouble though. Can t you just spray WD40 in the cap if it gets wet?

 

i dont drive my 39 chevy daily but i do put some miles on her..i have driven in some heavy *** rain and lite drizzle knock on wood nothing has ever happened...and also i have left my car outside in the heavy rain for a few hours and jumped in and fired it off and took off with no problems..i will say this..i have a ford f350 460 i cant even spray off the motor at the car wash without having to cover the distributor with a bag or some plastic..

 

Ford made a nice distributor cover on their 5.0's in the 80's...I'm sure it can be used for any V-8....Drove my open hood roadster with 3 dueces in a driving rainstorm this past summer....I have the baloney cut stacks with the tallest part towards the front and had no problem....Getting caught in a traffic jam during a rainstorm might pose a problem though.....A little water injection helps keeps things clean inside
My bigger concern is the alternator, which is mounted low yet it performed fine

 

Seven years in my hoodless roadster. I drove it in rain so hard, you couldn't see thirty feet ahead.....never had a problem. Dual quads with an Obriens ribbed aircleaner cover, and pertronix in the stock dist,uncovered. Just cover the motor when you are parked outside in the rain....or be ready for a lesson in hydraulics.

 

A year ago I was caught in a down pour in my T-Bucket and it rained so hard I could hardly see and I have a tunnel ram set up on a big block. I kept driving about 4 miles to home then I took the air cleaners off and wrung them out. No problem when it was running and it surprised the hell out of me that it would run at all. I must of had a good ignition system too as I had a 65 MG Midget that would stop running at the first puddle I ran through. Gary M.

 

Rain?

In Sunny California?

Snows sometimes....

 

This is funny. My wife and I are planning our first long trip with our coupe sans hood and fenders to Hershey in May. When she realized that the car will be making the trip without the hood she got a bit concerned and asked, "What if it rains?" I looked at her a smiled and said in a very calm voice, "The engine will be nice and clean." She's doing everything she can think of to discourage me from not running the hood, but it's not working. The hood ain't even getting painted this time around.

Vance

 

Isn't there a tradition that it's not really Hershey unless it rains?

Something about knee-deep mud and uphill both ways?

 

Drove my A V8 roadster to Salina last year in the rain no hood or top never missed a beat, My A coupe is running a Y-block with 4, 94's and no hood and attracks rain, never had a problem with it being wet.

 

kinda o.t. but I drove my 89 regal through an NC winter with no hood. Threw a tarp on it if it was gonna rain, or snow, but never had any trouble. Granted it had electronic ignition, fuel injection, and one heck of a long and convoluted air intake. But it worked fine.

 

I drove my T 365 days a year (for years) with no air cleaners just velocity stacks when parked in the rain I had a pair of ladies pink shower caps for carb covers. water injection has always been a super speed secret.