I need to store my 53 chevy in a friends barn but it has a dirt floor. What do you think the best way to preserve it is. I am going to park it on a large tarp and then put the car up on some wooden blocks(about 18 inches tall). Any other ideas out there. The car is completely gutted and has no windows in it. Should I put a tarp over the top of the car or will it hold moisture?
I vote no tarp over the car.I have seen more cars destroyed by tarps.They are good for short stays outside and thats about it.My 2 Cents.
moisture creeps up and around anything stored this way condensation will collect on the inside of everything wrapped or not unless it can be shrink wrapped it will be rusted ..hot cold in wisc its gonna happen lotsa floor dry - sawdust .... appropriate ventilaion will help
Put the tarp UNDER the car, and if it's a small enough room you might consider a dehumidifier with a drain hose.
a couple inches of beauty bark under the car absorbs moisture. i wouldn't cover the car with anything if it's inside, other than a bed sheet.
Thanks for the info guys. The barn is 60x100 with atleast 30ft ceilings so I hope the there will be enough airflow that it will stay pretty dry.
I was going to say cider blocks under the tires instead of wood . I would think you only need one under each tire. Also no to the trap...if its dry inside...
If it's in a covered barn... unlike the ones in OK, then I'd just leave it open so it could dry out if the humidity rose. Don't think you'd need a tarp under it? Just get it off the dirt with the blocks you were talking about.
Bingo, and if the rooms small enough buy a large tarp/black plastic that will cover the entire floor. Moisture from below is the biggest enemy. The dehumidifier is a good idea, once you get the room dry, maybe leave the cars windows down to keep moisture from building inside the car and mildew from growing, that smell is a bitch to get out. A friend of mine did what you're doing, put his car in a friends barn "for a few months". Well, those few months grew into a few years before he told me about the nice 66 Chevelle he had stored away, we went to see it, and by then it was literally falling apart, covered in rust and mildew inside and out. What I'm trying to say is, DON"T LEAVE IT THERE LONGER THAN NECESSARY!
Could he put Gibbs on it? Isn't Bass using Gibbs? What do you think? I hate this dirt floor deal. No cover thats for sure.
Dirt floors....that's a tough one. I've seen some that stayed damp all year long. Bad news. Some stay dry, but I'd say blocks are a must. A sheet on top keeps bird crap off it...swallows and sparrows seem to know just how to build nests over our cars...I saw a big bag you can drive into at some mail order joint....what a gimmick. Don't keep it there too long. If you need to park it for a winter, that's one thing, but leaving it there for years will invite rodents, dust and rust. Grandpa's dairy farm stored a couple of hot rods in it's day, and projects get to be "out of sight, out of mind". If you're storing it, you're not working on it, and if you're not working on it, it's rotting on you. Good Luck!
plastic sheet under the car, make sure there are some vents up near the roof, having the car up as high as you can would help, is the building in a dry area, if its in a low spot and the ground gets damp it would be tough, i have seen car in a new building with a concrete floor rust the exhaust off in a couple of years, no plastic under the concrete.
I doubt that this is any solution. But if the acia will neutralize the radicals, it may work with Chevys and politicians.
Underneath the car place 3-4 layers of 6 Mil visqueen(sic) plastic. That will keep moisture from rising up. Also do not tarp the car with a dirt floor because moisture rises and the tarp will trap said moisture.
From my experience in my farm barn, storing farm equipment on a dirt floor. Never place plywood under anything on a dirt floor. The plywood is like a sponge that collects moisture and holds it in..
i would leave the dirt floor like it is. use concrete blocks put it on. putting a tarp over a dirt floor will create condensation which over time will create soggy floors like superiorslots just mentioned. leave the floor alone put it on concrete blocks. DO NOT PUT A TARP ON THE CAR!!! your pretty much marinating it that way. put it in a shelter no tarps and put it on blocks. just keep it dry. no need for fancy bubbles and shit. the cars not gonna melt. keep it dry with no covers.
How about putting down thick rubber horse stall mats? If you seal the seams with tape or silicone it would be comparable to parking it on a concrete pad.
who just happens to have horse stall mats laying in there garage? no need for all this extra BS and bubbles and shit, simple blocks will do perfect. just keep it dry and under something. its not gonna rust all to pieces in a matter of months if kept dry. just use common sense.
Up high on blocks and no plastic would be my suggestion, cover only with a bed sheet to keep the bird shit off and pack that car with mouse bait and moth balls. I would be a lot more worried about mice and other vermin than I would be about moisture. A friend of mine rents me out a stall in his garage at his house for $100 for the winter, you might consider finding a better place to store this car.
I call shenanigans on shrink wrap. From what I have seen done around here for boat shrink wrap, there is no way that is good for anything other than a glorified umbrella. They are not sealed to the hull leaving all sorts of folds and edges for moisture to enter (never mind when some clown has to pull up a corner for a "look inside"). As for a car, unless you have a bag to drive it into to seal it, all the paths into the car from below are going to let moisture in and not out. Alex.
You don't have to have them "laying around" your garage, they still sell them. If you're worried about long term storage on a dirt floor a hundred bucks is cheap insurance. Moisture is going to rise through the ground no matter what if the water table gets high enough so unless he's going to have it on a lift 6' high it needs a barrier under it.
The Jalopy Journal
