Just wondering if a car stored out in the open would be in better shape with or without a tap over it. Sure, post photos if you have them. My bet is the NO TARP car would be in better condition.
no tarp. unless u could keep the tarp of the paint. Sure have seen a lot of blue tarp, wind rubbed paint.
Well back in 1969 when I went into the military my dad decided to do me a favor and cover my '57 Chevy with a tarp to protect it from the elements and crooks. When I came home 6 months later on my first leave, the Chevy's original paint was rusty at every point that the tarp touched the body.
Cheap cover that does not touch the car is best.....a tarp will be bad news.....depends on how long you are storing it, but a tough decision. Good luck, and let us know what you do....
Tarps trap condensation and keep it in too. Causing rust to happen that wouldn't happen with good air flow. After the wind tore up my Costco carport thing for the second time I wouldn't suggest one of those unless you had it securely tied down. I was lucky in that I didn't have a nice car under it when it came apart. Still, in well protected areas around here they seem to hold up and protect the cars under them quite well.
Be wary of letting it sit in one spot too long without moving it, tarp or no tarp. Been my experience that underneath things tend to rust up much faster when the location isn't changed frequently. Ed
I recommend getting a quality multi-layered car cover. Make sure it's got attachments to put bunjee cords on it under the car. I have a lot of friends who do this when we deploy. Some come home to find their car cover has long-since departed the fix. Tarps are a no-no. As is canvas, unless it's in a nice, dry non-humid barn in AZ.
I have that the action of the wind on the tarp or car cover will damage the paint.Even car covers that"breath" and do not trap moisture will abrade the paint if left on for extended periods of time....I talk from experience.
And here I was thinkin' the Official State of Maine blue tarp was the answer! We use them across the state line too BTW.
Harbor Freight Car Canopy works great for me in CO. Nothing touches the car and its out of the rain/snow/UV. It seemed cheap and I didn't think it would last long so I went and got a $30 cheap tarp at Home depot and put that on the top of the tarp that the canopy is made of. When the 2nd tarp starts to look like its breaking down, I go buy another cheap tarp and replace it. This set up has been great through 3 CO winters.
I would stay away from the tarps to. I have seen when guys have put them on their cars and used bunjee cords to hold them down and when they take them off you can see where the bunjee cords rubbed on the car....... NOT GOOD!!!!!!
I tarp mine only over the top and window to keep the water out of the inside. I believe doing it like this theres little to no condensation .. Wind blows under it.
I thought there would be a bunch of photos of tarp damaged cars when I started this thread. I've got car roofs that I cover stuff with in the far end of the back yard, six foot stockade fencing hides things from view. If not I'd be looking at the worlds best slammed '56 Buick.
Ive got a truck under an enclosed canopy, but its not on concrete. Rain water saturates the ground under the truck and the sun cant dry it out. This causes a lot of condensation inside the canopy and leads to a lot of rust on chrome parts.
Storing a car on dirt, in parts of the country where the ground tends to be moist, is a big problem. If you use a tarp in that environment it must NOT extend all the way to the ground, or it will just made a bad situation worse.
.........No tarps.......they cause more rust with them on.......maybe the better tarps do more good....the cheap ones the paint will come off....
If you put the tarp under the car the condensation will form on the tarp not the car.On old cars with jute type material under the floor mats if condensation forms on the bottom of the floor it wick inside and stay wet under the rugs or mats.
My brother-in-law keeps a car outside and he put down a bunch of gravel rock beside their shed to store it on. I kept a VW under a deck with several tarps for years and it got rusty from the bottom up because of the mud
ruined the paint (wind blowing rubbed paint) and moisture caused surface rust (held in)attacked the inside, musty . No more covers or tarps. Did park it on top a silver tarp. kept the gr*** down.
Tarps go under the car. Cover with quality soft car cover only if car sheltered from wind. If the car will be windblown, no cover is safe for too long.
if you can try to put a roof over it, and a tarp under it, and try best not to store it on stone, it holds moisture forever. even if you have to just build a 2x4 frame work to put a tarp on that, just so its not enveloping the car, just a roof over its head. and my experiance, those tarps dont last long.
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