I was thinking this over a cup of Cain's finest this morning as I sat on the front crossmember of my Tudor (yeah no grill yet), if I go w/o a hoodtop and panels will some SOB mess with my mill? I have always wondered if anybody had any real problems with that sort of thing or the elements getting to the machanicals. Any tricks for weatherproofing, lines and airfilters? I hate the way people have become, F' ing with things, you have to stay with your stuff 24/7 anymore. The GO-rilla.
I havent heard much about people messin' with someone elses engine, I think the biggest concern would be accidentally sucking a bird down the carb or something when your cruisin' around (probably why some people turn their air scoops backwards) Other than that I'd say go for it! -Dean
Make sure you carry a bottle of WD40 with you just incase it rains, spray it on all your electrical connections
30,000 miles worth of hotels, dust, and rain storms with an exposed engine and I have never had a problem. My air filter is designed not to suck water and all my wiring and ignition has never had any effects from rain, including a monsoon coming back from the hunnertcarpileup.
I'd make sure you either mount the battery somewhere safe or make sure it's not too easy to just loosen a couple bolts and walk off with it. I had a 60's car that I was driving with no hood for a while because I was redoing the front clip, seemed like everytime I came out of a store or something I had guys looking and standing around my car...made me kind of nervous that they might mess with it.
Run it open. I have never seen or heard of someone messing with the motor (except the 4 year old kid with his icecream that drops it on the vavle cover or the foriegn dude that wants to touch the shinny air cleaner). Most of the place I have been other guys will say something if some yahoo is touching your car. You will want to install a dead switch or something if you are parking it over night someplace new or away from your local spot. I would hate to see a post here about some dip shit who "borrowed" your car to go joy riding when you were traveling.
People unplug shit and play with plug wires, just become very framiliar with the compartment and know where everything goes incase it wont start. Then start shooting.....
Not to add a negative to your post but check out this thread. He had a hood top too although it had a bunch of louver in it. BTW I'm running hoodless http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39044
That's what I was going to point out. I think theft, vandalism, and water would be the three biggest enemies. Some of them will depend on where you live or where it gets parked a lot.
I think even slimeballs have some respect for hot rods, and they look scary, so people aren't inclined to fuck with them. I've had my car in ghettos and tons of situations where it probably shouldn't have been...... It's fine. If it's going to be parked in the rain for along time.... cover it. If you are just driving in the rain, it's no big deal.
I have to agree a bit there, its amaizing how many people don't know what the hell they're looking at anyway. God I'm tired of explaining why I have 8 spark plugs and 6 exaust ports.WTF. Oh well Happy Motoring
Repeat after me: My firing order is........ You will be tested unless you cut and fit the wires so they'll only fit one way. Little shit like Air Cleaners, chrome dipsticks, gas caps and valve cover breathers will walk away at Hotels or mall parking lots. If you run with a hood top but no sides it won't rain down into your carbs, Birds won't shit on your engine, and people can still see the engine and will be less likely to fuck with it. Once you're parked at the event you can pull the hood top and stick it under the car to show the engine better. You'll probably never have a problem at a car event, but I won't say the same for Walmarts, malls, restaurants or other big parking lots. If they can just spin a wingnut to get your air cleaner or twist off a breather or pull a chrome dipstick, sooner or later someone will. At hotels, park right in front of the rooms or where it can be seen from the office, not out in the middle of the parking lot. You want the security or police to notice your car on every round, not out in the middle with SUVs & pickup trucks providing cover for assholes all around it. It boils down to access and how long they feel secure around your car. Up by the building where it's visible and someone could come out of a room or around the building at any time, they'll pass it on by. This stuff applies wether you have a hood or not.
for the wet weather i put silicone grease round all the ht lead ends {cap and plug end }and a bit of wd40 spayed on em every now and again ,repace the wing nuts on air filters with proper nuts so you need a spanner {bit of a pain but hey}and put some kinde of clips or ties on your ht leads so they carnt be just whipped off by some twat plus just to aid you mark the leads with permenant marker on either end in case of the show feild joker , ive run mine with no top or sides for 6 years with onlyone break down due to bad weather witch was a freak snow storm that coverd the ful engine while on the motorway ! never had anyone messing {touch wood } they burn there legs on the headers if they get to close lol. hope this helps
Push a tight fitting o-ring down on the carb stud before you run the nut down to keep water from leaking into the carb. It would take a ballsy mofo to steal or jack with anything on an old car, at least here in TX. You never know who has a shotgun pointed at you..
i'm definitely running open in my current project... Question: how effective is a paper element at deflecting water? I've run them out in the open before but been very timid about rain. I have noticed that the car seems to bog a little bit when out in the rain and thought this was the reason.
I've never had a problem with mine, and I live in Florida where it rains like a summbitch every afternoon in the summer. I'm running Rajah tips even. I've never had anything nicked but one time some douchebag stole my smokes off the front seat whilst I was at a garage sale.
I don't even run paper elements. They're like driving with the fuckin choke closed. I got repop hellings style cleaners, pretty much for looks, but they keep the rain out with the little rubber rings on the stud and I got carb screens just like you would run with stacks. I hate those cheap paper elements maybe a K&N would work better but what the hell I guess I'm just a cheap bastard. Drew
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