Hello guys, maybe a silly question I got new door rubbers, window rubbers, and window felts (fuzzies) installed by a shop locally. Look like they did a fantastic job. I know that our doors have the little drain holes at the bottom of the doors.... But how wet do your cars get on the inside after washing?? Is there a way to weatherproof these things any better? I have puddles inside of my doors after I wash the car and that's trying to avoid spraying on the Windows directly. Please ignore the reflections lol
Check with a local auto glass shop, you should be able to adapt the glass wipers used in later cars to your car. Something like this product. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CG18M1MT/?tag=atomicindus08-20
Along those lines I POR15 the bottom interior of the door just in case of water getting down in there. Mine were in good shape, just a extra bit of protection.
Jeffb2 that's what I was hoping for I like that idea a lot. Has anyone on here done that? Ottersea that's a good idea also. I am making my door panels but started to worry a bit about moisture in the doors. I was thinking of maybe coating the back with sealer or maybe fiberglass resin
The cars had a water shield on the inside of the door made from a tar paper type of material to seal the openings before the door panels were installed. Newer cars used a heavy duty plastic material, it was installed with a heavy urethane type rope caulking known at the dealership as "gorilla snot" or other terms of messy stuff to deal with. Having some sort of water proof barrier between the door and the door panels is all that is necessary, make them from whatever water proof material you care to use.
I did a quick Google search and apparently gorilla snot is a girl hold hair gel lol. I will ad d that layer but man I have serious puddles in my doors. After a drive I came home and washed the 54. My 7 year old was helping me dry it off and he asked if he can go inside to do the windows. The he said "dad I need another towel". I didn't believe he did but with all the water in the doors if steamed up everywhere. My ceiling was dripping wet. I don't have jute matting or carpet yet. Just some butyl mats
Here is a video that shows the black butyl calking and plastic water barrier being installed. Not saying to use this "kit" but fabricating something like this isn't very hard to do. Mark
I’ve had my 56 for 14 years and NEVER put a hose on it. Bucket and sponge sometimes the new fangled Spray and Wash….yeah it's been in the rain…
Our Fords were designed to run the water through the doors, but it sounds like yours isn't draining. Make sure there are holes in the bottom of the door to drain the water out, and that they are clear. That's also why the rockers are slightly slanted to the outside.so when the water drains out the doors, it'll run off the rockers to the outside. That's something to remember for the guys doing floor/rocker replacement. Believe it or not, one of the dealer's monthly service bulletins addressed the problem of '57 T-Birds not draining the water to the outside correctly, and their cure for the issue was for the dealer to drill holes thru the aluminum plate over the rockers so the water could drain out into the rockers. I wouldn't have been a happy camper if they had done that to mine.
I am with Jimmy. I have never washed my cars. I keep them garaged and covered so only a light dust off and hand polish is necessary. Before restoration, my cars were all dry rust-free California cars but especially if a car has had rust repair I would strongly recommend against ever hosing it off or driving it in the rain lest you soon see recurrent rust bubbles coming through the paint.
I don't want to start anything, or sound disrespectful, but that sounds idealistic to me. You're talking about trailer queens. Some cars were built to be driven........... 83,000 miles on mine since resto completed. No way car washes can be avoided. Bugs, dirt, mud, more bugs, tree sap, more dirt, and an occasional bird*****. And yes, my car is garaged 100% of the time when not being used (or washed, lol). And no, I don't have rust bubbles.
I don't know the history before my dad bought the car on 81 but he daily drove the car until 98. If it ever saw the inside of a garage it was momentarily lol. It sat outside in pieces until 2007. Since then it's lived in my garage. She hasn't spent a night out yet hahaha. The paint is original I had years of grime and road debris to get through. Lots of clay bar, scratch x, and polish to get it smooth and sort of shiney. I've put about 4,500 mi on it since getting it running about a year and a half ago. Every time I take her out she gets pelted by bugs, bird poop, tree sap etc. I do try to go a long time before she gets the hose, just wipe downs, but every now and then it's just beyond what wipe down can do. I did clear out the door drains and the water does drain out but it does seem like an obnoxiously large amount of water that gets into the doors. I love the idea jimmy and Alan, in sure once I get a fresh coat of paint and sealer that will be the ideal!
O.K. Tex....you are to be commended for driving your Resto-Rod over 80K miles since restoration. However, I dare to say that the majority of us do not own "trailer queens" (me included) but rather we use our cars as "Sunday Drivers" or to visit local shows. For those of us who do fit into that category, I still feel that avoiding hosing them down is the prudent way to preserve our cars for the long term.
I don't "wash" my cars in the usual sense. If I am caught out in the rain and the car get dirty, I hand wash the car with water only using a wet rag, sponge etc, dong a section at a time and drying right after the washed section..
Gee guys, I wash my cars if they get really dirty (it rains here) otherwise I clean them with a damp wash mitt and dry with a towel if just dusty. I agree that they were designed to get wet when new and it still shouldn't hurt them much if they do get wet BUT salt is a totally different animal. We don't salt the roads here and if the weather is really that bad I leave my old cars at home. We do have a "Santa Cruise" here every December, I do take an old car to that most of the time!
Actually, I've never washed mine with a hose and bucket. I go to the coin op and use the high pressure hose. Well worth the $5. That gets all the bugs off, and I can get into the wheelwells, behind the headlights, and occasionally the engine bay. After hand drying, I get her up on the highway for a while. That blows out all the water from the cracks and crevises. Well worth the $5. Anybody got a link to that famous Hamb thread from about 10 years ago when a new member asked about how to wash a car??
Living 3/4 mile down a gravel/dirt road, plus living in Washington state, just 'wiping down' my cars has never been an option. Yeah, sometimes I can use a duster on it between washes, but a full hand wash is what it takes to get them really clean. Lots of bugs in the area too, what with a river in my back yard and several lakes I have to drive by. I do make sure all the drains are clear.
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