Hey guys, I had this comment posted on a vid of my 91 trans am 'vert on youtube.
"As for the breathable tarp, if it gets wet, or if there are winds, it will rub whatever paint is good, or cause mold and that will eat the clear coat even if it is breathable. Any presence of rust will only accelerate the rust further. The rubbing of the tarp acts like a buffer/sandpaper, and ANY and ALL tarps, even ones made for cars is bad news."

WTF? is that true?

 

i wouldnt tarp a car unless your trying to avoid a coming storm and cant seal the thing up such as missing ttop panels doors hood hatch etc. i wouldnt let a tarp sit on a car for a long time. if you want to keep dust off it while it is being stored in a enclosed space an old nylon parachute is good enough.

mold can easily grow on anything that is left covered. my boat has a cover that i use for it but its more to keep leaves and dirt out of the thing during the spring summer and fall. but its designed and made to live under a cover.

ever see those bras on cars after they come off after being there for long periods of time. its pretty nasty. think of that over your whole car.

sitting in the sun is better than tarping the car. just put some towels or shades over the interior plastic like dash steering wheel etc.

 

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Two of my 3rd gens are tarped with blue tarp. Both have fresh paint too. The one has been getting covered for atleast 3 years this way. I keep the tarps tied down tight so they can't flap in the breeze. I'll pull them off in the spring (tarp for the fall/winter) and let the car breethe. I have never had an issue with mold or the paint rubbing off. Or with rust forming/getting worse. Mine are parked on gravel though. Is it the best option, no, but it is cheap and works for me. Some people have told me to put a cheap car cover on then the tarp, but I think this would be worse. The cover would hold the moisture against the car and not breethe properly (with the tarp over it). My main reason for doing it is because of the ammount of snow we get and the spot I have them parked. They are underneith three large trees, so the tarps keep the leaves/sap/dust off the new paint.

 

I don't think you should tarp a car unless you need to make it so water does not get in. I had a tarp on my car for a little while but that was only because the t-tops leaked. now my car is under a nylon cover in my garage.

 

I've used breathable car covers for many years. They are great at their primary purpose, but that's where I think some folks get confused. Their main use is to take the beating of ultraviolet radiation from the sun (plus to a smaller extent, pollutants like bird doodoo, tree sap, tree leaves etc). Their primary purpose is not to keep a car bone-dry while parked out in the weather. They do though, help MANAGE moisture and humidity. Do Not keep your car outside, covered with a plastic waterproof tarp, people! There will still be moisture under the car, especially if parked on gravel or dirt... that humidity will rise with air convection currents and will trap moist air up in your car's structure for months on end.

Breathable covers shine at repelling most water, but letting trapped moisture evaporate outward thru the weave. I've bought expensive covers in the past, such as the Noah covers from carcover.com, and I've also bought $35 covers from Advance Auto. Both worked well for their primary purpose - shielding the UV radiation. I was surprised once when a geek friend of mine answered my question, "why does my car still get hot inside on CLOUDY summer days?" He said "A lot of UV radiation still hits your car, even on cloudy days."

There are a couple of keys to protecting your car from abrasion by breathable covers. First - the better covers actually are better at preventing this... the Noah covers I had were multi-layer and the inside layer is very soft and fleecy. Two - ALWAYS wash the car before putting the cover on. Third - Keep the car nicely waxed so the fabric tends to slip around instead of being able to catch on the paint. Finally - I poked a few holes in mine in each side/end, hooked on a bungee cord and clipped it somewhere on the underbody. This holds the cover snug and prevents a lot of movement in wind.

Hope that helps.

 

Thanks for the advice. The main reason I'm keeping the car covered is because the convertible top kinda leaks in heavy rain and I know that my cover isn't waterproof but the cloth seems to help spread the water around making it harder to get through small leaks in my top. And to protect it from random stuff like what you said.

 

If the roof leaking is your concern, maybe it would be better to just tarp the convertible top area??? I've seen paint jobs ruined over the course of a winter with a less then perfect fitting tarp....If you do tarp the entire car, I would suggest spending a few more $$$$$ and get a high quality tarp with lots of eyelets on the bottom to keep it tied tight underneath to prevent the tarp moving around on the surface of the car....

 

I think we might need some clarifying as to the use of the word tarp. When I read the topic was about a car cover, that could be anything used to cover your ride. But then the word tarp came up.
Would I use a tarp on my ride? Never. Tarp is short for tarpaulin. That's a heavy waterproof material. Often made from canvas or other often synthetic material like plastic for example. They can be rough on paint and often offer little or limited breathability.
Would I use a car cover? Yes. But only if it's made of a paint friendly surface (like the fleece mentioned above), had decent waterproof ability but still fairly breathable, and fit nice and snug with little to no movement. Often these can be custom fit and secured.
While I haven't used one for long term outside storage (>=3 months), I do use it for indoor protection. In my case, it's parked in a dry ventilated garage. Humidity and heat are controlled plus wind and rain are not an issue. But dust, a cat walking on surfaces, and 3 little people all under the age of 7 who like to get a little too close are what I'm trying to protect from.
If my ride was outside, then I'd be doing a risk assesment. What are the dangers I need to protect from (sun UV, rain, ice, snow, sap, bird droppings, dust, etc) vs what a good car cover can provide as long as it's the proper material and fit. Then the final decision is up to you and what you think is the lesser of two evils.

 

I ended up going with a waterproof breathable cover from Empire Car Covers
I was going to go with cover king, but it looks like the same cover, but $100 bucks cheaper

 

Empire covers offer good protection at a reasonable price. I use them on my two 3rdgens.

 

Do you go with the MAX cover?, I haven't tried the other ones yet

 

The paintjob on my truck got ff-ed up after only a couple of days outside in th rain under one of those blue tarps. it's got small ososis bubbles everywhere where the tarp sat tightly over the body (edges of cab, bed rails and so on), this is from water in the wet tarp causing osmosis, swelling of crystals in the primer most likely. The paint was great for years and it only took a couple of days. Do NOT use a tarp IMO.

 

Alex,
I have used the Empire blue water proof covers and the silver sun covers. My cars are garaged off site but occassionally they will be outside during the summer months for a few days at home while i work on them. I have found the covers excellent. They have not scratched my paint and are easy to attach to the car. You do have to use a cable/lock or budgie cord to hold the covers in place when windy.

 

anyone know of a cover that will fit my car with the RA II hood?