Daily use of a car cover??

Now, let me explain a little more about the situation....



I have a vehicle that has a custom body on it (Not just a body "KIT"). It was designed by Toyota's racing program in Japan, and only 7 copies of it were made for the US. I have already spent $5000 on having the body put on the car, and in that process the car was stolen, the body was cracked, and I spent another fortune tracking down the car and getting it back and fixed.



Now, I have visited 32 paint and body shops over the last 2 years looking for someone that can do the final clean up, and spraying of the paint.



The paints used will be PPGs highest quality. it is a basecoat/clear coat system, where the basecoat is a custom mixed anthracite metallic. The clear coat will have platinum pearl mixed into it.



The car has been completely stripped for this paint job. all glass has been removed, the drivetrain, all interior, as well as all bolt ons and trim.



the body is a mixture of carbon fiber, fiberglass, and standard US market Japanese Steel.



The car will be painted, then over the next 2-3 years as final assembly is being done, I would like for the car to be protected. I do not have a garage I can store the car in, only to work on. Therefore I need a cover in which to store the vehicle for a couple days to a couple months between each stage of assembly.



AZ has unique weather. Low moisture, high heat, sometimes 40 degree temperature fluctuations between night and day, high UV rays. we have severe monsoons and dust storms.



So, what steps can I take to protect this paint?



What car cover can I get?



What materials?



Who can make it for my custom body?



How much will it cost approx?



Thank you all so much for your help so far, and thank you for your advice in the future.



Austin T.
 
Austin,



This sounds like an incredible car :up





I take money is no object so I would advise not only the car cover(s) ,Weathershield and Noah are my favorites, but also to seriously look into this: there is an indoor and *outdoor* version( although the current version of the website doesn't seem to discuss it much) :D :up





http://www.carcapsule.com





I hope to move on to one of these for my garage queen some time :o
 
I had looked at the car capsules in the past, and in fact keep saying that eggroll should get one to show her car at our weekly car show as she starts to growl and bark anytime someone gets too close to her car. (she yelled at me for leaving a fingerprint on her sunroof glass, and threatened me if I leaned against her car). "Hey, don't yell at me, you invited me to this rodeo eggroll, you know the kind of guy I am"



However, the sun here can turn a plastic gasoline container into crushed eggshells in less than 6 months, so I am pretty sure that that PVC cover wouldn't last that long.



the AZ desert is a HARSH enviornment.



I have used California car cover in the past, and was very happy with the results, however I would like to use the best.



Now... I am going to make more of you gasp. This car will be stored on the grass (no, not on the grass!!!) is this going to be an issue? as I don't have much of an option.
 
Maybe you should put up one of those "instant garages" that are advertised in the back of car magazines. If you mind parking it on grass, you could make a home made cardboard floor for it :nixweiss
 
Austin please do not take my confusion for criticism or judgement.



What was said was in response to the information that was given.(please note 2nd paragraph from Eggroll)



I look forward of seeing pictures of your car after the paint, it sounds like an rare and exciting project your working on.



As for keeping it out of the elements. As Bill D said an "instant garage" may suit your needs providing you have the room for it.



Good luck

"J"
 
NorthPac said:


Zaino Bros' makes exterior sealer/wax 100% uv protection
Click to expand...



Not to try and start a Zaino war over this, as I would say the same thing about any product making that claim, but that's more marketing ploy than real effectiveness. Tire dressings ,waxes etc have some limited UV protection added to them, but the longevity of them is very minimal. Sounds good in a product description though.:)
 
I meant i wasn't sure he would want to QD or dust before putting on the cover everytime. But i think mine and the other autopian influences here are turning him towards the dark side :)



and austin, i'll think about the air capsule thing LOL. Maybe a few cones around the car will do :D
 
Once you become Autopian a quick qd and/or dusting of the car before covering the car goes by rather quickly is more or less second nature :D :D
 
hmmmm, since your car has a custom body (sounds like a wide body ;)) and you live in AZ and those instant garages won't work too well, maybe you can look into a Covercraft car cover? i know they custom make covers, and have a very good selection of materials.



http://www.covercraft.com/



they have a range of materials, you might want to look at the Weathershield HD or the Sunbrella. as far as cost, well, it looks like you need to have one custom cut for your car, so that i'm not sure. btw, when they say custom made, it just means it's cut to the shape of that particular car. for your car, you'll probably need to call them with the dimensions.



as for storing it on the grass, er....you can't pave over the grass? :D just joking, that's better than dirt and gravel. :) if anything, drive very slowly so as to not kick up any stones or anything that'll scratch your paint. also, if you do use a car cover, and especially when you park on the grass, always be sure your car is clean before putting on the car cover. once you feel a strong need to keep your car looking the best it can, things like QD before putting on a car cover is a small effort to keep your car clean. ;)



oh yeah, after your new paint cures (however long the body shop says it should take) put a good sealant or wax on it. there's a lot of different stuff out there, i'm sure your friend eggroll can help you with that. :xyxthumbs
 
hirosh said:
hmmmm, since your car has a custom body (sounds like a wide body ;)) and you live in AZ and those instant garages won't work too well, maybe you can look into a Covercraft car cover? i know they custom make covers, and have a very good selection of materials.



http://www.covercraft.com/



they have a range of materials, you might want to look at the Weathershield HD or the Sunbrella. as far as cost, well, it looks like you need to have one custom cut for your car, so that i'm not sure. btw, when they say custom made, it just means it's cut to the shape of that particular car. for your car, you'll probably need to call them with the dimensions.
Click to expand...





Yep, that's what I've been saying. Here's where I bought 5 car covers, best prices I ever found:



http://www.netsweeper.com or http://www.websweeper.com



If you call them they could probably accomodate completely custom work as well



:xyxthumbs
 
I also looked every where for a cover for a Lexus SC430. The best price I found was at www.webcovers.com. I just compared the price from the previous thread and found web covers to be $30 cheaper. The cover is the same a Weathershield from covercraft.
 
lkirchner said:
I also looked every where for a cover for a Lexus SC430. The best price I found was at www.webcovers.com. I just compared the price from the previous thread and found web covers to be $30 cheaper. The cover is the same a Weathershield from covercraft.
Click to expand...



Ah, very nice find, guess websweeper's prices are finally beat. I thought you had to call to get a price at webcovers at first.





Yeah ,definitely take advatage of the limited 44% off sale at ajusa :up
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top