ScaryFast

I have to take my car into the shop for some work. It has no glass or bumpers right now, so if I can't use an enclosed trailer and have to use my flatbed I was going to throw a cover on it in case of precipitation.

Will the cover flapping around at 70 mph damage the paint? Can I use a cheap waterproof cover or do I have to get one of those fancy ones with a soft liner to prevent scuffs?

acrace

Don't do it. The cover will damage the paint.

rbl

I agree .. it will absolutely damage the paint and you can not get it tight enough to prevent it. Much better off letting it get wet if necessary.

c4cruiser

Not only can you damage the paint, but without the bumper covers, you may have sharp edges that the cover can hang on and possibly tear it.

If you dont have a windshied or rear hatch glass, you can use some plastic or a small tarp to cover the top portion. Use rope or bungee cords to hold it down. You can also raise the hood and lay the material down so it will get pinched by the hood seal but don't cover the hood latches.

You didn't say how far you are going or what speeds, but if' it's city streets or arterials, a small tarp over the upper body will be fine.

ScaryFast

It's either going to Ohio or Toronto, both about 4 hours from me. So highway speeds.

I guess there's not much in the car to get damaged by water, it's more the principal of the thing.

Aardwolf

Saran wrap it?

wallyman424

along those lines, that sticky carpet wrap stuff from home despot works pretty well. you might want to give that a try.

2000BSME

I tarped mine, one time, for about 10 minutes, before I was very upset and took the tarp off, threw the tattered rags of it away, and pondered the fresh paint damage on my truck deck.

John Shiels

best advice pick a nice day. Without a custom cover you will damage everything. I don't mean a typical car cover either. Poly and tape like they shrink wrap a boat with, it is tough and leaves no residue. shrink-it.com or something like that do the windows.

ScaryFast

Fair enough, but I'll be about 4 miles from the shop next weekend when I go down for the NASA regional banquet to pick up my trophy I had hoped to combine the trips and save myself 7 hours and about $150 in gas.

John Shiels

on the trophy just tape it up.

WNeal

and will end up coming off

0Randy@DRM

I know all about towing a car on a open trailer in crappy weather.
Front bumper, if the car overhangs use a old rug, cut it if you have to. Make sure you tie down the rug under the hood. If you do that well, you can just fold up the extra and put it under the car. This will keep all the crap off the front of the car.
The windows are going to be a pain. If all of the glass is out, you could maybe use the rug for a flat plane across the interior.
Things that I have learned in the past,
It takes alot of snow coming down to fill up my car going down the road at 70mph. But it only takes a little bit off the truck tires to really make a mess out of things. I call it the MN salt blast After only 5 years a brand new truck has rust under the doors.

Randy

ScaryFast

Damn, I wasn't even thinking about the spray from the tires.

I think this just needs to be solved with an enclosed trailer.

Randy, send a DRM truck to pick it up! I'll even help load it. You guys do better work anyway...