VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Body - Sheet Metal, Paint & Wood preserving cars stored outside

Just wondering what every one thinks the best way to preserve a car that is being stored outside is? We have 2 undergoing restoration in a shed but the 3rd one who is patiently waiting to be started is outside on dirt - under a shelter with a tarp over it. We have been told all sorts of stories as to how to stop the rust getting any worse but wondered what you guys think? Does the fish oil trick really work or just attract a lot of cats and complaints from neightbours? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

If you park the car on heavy plastic ,to keep the moisture from off the bottom and keep that tarp off the sheet metal ,I have seen the roof on a car eaten up with rust under a tarp .It totally ruined the car, they had to use it for parts. If you use one keep it several inches off the sheet metal .I am sure there are a lot of other ideas out there so this is just a start.

:cool2:

If the tarp breathes your OK.If its under a roof a tarp shouldn't not be necesseary but a sheet of plastic under it is to prevent the moisture from the ground attacking the under sides.

It is necessary to have air circulation around the entire vehicle or moisture will collect and rust and paint deterioration will quickly follow.

There are some products that you can put in the car to keep mold and mildew from building up.

All comments I have read are right, keep the tarp from touching the sheet metal and reasonable air circulation. Probably the best way would be to build a frame with sloping top to secure the tarp to but leave a few inches between the ground and tarp. The local cats will thank you for the shelter and keep the mice population down as well.

I recently bought a 1912 Hupmobile that has been stored outdoors for many, many years. Apparently, sometime in the 60's, the owner applied a very thick coat of paint with a brush (or maybe even a broom from the way it looks!) That really stopped the rust. It may seem odd to paint an unrestored car but it's worth thinking about. A good thick coat for preservation.

Remember cosmoline? The military had the right idea!

Hey Speedy,
It sure is good until you have to remove it! Yuck!

If you have areas that you want to keep from getting worse you can try a product called Soft Seal. As Tom Chaney suggested Painting it is the best solution. Use a heavy clear coat on it. It will not only protect it, but will make it shine

But don't forget about the interior. You don't want it to rot away or the chrome pieces to turn into pitted and crusty parts that will need additional work. If there is wood in the car there is the additional problem of dry rot spreading or starting. Air the car out and use some protection products every now and then. :eek:

I had an uncle who was given a 26 buick (1yr old) when he got married, drove the car for about a year and decided it was silly to put expensive gasoline in the car when you could just as easy walk and save the money. The car went into storage and another uncle bought it in 1964 or 65, had the car towed to the local dealer, cleaned up new battery, hoses tank full of gas and drove the car home about two hundred miles. The toughest part of the clean up was all the hardened wax on the car, my uncle would go out to the garage about twice a year and apply a liberal coat of johnsons wax but would not polish it out the stuff was akin to cosmoline! uncle #2 sold the car about 4 months later and it ended up in california.

A little off the subject, but prompted by the last post:

I've always been fascinated by the stories of people who bought cars many years ago...decided (for whatever reason) not to drive them...and then just stored them away. Obviously, they're beloved by us modern day collectors...but I've always wondered: Why didn't they sell them and at least get some of their money back?

On my grandfather's farm there was a special place for his kids (8 boys + 2 girls) to 'park' their old cars/trucks/trailers. I remember playing among them when I was a kid and later taking pieces and parts from them, gave some of the cars and trucks to club members in the 70s. Never asked why they just parked them, I assumed 1. they thought they would have a use for them later and later never came, 2. not worth enough to sell, 3. on the farm the old equipment wasn't ever thown away, you could always juryrig something out of the pieces, 4. thought they were worth more than they could get so they kept them. 5. they moved away from the farm or went to war (wwII, Korea) and just sort of "moved on" without them. :cool2:

Good question.

Perhaps some of the answer lies in the same way many of us in these times tend to keep old computers, stereos, and other electronic products. They're too good to throw away, but nobody wants to buy them because there's better stuff out there; it's also cheaper to buy a new replacement than try to fix the old one.

Now apply the same perception to those uncles and grandfathers who held onto their cars, particularly after WWII and into the Fifties. I would think the philosophy would've been the same - nobody would want to buy some jalopy when you can get easy payments on a sleek modern car; and during those years, who bothered to make, stock, and sell replacement parts for pre-WWII cars?

So, I suppose in the same way you hold onto an old computer because it's too good to throw away, and you have a vague notion of what you might do with it, I can see someone holding on to thier old flivver in the same way.

ed,

I think you've hit the nail on the head...

and maybe add some underlying sentimental attachment, too...I've a couple chevys around here that probably should maybe have been unloaded some thirty years ago...

epi

We have a family who lives around here who have a complete '52 sedan under a lean too shed. It was running when they parked it up 20 yrs ago but hasnt been touched since. They refuse to sell it as they had their honeymoon in it but it is just sitting there rotting in the weather which is really sad.

There is another lady here who has over 50 chevs ranging from 20's - 50's parked up on her farm that her hubby collected when he was alive. They too are all rotting away. She refuses to sell anything to anyone point blank. I cant really see the logic of it - I can understand the sentimentality but I know if it were us we would rather see them being cared for and restored, and maybe on the road one day.

Ed, I agree I think you are right about the reasons for most of the cars left to rot away....the others for other reasons...

My brother tried to buy a 1958 vette (in the 90's) that was parked and chained under a shed in the county, my brother had watched it for years and years he never could buy it, it had belonged to the son who was killed in nam. The father just couldn't sell his son's car......I think I would done the same if I had been in the father's shoes...there are reasons and then there are reasons. :( :(

what a very sad story and I dont think I could bring myself to sell that car either if I was him.

I can understand people hanging on to them, just wish they would do something to protect them while they have them out in the middle of a paddock or parked up under a tree. Seeing as once they are gone they are gone.......
Everytime I go passed the sedan I feel like calling on and knocking up a cover for the poor thing.

Keep after her, can't lose anything and you might gain something. Offer to help keep the car from rotting away with that cover idea you have, maybe when she sees you reallly do care about the car she will part with it. Would her husband want the car to "just rot away"? :cool2:

gator,

I had a nearly identical experience with a '58 vette...

the owner, the son of immigrants, had been killed in vietnam...his uncle, lived near me and new my friends & I liked to hot rod cars, as he would stop to chat each day while walking his dog...

he kept talking about his nephew's car, but being unfamiliar with makes & models, always referred to it as some "fast car"...so, years later, he finally convinced his sister to let us visit...a buddy & I went over and had tea for an hour before she would let us "see" the car...

the cover was long gone, the convertible top, too...seems like generations of cats and who knows what else had nested within...everything was rusted or rotted...

it was so sad, as the tires were full tread and the body in good shape...lead me to believe that car was in good condition when he left on his tour of duty...I could imagine him thinking, as he put the cover on, that he'd be back to drive it shortly...

actually, she wasn't amenable to selling, her brother was just hoping she would sell to help her move on...and my buddy & I felt we had too many projects already and decided not to persue it...

that was twenty years ago...boy, if I could go back now...

epi