Heavy duty indoor car covers

[THE73Z]

I have a 73 Z with excellent paint and chrome that I would like to protect. The car lives indoors and came with a light weight cotton cover. But I am concerned about dings and scratches.

Anyone have experience with or advice about heavy duty indoor covers such as durafin? My main concern is that it will breathe sufficiently in the rather humid environment here.

http://www.carcovers.com/materials.html#durafin

Thanks, Z

[EScanlon]

If you can find a car cover that will ACTUALLY protect from scratches and dingies, I think all of us would buy one and put it on full time......

If you really, REALLY never park the car outside, in the elements, then yes that is the better material for the car. If on the other hand, you EVER even only for one or two nights park it outside, then go with the Sunfogger at least.

I do park predominantly outside so I bought the Noah. It's not cheap, coming close to $200 + S&H a couple years back. But it IS custom fitted to the car, and it has pockets for BOTH mirrors. Covercraft has the patterns for the Z.

But for indoor use only, the one you've selected is fine......as a car cover.

Same for all the other ones, they're just car covers.

Preventing scratches when using a car cover is primarily one of keeping the car cover clean on the INSIDE, the part that actually touches the car. The other part is to not rub the car cover on the car.

Preventing dings is simple, don't hit the car..... But I know, it's the kid's best friend, Ida that has the most accidents in the house and that's who you need to protect against.

A car cover will protect against casual hits by very light items, for more protection you need to step up the padding.

If Ida is planning on using the car as a back stop for his skate board....then you have to use at least 1/8" steel, not sure what gage that would be.

If on the other hand you're looking at protecting against the inadvertent "open the other car's door" or Mama with her purse, or the "I just leaned the bike against it!" accident, then you need to add bulk and impact absorbing material.

You could put sheets of styrofoam, or sponge foam on pieces of velcro attached to the cover, on the OUTSIDE, but not on the inside. (You can buy NEW foam cheaper than a paint job.) You could even go as thick as that thick sponge rubber mat underneath carpet. And although this will do a lot to protect the car, it won't bullet proof it.

FWIW

Enrique

[DatsunZGuy]

When I was stationed in Denver, I had a ’73 Z that I had to park out in the elements. My biggest fear was hail damage during the Colorado severe thunderstorm season. To combat this, I purchased a large sheet of carpet padding in draped it under my water repellent cover (evolution fabric I think), which helped protect it from hail and the occasional car door impact.