running in the rain

[Daryl Adams]

Despite a very "urgent" driving style, I failed to return from yesterday's car event before being caught in a severe thunderstorm about four miles from home. We're talking a downpour of Biblical proportions. The good news....there was next to no water intrusion into the cockpit. The bad news...the windscreen wiper got to the 12:00 position and stopped functioning (made driving very interesting) and some of the wet stuff did manage to douse the electricals in my Rouse IR engine. I limped home and got her into the garage, but she declines to start now. I'm working on the engine thing with Dennis Olthoff and Roush, but I thought you'd be interested in the fact that there was but a couple of teaspoons of water to wipe up on the sills. Oh, and the wiper arm decided to work again once I got home! (of course)

[Rick Muck- Mark IV]

One word of advice...................



Rain-X. I used it on P1116 and it worked well enough that the wiper was only occaisionally needed.

No water intrusion is a good thing, P1116 was driven from Detroit to Buffalo on it's maiden voyage in a steady rain and the inflow from the front wheel arches was enough to fill the tub up to butt level.

[Jack]

I drove mine a couple days ago and got caught in a little shower, not a bad one so I didn't even need the wiper but this morning I took the front off only to find where the water and rocks on the road end up. The area just under the windshield where the clutch and brake reservoirs was covered in rocks and dirty water on both left and right sides. This will be a problem if it goes unattended down the road and I can see rust in the future if not fixed. Has anyone found a way to seal from the fender well area?

Thats a bummer about your EFI computer getting wet!

[chuck smith]

most of that comes from the tires as you would expect. I solved that problem on the CAV by using rubber weather gasket that sticks to the MONO in the area just in front of the filler caps. I also used with good success pipe insulation you get at Home Depot. It comes in different sizes and is split down the middle. This stuff makes a very nice thick gasket in areas where the gap is large, like between the MONO and the rear of the fenders on the SPFs, again just in front of the gas fillers. Feel under there with your hand, it is a large gap. I have the CAV just about completely water proof, but it took effort and I had to use the pipe insulation on the sides of the front clip to prevent water and stones from getting to the front of the doors and thus in the cab.

[David Briggs]

My car is sealed up pretty well, I made sheetmetal pieces to line the front and cowl and then used trunk weatherstrip to seal against the body.
Works great.
Dave

[darksideguy]

forgive the idiocy of this question, but is there any way to have somebody rustproof a spf gt for you?

[DaveM]

Yes you can rustproof your SPF with an Eastwood kit kind of like the process Ziebart or Rusty Jones used to do. The SPF tub is constructed of zinc coated steel, but welding alters that so rustproofing may help there. Water collection in the front is a problem. The ideas mentioned previously are worth a try.

[Daryl Adams]

It seems that, for once, my procrastination has paid off. I was all set to start pulling things apart to locate my moisture problem, but I had no free time during the past week. So, I just rolled a dehumidifier next to the car and ignored it until this morning. After breakfast I jumped in and she fired right up, running flawlessly on a 20 minute sprint into the village. I guess from now on I'll be looking for cover if I get caught in the rain.

[Mark Charlton]

Gee, after reading that, my old GTD doesn't sound so crappy after all. I sort of expected (and I'm guessing I'm not alone in this) that the new SPF cars would be as tight and well built/sealed as any "modern" car.

I hope you get it all resolved and sorted to your satisfaction.

Mark