Protecting "Nice" Cars While Working On Others?

[tuner4life]

I recently did a re-arrange of my 30x40 shop in preparation for a large build on one of my cars. I have done plenty of work in the shop (metalwork, welding, grinding, minor painting, woodwork, bodywork/fiberglass, etc.) and have always had "nicer" cars stored in the shop while I work. These cars are covered with basic car covers like you would find at a parts store. Usually the cheaper ones that are just designed for dust. While uncovering one of the cars to move it (after sitting for a year), I noticed that there was quite a lot of dust trapped under the cover. This seemed to be the case for each car that was covered. I cleaned them up a bit, and now that they are in their positions, I would like to cover them back up to protect from the debris that comes from working on stuff..

Besides putting the same covers back on them, what are other (better) options for keeping them safe and clean. Evidently building a separate "showroom building" separate from the working garage isn't an option according to swmbo.

Picture for relevance.

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

My "summer" car (Volvo C70vert) stays covered more than uncovered. I've never really had a problem with dust invasion. So, guess the better it wraps underneath the better. I also use moving blankets on top of the cover to help with "bumps".

If these are "long term" storage and are not going to be moved, you could do the "car baggie" with some charcoal- total seal! There will be NO residual dust at all.

I did a long term storage (5yrs) with a car like this- it was as if the car came out the next day from the day it went in.

 

[bad_idea]

I too have that problem. Tired of dust all over EVERYTHING. Plan to build a separate room for hot work and install a vent fan to the outside. My thought is it will pull the dust out of the room, drawing fresh air from the rest of the shop. Rather than cover the cars, keep the dust in a controlled space.

 

[firebirdparts]

Bodywork results in a level of filth that no cover would stop. I don't know what kind of ventilation you have, if any, but I would consider hanging a curtain.

 

[kabinenroller]

It’s almost impossible to contain dust in a shop. I have a separate room for my machines and welders, I have a roll up door between the main shop and this room, my cars and everything else still seams to get dirty. I have hydronic heat so there is no fan to move the air (and dust) around. I buy thin plastic painting drop cloths and cover my stuff to help keep them clean.
In the warm weather I do some of the dirty work like grinding outside, in the winter I try to contain it to the machine room.

 

[BMW Rider]

My Mustang lives in my shop with a lot of dust making tools. I ordered a custom Covercraft Duststop cover for it to keep it clean. It's an indoor only cover, which is all I need it for, and the material completely stops dust from getting through the cover. It fits tight enough to keep dust from infiltrating from below as well. It was not as cheap as the parts store variety, but it was not expensive either considering what I spent to make the car look the way it does.

 

[SILVERPLATE]

Summit offers some very nice plastic car covers with elastic on all the edges in three sizes. The small fits most all cars and they are priced at eleven bucks. I used one a car outside in a rainstorm and it stayed on no problem. They are awesome.

 

[Retlaw 66]

Is that a SPG? I have a pair of '88's. One is a retired daily driver and the other is a future project. Great cars! Do you have a build thread somewhere?

I just throw a blue tarp over the cloth car cover to keep the cover clean.
Or use a tarp as a divider curtain.
3m has plastic masking sheeting in 12' or 16' wide x 400' long rolls. It's very thin at 0.4 mils. Good for wrapping a car up but it's too thin to make it reusable. Generic stuff is sold at the box stores.

 

[finn]

Regular car cover with either a blue tarp or piece of clear plastic works pretty well for me.

Without the enhancement, the fine dust permeats the regular car cover.

The tarps or plastic look sort of cheesy, but sure do help.

 

[BruceMc]

Summit offers some very nice plastic car covers with elastic on all the edges in three sizes. The small fits most all cars and they are priced at eleven bucks. I used one a car outside in a rainstorm and it stayed on no problem. They are awesome.

I was looking for the same as the OP not long ago, and one of my concerns was finding something that was at least flame resistant. I don't recall any of the manufacturers addressing that as a feature.

In a smaller workspace, where you may be grinding/welding/cutting, there's always the chance of a stray spark landing where you don't want it to no matter how well you prep. My inclination is to avoid synthetics or blends, and I think I'd be particularly worried about plastic. Anyone have thoughts?

 

[pepi]

I would suggest putting sheets on the cars and then the car cover, the sheet being a dust barrier and still allow moisture to escape.

Pep

 

[Git]

I went a little to the extreme....

When I had my Cobra Replica, I was also worried about something happening to it while it was in the garage. It didn't help the fact that some sort of small animal (squirrel/rat/?) got into the garage and into the car and chewed holes in the leather seat

After that, I bit the bullet and ended up buying an enclosed car trailer to keep it in. It's kind of funny - you can't build a large shed within 5' of the property line, but I can park an RV or Car Trailer within a foot or two. Anyways, I backed the trailer in (hitch first on my side yard) and when I wanted to go for a cruise, all I had to do is drop the ramp and I was good to go. It was like having it's own private garage

Worked out pretty good. The Cobra was still in pretty good shape when I finally sold it, 14 years after I built it:

 

[dlake]

I would suggest putting sheets on the cars and then the car cover, the sheet being a dust barrier and still allow moisture to escape.

Pep

Agreed. I look for used cal king sheets at garage sales and stock up on them. So many uses.