TheSamba.com :: View topic

Sat Aug 30, 2008 8:02 am

It's certainly nice to drive a ghia on a pleasant sunny day, but what about letting it sit there on days on end? I live in the South and it's sunny and hot nearly all year. It also rains periodically, but more so during hurricane season (now). I live in an area which is somewhat secluded, but I pretty much have to rely on off street parking with no shade because of the lack of garages in this town. So the ghia will see as much sunlight as the people out in alaska. I wonder if it's the rays from the sun that can cause damage, or the heat.

Would I face paint and rust problems more drastically than one who stores a ghia in a garage? What would be ways to assuage those problems(i.e. car covers in combination with drying the car after rainy days)? I can't afford to store at a public place.

Any thoughts and ideas would be appreciated. Thanks

Sat Aug 30, 2008 8:54 am

I bought a ghia that had spent its live in Pheonix Arizona. I presume its hot there, because all of the rubber and plastic parts and the dash pad were shrivelled up from the heat.

Sat Aug 30, 2008 9:58 am

You could put a car cover over it to keep the paint from fading. There are also those little temporary bubble garages and things which you could consider.

Sat Aug 30, 2008 7:15 pm

Hell yeah! That's our dirty little secret out here in the southwest. The sun trashes rubber, paint, everything. If it's not sheltered it's wasted in a few years.

Sun Aug 31, 2008 7:00 am

We are storing the Wifes 1990 Regal GS behind the garage for a future restoration ( :roll: )and use a combination of a high quality sun shield and cover. Here's a linkt a couple of good products.

Heat shield http://www.carcoverworld.com/lookup.asp?se=uv_heatshields

"Sunbrella" Car Cover http://www.carcoverworld.com/sunbrella.asp

Keeping it covered along with a regular program of treating the rubber seals and weatherstripping to a good conditioner will help keep your ghia in top form. 8)

Sun Aug 31, 2008 7:19 am

There are nice car covers now that actually keep the car dry but also allows the car to breath. Mine was a Simonize car cover (Medium size), it also has elastic ends to fit taught and 2 tie-downs under the car if you need to tie it down. Since then we have built a garage. But this is a great product. It's in the speedster trunk now for when we're on the road and want to park when it rains.