Car bubble..!?!
- Thread starter bobpo
- Start date
MikeK
Well-known member
A car bubble like this?
I have one that I received as a gift in 2003 (the bubble, not an Auburn!). Maybe if I ever get a '36 Auburn boat-tail speedster I'll take it out of the box. It scares me. There is 25' of zipper to contend with. I already had one bad zipper experience with a mere 4" zipper when I was 8. My A's sit in a garage with many roof leaks. I throw a tarp over them when parked for more than a few days.
I have one that I received as a gift in 2003 (the bubble, not an Auburn!). Maybe if I ever get a '36 Auburn boat-tail speedster I'll take it out of the box. It scares me. There is 25' of zipper to contend with. I already had one bad zipper experience with a mere 4" zipper when I was 8. My A's sit in a garage with many roof leaks. I throw a tarp over them when parked for more than a few days.
bobpo
Well-known member
Mike,
Thanks for the response and pic. What a beautiful car.
With the "A", do you park it on something such as wood, plastic or whatever? I also live in the great lakes region (NW Ohio) and my garage (48' x 72') is not heated much during the winter and the humid seasons are the ones that bother me the most.
Thanks for the response and pic. What a beautiful car.
With the "A", do you park it on something such as wood, plastic or whatever? I also live in the great lakes region (NW Ohio) and my garage (48' x 72') is not heated much during the winter and the humid seasons are the ones that bother me the most.
MikeK
Well-known member
Just so nobody is confused, the Auburn is not mine. It's just a picture 'out there' on the net showing a storage bubble. I park my A's in an unheated, drafty, concrete floor garage. FWIW, your garage is bigger than both my house and garage in Chicago. A 48' x 72' anything in Chicago would get you a $20,000+ annual tax assessment in my neighborhood.
Roadster62
Well-known member
A few bails of hay will absorb moisture I've been told. Fire hazard and rodent nesting is another thing.
jrelliott
Well-known member
Some of the folks in MN with concrete floors in their garages where their older vehicles are stored place large sheets of plastic like drop clothes on the floor underneath the vehicle with plywood over the top. This prevents the moisture from condensation when concrete floor is cooler than surrounding moist air from forming on the floor. As this moisture from condensation on the concrete evaporates goes up and rust the underside of the vehicle. With the plastic drop clothes underneath and covered with plywood to prevent the drop clothes from tearing moving etc. there is no chance of moisture rusting the underneath of the vehicle. Friend who owns a rod building company always says to look underneath older like our A's before purchasing as sees many that look good on top but rusted our underneath due to poor storage.
Frank Nemo
Senior Member
I live in the western burbs of Chicago and have a 26 X 26 heated garage. The floor stays condensation free and the garage is nice in warm when I want to work out there in the Winter. By the way the heat source is a natural gas wall heater that has no flame that is exposed to the inside of the garage and vents through the outside wall where it draws its oxygen.
CCWKen
Member
A sealed bubble will only work if the air used to inflate it was dry. The bubble in itself will not reduce moisture. If it was filled with humid air, temperature changes could condense the moisture then be recycled endlessly. It would be better to purge all air (vacuum) then fill the bubble with nitrogen for long term storage.
roccaas
Well-known member
A car bubble like this?
I have one that I received as a gift in 2003 (the bubble, not an Auburn!). Maybe if I ever get a '36 Auburn boat-tail speedster I'll take it out of the box. It scares me. There is 25' of zipper to contend with. I already had one bad zipper experience with a mere 4" zipper when I was 8. My A's sit in a garage with many roof leaks. I throw a tarp over them when parked for more than a few days.
"Was it more Frank or Beans" in that 4" zipper accident?
Stolen from "Something about Mary" and you'll never look at a pair of pliers the same way again. "WE'VE GOT A BLEEDER"
Cool Hand Lurker
Well-known member
Wood absorbs moisture. That is why a machinist's tool chest is always made of wood. So if you put a plastic cover over anything that can rust, like a car or a milling machine or drill press put a box of wood shavings or sawdust inside the plastic also. Or just a few chunks of 2x4 even.
If you are going to seal up the plastic bubble then first pull out all the air like CCWKen said, then throw in a chunk of dry ice. As the ice "melts" it becomes carbon dioxide and absorbs moisture too. You can store food with that method also because it gets rid of oxygen, which causes food to spoil.
If you are going to seal up the plastic bubble then first pull out all the air like CCWKen said, then throw in a chunk of dry ice. As the ice "melts" it becomes carbon dioxide and absorbs moisture too. You can store food with that method also because it gets rid of oxygen, which causes food to spoil.
d.j. moordigian
Well-known member
OK ...a friend mine of used to leave his A parked in his driveway, during the winter it
was covered with a water proof tarp. To rid the car of moisture, he opened a bag of
briquettes, worked good.
was covered with a water proof tarp. To rid the car of moisture, he opened a bag of
briquettes, worked good.
glenn in camino
Well-known member
I keep my cars in a garage with radiant heat in the epoxy painted floor. Never had a moisture problem. If your building a new garage in a cold climate, look up radiantec.com. They make a great system that's mostly assembled in their factory and at a good price.
dean from bozeman
Well-known member
Some real good ideas in this thread. Storage of A's is a real concern of mine.
Once we as hobbyists restore or find original A's we begin a competition with nature to keep the "A" that way. Though in Montana we enjoy relatively low humidity, vehicles do need to be protected from critters (mice, moths, etc.) and the effects of the extreme temperature swings we enjoy. The 90F days followed by 45F nights seemed to exacerbate the paint peel on an original vehicle I had left outside some years ago. I had no place to put it for a couple months so it sat outside. Within a month there was evidence of paint chips (approximately 1/16" by 1/16" or so) flaking off. It pains me to even talk about it.
With that lesson learned I keep my original '29 is kept in a trailer year round. It acts as its own garage and is a way to keep it isolated from mice too. I live outside of town and am surrounded by fields.
Next summer I hope to build a shop where I will be able to work on and store my Model A's. Don't think that I will "bubble" my A's but I will need to come up with some way to protect them.
Dean
Once we as hobbyists restore or find original A's we begin a competition with nature to keep the "A" that way. Though in Montana we enjoy relatively low humidity, vehicles do need to be protected from critters (mice, moths, etc.) and the effects of the extreme temperature swings we enjoy. The 90F days followed by 45F nights seemed to exacerbate the paint peel on an original vehicle I had left outside some years ago. I had no place to put it for a couple months so it sat outside. Within a month there was evidence of paint chips (approximately 1/16" by 1/16" or so) flaking off. It pains me to even talk about it.
With that lesson learned I keep my original '29 is kept in a trailer year round. It acts as its own garage and is a way to keep it isolated from mice too. I live outside of town and am surrounded by fields.
Next summer I hope to build a shop where I will be able to work on and store my Model A's. Don't think that I will "bubble" my A's but I will need to come up with some way to protect them.
Dean
bobpo
Well-known member
Well, since I started this subject, I might add that I do heat my shop occasionally, but just enough to keep the floor (concrete) from freezing. I do park the vehicles that are stored on plastic and this helps. Like the Motor Home, the Dunebuggy and the Model A. I just had this curiosity about the bubble. Heating a building as big as this can get costly even tho it is insulated.
Thanks for all the input.
Thanks for all the input.
Freddie (Memphis)
Senior Member
Every car bubble I've seen used continuously circulating air to keep the bubble inflated. The fan constantly sucks air in from outside the bubble, runs it through a filter - usually a paper element looking thing - and then pressurizes the bubble. Excess air pressure bleeds out around the zippered closure, or through a series of vents usually on the opposite end from the fan and power source. I have seen one model with a charcoal filter, but I would imagine that still would do little to remove moisture from the pressurized air. But, the air is constantly being changed inside the bubble as the fan continuosly runs. "They" say they use about as much electricity a day as a 60w light bulb.
I've so far resisted the urge to buy one of these contraptions ...
But..here's a link to a website that sells them... http://www.carcapsule.com/
They say on down towards the bottom of the page - under the motorcycle picture - that the "...continuosly changing air prevents moisture buildup and condensation inside the bubble." I dunno....guess I'll keep my skepticism until someone can share their experiences with one of these little deals...
I've so far resisted the urge to buy one of these contraptions ...
But..here's a link to a website that sells them... http://www.carcapsule.com/
They say on down towards the bottom of the page - under the motorcycle picture - that the "...continuosly changing air prevents moisture buildup and condensation inside the bubble." I dunno....guess I'll keep my skepticism until someone can share their experiences with one of these little deals...