For Norms Coupe OT

[Don Coatney]

I did not think you could stay away for very long. Good to have you back. However you deleted away your lead in postings. As of this posting Tim Adams and I are tied for the lead. We need you back to balance things out. I have noticed that Shel has backed off a bit as well as Youngster Ed. Of course Young Ed is just being introduced to the cost of marital bliss:D

So Norm are you going to let your driveway coupe reside there for the winter?

This morning I flew from Baltimore 5 hours to get to Pheonix. Glad it was not the flight of the Pheonix. I would have had to refer to the service manual to rebuild the plane. The more I fly commercial airlines the more I hate it. Cramped up in a tiny seat with no leg room is no fun

[Captain Neon]

Don-

I don't like commercial air travel either. My company requires me to travel with a laptop. After stripping down to my stocking feet and having everything X-rayed, reassembling my baggage & clothing, only to cram my 270# 6'2" frame into a seat designed to comfortably seat my 9 year old niece for several hours. If I didn't have books along to read, I'd probably have a claustrophobic panic attack.

BTW, no need for service manuals if your time is too valuable. People owe it to you to give prompt answers without criticism, and then just pay some one to do it all for you.

[Plymouthy Adams]

yes, yes and again yes...

[55 Fargo]

Hey Tim, my 7 yo Son is standing beside me as I was looking at this thread. He say's to me you know "Tim Adams", he's famous, hey Tim do yall know your famous, well you are on P15 D24. PS you want to send my Son your autograph Good Buddy...........LOL

[Plymouthy Adams]

maybe it would be best if I first ask just what it is I am famous for?

[55 Fargo]

Norm"s Coupe, are you working on that secret project you mentioned to me last year.

Don't let Coatney get the Lead on you , giddyup, and park the Coupe on the Street, and start postin, we need to liven this place up a bit, to passive at the moment, so get on here and get this thread cookin................Fred

[55 Fargo]

maybe it would be best if I first ask just what it is I am famous for?

Hey Tim, the Kid is only 7, he just thinks "Tim Adams" is famous, he isn't concerned about details.

Well you are well known on here, otherwise I would never have known you, heck man your 1800 miles away, and I have conversed with you many times, via this forum, email, and the phone.

So technology is what made you famous, nuff said.......LOL

[Norm's Coupe]

Thanks guys.

Don, haven't looked at the listing to see who is the top poster lately. Last I looked Tim was well behind you. You'll have to pull ahead again now to win the race. As for the coupe, yes as of now it will reside outside for the winter. Having a problem finding reasonable storage that's close to home for now. Did find one reasonable place near me, but my insurance company won't cover the car while its there. Anyone storing a car better check with their insurance company before doing so. The place I found gang parks the cars in one large garage/barn. My insurance company says it will only cover the car when it's parked in it's own space divided by walls. So........that storage place is out. My son offered to give me his tent garage. Have lots of room to put that up in the back yard. Only problem is, if I do that I have to drive over the wife's flower gardens to get the car in and out of the yard. Checked out car covers too, but they are also out of the question until I get the car repainted. I called the makers of two of the leading brands of car covers. Was told the snow, etc. would not harm the covers and would not cause any problems with moisture staying under cover, so that was good. But.......the bad part is, I still have the old lacquer paint on the car now. Was told if I used one of their covers, the weight of the cover could cause the cover to leave the pattern of the cover in the paint because lacquer paint stays soft to some degree. The covers do not do that with the modern paints, or enamel. So........it will sit out uncovered like any other car this winter. I'll just have to keep the snow cleaned off as it snows.

Fred, can't park the car in the street around my neighborhood. There is no overnight parking allowed, you'll get a ticket if you do. Wouldn't want to park it out there anyway. It's no big problem in the driveway. It's a double wide driveway and I just go around it.

As for the flying statements. I use to like to fly myself. Did a lot of flying from 1968 to about 1989 for business and pleasure. Always felt it was the only way to travel due to getting someplace fast. But.....I agree with you guys about flying today, it's a real pain. Not only are you stuck sitting in some airport for hours with nothing to do, but you don't even get anything to eat while on the plane, except maybe a cookie or a bag of peanuts. Back when I was doing all of my flying around, we use to get a full breakfast consisting of eggs, sausage/bacon, toast, hash browns and coffee on a one hour flight. On that same one hour flight in late afternoon, a nice steak dinner was served. If on a flight over the lunch hour, would get a nice sandwich, chips, fruit, etc., plus a drink. All included in the price of your ticket in coach class. Today, if you want some water, you have to pay for it extra.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Don..I have had my share of flying...six trips to the mideast and back in a relatively short time frame spending about 3-40 days at a time..two things about flying I have come to respect in my old age..

1. You are quite some distance above the ground...

2. The ground is very hard..

the wait and layover..is always a pain..when I travel with the second wife to get her mom and sister in Atlanta..if there is ever a delay etc..I sign she and I into the USO lounge..another great benny for the retired military..

Edited September 26, 2009 by Tim Adams

[Norm's Coupe]

Shel,

You have a good point. However, I would do it the way my son use to store his completely restored 80 Firebird before he was able to get it in his regular garage. He used the tent for about 3 years to store that car with no problems. All he did was lay a tarp down over the ground, then 3/4" plywood on top of the tarp. He then put the car on jack stands. No ill effects at all to the car. Stayed nice and dry in there. But.........that's all a moot point for me since I can't get the car into the yard anyway.

[Norm's Coupe]

Guess I should have mentioned. There's a flower bed on each side that I'd have to ramp over. Would also have to be high ramps to get over the Rose of Sharon bush. Actually, if it wasn't for that Rose of Sharon bush I could get through there. But.........I'm not about to move that. I had to dig the hole for the wife and it took me about half a day to do that. Was a 5 or 6" Maple tree root right in that corner of the bed where we wanted it. There was also an old electrical line from the house to the garage in conduit right next to the tree root that had to be cut out. That's why it took so long to dig the hole. Had to cut those things out before we could finish digging the hole.

[PatS....]

Norm, welcome back! For storage, I've found that a private garage nearby is cheaper by far and safer by far. Check the classifieds and a local Realtor for leads. Some elderly people have empty garages just sitting empty. Put up a note at the seniors center as well.

[JerseyHarold]

To expand a little on Pat's idea of contacting a realtor, why not check the 'house for rent' ads in your area? The owner might be willing to rent the garage to you separately.

[Plymouthy Adams]

you see a million personal storage units about..as Norm points out the need of the insurance company to be fully enclosed by its own protective walls to be covered..might be a nice business adventure..however I would think it be a long term to recoop cost..but hey..for some of you deep pocket people..just think of the service you would be doing for your fellow hobbiest..

[Norm's Coupe]

A private garage at someones house would solve the problem. But........I've had a post up on our neighborhood website since 9/3, had no replies as of yet. There are no houses for rent in our neighborhood. They don't rent houses in our neighborhood, you have to buy it. Do have a few that are for sale. However, if I rented one of those garages, I probably would have to get the car out if the house was sold in the middle of winter. I did think of that possibility before, but decided against it for that reason.

That's what puzzles me about the insurance company's policy on they won't cover gang storage parking. They will cover me if I was to rent half of someone's two car garage, even though that person would be driving in and out of the garage daily. Now, does that make sense? The place I was going to store it in only allows you to put the car in the barn in fall, then leave it there until March or April. If you take it out of there in between you can't put it back. There is no daily in and out traffic.

[radioguy7]

Norm, I just bought a cover for my P-15 off of Ebay for $35, I think the total was $49 with shipping. I was very pleasantly surprised, very decent cover for the price and even comes with its own little storage case. It's a vinly type of material that is custom fit to the shape of the car, fits really well. Only thing I care about is that it keeps the rain off the car. The backside has a very soft cloth to avoid any scratches. I figure heck, it beats letting it get rained and snowed on this winter. Thought maybe you might be interested in picking one up.

[Norm's Coupe]

Norm, I just bought a cover for my P-15 off of Ebay for $35, I think the total was $49 with shipping. I was very pleasantly surprised, very decent cover for the price and even comes with its own little storage case. It's a vinly type of material that is custom fit to the shape of the car, fits really well. Only thing I care about is that it keeps the rain off the car. The backside has a very soft cloth to avoid any scratches. I figure heck, it beats letting it get rained and snowed on this winter. Thought maybe you might be interested in picking one up.

I don't buy off ebay. I can buy the Shield brand name cover to fit my coupe in the local auto parts store. Never priced them in the store, but online they run about $60. So.......I'm guessing it would be about $50 or less in the store. That was one of the cover companies that I mentioned I called. They are also the ones who warned me about the weight of it leaving the fabric pattern in the lacquer paint. Because of the type of paint, they recommended not to use a cover. When I talked to the factory that makes Cover Craft covers, they didn't seem to worry about that happening. But........their covers for my coupe would run around $350 to $375 with shipping, and that's through JC Whitney. So........for that price I can get the cheapie paint job from Maaco with modern paint. So.....makes no sense to me to cover a car with old paint that needs repainting for that kind of money. Especially since I was thinking about getting it painted next year.

Don't know what kind of cover you bought. But........some covers that don't breathe will cause your paint to peel. I had that problem on a 70 Impala back in the early 90's. Had a cover on it all winter. Pulled it off in the spring and a lot of the paint was peeling off from the trapped moisture. Sometimes it's better to let the rain and snow hit the car. If you brush off the snow, it will dry off from the air hitting it, and do no damage to the paint. Things like tree sap does more damage to the paint than rain and snow will ever do. I do have the coupe parked in a spot where no trees are hanging over it, to prevent that from happening. You might want to call the telephone number on your box, paperwork, or on the tag to see if yours will trap moisture or not. If it does, I wouldn't use it. A lot of covers are only rated for inside use, or if you take the cover off several times a week. Those are always the cheaper ones that are only good for keeping the sap and dust off a car, and that are driven on a regular basis.

[Captain Neon]

I'd be concerned about that cloth liner soaking up moisture and the vinyl trapping it in if it were being used outside. Probably fine inside, but a cheapie cover like that is probably not good for outside storage.

[radioguy7]

I'd be concerned about that cloth liner soaking up moisture and the vinyl trapping it in if it were being used outside. Probably fine inside, but a cheapie cover like that is probably not good for outside storage.

Just using it to keep the rain off, and its also open all around the bottom, not sealed tight like tupperware. I had a similar cover on it all last winter, no damage at all. The car needs paint anyway so even if it did damage it, so what?? The car is a driver, not a garage queen

[T120]

If you have the time and there's a break in the weather with no precipitation,it would be an idea to lift the cover and leave it off for awhile.If it's vinyl it will trap the moisture even though it's open around the bottom.If you neglect to do this you I think will find any areas where rust has started and also the interior will be much worse come spring and your engine compartment probably won't look too nice either.I've seen the results.

...My 2 cents worth. Ralph