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Old 08-14-2020, 05:06 PM   #1
shew01
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Default Rain

Hmmm... We have a 1931 Victoria that’s in good shape. The leatherback top is in great shape. The ceiling never leaks. Regardless, it’s not much fun to drive the car in the rain. This afternoon, we got caught in a storm while we had the windshield cracked open and the windows down. We closed the windshield, but we had to leave the windows cracked to avoid fogging up the windshield so bad we couldn’t see to drive. The dash got soaked. All kinds of rain found its way through the windshield hardware. Our feet got wet. My wife’s handbag got wet.

But we still enjoyed each other’s company and the car anyway.


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Old 08-14-2020, 06:33 PM   #2
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Here in the middle of the country we have been having torrential rain, if you where in that type of rain no wonder you had leaks. When I was driving my A daily I can't remember having issues with rain like you had. I really didn't like the vacuum wipers, when it was cold and the windows would fog up the rule was not to exhale to the windshield only to the side glass.
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Old 08-14-2020, 06:59 PM   #3
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Default Re: Rain

I don’t let our 91 year old go out in the rain.

You never know what is going to happen.

Enjoy your weekend.
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Old 08-14-2020, 07:25 PM   #4
Gary Karr
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Default Re: Rain

I used to love driving my Tudor in the rain. It always seemed to run better.
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Old 08-14-2020, 07:39 PM   #5
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Phaetons are by far the most common Model A in this country. Just as well it is a dry continent. On the occasions where I have been forced to drive in rain, mine leaks like a sieve, especially at the lower corners of the windscreen. At anything over about 40 mph, we get a mist of water come in over the top of it. I have modified the side curtains so that now, I hardly get a drop at 50 mph. None of us bother with the wiper. Rainex does a much better job. The top is draughty enough that fogging is not an issue but in my Tudor, we have a very different thing. No leaks but lots of fog.
Apart from a hot water heater, a RHD car can't be heated. The exhaust heaters we see on LHD cars can't be used because they prevent the ignition advance from working.
For most of the year, I drive with no side curtain.
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Old 08-14-2020, 07:48 PM   #6
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When I was growing up in the 1960s, my dad drove British Austins with no heater. We added aftermarket electric demisters to the windscreen. They were held on with suction cups and were basically just a heat source that caused the condensation on the screen to evaporate. I wonder if they're still available and offer a possible solution to the closed car problems?


I just found one on Ebay: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/VINTAGE-...kAAOSwokBfLMM6
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Old 08-14-2020, 08:12 PM   #7
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Default Re: Rain

why didn’t you just pull to the side of the road and close all the windows and leave when the rain was over?
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Old 08-14-2020, 08:25 PM   #8
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Default Re: Rain

Quote:
Originally Posted by Big hammer View Post
Here in the middle of the country we have been having torrential rain, if you where in that type of rain no wonder you had leaks. When I was driving my A daily I can't remember having issues with rain like you had. I really didn't like the vacuum wipers, when it was cold and the windows would fog up the rule was not to exhale to the windshield only to the side glass.

Yup. I didn’t bother turning on the wipers. The product I use when washing the car works like Rain-X.


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Old 08-14-2020, 08:26 PM   #9
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Default Re: Rain

We must have had the same rain that you were in over here, it rained hard for a long time. I have a vacuum powered fan on my tudor but I don't think it would have done a whole lot in that rain with the windows up. A small 6v electric fan could be rigged up instead and that would probably do some good. My vacuum one uses the stud that the windshield bracket slides over to hold it in place. Might be something neat to make.
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Old 08-14-2020, 08:28 PM   #10
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Default Re: Rain

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Originally Posted by McMimmcs View Post
why didn’t you just pull to the side of the road and close all the windows and leave when the rain was over?

We were already en route. Initially, it was only a mist of rain. Then, unexpectedly, it turned to a storm. The weather forecast was definitely wrong.


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Old 08-14-2020, 08:32 PM   #11
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Default Rain

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Originally Posted by WHN View Post
I don’t let our 91 year old go out in the rain.

You never know what is going to happen.

Enjoy your weekend.

We don’t normally plan to take our car out in the rain, but sometimes life happens. Gotta take the good along with the not so good. ;-)

I had good company (my wife). The car will survive. Lol

I needed to wash it anyway. I guess tomorrow will be “bath day” for the car.


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Old 08-14-2020, 08:38 PM   #12
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Default Re: Rain

I drive in all weather, and have been in some mighty, heavy rains. I close the windshield tight and crack the windows a smidge and it is fine. The windshield wiper isn't worth a darn, but I turn it on for atmosphere. If I move along well the rain clears itself.

Ken
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Old 08-14-2020, 08:44 PM   #13
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Originally Posted by KGBnut View Post
I drive in all weather, and have been in some mighty, heavy rains. I close the windshield tight and crack the windows a smidge and it is fine. The windshield wiper isn't worth a darn, but I turn it on for atmosphere. If I move along well the rain clears itself.

Ken

Yeah. My wiper totally stops when I climb a hill.


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Old 08-15-2020, 01:50 AM   #14
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The top is draughty enough that fogging is not an issue but in my Tudor, we have a very different thing. No leaks but lots of fog. Apart from a hot water heater, a RHD car can't be heated.

Yes, I also had the experience with the fogged windows. Even the one with the missing heater. I drove to a classic car meeting at the beginning of April last year, and it was 3-4 degrees Celsius here in Berlin. Not exactly the ideal temperature for a ride in a Tudor. So I decided to retrofit a heater. The choice fell on a 6V Bosch Wagenheizer from 1935. A hot water heater with a fan.












The heating is now fully installed and works great! When I take the Ford out of the garage and drive 500m, warm air is already coming out of the fan! The car heater has another advantage. It has two hose connections for the warm air.
I am currently working on developing a vent that sits behind the dash rail and blows the warm air against the windshield. A wooden model that has been created has already been read in with the 3D scanner in order to process it on the computer. When that's done, the whole thing goes into 3D printing.
It should then be a solution that is optically invisible, significantly increases the utility of the car and increases safety.

The tip with the Rainex is also very good! The wipers are in fact just alibi. I'll test that again.

But one more question from me about rain in the Model A ...
With the exception of the front and rear windows, the windows have no external seal. When washing or in the rain, the water runs down the outside of the window and into the door. Ideally, the water runs out again at the bottom.
But what happens to the side panes?? Where does the water that is in the side walls run to? So far I haven't been able to find a drain opening?
Is there a seal that rests against the outside of the pane and catches at least a large part of the water?

MFG Andy
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Old 08-15-2020, 03:18 AM   #15
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Default Re: Rain

Just a thought, I use paste wax on my windshield, I don't have a wiper currently, works just like rain x. I also do the inside, so it doesn't fog. You may get little water droplets but can still see. I also have a few paper towels handy just in case.

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Old 08-15-2020, 06:36 AM   #16
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We use our standard roadster rain or shine. I never put my front side curtain on except when parked. My wife's one goes on because she hates getting damp. We use the rear side curtains in rain though.
I put black poly tape on both lower windscreen corners if it rains just to stop a few drops creeping through and remove when the rain stops. Wind wings keep most of the rain out of my side, except the bottom corner where it blows in.
We keep microfiber cloths in the cabin for wiping up drips and keeping the screen clear inside. I tie a damp one of these round the bottom wind wing pivot on my side, hanging outside the door and blowing about like a flag until the rain soaks it. After this no more rain comes in onto me.
Rainex is on the screen and the vacuum wipers keep the outside clean when required. In snow they can stick, so I use the inside manual handle to move them when stuck or they stall on steep hills.
On long trips in storms the flapping roof gets damp inside and can flick some tiny drops about a bit as it strikes the canvas straps. But nothing to really get upset about.
We wear rain jackets and my wife has an old towel on her lap. Nothing comes up through the floor except in rivers and fords and feet do not get wet.
In cold winds I do protect my window-side ear with a hat etc (right ear in NZ) to prevent ear ache after a few hundred miles with no side curtain on my side.
The 31Tudor has the screen permanently open on the first notch. To stop night reflections. Not enough rain comes into bother us.
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Old 08-15-2020, 07:51 PM   #17
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Default Re: Rain

SAJ, except for driving in the snow, I can relate to all of that.
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Old 08-16-2020, 05:48 AM   #18
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Default Re: Rain

In a modernish sports car there is no need to put the top up. The rain goes up and over and lands on the boot/trunk so long as you keep moving fast enough. Just don't stop.
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Old 08-16-2020, 06:11 AM   #19
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Synchro, on our roadster some kind of dressing comes out of the canvas top and gets beaten into a white foam by the flapping onto against canvas sraps.
This builds up after several hours driving and looks most odd. Flecks of foam fly about harmlessley.
Odd because top and canvas straps are at least 30 years old and I would have though any dressing on the canvas duck would be long-gone.
Do you get this effect?
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Old 08-16-2020, 09:39 AM   #20
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Default Re: Rain

Rain-X Anti-Fog works.
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