Cover for Model T Touring?

[rainer]

Hello.

I am looking for a not too expensive cover for my Lizzy.

Should fit when top is folded down and windshield is flipped back to the steering wheel.

Needs to be soft inside to not scratch or rub the paint off.

Needs to be watertight.

Needs eye rivets all around every 20 inches or so, for hooking in rubber bands underneath the car.

Needs to be strong enough to reliably resist 80km/h on open transport trailer.


Do such covers exist (ready made), or does one for modern cars fit well?


One seller offered me a choice made from 680g/m² PVC material (as used on big trucks)... not really what I want to use, it is almost 18 kg .

[JohnM]

There are many good options that will meet your needs, but if you are truly concerned about the finish on your car, I don't think anyone will recommend transporting it covered on an open trailer. For storage I have a cover that is made to fit a jeep wrangler that fits my 26 touring with the top up very well. I think it was 50 or 60 bucks.

[Nunsio1]

Towing on an open trailer, a cover will beat the vehicle to death. I remove the hood and floor boards, & anything that you think will come loose. Purchased a cover made of evolution fabric to use overnight at tours. Have good results.
John M
Oscoda Michigan
1924 C cab truck

[DHort]

John is correct. If you put a car on an open trailer with a cover, you are asking for damage. I recently transported my 19 touring on an open trailer. I did not go over 55mph. I put wide bungie straps on the hood with a magnetized side under the straps at the top of the hood. I had a rubber floor covering in front to hold down the floorboards. The top was down and had a cover on it. I also wrapped the cover in plastic which worked OK. The wind still blew air under the cover and puffed it up. I arrived at my destination safely and got home safely. I would still recommend something else to hold the top shut. Hope that helps.

[TRDxB2]

Since you expressed concern on paint damage a car cover will not provide a satisfactory result while being towed. The problems is that you can not make it fit so that there is no movement from the wind while traveling. Air turbulent can be caused by the wind passing over the cover or even a vacuum effect pulling the cover up off the vehicle. Having said that, you may just need to protect the front portion after removing all the loose items as noted above.
Google TOW CAR SHIELD
https://rvandoffroad.com/rv-and-towables
This is a video of the product and how to install it https://youtu.be/3yoSaP2J3fU

[TWrenn]

Agree with those about NOT
Towing with a cover. Unless you wanna repaint your car soon. I never covered my sailboats during the winter either, too much wind, and for some "odd reason" my boats still looked factory fresh, the last one after 13 years while other, newer boats, looked like they went through a sandstorm. So much then for my critics. A few even changed their ways!

[rainer]

My concern is towing in bad weather (namely rain).

Without a cover, everything inside will be wet, including inside body side covers. They are only old cardboard with a thin "artificial leather" (or what is remaining of it).
Also my electronics.
So I'd prefer keep the inner dry.

My idea is putting a cover over the car. This cover will be kept under tension by many rubber strings between left and right side below the body. In addition I will tension the front end towards front axle and the back end to the rear axle.
Sensible edges I want to protect with soft clothes first.


My pulling car is a big Van (Chrysler Grand Voyager), so Lizzy with flipped windshield is only a little taller than my car. I think this should either suck out air from Lizzy's body than blow it up, because there is a gap between cover and folded top on back side, while everything is relatively well sealed at front (around windshield) and sides (along running boards).

To be on safe side, I can use some straps around the cover around the entire packed car (behind steering column, and two more to the back) to hold it down in height of the body.So it cannot be blown up.

Shouldn't that work well?


In addition I don't want tho use a simple plastic cover. It shall be stronger, approx. 400g/m², with soft felt on its inner side.

[speedytinc]

Dont do it.
I made this mistake once. The circumstances: I covered the T with a heavy blue plastic tarp because of rain. Going down the freeway with the wind from the drive & storm rubbed the paint off ALL the high edges(fenders) & dulled the paint on some of the flat body panels. A little wet would have done way less damage. The tarp was tied down well & tensioned with a lot of bungee cords. There is no way to keep the tarp/cover from moving around.

[rainer]

My idea is to put many layers of cozy blankets on all high edges to protect them.


You are right, this is dangerous to the paintwork, but how shall I protect this 106 years old inner covers from rain then?
A closed trailer is LOTS too expensive.

[Norman Kling]

I have a 26 Touring. Coming back from a tour we had a rain storm. It was so wet the highway patrol was doing a "round robin" to keep the cars from going too fast. We towed the car on an open trailer with the top down for about 350 miles in the rain. When I got home, I unloaded the car and parked it inside the garage. I turned the seats up so they would dry out. The material on the seats actually kept the padding dry! Then I took off the top boot to put the top up and found the top was actually dry inside the boot. The inner door panels kept the water out of the inside of the doors. So as far as I could determine no damage came from it.
Normally I do not go out in the rain, but with a week's tour, weather can change, and it was time to come home.
Norm

[speedytinc]

My idea is to put many layers of cozy blankets on all high edges to protect them.


You are right, this is dangerous to the paintwork, but how shall I protect this 106 years old inner covers from rain then?
A closed trailer is LOTS too expensive.

One thought is to build a covered wagon framing. Looped conduit? something to attach the tarp to that wont touch the T inside.
Functional as enclosed, but much cheaper.

[ironhorse]

I found a used enclosed trailer 20 X 8.5 X 7 Needed some patch work on the wheel wells and some work on the floor added a winch and new tires, all told under $2200. I love used trailers!

[RVA23T]

For storage I have a cover that is made to fit a jeep wrangler that fits my 26 touring with the top up very well. I think it was 50 or 60 bucks.

John,
Is your Jeep Wrangler cover for a 2 door or a 4 door Wrangler?

[JohnM]

Richard, I've had the cover for awhile, so I don't know for sure but I suspect it's for the older small two door wrangler. It's not a perfect snug fit but it covers well without excess material dragging on the floor.

[TRDxB2]

One thought is to build a covered wagon framing. Looped conduit? something to attach the tarp to that wont touch the T inside.
Functional as enclosed, but much cheaper.

Good idea this is with 1-1/4 inch but 3/4 inch may be enough https://www.lowes.com/pl/Structural-pip ... 4294606531
Building a frame from these fittings and then covering with a tarp.
I just searched for Conduit fittings available in the EU https://wittko.eu/cat-norma-normafix-ro ... nder-teile

[RVA23T]

Thanks John. Sounds like it would be a good fit for keeping garage dust off and for when I need to keep my 23 out side when using the garage for something else.

[rainer]

Hi, speedyinc.

One thought is to build a covered wagon framing. Looped conduit? something to attach the tarp to that wont touch the T inside.
Functional as enclosed, but much cheaper.

There are multiple reasons to not have my own trailer, but to rent one:

• Costs only ~160 USD for one weekend (Thursday evening to Monday morning). So I can rent it 20 -30 times to get to buying costs.
• No cost and hassle with maintenance and street certification. Otherwise I would have to renew the street license every year + fixing whatever necessary.
• No locked up space for the trailer. My garage isn't high enough to keep the trailer under the ceiling. Even when, it would cover all ceiling lights. So this idea is not good at all.

So, when I had my own trailer, I would build a frame and cover for it. but I don't have one.

Building a frame that fits on every trailer would be an idea in 1-2 years. I need to find out first how often I will join such Model T Tours. If this is only 1-3 times a year, it isn't worth it Then it is better to find a good solution for a car cover.
.

[rainer]

What I am repeatedly wondering about...

Why are most people towing their T with closed Top?

When the top is folded and the windshield is in flat position, the Touring is lots lower, reducing sensivity on side wind, etc...

[Allan]

The greatest good towing with the top folded is it won't get blown to bits! lower wind resistance is a side benefit well worth having.

When I tow my tourer, the top is folded and it has a snug, fitted cover. I have a tonneau cover made which uses the side curtain fasteners to completely cover the inside of the body. The windscreen stays up, and it, the lights and the radiator are protected with zip tied corflute panels.

Interstate tours are no problem. It takes a couple of hours to wash down and polish the car on arrival, if any inclement weather is encountered.

Allan from down under.

[Luxford]

I have two T's which do not have the advantage of a folded down top. A Town Car and a Kamper.
My open trailer had a steel frame with material covering which I could remove if needed. It served me for many years but when I built the Kamper it was just a bit larger than the TC and the cover was too small for it to fit inside. So I went to a new fully enclosed aluminium trailer which now houses any of my T's as a 3rd garage.

The tubing on my covered trailer was made with a tube stretching machine similar to an exhaust pipe joiner ( one tube expanded so the other slipped inside). Joins were welded together and it could be disassembled and stored in a box on the trailer.
Here are photo's of it with and without the cover.

[DHort]

Rainer

I cannot find what you are looking for, but I am pretty sure a member on here has one. It is a top that starts at the back of the windshield and is level with the top of the seats. It would probably be attached to the same snaps the side curtains would use, although you might have to add a couple of extra snaps. Bungee cords would not work because they will bounce and scratch off the paint. You or your wife could probably sew one out of a heavy fabric, and it would not collect wind like a cover over the windshield would do. Sort of like a boat cover. This would keep your seats dry and the door panels dry.

[Allan]

David, what you are describing is my tonneau cover. It works very well. Made of top material, it does not look out of place. An added benefit with mine is I can drive the car with the top down, but fold the cover under the still fitted back part, covering anything we have in there from prying eyes that may find things tempting.

Come September, I can show some photos of the rig, as it will be in place when we go to the next National Rally in Dubbo NSW.

Allan from down under.

[rainer]

David,

thank you very much for your message.
Yesterday I have ordered a cover for modern car, It shhould mostly fit.
For te rest, as we use to say in Austria, "What doesn't fit will be made fit".

Here is this luxury product:
https://www.walser-shop.at/autoplane-ab ... grau?c=927

This cover is made from premium material, with soft material on inner side, and watertight. As I can return it within 14 days, I can do a test-fit and also check the strength of the material, so there is no risk at all.

At least length and maximum height fit. The width is 20cm (8") too much, but this can be easily corrected by sewing a 10cm (4") deep pleat along the middle of the cover (gives 20cm less in width). This pleat is also acting as enhancement, I have then three layers of material there.

Of course, I will need to bring the cover to a saddler for that, a normal houisehold sewing machine will not be able to do that.

Excess material on bottom end is also not bad. I can fold it up and also sew it together with outer fabric, then I will punch in stainless steel ring rivets for bungee ropes. This way I can place a bungee rope every 50cm (20") below the car (between left and right). This will give a good tension to the cover (hope not too much tension).
Dangerous points (Radiator neck, the front brackets for top bow, ...) I will cover with thick layers of soft blankets and an old comforter to protect the cover from being damaged. Therefore I will also keep the top bow in front brackets with top folded down, so there is not one "hook", there will be a horizontal bow. Thiis also keeps the cover away from the body painting.

It will be somehow like a boat cover then.

Rainer
I cannot find what you are looking for, but I am pretty sure a member on here has one. It is a top that starts at the back of the windshield and is level with the top of the seats. It would probably be attached to the same snaps the side curtains would use, although you might have to add a couple of extra snaps. Bungee cords would not work because they will bounce and scratch off the paint. You or your wife could probably sew one out of a heavy fabric, and it would not collect wind like a cover over the windshield would do. Sort of like a boat cover. This would keep your seats dry and the door panels dry.

I do not really have concerns on bungee cords and that they will bounce off paint. They are completely below the car body, reaching from below one step board - underneath the drive shaft - to below other step board. So the drive shaft (and the engine in frtont section) keep the rope deeper than stepboards.

[DHort]

viel Gluck und eine tolle Fahrt

[RVA23T]

Es ist verrückt das mit ein Anhänger mit order ohne seiner Oldtimer geladen, kannst er 80km farhen wann der Oldertimer kann 80km bergab gehen.
Anhänger Sicherheits!

[rainer]

Oh, what a surprise!

Some people are speaking German in USA !

I was at "Petrified wood" when I traveled Route 66 when I was 50. There I met a nice man who enjoyed talking to me in German language. "Ich war in Munich in Deutschland nach die Krieg..." There he learned German and he still was speaking surprisingly well. He was an US soldier at that time. I was my first and only time in USA when I was 50. I got a 2 weeks trip along Route 66 from Chicago to L.A. I still have wonderful memories. I wanted to repeated that this year (I am 60 now) and have a closer look on some spots, but I don't sit in an airplane for 11 hours with a FFP2 face mask. - So this is delayed for the moment.


Well, about this 80 km/h... This is ~49 mph. This speed is the official speed limit in Europe for trailers >750kg (1500 lbs), equipped with overrun brakes.
This does not mean that I will drive downhill with my Lizzy on a trailer at such speed, I have no suicide ambitions. But I need to take some wind speed into calculation.

[Humblej]

Rainer, welcome to the "Forum Don't Know Best Club", where proud new members ask advice from people with years of experience or "been there done that T-shirts", to ignore or argue against the advice and do it their way. All I ask is that you please report back and tell us how it went, most members of the FDKB Club become mysteriously silent. If you could post video of your car/cover/trailer combination traveling down the highway that would be fun too. I wish the best of luck to you and hope it works out.

I believe what you are asking for is called a Dragster Chute in this country.

Tommy Ivo pulls the BIG chute! Photo by Pete Garramone.jpg (29.38 KiB) Viewed 3257 times

[TWrenn]

Due to my limited attention span I didn't read all the posts beyond my original. I did however catch something you said about the straps being real tight or something like that...trust me, they will still vibrate enough to strip the paint or at least cause severe "buffing".

So try another method to protect your electronics, interior, etc. Das ist ein befehl!
Und viel gluck auch. Ja, ich Spreche etwas Deutsch, aber nicht so sehr gut!

Hab einen schönen Tag!

[rainer]

Hello, Humblej

Don't worry about my (missing) feedback, it will follow.

The reason is simple:

• I have ordered a car cover (I posted the link) a few days ago. The company is currently doing inventory. This causes a little delay.and I didn'r receive the shipment yet.
• I have also located a local saddlery. They have big sewing machines, strong enough for even heavier materials. I ashed, they can (and are willing to) do changes on my cover, they also can insert ring rivets along the bottom on the cover (where I can hook in bungee straps).

So I am currently leaning back and waiting for the arrival of the parcel.

Further plan:
I will put my Lizzy (Touring with Two Man Top) into desired transport and outdoor position:
* The top will be folded down but the front bow remains in front hinges. This is to protect the cover from wearing through by this hinges.
* I will put multiple folded blankets along both sides of the body to cover all sharp edges but also the paintwork.
* An old double folded comforter will be layed over the engine hood and radiator cap because of same reason.

The cover should be already steep enough (from back to the lower half of windshield) to let rain water float away. If not, I will have to place two wood strips underneath. From upper edges of windshield to the back. I am not sure about the best solution, possibly it is better to have one in the middle.

Now I can put the cover over, adjust it, and mark all necessary changes to it. One thing I already know: It is 8" too wide, If possible, I will also mark the lower end around the car, otherwise this has to come in another step.

After that the saddlery will do this changes.

Now I can do the final step and mark the lower end of the cover (if not done already).

[rainer]

Here a little update on my transport and rain protection cover (as promised).

1. Cover Support
The first job was finding a solution for protecting the transport cover from being damaged by sharp edges of windshield.
I ended up with this simple and efficient solution, a 40x20x2mm aluminum profile, held in place by two parts out of my 3D printer and end parts with big radius on all corners (also from 3D printer). The carriers slide in between both windshield glasses and rests on them. Finally I will use two ribbons to secure the Cover Support in place (currently I used a piece of wire). This cover support simplifies things a lot, I also can leave the mirrors permanently mounted.

Self built support for the cover

2. Top Cover
I bought a very strong but thin tarpaulin (only 0.5mm thick fabric, PVC coated on one side), as used on boats, etc. This material is so strong that you cannot tear it apart by hands. On next pictures you see the tarpaulin put face down on my Lizzy, excess material reverted on top of it. The radiator neck goes through a very narrow cutout (too keep the tarpaulin in place for the moment). The rear end will get a horizontal flap sewn (approx. 25cm / 10" below lowest top bow). The flap will have several eyelet rings for bungee strings with hook ends towards the rear axle. The rest of the backside cover (below this flap) will be folded upwards, laying on the folded top during transport, so I do not catch wind (actually I expect a little vacuum). When using the cover as rain protection for outdoor parking over night, the back will hang down and be secured with two zip fasteners to side covers.

Front view. temporary only tight cutout for Radiator Cap

Top of cover, laying face down

3. Some more details:
Last two pictures show the finished cover for radiator neck. It is 12x12cm and will replace the temporary cutout. It is big enough to not rub or pull on Radiator Neck. To protect all edges and brass, I will use an old comforter with a hole for radiator neck, covering entire front (both fenders + radiator).

Radiator Cap cover

Flap planned on back end

My next steps are attaching the side covers with fixing pins to the top cover and reducing excess material to 2". Then I carefully have to get the cover off and sew the first of two sewing lines. This will replace the pin needles and give necessary strength. Then I wrap it around (beautiful side facing now outside) and do a test fit.

To be continued in next post ...

[rainer]

.... continuing previous post because only 5 pictures possible....

After fit test, I will make such little flaps as shown in next picture and stitch them down 1/4" beside the bow. So the first sewing line is hidden and goes only through the middle and lowest layer. This is actually stitching through three layers of tarpaulin (the one coming from left, the same one in between, and finally the one coming from right side). This is so strong that it is impossible to tear it apart by hands.

Final look of sewn edges

When all above sewing is done, I will cut the final length around the car (10cm above ground), revert and sew it up 25-30mm, and set eyelet rings all around in approx. 30cm spacing. This will allow using bungee ropes with hook ends crossing below the car to apply tension. In front, I will fold the cover to go down between fenders and wheels towards the oil pan. This will drastically reduce gaps where wind can get below the cover. So the front wheels will be visible during transport on the trailer (need to check out if this is necessary or not).

When parking outdoors over night, the cover will hang down straight on all sides without bungee ropes.


Hope you enjoy my work. I will add some more pictures during progress.

Rainer

[Russ T Fender]

I know it might be a little late now but a solution to towing an open car on an open trailer is to have a tonneau cover made that fits over the passenger compartment. It can be made to use the side curtain fasteners

[Original Smith]

I've bought my last three covers from Lang's. No problems.

[DanTreace]

.... continuing previous post because only 5 pictures possible....

When parking outdoors over night, the cover will hang down straight on all sides without bungee ropes.
Hope you enjoy my work. I will add some more pictures during progress.

Rainer

Nice work, for my open touring on flat bed trailer, took the rig to a auto upholstery and top shop. They made a heavy vinyl cover that goes over the cockpit, saving the interior from any water or rain entry. Tows well without flapping, and since no cover touches fenders or hood, paint is saved.

Mine has snap fasteners on the body, as that was my choice, the body isn't the greatest, and those same snaps are used for the custom side curtains too.

Others do different, and have the interior compartment cover go over the windshield and rear top boot, and hold the cover down with bungee cords.

27 touring cover for open trailer.jpg (154.07 KiB) Viewed 2792 times

[rainer]

Hello, and many tanks for the pictures.

I decided to cover the entire car without need for any snap fasteners. Covering the entire car makes this easier to do.

I also thought about covering only the opening of the Touring body, but I finally changed my mind because of several reasons:

• Such cover never can completely protect against water entry when towing. There are always gaps where the wind will press water in.
• Even the doors have gaps of up to 1/4" at their rounding (lower end), that section will be fully exposed to wind and rain
• Water will get into the engine room through the radiator and all the joins of engine hood.
• I have installed electronics in well hidden places (i.e. my dashboard with speedometer and voltmeter right below the windshield, and battery charging from magneto in the wooden frame below floor boards) where I haven't used absolutely watertight enclosures. Don't want to risk water entry there.
• Last but not least, all the internal side panels (i.e. door panels) don't appear as if they will resist water very long. They are mostly original and already warped in lower sections. It will not be good to get any further humidity on them.
• The car doesn't catch up so much dirty water from the road

So I decided to make a cover for the entire car. It will protect everything above step boards and also reduce drizzle from bottom side during towing.
It is actually an extension to what I see in DanTreace's pictures. I was as two auto upholstery companies and ashed for a price,,, They ranged from 1000-1200 EURO (approx. 1100-1400 USD) plus taxes. This was definitely too much for my taste, so I decided to do it by myself. I bought 30m² (15 x 2.05 meters) for 300 EURO and this will end up in a well fitting cover, so this is both: cheaper and better.

[rainer]

I've bought my last three covers from Lang's. No problems.

Can you show me the item number? I had a look there before I started with my DIY, but couldn't find anything.

But as I mentioned more than once, it is a no-go to me to mount any kind of snappers or other things to the car. I even closed holes where a manual ooga horn was mounted by a former owner..

[Professor Fate]

Not sure if it's been said here, but running a car down the road on an exposed trailer or towing it will be disastrous for your paint job.

It'll rub the clearcoat and paint right down to the metal from wind fluttering the cover. Please be csreful.

[rainer]

Not sure if it's been said here, but running a car down the road on an exposed trailer or towing it will be disastrous for your paint job.

It'll rub the clearcoat and paint right down to the metal from wind fluttering the cover. Please be csreful.

In fact there are only a few critical points where that can happen at all.

I set the two-man-top into "open" position but do not put the front-most bow into rear position. So this bow still start right after the front door. In the back, the folded top goes all way around the car in upper body level, always in a distance of 4-5" from car body.

I also put my self made "cover carrier" on top of the windshield glass. This extends the with to 160cm, the outside width of the car (fender to fender).
So the tarpaulin/cover is sitting on the bows of my top all way around the rear of my car and is held in a distance of 4-5 inches from the body. In the section of front seat it goes up to my "cover carrier", again held far away from the body. Same in front of the windshield. There it goes straight to the front edges of fenders and radiator, but there is a 1" thick comforter in between.

I will use soft blankets (on rear fenders) and an old comforter (at radiator and front fenders) to protect edges from rubbing.

The only points where paintwork is touched by the cover is along step board edges (and only when I do not use blankets there), and step boards (again) keep the cover far away from car body. Everywhere else I have soft material in between.

My cover will be under tension (will be placed around rear-most slightly lifted bow and then pulled down by bungee strings afterwards, so the bow increases tension), so fluttering will be very limited. In case that step boards loose their paint over time, I re-paint their edges using a spray can of black glossy metal paint. I used this kind of paint during all my restoring very much, it is perfect. No visible difference to all other paintwork.
But seriously, the step boards will loose more paint from stepping on them by entering and leaving the car.

[Allan]

The use of bungee cords to maintain tension on any cover is counter intuitive. All they do is apply some tension, allowing stretch when extra force is applied, so the cover is free to move, and chafe away as it does. How many trucks do you see with side curtains held down with elastic straps? None, zilch, zero! The cover has to be tight enough so that it cannot move. That requires multiple hard strap fasteners, cranked up tautly, and curved arch bars over any unsupported top.

Allan from down under.

[rainer]

Allan,
you are mostly right, but you cannot compare a truck with a covered steel frame with a Model T. When everything is hard mounted to each other; I fully agree. Then I can hard-tension the cover. But ...

As you know, everything above the axles is massively moving relative to axlesis flexible. When hard tensioning a cover, I can do that only to the stell frame and above therefore. To apply tension between front and back end of cover, I need to use something elastic therefore, compensating relative moves between axles and body.

Applying tension between left and right side I don't see critical. When using bungee strings with hooks every 30cm, I get an overall force of 50+ kg along step boards. I doubt that anything will move here at all, also the cover is tied only to the body, not to the axles, so there is no relative move.

I am afraid I will have to test that. If bungee straps are too elastic, I still can use a rope instead.

[rainer]

Hello.

Today I want to post an update. The cover is mostly finished, so I can show some new pictures now.

I need to mention that it is not finished yet. It is cut in shape and first seam is done. I also sewed a two inches wide flap across rear end.
The huge opening below this flap can be closed when not using this cover as rain protection when towing on open trailer. That big flap is not visible on this pictures (it is reverted back and lies on the folded top). It can be fixed with two zippers.
The entire cover will get a number of Eye Rivets to hook in bungee ropes to apply tension all around.

What I will do now is adding another seam along upper edges. Finally it will be sewn like this:

How it is finally sewn

The reason for sewing this way is simple. It gives lots more strength to the edges, also making them almost waterproof. The weight of the cover will sit on inner two flaps, so it will not wear out so quickly, too. Also it can be tensioned better in length direction.

Here the latest pictures.
I need to say that the cover will be folded up twice and sewn along its lower end, then Eye Rivets will be applied. It will still reach below step boards. Below step boards I will hook in bungee ropes to keep it under tension.
The reason for this huge opening on rear is simply explained. While towing on open trailer, any air that gets somewhere below the cover can get out there. The cover sits on a carrier mounted to the folded down windshield and on the folded-down top. The carrier has the function of giving the car everywhere the same width of 160cm (~63") and to keep forces away from the glass, it also allows to leave side mirrors mounted. This gives two openings between rear fenders and folded top where air can get out.
Because the cover will be tensioned around fenders and step boards, almost no air can get in there. In the front I will put an old comforter over fenders and radiator to protect edges, then some more bungee ropes will wrap it around the front axle. So - in theory - most air should stay outside, and what gets in will be sucked out on the rear.

Cover - Front view

Cover - Rear view

Detail on back side

[Kaiser]

Rainer, I realise i am a bit late with this, but my wife is a professional upholsterer, for tarpaulins and covers like yours, she uses thread for stitching that is at least half cotton and half polyesther for jobs like this, as the cotton swells when it gets wet and ensures a watertight seam.

[rainer]

Hello, Kaiser

Rainer, I realise i am a bit late with this, but my wife is a professional upholsterer, for tarpaulins and covers like yours, she uses thread for stitching that is at least half cotton and half polyesther for jobs like this, as the cotton swells when it gets wet and ensures a watertight seam.

Indeed, you are a little bit too late.

I use a thread of 100% Polyester in #20 thickness with a special leather needle. This needle is #130 (so relatively thick) with a flat cutting tip (sold for sewing leather). A round needle doesn't work, there's not sufficient room for the thread in the hole.

Yesterday I spent 5-6 hours with doing the second seam along left and right upper edge. I use a robust household sewing machine (PFAFF 213), with an attached strong stepper motor, driving the handwheel by a self 3D printed timing belt pulley. This motor can run the machine in extremely low speed with full torque, while the normal motor would overheat within minutes. I need this low speed because the tarpauline is too heavy for the advance mechanism of this machine (it slips at high speeds). See Picture at the end.
Anyway, as you can see on following picture, it is sewn now and looks very nice. This picture also shows the big flap in closed position, while earlier pictures shup it in transport position.

A picture from my garage security cam

Nest step (comes this weekend) will be sewing the bottom edge all way around. I will fold up the tarpauline 2.5" and make two seams. Between them Eye-Rivest will be set. (This comes next weekend.)

BUT:
I don't worry about watertight seams too much. If one or the other drop gets in, it is still lots better than having no cover at all. And the tarpauline is in distance to the car, so the drop will trickle down along the tarpauline. Using this second seam is primarily for getting a nice appearance and high strength, tightness is on second place. Compare this picture with my previous ones and you will see the difference.

This is my enhanced sewing machine (can still be used as normal sewing machine when taking off the timing belt):

The modified sewing machine