Need Car Cover Advice

[48Super]

I'm looking to replace the existing cotton flannel cover for my 1965 Riviera because it is starting fall apart due to age. Most of the covers available today seem to be made of non woven synthetic materials and are not custom fit. The material seems like it is likely to be stiff and I'm not crazy about the generic fit issue. I don't need something that is rain proof, hurricane proof and resists atomic fall out, just a decent quality indoor cover that will keep dust off the car and won't scratch. I'd like to know if anyone has recently purchased a reasonably priced indoor cover for their Riviera that they have been satisfied with.  Thanks for your assistance.

[billbuickgs]

Hey Mike ,

Just sell me the RIV ,then you don't need a new cover !!!!!!!!!!!

Glad to see you still have that beautiful car !

Bill

[RivNut]

Contact Barney Eaton on the Reatta forum.  He's been selling custom covers for some time now.

[NC1968Riviera]

I have bought several covers from www.carcovers.com. Their top of the line weatherproof covers are excellent. I have not bought an indoor cover so I can't speak to the quality of those, if that is what you are looking for.

[Barney Eaton]

I have been selling the Covercraft line since 1983.........at that time there were 2 materials so making a selection was pretty simple.

Today there are about 14 material choices from Covercraft with a big price range.  (they also have about 70,000 patterns, so we can also provide great covers for other cars)

Since we are on the Riviera forum....Covercraft has 8 different patterns covering Rivieras from 1963 to 1999.

Your '65 is pattern #C24E,  that is for '63-'65 Riviera........the pattern is easy, but then you must select the material.

The easiest thing to do is go to www.covercraft.com and look at the cover information,  they have a chart that tell what each material is best for your application.

The material you had was an indoor only cover,  rain would soak it.   There are several new materials both woven and non-woven that are excellent choices.   I recommend getting an outdoor cover even if you

Riviera spends 99% of its time in the garage....the nice thing about an outdoor cover (repels rain) if you take your car to a show or go on a tour and the car sits out overnight, you can shake the dew off the car cover in the morning.

Also they don't absorb the water so you don't have a wet mess to deal with. 

One small detail....Covercraft does not sell a waterproof cover.....because they do not breathe....new technology allows materials to repel water and still breathe.

Go to Covercraft and you can even go to the shopping cart and get their price.....then call me and I will tell you how much you can save on the same cover thru me.   I can also provide actual material samples.

I am here to help........and save you some $$

 

PS...many of the companies that sell car covers, get them from Covercraft....California Car covers does not make their covers, they come from Covercraft.  Once you look at the Covercraft web site then others you can identify the Covercraft products because they give you lots of info about the material.

Thanks for letting me tell you a little about covers

Edited May 21, 2018 by Barney Eaton (see edit history)

[auburnseeker]

For just a dust cover in a nice dry garage,  I use the 10.00 body shop covers.  They work good as with the construction dust in the garage,  I just dispose off them when I'm all done.  I have bought the nice ones from California car cover when I need some occasional outdoor protection but mostly indoor and have been real happy with the quality and fit.  I haven't really purchased any middle of the road covers though. 

[bodayguy]

I have a Covercraft cover for outside. It is excellent, but one nitpick: No pocket for the side mirror.

For inside use, I don't think you would need much.

[Seafoam65]

6 hours ago, Barney Eaton said:

I have been selling the Covercraft line since 1983.........at that time there were 2 materials so making a selection was pretty simple.

Today there are about 14 material choices from Covercraft with a big price range.  (they also have about 70,000 patterns, so we can also provide great covers for other cars)

Since we are on the Riviera forum....Covercraft has 8 different patterns covering Rivieras from 1963 to 1999.

Your '65 is pattern #C24E,  that is for '63-'65 Riviera........the pattern is easy, but then you must select the material.

The easiest thing to do is go to www.covercraft.com and look at the cover information,  they have a chart that tell what each material is best for your application.

The material you had was an indoor only cover,  rain would soak it.   There are several new materials both woven and non-woven that are excellent choices.   I recommend getting an outdoor cover even if you

Riviera spends 99% of its time in the garage....the nice thing about an outdoor cover (repels rain) if you take your car to a show or go on a tour and the car sits out overnight, you can shake the dew off the car cover in the morning.

Also they don't absorb the water so you don't have a wet mess to deal with. 

One small detail....Covercraft does not sell a waterproof cover.....because they do not breathe....new technology allows materials to repel water and still breathe.

Go to Covercraft and you can even go to the shopping cart and get their price.....then call me and I will tell you how much you can save on the same cover thru me.   I can also provide actual material samples.

I am here to help........and save you some $$

 

PS...many of the companies that sell car covers, get them from Covercraft....California Car covers does not make their covers, they come from Covercraft.  Once you look at the Covercraft web site then others you can identify the Covercraft products because they give you lots of info about the material.

Thanks for letting me tell you a little about covers

Barney, I would like to buy a cover for my 65 Riviera from you. I don't need one for in the garage, I already have an indoor cover. I need one so that

 if I am at a national meet and a storm comes up the car won't get wet. Please advise what I should get from you , thanks Winston

[KongaMan]

6 hours ago, Barney Eaton said:

the nice thing about an outdoor cover (repels rain) if you take your car to a show or go on a tour and the car sits out overnight, you can shake the dew off the car cover in the morning.

 

23 minutes ago, Seafoam65 said:

I need one so that if I am at a national meet and a storm comes up the car won't get wet.

 

You guys live in a different world than me.

[Seafoam65]

54 minutes ago, KongaMan said:

 

 

You guys live in a different world than me.

You are right, there are many different worlds when it comes to cars. My old cars are not allowed to get wet as this results in RUST. In

the case of my Riviera, it has not been wet since 1967, other than at the Buick Nationals showfield where a storm came up suddenly.

This is why I'm inquiring about a waterproof cover for this type of circumstance. I do drive all my old cars, but NEVER in the rain!

[Hazdaz]

This is the one I have:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001V4ZJ0K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Covercraft Custom Fit Car Cover for Buick Riviera (Technalon Evolution Fabric, Gray)

I have had it for over 6 months (so it's gone through one winter) and I like it.  Only issue is mostly because of me - you have to cut a hole in it for the antenna and I put it slightly in the wrong place so it started to tear up.  I am sure it can be fixed. 

 

 

 

[KongaMan]

I find it easier to make sure my wipers work.  

 

All that time you spend watching the weather forecast is time I spend watching the road. ? In any event, one might posit that you'll get more rust from storing your car in a damp garage than the occasional shower or car wash.  You do wash your car, don't you? 

[auburnseeker]

13 hours ago, KongaMan said:

I find it easier to make sure my wipers work.  

 

All that time you spend watching the weather forecast is time I spend watching the road. ? In any event, one might posit that you'll get more rust from storing your car in a damp garage than the occasional shower or car wash.  You do wash your car, don't you? 

I never wash my old cars.  Closest the hose ever gets is if I buy new Whitewalls and have to wash the blue off.  I might just one time on a really dusty car I just bought so I don't scratch the finish when detailing it further, though I honestl;y think I have only done that once with a car I was going to sell.  Hose water pressure down all those nooks and crannies is a good way to get stuff to rust.  Besides if you don't have absolutely clean water (purified/ filtered, etc.). You have to wipe it all down and detail it again to get rid of the water spots.  

My car is the first to see a cover at a show and usually one of the last to come off.  I use a good soft cover underneath, then a body shop back to waterproof it on top.  Nothing worse than a big wet cloth car cover to dry off. 

If you are storing your car in a damp garage,  you should have spent more money on your garage before the car to insure you had good storage.  A fan in most garages will prevent dampness just by moving the air around. 

Edited May 22, 2018 by auburnseeker (see edit history)

[KongaMan]

What is this detailing of which you speak?  Drive it, fix it, and drive it some more.  Keep the chrome polished, vacuum the carpet, and rinse the dirt off every couple of years.  It's roadworthy and presentable.  Anything more than that defeats the purpose.

 

I don't see how rinsing with a hose is any different than rain; we're not talking about breaking out the pressure washer here.  Unless you're water-phobic, in which case any drop on the barometer can send you scrambling for cover.

 

A damp garage may be a somewhat unavoidable consequence of a damp environment (e.g. a midwest spring or summer). Building a garage in New Mexico might not be a practical solution for most folks.  ?

 

A fan may help to mitigate condensation, but it won't lower the humidity. And it won't do much for condensation where there's no airflow (e.g. in a car under a cover or inside a car with the doors and windows closed).  If it's damp, you need to condition the air rather than just move it around.  A lot of folks won't spring for HVAC in the garage or an adequate dehumidifier.

 

 

[auburnseeker]

Storage is my number one consideration when owning an old car.  If you can't store it properly you aren't doing it any good.  I spent alot of money on my storage buildings and alot more to come.  I Could have bought a reallyu nice open 30's Packard for what I spent on my garages so far,  but decided I didn't want to put the cart before the horse. 

I live in the Northeast,  so I live in about the worst possible climate to have to store a car. 

Yes I am waterphobic,  but cars I have owned for 20 years look as good or better than the day I bought them.  I know the reason.  Polished Aluminum corrodes and is really hard if not impossible to bring back,  chrome rusts and pits, everything on the exhaust unless it is stainless pretty much goes to crap, All the paint falls off the engine because of the condensation cycles, etc.

I've watched alot of nice cars around here deteriorate because the owner's didn't provide proper storage for them.  I even pay to heat a garage that houses one of my cars that I haven't driven in 20 years.  Hopefully this year I can get it down here to my bigger garage to store with my other cars as it's very energy efficient. 

There is $7000 in insulation in the small garage.  The new bigger garage,  will have infloor heat and 8 inches of roxul in the walls and 12 inches in the ceiling,  with a 2 inch inner foam shell.  

For dust I use a California duster and bugs,  I use Meguiar's Quick detailer. 

 

[Seafoam65]

                     When I said my car hasn't been wet since 1967, I wasn't joking. The previous owner who bought it in 1967 only drove it on nice

days 1,000 miles per year, and would wipe it down with a slightly wetted coth or a duster after each use. It was always in the garage when not being 

driven, and never had a water hose any where near it. This is how I've always cared for my old cars as well. Modern cars don't rust

with water exposure, but 60's cars will rust away just from being exposed to dampness, the back window being the elephant in the room. Once the back window channel goes, there goes the quarters, the package tray, the trunk floor and the floorboards.

Edited May 22, 2018 by Seafoam65 (see edit history)

[Barney Eaton]

Attached is a cover selection guide that I thought was on the Covercraft web page but I could not find it there....this is a copy from their catalog.

Also some people say they need a "waterproof" cover and others know they need a cover that breathes.........can't have both in one cover.

If it is waterproof (plastic sheet, canvas duck, plastic tarp) it will not breathe.

Covercraft list their covers as "water repellant"   this happens with modern technology products combined with the basic cover material.  Some have a plastic membrane that will not allow water drops to get thru but

the moisture can get out when the water evaporates and that humid air can go thru the membrane. 

The woven fabrics are a tight weave and the thread does not absorb water so the water just runs off.......but remember there are holes where the sewing machine passed a thread thru and in a hard blowing rain

some small amount of water can get on the car,  but because they breathe....the moisture is not trapped.

Selecting a cover also depends on where you live and the weather conditions........some owners out west are more worried about dust and sand than water.

[60FlatTop]

[RivNut]

I would think that a water proof cover, lime a sheet of solid plastic would be conducive to condensation.  It occurs and unless you've removed all the humidity from your surroundings,  it's going to happen.

[petelempert]

For what its worth, I've had good luck with a Dust Top car cover from California Car Covers. It's a hybrid material for indoor use. It's light and fits well on my 63 once I cut out the antenna hole. No mirror pockets. Soft on the inside. Spendy...about $245 as I recall. In Texas, my big issue was dust. The older my car covers got, they became dust magnets and packed lots of static. The Dust Top cured the problem. PRL

 

[Barney Eaton]

Mirror pocket have been mentioned.......let me comment.    Depending on your state, most cars had no outside mirrors until around 1967 when the feds got involved. 

Then at some point all new cars had outside mirrors on both sides.    The older covers patterns seldom have mirror pockets, the earliest Riviera pattern we have with dual mirror pockets is 1986.

Cars that came standard with dual mirrors such as the 1984-1988 GN... that cover will have dual mirror pockets.

Covercraft will send you mirror pocket that you can install. ....or you can mark the exact spot, send the cover back to Covercraft and they will install them for free (you pay the shipping) at todays shipping cost

it is cheaper to have them installed locally if you feel you really need mirror pockets.

[Seafoam65]

4 hours ago, Barney Eaton said:

Attached is a cover selection guide that I thought was on the Covercraft web page but I could not find it there....this is a copy from their catalog.

Also some people say they need a "waterproof" cover and others know they need a cover that breathes.........can't have both in one cover.

If it is waterproof (plastic sheet, canvas duck, plastic tarp) it will not breathe.

Covercraft list their covers as "water repellant"   this happens with modern technology products combined with the basic cover material.  Some have a plastic membrane that will not allow water drops to get thru but

the moisture can get out when the water evaporates and that humid air can go thru the membrane. 

The woven fabrics are a tight weave and the thread does not absorb water so the water just runs off.......but remember there are holes where the sewing machine passed a thread thru and in a hard blowing rain

some small amount of water can get on the car,  but because they breathe....the moisture is not trapped.

Selecting a cover also depends on where you live and the weather conditions........some owners out west are more worried about dust and sand than water.

Barney, I would like to buy a cover for my 65 riviera made of the "weather shield" fabric. Tell me how much and where to send the check and I

will send it to you ASAP. I'd like to get it before the ROA meet in KC next month.....thanks, Winston

[RivNut]

7 hours ago, Barney Eaton said:

Mirror pocket have been mentioned.......let me comment.    Depending on your state, most cars had no outside mirrors until around 1967 when the feds got involved. 

Then at some point all new cars had outside mirrors on both sides.    The older covers patterns seldom have mirror pockets, the earliest Riviera pattern we have with dual mirror pockets is 1986.

Cars that came standard with dual mirrors such as the 1984-1988 GN... that cover will have dual mirror pockets.

Covercraft will send you mirror pocket that you can install. ....or you can mark the exact spot, send the cover back to Covercraft and they will install them for free (you pay the shipping) at todays shipping cost

it is cheaper to have them installed locally if you feel you really need mirror pockets.

Will they do the same thing for an antenna sleeve.  When fully retracted, the antenna on a 1st generation Riviera sticks up around 8 to 10 inches or so. What is the cost of extra material for mirror pockets / antenna sleeves.

 

In the past, I've just sliced an X in a tennis ball an stuck it on the antenna and didn't worry about it..   The cover is raised when I do that, but the cover still covers the better part of that area.

Edited May 23, 2018 by RivNut (see edit history)

[Barney Eaton]

I will need to check if they still do the antenna sleeve........they did but hardly anyone got them.

Since I also repair power antenna,  I am aware that the 63-65 antenna is out of the fender 7-9 inches when down ( last year at Milwaukee BCA meet, I took photos of every early Riviera antenna

and I don't think any two were the same. )     You get a plastic grommet with every cover for the antenna.....the grommet rest on the antenna base (chrome) so there is little chance it will damage anything and

it keeps the material from tearing around the hole.

[Barney Eaton]

I don't know if it is from the discussion above but in the last two week, I have received  3 orders for the '63-'65 Riviera cover.

If you purchased one,  please let the rest of the forum know how you liked your cover.......everyone ordered a different material .

[Seafoam65]

Will do Barney........you are the man!

[48Super]

I ordered a cover for my '65 Riviera from Barney in the ULTRATECT material. I received it today and I am very happy with it. I like this particular material because it is a woven fabric and to me it feels more substantial than the non-woven type materials. The fit of the cover is very snug and well tailored to the car. A nice feature is the special plastic grommet supplied for installation on the antenna hole opening. My wife sewed an extra piece of vinyl material on the inside of the cover to provide some additional reinforcement in the area where the grommet would be installed. I think it is highly likely that this car cover will outlast me! Thanks for your help Barney.

[Barney Eaton]

Update......this offer is over, but the price below are still good for 1963 to 1985 Riviera until further notice........

Just to be clear Covercraft does not have one pattern to fit all those years...there are 5 different patterns that cover the body changes.

.......Covercraft is giving a 10% discount on all covers with Kimberly-Clark material.

Go to www.covercraft.com and look at the following cover materials below....if you are interested my prices are below, do the math (10% off) and that would be the new price.

* NOAH   $ 302

* Block-it 380  $216

* Evolution  $ 267

* Dustop   $284

* Multibond  $186

My price includes shipping in the US........Covercraft offer good until Aug 1 2018

Edited September 4, 2018 by Barney Eaton (see edit history)