Feeling hot, hot, hot

You might risk melting the cover where it's touching. If I recall, the OEM covers that were issued years ago were an indoor/outdoor light weight neoprene and elastic material as used with swimsuits and has a lower melting point than a more traditional cloth woven cover. Neoprene also traps in heat, hence it's use with rubber in swim suits so I would let it cool for at least 15min then you should be fine and this gives your exhaust time to cool as well.

 

What JaguarXJ6 said +1

 

You should definitely wait until the car is cool for a couple of reasons. First is to allow the engine to cool as others have said. In fact, those cars trap enough heat that I think it's better to open the engine cover to allow them to cool, especially in warm weather.

But the other reason to wait is because the finish should be cool before you clean it prior to putting the cover on. A cover should never ever be placed on a car that has not been cleaned immediately beforehand. The finish will have a fine coating of highly abrasive brake dust and other particulates that will act as sandpaper on the finish of the car and will also build up inside the cover so as to continue to scratch the finish even if the car is clean.

Car covers cause more problems than they solve unless they are utilized properly. I've seen guys throw car covers on their workbench for temporary storage, where they pick up who knows what kind of trash that will abrade the paint from then until the cover is cleaned properly. Some guys fold their covers haphazardly as they remove them, allowing the dusty outer surface to come in contact with what should be a clean inner surface. Obviously, the worst is putting the cover on a car that has not been cleaned immediately beforehand (and I don't mean washed, because putting a cover on a freshly washed car prevents the water trapped in various recesses from evaporating).

It's a lot of effort to properly utilize a cover which is why I only cover a car if I have no plans to touch it for several weeks of more. Then I prefer using two covers-- a high quality soft, fitted cover that only comes in contact with clean paint and a cheap universal cover placed on top of that to keep the nice cover clean. The nice cover is stored in a clean plastic bag between uses and the outer cover can be cleaned or replaced as necessary when it gets dirty. The extra layer of padding adds a bit of impact protection as well.

 

Once I park my car in the garage after driving, I open up the engine bonnet to let the engine compartment cool down. No sense in letting the heat stay in the compartment if you don't have to.

BTW - I'm with Mike. I never put my cover on my car after driving it (even when the engine is cool). Road grime can cause numerous scratches. I put my cover on after washing when the car is clean.

 

I know the quote, theres no dumb questions.. but this one I way out there lol..


why on earth would one feel or even question the thought or need to put the cover on the car.. after just coming into the garage from a drive..

it is just pure common sense.. to let the car fully cool down.. even to the next day.. if you must have the cover on..

my F355 after a spirited drive or even normal drive.. is radiating so much heat from the engine bay.. you can see it at certain angles..

"hmm.. I think im going to put my car cover on now that's its in the garage" has never remotely come across my mind.. to be ok.. with all that heat..

I lift the lid and let the engine bay breath.. with the garage door open.. for minimum 1hr.. even after that when I close door.. I can go back in garage several hours later.. and the whole garage is heated up..

 

Darius, after each drive with one of my cars I leave them for one day without the cover.

First of all, that the car (especially the engine) can cool down in a proper way, secondly that the cover doesn't come close to still hot parts of engine or the exhaust system. Additionally I only put a cover back on the car only after I cleaned it
(mostly dry washed from dust, debris and insects...).

Especially after driving my blu pozzi Maranello I'm always impressed how much dust a car collects even while driving on "clean" roads.....


Saluti,

Jürgen

 

That's exactly, what I'm doing, I dry clean the car after using it.

According to my opinion, it makes sence before using the cover. Two advantages:

- the dust on the driven car is not scratching the paint while putting the cover on the car

- the cover itself stays clean and is not loaded up constantly with dust

There are a lot of companies offering this kind of "dry wash products". They will not harm your existing wax or polymer protection.

Personally, I had some good results with the following products:

Cairbon CB 66 (Polymer Product)
Meguiars Wash & Wax Everywhere (Carnauba Wax Base)
Surf City Garage Rinse Free Wash & Wax (Carnauba Base)
Surf City Speed Damon Wax Detailer (Carnauba Base)

Having used the products in combination with the suggested long floor microfibre towels they don't leave any scratches or swirl marks according to my expiriences and will provide additional protection.


Saluti,

Jürgen

 

This is excellent advice.
Open the engine cover, let things cool down, and don't pull the cover over a dirty car, unless you want scratches.
Clean the car 1st, then cover it up.

There are countless products on the market that don't require water for 'waterless washing'

 

I do this with all of my cars in the summer.

 

3 points:

I open my engine cover AND put a fan on it to cool the engine down once I am home in my garage.

I use detail spray and lots of clean MF towels to tidy her up before covering if it is just dust, just make sure you change towels/sides often. Some say spray the towel not the car, but I am not sure, the detail folks will chime in, I am sure.

You can take the cover to your local professional cleaner and have them launder and press it, costs me about $40. Nothing special about the cover other than the cavallinos, it is just fabric and will clean up well if you have a big enough machine to gently wash it.
Alden

 

With the waterless and no-rinse wash products available today there's really no reason to bucket wash a car unless it's really dirty. For a garage queen that's driven occasionally in nice weather waterless washes are all you need, and they will not damage the finish provided you use the right products, tools, and techniques I have not washed my 348 (soft black paint) since I've owned it and even a very close examination of the paint reveals no microscratches.

There are a number of interesting products available for waterless cleaning. I've only tried a few, but in the past I've used a number of what have come to be known as QDs, or Quick Detailers. Those are typically the watery sprays you buy at the auto parts store, although some of the better, more sophisticated products still bill themselves as QDs. The off-the-shelf products I've tried have not provided the lubricity I want so I can't recommend any of the common detailing sprays you're likely to run across at local retailers.

However, of the few waterless wash products I've tried two have proven themselves to be effective and to not scratch even soft finishes. Well over a decade ago a friend introduced me to DriWash by asking me to help him clean his filthy 348 with it. I was *highly* skeptical, but even in my completely inexperienced hands I could see that it was doing a nice job of cleaning and yet was not scratching his beautifully maintained paint. I would not mind using it on my cars but I don't for two reasons-- first, it goes on pretty dry so removing it is somewhat akin to removing paste wax. Consequently, its lack of liquidity means it's not great at softening up the dried bugs that are so common where I live. The other issue I have with the product is that it apparently leaves a synthetic protectant behind, whereas I keep a carnauba top coat on my Ferrari, so I prefer a cleaner that contains carnauba. Still, I think DriWash is a fine product that could be very appropriate in some use cases: DRI WASH n GUARD Waterless Car Wash: The Original Dry Wash!

The waterless cleaner that I can recommend without reservation is the one I use on my own black 348: Smartwax SmartONE Waterless Wash & Wax. Being a liquid, it's better at softening up bugs and caked on grime (although if the car is covered in caked on grime I'd say it's time to get out the buckets and do a full water wash). SmartONE contains both the carnauba I want to "refresh" the top coat protectant on the car, and clay to aid in cleaning. It's all I've used on the 348 and it works *great*. No affiliation with the company whatsoever (I ran across the product by accident) but I'm a big fan: SmartOne - Waterless Car Wash, Wax & Sealant in One - 16 oz (473 ml)

I'm quite sure that there are other products out there that would work as well, and maybe even better. The Surf City products that Jurgen mentioned look similar and are interesting enough that I will be testing at least the Speed Demon Wax detailer soon. But at this time the one product my OCD self can recommend is SmartONE.

No matter what product you choose it still must be used properly, and with the proper tools (in this case, microfiber towels). First and foremost, thick, plush towels designed for the purpose are a must in order to remove and encapsulate the abrasives without harming the finish. Maybe it's because I lucked out in finding SmartONE, but for me finding a really great microfiber towel was more difficult than finding a good waterless wash. I've tried a number of them and this is what I use: SmartOne - Waterless Car Wash, Wax & Sealant in One - 16 oz (473 ml)

I have quite a few of those towels just for use with waterless wash, which means that I can use roughly one towel per panel to avoid abrading the paint with grit caught in the towels. I think that's a huge part of the successful use of waterless washes. I've seen guys do a whole car, including wheels, with 2-4 towels. I don't know for a fact that doing so causes microscratches because I'd never venture to try it, but towels aren't that expensive and good ones last a long time when properly maintained (a subject unto itself) so why not just buy a bunch and switch to a clean one often?

Lastly, technique matters. I know I use more product than I should, but I'd rather err on the side of caution and waste a bit of product in order to ensure plenty of lubricity when cleaning nasty grit off of soft black paint. The sprayer on the SmatONE bottle sucks, so I transfer the product into a bottle with a better sprayer, but even so I still pretty much hose the surface I'm cleaning. Since SmartONE contains clay it requires *a lot* of shaking prior to and during use to keep the particulates in suspension. It's easy to get in a hurry and forget to shake the bottle a bunch before every panel.

For the initial cleaning you want to wipe in straight lines and very, very gently. You want to remove the grit without grinding it into the finish. You can then switch to a clean side of the towel, maybe apply a bit more product, and press a bit harder to remove dirt that's actually stuck to the finish. As you become convinced that the panel is clean, switching to clean sides of the towel (which should be folded into quarters before you begin) as needed, the product begins to haze, at which time you buff it out like you would a wax. It's not at all difficult, but the best results come from taking your time and using a very light touch initially (the exact same thing applies to bucket washes).

SmartONE can be used on glass, trim, and rubber without fear of staining, so I do the entire car the same way, using a fresh microfiber for pretty much every panel. It takes me 10-12 towels to do the car, which is certainly overkill, but why not? It's not that much more effort and it has proven 100% safe and effective.

Lastly, I gotta mention a final step that I've just started playing with. It's totally optional, but it looks to be paying dividends in gloss level and in protection. Assuming you have the time, after the whole car is clean go back around with a very high quality carnauba based spray wax such as Blackfire Midnight Sun: SmartOne - Waterless Car Wash, Wax & Sealant in One - 16 oz (473 ml) So far it's proving to be exceedingly easy to use and it adds quite a bit to the gloss and feel to the finish. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that if you started with great paint and laid down a couple of coats of good sealant and/or wax initially, you could maintain the paint indefinitely just by using the above technique... at least as long as you don't off-road your exotic cars.

BTW, with regard to the car cover, as long as it's machine washable I think that's the way to go. Most are so bulky they're best washed in a commercial washer. If you've been covering the car while it's dirty the cover is going to have a ton of grit built up in the fibers, so just a wash and a rinse isn't going to remove it all. Depending on the cost of a good replacement cover, it might be better just to pitch the old one and start over (or better yet, use the old one over a soft new one). If the current cover is a good one I'd suggest *at least* four rinse cycles to get rid of the grit. Frankly, the best way to clean one of those is to take it to a DIY laundry with large commercial machines and do it yourself, so you know for a fact that it has actually been rinsed several times. Those of us who lack patience, or who command a high billable rate, are better off arming someone we trust with a bag of coins and an iPad to amuse them during the hours it takes to properly clean the cover.

HTH.

 

This is first-rate advice. I have not tried any of the products that Jürgen recommends, but it is clear to me that he knows what he is doing and the reviews I've seen on the Surf City products put them at the top of my "To-Experiment-With" list. Thanks for the suggestions, Jürgen!

 

2 covers...so simple, i have been trying to fold my cover ao as not to let the outside touch the inside, thanks for this tip.

 

Just noticed that I did not provide the correct link to the Blackfire spray wax, so here it is: BLACKFIRE Midnight Sun Spray Wax, spray car wax, aerosol wax

Also forgot to mention the importance of cleaning the wheels before covering the car, as the wheels will most likely have the most abrasive dust on them of any surface on the car. You can use roughly the same technique as you use on the bodywork, but you do not want to spray any waterless wash on the brake discs. I saturate clean Bounty paper towels in waterless wash and use them to apply it to the wheels. Most paper towels will scratch but Bounty does not, at least as long as you don't use the first or last two towels on a roll since those have glue on them. Also, I keep a separate set of microfiber towels for use on the wheels and I wash those separately from the ones I use on the finish.

 

My pleasure. Hope it makes your life easier.

 

Thank you Mike for your detailed and very expirienced informations! I'm always happy to learn more regarding an fast and effective way to keep the cars nice and presentable, especially when it's not an everyday's car and still on it's first paint.....

Detailing for me is just fun and enjoyment, I can relax while doing it and enjoy the lines of the Ferrari (.....or other cars), which I can't while driving them

Your recommended products are as well in my shopping list!

As well as all previous commentators mentioned, the cover can be washed easily by a prof. lavandary Darius. Hope the informations has been helpful to care for your Ferraris....


Saluti,

Jürgen

 

I have a log garage so I always let the cars cool outside then put them in - just in case of a small oil leak or something else to start a fire
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