Do you drive your Pagoda in the rain?

[67w113]

Kind of a dumb question but  30+ years ago my w113 was originally my father's daily driver.  He drove it every day in harsh rain.  Fast forward 20 years to today and now with the skyrocketing prices/values I will not even consider driving unless there is 0% chance of rain. 

OCD? my wife thinks so, but I am too concerned about weep holes, water pooling in areas that do not drain, and even having to wash the car.  It lives its life as a convertible and the soft top rarely, if ever gets used.  The Hardtop has been off for 10+ years.  It does limit the driving of the car and possibly the overall enjoyment but with the rise of theft and threads of being followed, etc I am OK with only driving it a few times a month.  I live near city full of thieves, if it is not bolted down it walks.

Not really sure what I am trying to say just seeing if any other owners have similar ownership "habits" i.e. minimal driving, locked up tight in a garage with all types of security devices, and babying the car to the point it is rarely driven far (but always started on a regular basis with a quick drive around the safety of a gated neighborhood.

As values reach and surpass the 6 figure mark for cars rated "Good" my paranoia grows along with the value, it has morphed from being a fun Sunday driver to keeping eyes on it at all times when going out, I no longer drive it to work because I cannot keep an eye on it 100% of the time.  I enjoy watching the value rise but the flip side is the fear of walking out and finding my grill, soft top, or entire car...gone. The price I pay for living in/near a high crime city.

[Bonnyboy]

After spending countless hours fixing rust related items, I did not drive in the rain for the first year.  Since then I only drive in the rain if it happens on a car run/event because I didn't want to be seen as a wimp.  This last fall I got caught in a torrential downpour with a gaggle of other vintage cars - Ferraris, Jaguars, Porsches, Gordini, Jensens, Volvos, Saabs, American Iron, Lamborghini and even a Caterham etc. and we all had a great time even though we were all wet and cold and fighting for a place in line to get a hot chocolate.     

After the run I put my car up on the hoist and dried it off - the next day I lifted it back up and went looking for wet spots and found a couple which I dried out with compressed air and fixed later not to hold moisture (just sheet metal under car which was fixed with undercoating).  I didn't find any water in the floor channels or inside floor so figure I'm ok to drive in the rain again.

The windshield wipers work well at high speed and the heater is excellent.  Our cars were really built well for rain.  I had towels just incase we needed to keep water from dripping but ended up not using the towels at all.   

[Rolf-Dieter ✝︎]

Most if not all of us try to avoid driving in the rain, however, there are times this just cannot be avoided. I made a 1600 mile trip in 2013 and on my way home got cut in the rain. Once I was home I just made sure all drain holes are free and not plugged and that was all I did.

Your concern about security is properly on everyones mind as well. Everyone has different measures to handle that concern. When I travel I make sure that the car has a secure spot to park over night. When I was in Williamsburg in 2013 our group made sure there was someone watching over our cars. If I travel to other places I like to stay in B&B's they are always outside city limits and have a safe spot to park.

I'm sure you know our cars love to be driven and hate to be locked up in a garage. So enjoy your car remember life is short

BTW. I noticed you joined us last September I'm sure I don't have to tell you what a fantastic group of people we have in our Group all are helping others along with questions that surface about our cars. Should you decide to join our Pagoda SL Group as a Full Member at some time in the future I will send you a nice Pagoda World magazine as well as some nice stickers for your car. As a full member you will receive two PW magazines each year you will have complete access to our Technical Manual, our Linkage Tour and much more detailed information that will pay you great dividents. I joined this group three years ago and the information as well as help from other members here has saved me thousands of dollars. I like to think of it as one of the most solid investment I've ever made  ... Besides my Pagoda of course

Enjoy your car even in the rain sometimes

Dieter

Membership Secretary of the Americas

[Kayvan]

More damage is being done by not/short driving your SL....than by driving it:

-Gasoline breaks down in as little as 30 days; I doubt most use 16+ gallons every month
-Not bringing oil up to >175 Deg F to burn off condensation, unburned gas (see below), etc
-Unburned Gasoline / contaminated gasoline leaking down cylinder walls from just start/stop (moving car in garage / drive)
-Oil film drying off cylinder walls; rings scoring walls
-Brake Fluid absorbing moisture that isnt minimized from use of brakes
-FI pump seizing or injectors gumming up from old gas (see above)
-Seals / gaskets all over engine drying from lack of use (fluids not engorging gaskets/ heat cycles of metal fitment)
-Expensive Michelin tires flat spotting / dry rotting   
-Exhaust system not reaching hi temp to burn off condensation
-Electrical contacts developing corrosion or bad connections
-Fluids separating, condensate, congealing or leaking
-Draining battery with starts and short low RPM drives with alternator not charging battery.
-Microscopic Mold / Mildew / Dust  settling on all natural surfaces that would be destroyed with ventilation, heat, UV rays.
-Vermin in stationary car
-Dirty car cover trapping dust; scratching paint, chome, glass; canvas not breathing.
-Paint / Chrome / Canvas / Leather / Wood not benefiting from normal cycles of use, ventilation, wear, wash and polish.
-Storage damage w.HVAC: rubber, leather, wood  window seals contract, shrink, swell, dry out w/ moisture / heat / dryness fluctuations.   

I could go on; the vast majority of issues posted here are not from normal use but lack of use. ALL machines require normal mechanical rotation, fluid movement and heat cycles to lubricate,  and surfaces benefit from protective coatings.

This "but always started on a regular basis with a quick drive around" does alot of damage per above; you are just introducing fluids into your car that would normally be burned off; a 15 min drive wont burn off anything. Hit a highway for 30-45 minutes at 75 if you want to accomplish periodic preventative maintenance.

In exotic car world we say: "not driving your exotic car is like not making love to your wife, so her next husband can enjoy her more" 

Granted no collector car owner heads out in thunderstorm; but, I would never lets clouds, forecast, or light mist/fog/drizzle stop an outing.

Drive her hard, with both needles straight up, and flush fluids/filters every 12 mos; thats it.

Re: Theft Loss

I assume you have Agreed Value Policy; if a loss occurs you will get a check and probably can replace with SL in even better condition, given price appreciation. So not sure why not use it, your not staying in a camper because your house is seven figures...

 

[67w113]

^^^^ Great points I need to drive it more , I do get it up to operational temp but sometimes never reach above 50 mph.  Inspired now to make early AM weekend driving a must on weekends, cooler air, less people on the road, thanks! I have a nice stretch of 50-55 road 30 miles long between two lights, runs along a body of water with a view.  I have not done much interstate driving in a while, maybe a loop back home on the interstate to get up in the 70's+. Should be fun as it always brings a smile to my face,

[RobSirg]

Inspired by Kayvan's words (which I agree with) I took her out tonight even though the likelihood of rain showers was high. Had a nice drive for about an hour mixing some city and highway driving.
Most of my driving has been at night these days as that is the only time I can find time - the car has enjoyed it immensely and seems to have sorted its "smoky exhaust' problem from a while back which we are now putting down to wrong oil (by different mechanic) which decarbonised my engine after  a hard drive on a hot day. The car certainly enjoys he cooler evening and am air.
However, tonight was almost with incident. On my final stretch I was on a highway that is normally busy but was fairly quiet on account of the late hour and light rain which had been coming down for the past 15 minutes. I took off at a set of lights on this highway and after it changed gear I decided to give it some gas and noticed I had some rear wheel spin. I didn't panic at first and kept the gas on but the car started to slide out so I back off and corrected and slid the other way - now I am heading for the gutter and trees on my left side! More correction and (maybe I panicked at this point) had me totally spin 4 lanes to my right and now I am heading for the middle gutter on my right.  Remarkably I finished up gently sliding into the gutter which luckily for me was a 'soft gutter' with a gently slope.  (For some reason I was only fearing damage to my nicely restored hubcaps. ). Someone was looking out for me tonight as I finished up facing the wrong way and slid across 4 lanes and there was only a single taxi who had to pull up to avoid hitting me. After the taxi passed I did a u turn and drove home without incident but with a slightly faster heart beat.
I guess my tyres have gone hard and near useless in the wet. They are Hankooks which I had fitted 6 years ago and served me well in that time. I already purchased a set (prematurely) for my project car so I might just swap them over asap.

Hope I don't deter anyone from driving in the rain - I still agree with Kayvan's sound words.

[RobSirg]

Tyres were manufactured 19th week of 2009 so are 7 years old now. Was hoping to squeeze a year more but won't do that now!

Rob

[Cees Klumper]

I've driven my Pagoda in the rain many times. Wouldn't want to have to worry about something like that.

[Mike K]

I drive my Pagoda year-round and on average take the car out every second day, winter or summer.

I do avoid driving in the rain or icy conditions, simply because I don't trust how other drivers behave.  It's unbelievable how people don't adjust their driving to suit weather/road conditions, especially here in the south of France.

[Shvegel]

I used to drive my car from snow to snow every single day.  A few years I even got caught in the first snow of the year.  Driving with the top down at 40 degrees F made me feel alive.

[Tyler S]

One big issue with driving in the rain is all of the contaminents on the road are now suspended in the water, and are flung up under the car. Additionally, any existing  contaminents on the underbody will now be activated by the water. If its the season's first rain, I would probably try to avoid a drive if at all possible untill the roads are nice and clean. Either way I think a good spray down of the undercarrage and wheel wells after a drive in the rain would be a good PM habit to do.

[49er]

 When the car was young (as well as the driver) it was driven year round but covered at work and garaged at night. Drove it in the rain as well and through snow a couple of times on trips to the south west. That all changed when the car was only driven for pleasure on the weekends so it has not been out the rain or on a wet road since 1976 and has lived a very sheltered life ever since

John