What did you do to your Z this week?

Huw

Club Member
Weathers mental. Went in the garage Saturday to get stuff to wash the daily drive as it had put on about 10kg with all the road salt stuck to it. Found the sponge was a still a frozen lump in the bucket along with the Autoglim shampoo frozen in its bottle. Ambient temperature was just below freezing In the garage. Waved hello to the ZX snug in its air chamber and gave up on the washing car thing as a bad idea .

Opened the garage this afternoon to be hit in the face with a blast of warm moist air. It’s just under 11 degrees in there, and the car had disappeared. Pretty sure I left it in its air chamber……

099B7FFC-0D05-4C35-B001-71173BAAE1E2.jpeg

Thank the stars it’s still dry in there and the condensation was on the outside of the tent!
 

yellowz

Club Member
Weathers mental. Went in the garage Saturday to get stuff to wash the daily drive as it had put on about 10kg with all the road salt stuck to it. Found the sponge was a still a frozen lump in the bucket along with the Autoglim shampoo frozen in its bottle. Ambient temperature was just below freezing In the garage. Waved hello to the ZX snug in its air chamber and gave up on the washing car thing as a bad idea .

Opened the garage this afternoon to be hit in the face with a blast of warm moist air. It’s just under 11 degrees in there, and the car had disappeared. Pretty sure I left it in its air chamber……

View attachment 55011

Thank the stars it’s still dry in there and the condensation was on the outside of the tent!
10/10 for having a 'normal' garage, apart from the strange car thing in the middle.
 

toopy

Club Member
If a garage is heated (10 degrees and above), insulated and sealed, you should get very little, if any condensation. If it's not heated there's no point sealing it tight, it has to breathe via some in and out airflow at all times. Even if its well insulated and sealed, if there's no heat, for the most part you will struggle to keep it condensation free when temps drop.
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
If a garage is heated (10 degrees and above), insulated and sealed, you should get very little, if any condensation. If it's not heated there's no point sealing it tight, it has to breathe via some in and out airflow at all times. Even if its well insulated and sealed, if there's no heat, for the most part you will struggle to keep it condensation free when temps drop.
My garage is not heated and not sealed or insulated. Fortunately there is not a Datsun in there.
 

richiep

Club Member
I went into the garage yesterday and discovered the entire underside of Project Dixie was dripping wet with condensation. Luckily, I can spin it over on the rotisserie and could thus dry it off, but it was irritating. On the plus side, all the exterior panels, engine bay, and interior are currently masked off with polythene sheet, so no moisture inside or on bodywork - and the underside that was wet has got 1-3 coats of Upol Raptor on it, so was pretty well protected!

That last point highlights that although my project thread has been quiet, I have been making progress. I've not been updating because my iphone is on its last legs and only works properly when plugged in, so taking photos has been a no-no. Once a replacement has arrived, there will be pictorial updates!

As noted, I'm part way through painting the underside with tintable Upol Raptor in Nissan 907 green. Texture has come out great using a 2.5mm HVLP gun to apply. The only downside has been that pale primer means that multiple coats are needed to get good coverage with the dark colour, and I used up a full 4L kit with still more to do. Car is currently waiting for me to finish scuffing the existing Raptor coats, so that I can begin what I hope will be the final session with another full kit.

When I spray the insides of the front wings, I think I will use some dark grey primer first as a wet-on-wet base to help with the coverage.
 

moggy240

Insurance Valuations Officer
Staff member
Club Member
I went in my garage tonight aswell and my car was that wet I had to try and wipe it down, in the engine bay everything was wet. When I get home tomorrow I am going to run the engine, that hopefully that should dry it out.
 
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Rushingphil

Club Member
If a garage is heated (10 degrees and above), insulated and sealed, you should get very little, if any condensation. If it's not heated there's no point sealing it tight, it has to breathe via some in and out airflow at all times. Even if its well insulated and sealed, if there's no heat, for the most part you will struggle to keep it condensation free when temps drop.

I run a Desiccant dehumidifier in my garage. Although the air temp in the garage dropped to zero, the RH stayed at about 50%. Everything bone dry.

The problem comes when the air temp suddenly warms up to c.10C combined with moist air as it did on Sunday. All the tools, rollcabs, bikes, car etc will stay very cold for a considerable time, and that warm moist air instantly condenses on those cold surfaces, causing the above mentioned problems.

I combat that by heating my garage with warm dry air from my cheap Chinese Diesel Heater. Once the internal air temp is toasty and dry, I then open up all my cabinets and toolchests etc. to acclimatize . :)
 

Rushingphil

Club Member
I went into the garage yesterday and discovered the entire underside of Project Dixie was dripping wet with condensation. Luckily, I can spin it over on the rotisserie and could thus dry it off, but it was irritating. On the plus side, all the exterior panels, engine bay, and interior are currently masked off with polythene sheet, so no moisture inside or on bodywork - and the underside that was wet has got 1-3 coats of Upol Raptor on it, so was pretty well protected!

That last point highlights that although my project thread has been quiet, I have been making progress. I've not been updating because my iphone is on its last legs and only works properly when plugged in, so taking photos has been a no-no. Once a replacement has arrived, there will be pictorial updates!

As noted, I'm part way through painting the underside with tintable Upol Raptor in Nissan 907 green. Texture has come out great using a 2.5mm HVLP gun to apply. The only downside has been that pale primer means that multiple coats are needed to get good coverage with the dark colour, and I used up a full 4L kit with still more to do. Car is currently waiting for me to finish scuffing the existing Raptor coats, so that I can begin what I hope will be the final session with another full kit.

When I spray the insides of the front wings, I think I will use some dark grey primer first as a wet-on-wet base to help with the coverage.

Looking forward to seeing the updates! Funny enough, I re-read your entire thread the other night (as well as a number of others!), in an attempt to get myself motivated again :oops:

Now that the football and cricket have finished, and it's warmed up a bit, who knows :conf2:
 

AliK

Vehicle Dating Officer
Staff member
Club Member
Went to the garage like Huw to get a sponge and bucket your and it was bone dry in there!! OL that’s a lie but nothing like what you guys are describing. My dehumidifier decided to melt itself years back but some airflow, insulation and the CH radiator seems to work well.

@Rob Gaskin - somehow it makes me sad that there is no Datsun or parts of a Datsun project in your garage any longer!
 

MCBladeRun

Club Member
@Rob Gaskin - somehow it makes me sad that there is no Datsun or parts of a Datsun project in your garage any longer!
I vote we send him a scale model of one in lieu of a real one. In fact, I'd wager he has a scale model in the house. Just need to convince him it's better kept in the garage.
 

richiep

Club Member
I went in my garage tonight aswell and my car was that wet I had to try and wipe it down, in the engine bay everything was wet. When I get home tomorrow I am going to run the engine, that hopefully that should dry it out.
I've got a horrible feeling the red Z and the Celica will have been dripping wet too - and they aren't at home for me to wipe down. I did visit the barn on Sunday and gave them both a clean over, but I haven't been since. I've been lazy too and the Z isn't sealed in its Carcoon...
 

richiep

Club Member
Looking forward to seeing the updates! Funny enough, I re-read your entire thread the other night (as well as a number of others!), in an attempt to get myself motivated again :oops:

Now that the football and cricket have finished, and it's warmed up a bit, who knows :conf2:
It's been slow going for an extended period now. All the exciting metalwork stuff gave way to the slow, dusty, bodyworking phase in and around normal life, and it ground to a crawl. The temperatures at the moment have interrupted progress again now due to being too cold and moist for spraying. It'll likely be a few weeks before I get to finish the Raptor paintwork. And then it'll be on hold indefinitely until I can get the final paint job done. Unfortunately, buying that Celica and then going on a related parts-buying binge to upgrade its engine blew a huge hole in my Dixie budget...

It won't be on hold totally though. There's still an L-gata engine to build (alongside doing the Celica's twin cam build), numerous parts to restore, and once the underside is finished, I will be doing stuff like installing brake and fuel lines, building and fitting the EFI pump/filter/swirl pot assembly I have planned, etc. There's also the possibility I may go ahead and paint the interior and (maybe) the engine bay myself, given I've got a tin of 907 basecoat sitting around. The former in particular isn't going to be ruined by a few bits of dust getting in the paint, given its almost entirely covered when the interior is assembled!

Ultimately, the more I do, the cheaper the final pro paint job will be. In an ideal world, that will be a professional checking my work, doing any spot tidy-ups, wet-on-wet primer, base, clear, flat, buff, done. When that blockage is cleared, the floodgates can open - it'll be full speed ahead (when I'm allowed out the house to play) reassembling. Of course, there's still a few big ticket items to get for that stage too and plenty of mini-projects - will provide plenty of project update fodder!
 

Rob Gaskin

Treasurer
Staff member
Site Administrator
Went to the garage like Huw to get a sponge and bucket your and it was bone dry in there!! OL that’s a lie but nothing like what you guys are describing. My dehumidifier decided to melt itself years back but some airflow, insulation and the CH radiator seems to work well.

@Rob Gaskin - somehow it makes me sad that there is no Datsun or parts of a Datsun project in your garage any longer!
Ali, I've had Datsuns for 25 years. Yes I know they get in your blood hence why I still get on here every day and enjoy hearing about projects but I no longer have a desire to crawl underneath one on the drive!
I do have a nice Honda CB750K which I ride (carefully) and tinker with. Unfortunately that is wet atm.
 

MCBladeRun

Club Member
Ali, I've had Datsuns for 25 years. Yes I know they get in your blood hence why I still get on here every day and enjoy hearing about projects but I no longer have a desire to crawl underneath one on the drive!
I do have a nice Honda CB750K which I ride (carefully) and tinker with. Unfortunately that is wet atm.
Is it samuri coloured? 😎
 

chrisvega

Well-Known Forum User
I've got a horrible feeling the red Z and the Celica will have been dripping wet too - and they aren't at home for me to wipe down. I did visit the barn on Sunday and gave them both a clean over, but I haven't been since. I've been lazy too and the Z isn't sealed in its Carcoon...
No, there is a decent air flow through the barn, cars never get wet, I'd be more worried about mice. The farm cat is useless.
Is my shell nice and dry and still in the Airchamber? EXTRA:D
 
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