So what should be done to weather proof and open hooded engine in a 31 coupe?' Vaseline around the distributor cap what else ?
I thought that Austin had replaced SoCal as "The Promised Land for Hot Rodders" and that it never rained LOL I run an open engine bay on my 32 and have never had any problems in all types of weather. Haven't done anything about weather proofing.
I've driven my 27 with no hood for over 26 years here in Florida through some torrential rain storms where I couldn't even see the car in front of me. I expected the engine to quit at any moment due to water into the ignition system, but it never has. One time, I drove 5 hours in a downpour and it kept on running the whole time. Same with my 23, it went down the road during some really heavy rains and kept going. So, I guess you really don't have to do a lot of special work to waterproof them. I think all that water going down the carbs really steam cleans the inside of the motor too. Don
I've got an Accel pointless light trigger ignition under a "window" cap and it has never missed a beat in heavy rain. Also have a carb scoop that I'm sure catches the rain, but like Don says, it just cleans the carbon out of it. Gary
Not the Best for it , But it's Like a Dog Shaking the Water off when it come's too Life ! 87 TPI I-ROC set up
Some people would have you believe Austin "Is the promise land for hot rodding" It does still rain and hard, and its the promise land for few hot rodders in austin. But there are regular blue collar guys here building regular cars with there own hands also.
I think honestly you need to watch out for water when it's parked more than when it's driven. See a lot of people throwing a tarp over it the engine when parked in the rain.
There's a reproduction rubber cover available that was (I guess) OEM and covers about 1/4 of a generator. I wouldn't worry about it from the sounds of it though. Here's one for a Ford, I'd expect they all had them?
I live on the edge of a rain forest, and drive an open engined 29 Hudson. Never had an issue, cept some missing and farting when a little water found its way into the dizzy. Just put my foot down more. Best part, is the folks comments, who can't believe engines can run in the rain.
On the super serious side, you might do some research along the lines of military vehicles or off-roading / rally cars, as many of them have sealed -subsystems for fuel or electrics and /or snorkels for fording rivers, and such. On the practical side, I'd just be more worried about water filling up a cylinder in a heavy rain while the car sat parked - and then hydraulic-ing the engine on starting. It doesn't take much liquid inside a cylinder to bend a rod. That happened to a friend of mine who had a louvered hood and no air cleaners. Gary PS even sealing the rod / bolt hole that holds on your air cleaner(s) well can be important. If there is slop there, water can fill-up in there if there are any dips in the cover around the hold-down nut, and then drain down the shaft into the carb.
Manny many miles in my Model A with no hood, same as others have said about the monsoon driving with no problems. Never had an ignition problem. The only thing I did was to make the air cleaner pull from underneath and back so it does not suck water when sitting or driving. This caddy intake on my Stude motor ran for about 30,000mi with a custom air cleaner This STU-V intake picks up air from the underside and back, probably 5,000mi with no problem
For every Hotrodder in Austin there are at least 1000 ultra liberal tree huggers that are trying to save everything from "whales to bales". But the food, weather and music make putting up with them tolerable.
Never did anything special to engine, no hood, pic in my albums,ran a roadster for 8 years, 16,000 miles, caught in rain too many times, never had a problem. The biggest PIA was not covering seat when car was sitting out in rain, took a long time for interior to dry out, had to sit on towels if you needed to drive it, sitting out in sun for few days needed. I'm a Wi. Resident, so weather is an issue here, no longer have a roadster, you could not give me one now, still love how they look, IMO, roadster, no top, no hood, the coolest ! In fact COLD in Wi.
The worst weather problem I had with my no hood forty, here in So Cal, was the sun beating on all the rubber and plastic. The sun would bleach out the colors and make it all brittle. Rain? Just drive faster to get the air moving up and over,,, until you have to stop for traffic,,,, then you get water everywhere.
Good plug wires and something to cover your carb. Make sure that your distributer cap is not cracked.
I have gotten caught in some heavy thunderstorms a few times with the coupe. I turn the scoop around backwards, no problems with the engine. But the drag slicks make for a white knuckle ride. Going to run some HOOSIERS with tread on the street this year, and slicks on the track only.
I've been caught in some huge storms in my '28. But never had any problems (knock on wood) as long as I kept going. When I do park it overnight at a hotel and there is a chance of rain, I cover the carbs, coil, and Mallory with plastic bags. I have a generator and Rajah clips but they don't seem to effect it. The only real waterproofing I have done is to use a little RTV on the voltage regulator cover that is mounted to my firewall. The air cleaners also aren't fully exposed either so that helps.
Corn Fed I have the same air cleaners on my 3 rochester, did have scoops but after an engine rebuild my builder advised to have filters to stop the dust getting sucked into the engine. I was out in her today and had a little rain over in the hill country just enough to make me slow down a little. Ill just vaseoline around the distributor lip for safe keeping. the reason being when i took my cap off when i was having the engine rebuilt id been in some major rain and never thought about it. The inside was rusty so i gave it a good clean out. Thanks for everyones advise.
I have more of a problem getting wacked in the face by tire spray when turning than the engine does running in it. I've been in some down poors where even your underware are soaked but that old points distributor and twin carbs keeps right on purring.
just make sure you cover it when parked so water don't seep pass the nut on the breather and fill the intake with water
Last summer I drove through 30 miles of heavy (very) downpour, a lot of water through those carbs and that Buick Nailhead didn't miss a beat, go figure.
I probably shouldn't say anything so as not to jinx myself..No inner fender panels, front dist and coil..Lotta rain coming home from Epping in 2014 and previous encounters has never been an issue..Best guess is mech fan blows most water spray away..
Running isn't when the water hurts them unless you are pouring straight out of the bucket. When you trash an engine from water down the intake is when it is parked and then when you start it you find out that you just hydro locked it because you had at least one cylinder with the valve open or partially open. We used to pour water down the throat of the carb to decarbonize 'em. While running of course. LOL
SBC in an open Model A and I have the same in a '32 roadster. Only glitch I've experienced is water filling up in the accelerator pump well of my AFB / Edelbrock on the Model A. The Holley on the roadster shrugs off water.
We thought the old 35 36 air cleaners were weather proof, wrong.! Away at a rod run for a week and one morning it just would not start we had spark and fuel etc. it took a while before we realised the circle of felt under the tin hat on top of the air cleaners was totally drowned in water ,it must have had a capillary effect to wick up the felt. Lesson learned and bought a cheap shower curtain to cover the motor at night.
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