Southwest Fl car owners

[Lawrence S.]

Guys,

I recently bought a house in Longboat Key, and want to bring a car down to enjoy. My garage is air-conditioned but have concerns about parts flash rusting. Is this a real concern provided the car is kept inside in a low humid environment?

Thanks for any feedback.

[Richard M.]

Re: Southwest Fl car owners

Lawrence, Congrats on your new place down here. Are you planning winter usage only, or summer, or is it year round? Summer starts in late April/May and runs into October.

Mid Summer in Florida is oppressively hot and humid. I moved here 16 years ago from New England and decided to flip-flop usage of the classic cars. Too hot to drive them in summer. The evenings are cooler but still very humid. I'm on the east coast almost opposite of Longboat Key, but the west coast can be even hotter from the Gulf warm waters.

A air conditioned garage will help to keep things from rusting, or accumulating a white mildew, however I've had issues even in my own A/C shop over summer. Objects closer to the insulated garage door(s) have been more susceptible to the humidity effect. The rear bumpers on my wife's classic jag got pitted whereas the fronts, being closer to the A/C unit were fine. The A/C was on a timer to run about 5 hours each day, but still couldn't keep up with the humidity near the garage doors.

Ideally, a humidistat would be best to run the A/C even when the programmed temperature is met. Or consider a de-humidifier but it would have to be plumbed outside to remove its accumulated water.

Rich

[Ara G.]

Re: Southwest Fl car owners

I too live in south florida. the BEST advice i got from my AC guy was not to go too big on the AC unit. If you do, it cools the area down TOO fast and doesn't have the chance to remove the humidity before clicking off. I run the AC all the time in the garage (and it's 1800 sq ft) but the walls are Concrete Block and i insulated the ceiling with Icylene which provides a HUGE r factor for insulation. I keep it at 78 degrees and it feels cool every time i walk in there, regardless of the season. My research showed that humidity will start to turn things at 80 degrees. My mini split AC unit at my old garage couldn't cut it, even though it was less than half the sq ft. ARA

[Lawrence S.]

Re: Southwest Fl car owners

Thanks Rich.

We don't have a set plan on when to be down here, but likely will not be here between June and Sept 30 other than short visits.

I have had good luck with my mini-splits in the past and when it is especially humid in NC will run the units on "dry". I was going to go with the same mini-split system here. My garage is only a two car, block built with no windows. I will install new insulation in the attic, and an insulation kit on the door. Ara what type of units do you have? Do you guys have heat?
Sounds like I should keep a lesser car down here because of the corrosion?

Thanks for the reply guys.

Lawrence

[Richard M.]

Re: Southwest Fl car owners

Lawrence, As long as the humidity is in check it should reduce the corrosion effect. Air circulation is important too. A Florida friend of mine had his 1997 Corvette stored in a garage inside of one of those car bubbles with a blower and he said it helped.

I have heat in my shop too, but only a electric wall mount for some chilly mornings in mid winter. Rarely used. Because I have 15 foot ceilings I also have 2 ceiling fans to push the hot air down when needed.

Rich