So I'm on my way to pickup take-out Chinese for dinner last night. It's partly cloudy, and a nice warm Summer evening. There had been some typical pop-up Summer rain showers earlier in the day, but now it was dry and sunny. I hadn't driven the car all weekend, so I decided to give her some exercise to close the weekend.

I get about half-way there, and the cloud above me opens up and starts dumping buckets of water. By the time I got the top out of the trunk, I was already soaked. Then I started thinking about the engine. The lid no longer has a rain tray, so I get in and start hauling butt to keep the water out of the engine bay. Then I realize, in the 5 years of ownership of this car, I've never driven it in the rain! Hell, I didn't even know if the wipers worked.

By the time I got to the restaurant, it was dry and sunny again.

My poor baby got wet......I know, pathetic. I'll probably head out to the garage only to find a pile of rust now.

Dion

Pfff, I thought something bad happened.
We had a rainy spring and I had to drive in the rain to see if the repairs were working (new to me in April).
Now I won't take it out if it is raining, but I have been caught out when the rain came over a dozen times I'm sure and I don't consider it a big deal at all.
Put your rain tray back and drive it!

Don't you wash it?

it is pathetic.
The car wont melt in the rain, with or without a rain tray.



Rich

My car sits outside all the time in the rain (covercraft cover) and is fine...do you really need a rain tray? I removed mine years ago and it runs fine in the rain...its a good thing to have if your car is outside with no protection but I think they are not needed for most of us and rarely drive them in the rain. I think the rain tray mostly protects water from falling on the engine when its sitting and not running...if you are out driving and come across a storm you should be fine as long as you dont shut the car down and park for more than a couple of days.

Dude!

You don't wash a 914 with water, everybody know's that.

Sixes don't have rain trays. Never did.
Don

I got caught in one of then "run for cover squalls" half way thru an AX pass.
My windshield actually worked when the car was moving along at a decent rate.....which. on slick tiars, wasn't all that decent. I says to my self "what's is gonna happen when you slow down/stop?" It got real ugly.

I you go fast enough in the rain, you don't need a top on the car.

Driving in the rain is the only way I've found to do 720's in parking lots. I got caught in a torrential down poor coming back to LA from Phoenix. As long as all of the drains are clear I think it's okay. I just won't leave mine out in the rain parked for any length of time. New blades are cheap.... and wet roads are fun!!!

I knew some of you would think I'm pathetic. Honestly, the last time I've been forced to drive a 914 in the rain was similar to JP. Back in the late 90's we had an autocross at a local race track and it poured all night. I was running AP on slicks, my Wife was on rain tires driving our Neon ACR. She beat me, and I have never heard the end of it.

I ain't afraid of no stinkin rain, but when it's coming down so hard that I need to slow to 35 in a 55 just to see the road, I'm also wondering what it's doing to the 3.2 behind my back not to mention the brain and electronics mounted to the floor under my seat.

And yes, I wash my car about 3 times a year. It stays covered and dusted and well pampered the rest of the time. LOL

Dion

Man i never would have gotten my car running if i were to never drive in the rain. I second or third the thought of driving a teener in the rain can be quite fun. My low power subaru teener is a blast to drive in the rain, it never takes much to get sideways in an empty parking lot. Hell last night i was wishing i had a couple five gallon containers i could throw in the frunk cause i found a parking lot near by my house thats completely empty by midnight, looked like it might make a good skidpad.
Don't let the rain scare you too much.... just like anything in life... don't ride it hard and put it away wet.... or else it might not be there some day

Put it back in the garage, and get that moisture out if it hasn't already made its way out. The reason some of these rust horror stories can be bad is cause some sat under trees after the first or second owner blew the motor up and never fixed it.

In the evercalming way of the hitch hikers guide to the galaxy DONT PANIC

and enjoy the rest of your summer drivin

I do agree, rain is fun. When I used to race Formula Vee, I LOVED racing in the rain. It was the great equalizer, and some of the few times my 30 year old chassis could compete with the high dollar guys.

Keep in mind my pathetic state of mind....I'm one of the few guys who could advertise my car as 'never driven in the rain' and actually mean it.

Just get the floors dry as quick as possible and check the trunks and let it air out. This is where seam sealer quality shows up.

When it turns to a snowstorm I turn for home, when it rains just stay over 50 MPH and you won't get wet nor will your engine!

Ian Stott
Moncton
Canada

PS: Just kidding about the snow!

This is funny because my car hasn't seen any water in at least 5 years, no washes or rain...

Yes its really clean...

I'm just afraid it will rust more if it gets wet...

I got caught in a light drizzle once!

Click to view attachment

cool pic

This really happened. Memorial day,1984. They called it a 500 year flood. We were out for the evening, and it had rained 12 inches in 6 hours. At 4 in the morning it finally quit raining, and we headed home. Driving down a major street, I drive into a lake in the middle of the road that wasn't there yesterday. You couldn't tell the dif between wet road and standing water. Just like the vw commercial, it floated. The water was up to the top of the door, so we took the top off, and threw it on the luggage rack. I stood up in the seat and jumped in the water. I never touched bottom. we then grabbed the rear bumper and swam it back to where we could touch bottom, and got the car out of the water quickly. I drove that car for another twenty years and over 400,000 miles before it succumbed to the rust. The electrical system was never the same. Still have the car in my graveyard. A 6 year old girl nicknamed it the boatswagen.

Great story!

Heh,heh.
I spent a few months in Ft Sill Oklahoma in my yut. I'll believe anything someone tells me about the weather there. I've spent my life in the PNW and have never seen rain like one hot day in May.