mtbhead

Hi all,
I've still not met any of you yet, but figured I'd pass along some good 411 to anyone who's either: 1) thinking of getting a new car cover, or 2) wanting more info about installing a hitch reciever.

My car unfortunately will not be garaged, so I wanted something for dust and sun protection. I'm a little worried about scratching, but I'm going to try to only use it on a clean car (yeah right...), and not when it's windy. In researching car covers - both on s2ki (lots of good info), and elsewhere on the web, I ended up getting a Covercraft Weathershield. I recommend Carbytes.com a small sounding outfit out of SoCal for anyone considering ordering any Covercraft covers. Great prices, they don't charge shipping (some places don't charge tax, but will charge shipping), and great service - the person who normally answers the phone (Judy: Carbytes78@aol.com) is really cool. She answered a bunch of questions about the Weathershield cover (she uses one herself), then she called Covercraft, found out the status of their inventory, let me know the build/ship time from them, and then gave me a cover bag for free if I ordered the lock- all without me even asking.

Hitch reciever: You might think "why the hell ruin a perfectly good sports car by drilling holes in it and installing a hitch reciever", but there are two potentially great reasons. First is: bike racks. You can then put a wide variety of hitch-style bike racks on the back - I use one made by Hollywood that clamps to the seatpost, so I can put any kind of bike frame on it no problem. Hitch racks are cakewalk to take on and off, and they won't ruin the paint of the rear hatch or bumper. The other good reason to consider a hitch reciever is to tow a small trailer - say, to haul your tools and racing tires to the track with you, if that's your thing. I just needed the bike rack, so I'm not bothering with adding the wiring harness for trailer lights. I ordered a De'lan Class-1 hitch reciever (the only one available for our cars I think) from another small SoCal company with great prices and friendly service: hitch-web.com. Great articles with pictures for the install on an S2K are in the Library section: https://www.s2ki.com/article/archive/58/
If you don't have the Helm's manual, do a search on s2ki for "rear bumper removal" - someone posted a scan of the bumper removal page which helps as well. Personally, I don't think that the hitch reciever is very noticeable or bad looking on the rear end, but some folks may beg to differ. The additional weight is pretty minor - maybe 40 lbs, and it's at a low center of gravity. Feel free to PM me if you've got any specific questions about it.
-mtbhead

Voodoo_S2K

Good info. Thanks for the 411.

yoweichang

how much did you pay for the cover if you don't mind me asking?

mtbhead

$237.82 including tax, cable lock, and as I said, she threw in the stuff sack n.c. (may have to ask for this over the phone - if you call, ask for Judy, and mention that I just referred ya). No charge for UPS ground shipping (which I understand get's shipped direct from Covercraft - Oaklahoma I think). I think I found one other place that was priced similarly, but they closed after 5pm Eastern time, so I didn't order from them (forget who it was).

mtbhead

Pics of the hitch-style bike rack on the car (w/bike):

http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/scottnshaney...rc=bc%26.view=l

http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/scottnshaney...rc=bc%26.view=l