The months I lived in Santa Cruz it rained almost every week.

I live in NoVa...we have rain throughout the year...it rains at least once a week during the summer, and for 2 - 3 days easily in the fall/winter. Heck, I've driven in crucial rainstorms too...where a weather advisory service had declared a severe t-storm and what not...

Hood gutters
 

I have the same VIS hood and designed my own aluminum gutters that automatically drains out to the front. I picked up the materials at any hardware store. It works just fine and also allows for cooling the engine compartment.

It will take too much space to make a technical report, so send me your email address and I'll post it there.

Aloha

FYI - Rain water is pretty clean thus, it is an excellent insulator thus, it will not hurt any fuses or electrical components, as long as you keep those clean. Water only conducts when it is contaminated. Power companies wash their high voltage insulators with clean water to wash off the dust and dirt that would make it conduct in the rain. Once washed off, it can rain all it wants and those 500,000 V insulators never flash over.

Albert

Rain water is pretty clean until it falls thru the sky picking up dust, and lands on a wet hood, picks up more dust, trickles down onto the alternator, and starts damaging that.

That said, the alternator is probably the one component that would concern me. Nearly all the rest don't mind a light bath now and then.

500,000V vs 12v. Apples and oranges.

Dave

Not really. The tendency to arc or flash-over increases as the voltage increases. In order to develp an electrical arc the voltage needs to "push" the current through the resistance of the potential path. Thus, if rain water is safe on a relatively dusty 500,000 volt insulator it is sure as heck will be safe on a 12V system where the "push" behind the current is absolutely minimal compared to the high voltages.

In other words, given the same amount of water contamination a 12V system will be far LESS prone to flashing/arcing over.

Albert