Getting to be time to get my stuff together to put her up for the winter. Best practices y'all like or ones that work? Mine will be in a barn for the winter. A modern barn with power and concrete floor but no heat. Things I've been advised to do in no particular order (some conflict.....):
- Take battery out and keep in warm room
- Leave battery in and attach trickle charger
- Dryer sheets inside for mice
- Moth balls around outside for mice
- A whole myriad of stuff to jam in tailpipe, again for mice
- Top off all fluids
- Don't top off all fluids
- Inflate tires to +3 psi over
- Jack it up, take tires off
- Use car cover
More opinions desired.
for me I remove the battery and put the cover on. that's it.
My first time is this year. My plan is this.
1. My father owns a heated warehouse that my brother keeps his charger in. Thats where she will be for the winter.
2. A trickle charger on the battery.
3. Fluids topped off.
4. Mothballs and dryer sheets.
5. Car cover.
6. Finish the little things and try to start her once a week.
...nothing
I like to get the gas tanks down to 1/4 and put in some Sta-Bil., then in the spring i can top off with some fresh.
Does anyone fog the engine? (start the engine and pore marvels mystery oil down carb until exhaust smokes. To coat inside of engine and exhaust)
I've done it to engines I knew were going to sit a long time, more than a winter. What kills cars is moisture from the air. If the car is in an unheated environment, you can get conditions that cause moisture to condense on the car. Like a cold glass of water in hot humid air. It will happen when you are not there and can dry up and you don't even notice that it happened, except for the corrosion it leaves behind.
I store some cars in an old chicken coop in Maine as dead storage. It has no heat, so I store the cars in bags called car jackets it is supposed to be air tight, but they are not. So I also put damp rid in there too. Once a year, I go up to pay my rent and redo the damp rid. It's amazing how much water can be inside those bags. I get about 10 gallons of water with just six cars. What's nice though, is that the cars are not rusting at all. So they are not getting hurt while there.
Good stuff folks. Thank you all for the comments. Extending this thread a bit. What do you cold-climate folk like me all have planned for winter projects on the car, anything? I've got three things: 1) rebuild carburetor, 2) figure out how to install rear seat belts, 3) I ordered a rear package tray and jute insulation, install.
I'm planning on walking by my car every day. Does that count?
So far, for practice, I've been walking past Jims' car with the engine sitting on a stand in front of it. Aargg!
Plans, lots of them.
1. Hopefully purchase the proper valve covers (AMD) this will fix my oil leak.
2. Buy and install new front and rear outboard carbs.
3. Buy new plug wires (proper date coded ones)
4. Buy new ignition coil (date coded)
5. Install my plug wire brackets
6. Adjust my e-brake
7. Hook up my washer bottle hoses
8. restore wiper motor
9. Fix small tranny leak
10. Weld new floor pans and rear crossmember in a 1969 roadrunner (maybe)
The list has gotten a lot smaller thanks God!!