Winter Storage / Project car.

[mikemikemike222]

Okay so i am looking at storing my car during winter for 3 reasons.

- I don't want to take the chance of somebody else running into me with the horrible calgary roads
- Car will be slammed and i don't want to deal with driving a low car during winter.
-Want to prevent rust from starting anywhere on the car.

So, i rented my buddys garage from now until june/july (8 or so months) for 400.00 because my house doesn't have a garage :banghead: :banghead:

I have a lot of modifications i want to do to the car during the winter months but between the installation of different parts i want to be able to store the car properly in the garage.

I know i should

-Fill up the gas tank with 94 octane
-Change the oil/coolant before storing
-Take off my rims and put the car up on jack stands. (heard this also can be bad for suspension though??)
-Keep Ebrake DOWN to prevent seizing.
-Be sure to drive the car or at least start it at least once a week.
-Remove the Battery and put on trickle charge.
-Clean the interior and put fresh air fresheners
-Block off exhaust from mice and critters
-Wash and wax the car before storing.
-Put the car cover over the car.


If anyone else can recommend anything else that would help with winter storage that would be great thanks!
-

[M.alex]

Originally posted by mikemikemike222

If anyone else can recommend anything else that would help with winter storage that would be great thanks!
-

Yea - don't waste your time doing ~any~ of that useless crap you listed.

Just drive it to your friend's garage, park it with a full tank of gas, disconnect the negative battery terminal, and come back in a few months time.

[DeeK]

Originally posted by M.alex


Yea - don't waste your time doing ~any~ of that useless crap you listed.

Just drive it to your friend's garage, park it with a full tank of gas, disconnect the negative battery terminal, and come back in a few months time.

This. So long as it's not longer than 8 months, you should be fine. You might have to boost the car the first time you run it, even a disconnected battery will lose it's charge over time.

Just to be on the safe side, keep that e-brake down. just leave it in gear, or with tire stops on a wheel. I have seen them seize up in the past.

[Euro_Trash]

All I am doing is wash/wax, park on foam, trickle charger and stabilizer in the gas.

And then full service in the spring

[94boosted]

Don't start it every week, just put some fuel stabilizer in there along with the other things your planning on doing and you should be good. I've heard of some guys also putting a box of baking soda in the interior of the car to prevent moisture biuld up.

Also if you put the jacks under the suspension (to simulate the car sitting on it's wheels) you shouldn't cause any damage to the suspension. But most guys will just put max pressure into their tires to avoid a flat spot and let the car sit like that.

[88CRX]

- full tank of gas (no stabilizer, its only a couple months!)
- no e brake
- car cover (if you want)
- pull the battery and keep it warm (I throw mine in basement)
- fresh oil before storage
- I put mine on some old wheels/tires to avoid flat spots
- tray of baking soda (going to do it this year, car smelt funky last year after storage)

In the spring fire it up and done.

[Tik-Tok]

You won't get flat spots after 6 months, not unless you have some OLD ass tires.

If the car is in a spot that you can do an oil change without moving it, then don't bother until spring. Why change the oil now when it's just going to sit all winter, collecting dust?

As said don't start it every week. That will cause carbon build-up.

[mikemikemike222]

Well i was going to switch my summer rims onto a set of steelies if i was going to not put it on jack stands.


thanks for saving me a bunch of time beyond!

[Maxx Mazda]

I always put my car up on stands for the winter. Takes all of what, 5 minutes?

[Mibz]

Originally posted by Tik-Tok
If the car is in a spot that you can do an oil change without moving it, then don't bother until spring. Why change the oil now when it's just going to sit all winter, collecting dust? I was gonna say this but didn't know if my reasoning made sense.

After 6 months of gravity working I imagine you're going to get more old oil out of the engine than during a normal change and you get the added benefit of -some- oil at the top of the engine for that first start in the spring.

[max_boost]

Originally posted by 88CRX
- full tank of gas (no stabilizer, its only a couple months!)
- no e brake
- car cover (if you want)
- pull the battery and keep it warm (I throw mine in basement)
- fresh oil before storage
- I put mine on some old wheels/tires to avoid flat spots
- tray of baking soda (going to do it this year, car smelt funky last year after storage)

In the spring fire it up and done.

Good call on the baking soda! Never thought of that.

I thought fuel stabilizer was a must?

This is what I did last year.

Leave car in reverse.
Blocks behind rear wheels.
Battery charger on low.
Steel wool in exhaust.
Full tank of gas with fuel stabilizer.
Fresh oil change in spring.

That was it and seem to work great for me.

[bspot]

Starting your car will rust the crap out of your exhaust system. It won't be hot enough to prevent water from condensing and sitting in there the whole time. If you're going to drive it, take it for a good rip to get it hot.

[Chantastic]

leave car in reverse? What's the advantage here?

[Errol.]

My cars getting parked outside this year so car cover, pull battery and throw it on a tender and block the wheels.

Last year when it was inside i drove it in and hooked up the car to the battery tender.