Question about Winter Storage

[Mike6568]

For those of us just North of Paradise what is recommended for winter storage? Is is it a good idea to put the car up on jack stands to get the weight off the shocks and springs? Or, just leave it as is? What are you guys thinking?

[Jay Mann]

I just leave it as it is. I get some gasoline stabilizer for the fuel and plug in the Battery Tender to keep the battery charged. I also put the cover on it to keep the dust off it.

[68GT500MAN]

I just keep on driving it except on days with rain.

[billjr212]

I usually manage to squeeze in 1 driving day a month during the winter. Don't imagine jack stands would be necessary, but I do like to roll the car forward or back a couple feet every couple weeks to keep the tires from getting out of round (probably entirely unnecessary). I'm guessing this would be solved the first heat cycle, but I figure why not do it. Also gives me an excuse to be in the garage for a few minutes, which is never a bad thing.

I also 2nd everyting Jay mentioned above as good precautionary practice (though I have a tendency to forget the cover and get angry at myself later).

[Robert Andrew]

If you are storing the car for more than 90 days or so, and if there is any chance of high humidity or condensation from heating and cooling cycles, I would highly recommend that you pull the spark plugs and fog the cyllinders, or start the car every two to three weeks to prevent rust on the cylinder walls. Three out of four of the last planes I tried to buy had very serious cylinder wall , cam, and lifter corrosion problems, which caused them to fail the pre-buy inspections. They were not flown enough to keep the internal parts lubricated. Also after pouring the fuel stabilizer into the tank, be sure and run the engine long enough to get the stabilizer into the carb or fuel injector nozzles. Its more fun to get her out of the garage and go for a spin on the good days though. An often over looked service item is changing brake fluid. Because brake fluid is hygroscopic, it absorbs moisture from the atmosphere, and the moisture can cause two very serious problems. One, it causes corrosion in master cyliners bores and wheel cylinder bores which can cause leaks, and secondly, as I learned from a very close call in my motor home, the boiling point is reduced very drastically, which will cause yor brakes to completely fail in an emergency situation. I think most new car manufactures recommend changing brake fluid every three years or so. That might be premature in ideal conditions, but not in a humid environment. Cheap insurance. I almost drove my motor home into a river.

[Robert Andrew]

If you have aluminum heads, be sure to use anti-seeze on the spark plugs.