I am going to store my 62' Pontiac in a warm underground garage for Ottawa's six month winter. I was thinking of an oil change, lubrication, disconnect the battery, moth balls in the interior, and the dust cover outside.
Anybody have any suggestions for anything else I should do? Add anything to the gas tank?
id leave out the moth blls and go with something else that has a stong smell that isnt so harsh and doesnt last forever, dryer sheets, cloves etc..lots of choices that work well, but not as harsh come next touring season
If you use moth balls, put them in a dish. I did this in my trailer and in the spring when you remove the container of moth balls, the smell isn't stuck in the upholstery.
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John
1972 Pontiac Lemans (daughter's car) 2005 Pontiac Grand Am 2004 Ford Explorer Sport Trac
If the place is going to be semi-heated make sure the car is clean, especially the underside. Warm is worst than -20 for corrosion. Most underground garages are very damp. Have the tires parked on strips of plywood or such, don't leave the tires sitting on the cement floor. Yes, to fuel stabilizer. No, to moth balls - find something else as has been suggested. Is there someplace else to store the battery that is drier and warmer?
To keep the mice away, I recommend scattering fabric softener sheets around in the interior and trunk. It's worked great for the cars I've had in storage, and smells MUCH better than mothballs. They're only good for about a year, but it's cheap insurance.
Here is a list of other things you can do with fabric softener sheets. Whether they work or not is another story, but fun facts nonetheless.
norontcan wrote:Is there someplace else to store the battery that is drier and warmer?
Actually, batteries perfer colder temperatures better rather than warmer ones, providing they are fully charged and one cable is disconnected!
When I did my GM A.S.E.P training back in the late '80's early '90's, the instructor out right told us to have the battery fully charged and toss it in the deep freeze next to your moose meat!!!
-- Edited by 67Poncho on Friday 15th of October 2010 12:42:44 PM
every year, I pull my batteries, trickle charge then and keep them on a piece of wood in the above freezing garage,,,,,,,and every year, I lose 1 battery or so....
So this year, I'm doing like Vincent says,,, leave all out in the cold, fully charged of course...my garden tractor has lived so far......
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later...rog
AADD supporting member !!
I'm a collector...not a builder!!Located in sunny central Saskatchewan at the lakehead!
Actually, batteries perfer colder temperatures better rather than warmer ones, providing they are fully charged and one cable is disconnected!
When I did my GM A.S.E.P training back in the late '80's early '90's, the instructor out right told us to have the battery fully charged and toss it in the deep freeze next to your moose meat!!!
-- Edited by 67Poncho on Friday 15th of October 2010 12:42:44 PM
Agreed, my battery success rate is far higher since I started leaving them cold and charged.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Also agree with Vincent about the storage of batteries but I have to argue again about fuel stabilizer. To me that is just a marketing joke. I have never used it and have never had a problem with boats, snowmobiles, lawnmowers, motorhomes, chainsaws, cars, trucks, you name it and lots of them sat for 2 or 3 years between being fired up. I always keep at least a half a tank of fuel in them when they sit. Only thing I did when I knew they would sit for quite along time would be to fog them. Just my experience so far.
never used stabilizer in my car and have never had a problem, but I admit this year I bought a bottle, fell for the marketing hype....its basically glorified octane boost from what I understand.
For the mice I used a contraption involving a 2X4 suspended over a 5 gallon pail, from the 2x4 I hung a string with a peanut butter ball on the end. The idea is that the mice are attracted to the sweet smell, try to climb down the string and fall in to the pail. They can't jump out and can't grab the string. No more mice! Empty pial once a month or as the pail fills. I used moth balls once in my 74 chev 1/2 ton factory custom sport truck (another project) and the mice made a circle around the balls by mere inches (by their markings left behind) and filled my heaters full.
As far as the batteries, cold is best but must be fully charged or it will freeze. My bike battery is too small and it comes in but the car is no problem. I do use a small batery tender every once in a while to maintain full charge.
For fuel, more in one place the better. Top the tank, stabilzer doesn't hurt, but I don't use it. Some say shut off the fuel (easier on a bike to do) run the car until it dies draining the carb, don't do it, it dries the seals. I park my bike in the fall prime it in the spring, fire it up warm it up and change oil and I'm good for another year. The fall oil change will only sit in the pan and will not break down over the winter months. No farmer changes the oil in their combine or swather every four months and they work fine.
never used stabilizer in my car and have never had a problem, but I admit this year I bought a bottle, fell for the marketing hype....its basically glorified octane boost from what I understand.
A friend of mine has a small engine repair business and he told me years ago that if everyone used fuel stabilizer his business would be hurting....especially in the spring. I park 5 vehicles every year ( started putting them away yesterday) and have used Stabil and Battery Tenders for each of them without issues. I remove the batteries and make sure the fuel tanks are topped off before the covers go on.
ZAPPER
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1949 Pro Street Meteor Coupe, 468 BBC, 4L80E, Narrowed 9" 3.50 posi
1966 Biscayne post, 427 L72, M21, 4.11's 16600 original miles
1966 Hemi Satellite 4 gear 59K original miles 1968 Z28 302MO, M21, 3.73's, cowl plenum induction
Did you know that the batteries these days use a compound in the plastic that does not allow grounding issues to concrete etc so you don't need to worry about stacking on wood etc
