Winter...What would you do?
#21
6th Gear Member
The only concern I'd have with this is moisture accumulation under the tarp and car cover. Although moisture won't hurt a waxed finish, ANY moisture allowed to sit where it might eventually find it's way to bare metal should be avoided. However, I personally think the cover and tarp is a lesser evil then letting the car sit for 3 months exposed to the elements.
#22
I have more cars than garage space, so I store some of my toys outside in New England winters. There have been a lot of good suggestions: quality outdoor cover (do not use plastic unless you want to deal with mold in the spring), new oil, full gas tank, fresh wax, pull battery...etc. Do not run the car unless it is for at least a 30 minute drive. I have had years of storage with little issue, except....
Critters! If you are in an area where mice gets into garages or sheds, they will get into your car. I wish there was an easy answer to this, but the only one is indoor storage.
Good luck!
Critters! If you are in an area where mice gets into garages or sheds, they will get into your car. I wish there was an easy answer to this, but the only one is indoor storage.
Good luck!
#23
If you really care that much about the car you will pay the money to store it. Otherwise just park it outside. You can always get it buffed in the summer or repaint it in a few years. That will cost more $$ in the end tho.
#24
When I purchased my car new. I lived in an apartment complex so I purchased a carport. I did purchase a car cover but took it off. After winter I used my porter cable to wax it and it looked new every time. I now have a house and heated garage. I suggest carport and a good cleaning in march
#25
6th Gear Member
Drive your car down here to Florida and I'll store it for you. Our winter is about 1-2 months long and we might even have 3 or 4 nights that dip below freezing. I have 3 cars and a boat in both garages and room for at least 3 more vehicles if I rearrange things a bit. My wife and I will even take it out on occasion to make sure everything is working...
#26
I used to store my old Thunderbird every winter, from late November-ish to March or so, every year.
Standard procedure was to wash the car, change the oil, put Sta-Bil in the tank and fill it and run it enough to get the Sta-Bil all through the system.
Then, I had a patch of concrete to park it on so I would pull it on the concrete, put it up on jackstands, disconnect the battery, and put a car cover on it and a tarp over that, and then throw some mothballs around the car to hopefully keep mice away (I did have an issue with them getting into my heater box one year...ugh)
Worked pretty well for about 3 years, although at one point in my ownership I started to have problems with the clearcoat peeling, and after the last winter I stored it in this manner the clearcoat came off the roof in sheets (apparently water got under the cover, the roof was all wet when I took the cover off in spring).
Otherwise it worked very well.
Standard procedure was to wash the car, change the oil, put Sta-Bil in the tank and fill it and run it enough to get the Sta-Bil all through the system.
Then, I had a patch of concrete to park it on so I would pull it on the concrete, put it up on jackstands, disconnect the battery, and put a car cover on it and a tarp over that, and then throw some mothballs around the car to hopefully keep mice away (I did have an issue with them getting into my heater box one year...ugh)
Worked pretty well for about 3 years, although at one point in my ownership I started to have problems with the clearcoat peeling, and after the last winter I stored it in this manner the clearcoat came off the roof in sheets (apparently water got under the cover, the roof was all wet when I took the cover off in spring).
Otherwise it worked very well.
#27
I used to store my old Thunderbird every winter, from late November-ish to March or so, every year.
Standard procedure was to wash the car, change the oil, put Sta-Bil in the tank and fill it and run it enough to get the Sta-Bil all through the system.
Then, I had a patch of concrete to park it on so I would pull it on the concrete, put it up on jackstands, disconnect the battery, and put a car cover on it and a tarp over that, and then throw some mothballs around the car to hopefully keep mice away (I did have an issue with them getting into my heater box one year...ugh)
Worked pretty well for about 3 years, although at one point in my ownership I started to have problems with the clearcoat peeling, and after the last winter I stored it in this manner the clearcoat came off the roof in sheets (apparently water got under the cover, the roof was all wet when I took the cover off in spring).
Otherwise it worked very well.
Standard procedure was to wash the car, change the oil, put Sta-Bil in the tank and fill it and run it enough to get the Sta-Bil all through the system.
Then, I had a patch of concrete to park it on so I would pull it on the concrete, put it up on jackstands, disconnect the battery, and put a car cover on it and a tarp over that, and then throw some mothballs around the car to hopefully keep mice away (I did have an issue with them getting into my heater box one year...ugh)
Worked pretty well for about 3 years, although at one point in my ownership I started to have problems with the clearcoat peeling, and after the last winter I stored it in this manner the clearcoat came off the roof in sheets (apparently water got under the cover, the roof was all wet when I took the cover off in spring).
Otherwise it worked very well.
#29
#30
The advice about moth ***** is right on. They do seem to keep the mice away, although I have had good luck with dryer sheets as well. I store mine in my barn. I put moth ***** under the car, but there is always a barn cat (I am the first barn out of town so I always have someone dropping off a cat) there and I am sure that is more of a deciding factor than the moth *****. Truly as many moth ***** as you can stand, those damn mice will get into everything. I actually had them plug an air filter on a Chevy truck that was in my driveway one time. It started hard, and when I took the metal top off the air filter I found that mice had filled it all around the air filter with nesting material.