Almost time for winter storage!

[Jim D.]

Re: Almost time for winter storage!

Don't store your car!! Buy a house here and drive it year round. Here in Orlando I just pulled my 427/435 out and drove it for the first time in months. We finally had the perfect evening for a car show with no rain!!!!.PS: If buying a house here is out of the question for any reason, simply ship your car to me for the winter and I'll keep it roadworthy.

"The first time in months"? It sounds like you store yours like everyone else. Most store them in the winter, you store yours in the summer when it's too hot and humid. No offense but I wouldn't live in Florida on a bet.

[D S.]

Re: Almost time for winter storage!

I don't completely shut the doors or hood because it compresses the seals. After treating the seals with a suitable lubricant I close the doors to the first click.
Moth balls under and around the car deter the rodents from getting under or near the car.

Scott Sims
Texas Chapter

[Stuart F.]

Re: Almost time for winter storage!

There is no doubt I get a lot more use from my Vette here in Florida then I did in Illinois. At my age, what with failing health, vision and bladder, I only go out on Sunday mornings when there are a lot less crazies on the roads. I doubt if I missed any Sunday morning rides all summer. The thing about living here in the summers is that you plan all of your activities in the morning as by noon the clouds will have started to build from the sea breezes, and the rain usually follows by 2 or 3pm on until work break time in the evening. The rain evaporates quickly and many of the nights are dry and comfortable there after. There are cruisins and car shows all year long some where. Even for an old guy like me there's a lot more fun.

Actually, we don't want anyone else to move here, even on a bet. Just come down and visit and spend your money. We never criticize the people that pay our state taxes.

Stu Fox

[John H.]

Re: Almost time for winter storage!

You guys all forgot the mouse traps/poison under the car, in the engine compartment and interior. Oh, that's right, nobody has mice in their garage or barn... not until they do several thousand dollars damage chewing up wiring, rubber, seats, etc.

Duke

Duke -

There must be something in solvent-based epoxy floor coating that mice don't like - I haven't seen a mouse or any trace of a mouse in the 14 years since I had the floor done.

Years ago when David E. Davis was one of our Ferrari Club of America Motor City Chapter members, he stored his 308GTS/QV in the garage at his summer home up north in Charlevoix one winter, and when he opened up the garage that spring, the mice had gotten to the interior of the Ferrari, and feasted on the Connolly leather and wiring - cost $11,000.00 to put it right.

[Ron G.]

Re: Almost time for winter storage!

In addition to all the positive aformentioned comments and opinions, one may want to consider using what I have been using in my Corvettes, Suburban, and some misc. muscle cars that I have owned, is putting a gas additive called Startron in thefuel tank. It is a marine application and I purchase at a Napa store here in CT. Put in the required amount and either drive it for a few miles or let it run for approx. 10 minutes or so to get thru the entire fuel system. What I like about it is that it doesn'e gum up like other products that are similar.

[Michael W.]

Re: Almost time for winter storage!

Never used any additives in the gas. Never had a problem.

[Keith B.]

Re: Almost time for winter storage!

You guys all forgot the mouse traps/poison under the car, in the engine compartment and interior. Oh, that's right, nobody has mice in their garage or barn... not until they do several thousand dollars damage chewing up wiring, rubber, seats, etc.

Duke

I have a out side cat just for this.

[John L.]

Re: Almost time for winter storage!

Certainly many factors come into play on your physical storage space conditions, heated/unheated etc. but I have had very good experience with the car storage "bags". Unfortunately I have an unheated garage and would fight the condensation problem and rodents creaping in for the winter. At the end of the fall season, I clean the car up nicely, complete all the storage checklist items then roll it in the bag, jack the car up on stands just enough to take pressure off of the tires, cover the car with the car cover and zip it in for the winter. Also put in a couple containers of the water absorbing crystals to help with moisture - amazing no surface rust at all on things like brake surfaces or chrome - as clean as when I put it away. Really nice that first time I am ready to take in out in the spring.
John

[Duke W.]

Re: Almost time for winter storage!

jack the car up on stands just enough to take pressure off of the tires, John

It's a lot cheaper/easier to replace tires than suspension bushings. And some guys think they need to replace tires every few years even if they are barely worn.

Some tires, particularly if they have nylon, can temporarily develop flat spots, but they go round again after warming up from driving. Letting a tire go flat or very low on pressure can also cause damage, which is why tires should be inflated to the maximum cold pressure placarded on the sidewall and checked every month or two during storage in case on has a slow leak.

A tire with a good seal should leak no more that about one psi per month, and something else to consider is that tire pressure varies about one psi per ten degrees temperature change.

Duke

[Duke W.]

Re: Almost time for winter storage!

Duke -

There must be something in solvent-based epoxy floor coating that mice don't like - I haven't seen a mouse or any trace of a mouse in the 14 years since I had the floor done.

Years ago when David E. Davis was one of our Ferrari Club of America Motor City Chapter members, he stored his 308GTS/QV in the garage at his summer home up north in Charlevoix one winter, and when he opened up the garage that spring, the mice had gotten to the interior of the Ferrari, and feasted on the Connolly leather and wiring - cost $11,000.00 to put it right.

I'm sure your relatively new custom garage has good seals on all the doors and windows. That's the first line of defense. Mice are more of a problem in rural areas and old buildings that have a lot of small openings that mice can get into, but they're also lurking in urban areas and can get through very small openings or gaps.

A few years ago I was storing a car in a small industrial park building in Orange County that a buddy rented to store a bunch of his cars. He laughed as I carefully set mouse traps inside each tire and "mouse bars" in the interior, engine compartment, and trunk, saying "there's lots of cats around here."

Six months later when I came back to swap cars, guess what I found... yep, a mouse in one of the traps.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound... no, in this case, a TON of cure!

Guys fret about "engine damage" during winter storage, but you and I know that with proper storage prep and a proper storage environment, this is virtually unheard of, but by far the greatest chance of damage and the most damage that stored cars suffer from is rodents.

Duke

[Kenneth B.]

Re: Almost time for winter storage!

Oh Ken... Shut up . Maybe this is the year for the Irish.. Dang it that probably jinked it.Mike

I sure hope so. My brother a ND graduate usually gets tickets for some of the games. I Got tickets for the AZ. ND game last year. DAMN expensive though. Think they were 125.00. I drive my 67 here year round. The 427 with the air on runs 190 when the temp.is 105 degrees but we do have pack rats that will eat your wiring.

[Paul J.]

Re: Almost time for winter storage!

Duke -

There must be something in solvent-based epoxy floor coating that mice don't like - I haven't seen a mouse or any trace of a mouse in the 14 years since I had the floor done.

Years ago when David E. Davis was one of our Ferrari Club of America Motor City Chapter members, he stored his 308GTS/QV in the garage at his summer home up north in Charlevoix one winter, and when he opened up the garage that spring, the mice had gotten to the interior of the Ferrari, and feasted on the Connolly leather and wiring - cost $11,000.00 to put it right.

It could be something else too, like solvent vapor from a can weeping past the seal. I have a garage attached to one side of the house and when the Vette was stored in there a mouse got into it and chewed up some of the firewall (dash) insulation. It left the wires alone. There was plenty to eat in there, various seeds and dog food. But since I built the shop (attached to the other side of the house), I have not seen a mouse in the shop or any sign of one, even though I've had many in the house. Maybe my shield gas cylinders are leaking (argon is heavy and would be near the floor), but there are two to three cars stored in there at any given time and no mice for some reason.

[Don I.]

Re: Almost time for winter storage!

I remember one winter when I had my 1937 Ford sedan in storage in my barn I went out to check it one day. I opened up one of the doors, looked around and for some reason I looked up at the headliner and saw tiny little feet impressions going from one end to the other inside the headliner. What the &*^% is that??? I got the little guy! Now mind you, this car had it's ORIGINAL interior which is very rare these days.

[Terry M.]

Re: Almost time for winter storage!

It could be something else too, like solvent vapor from a can weeping past the seal. I have a garage attached to one side of the house and when the Vette was stored in there a mouse got into it and chewed up some of the firewall (dash) insulation. It left the wires alone. There was plenty to eat in there, various seeds and dog food. But since I built the shop (attached to the other side of the house), I have not seen a mouse in the shop or any sign of one, even though I've had many in the house. Maybe my shield gas cylinders are leaking (argon is heavy and would be near the floor), but there are two to three cars stored in there at any given time and no mice for some reason.

Paul,

Seeds and dog food are a banquet for mice. Perhaps you don't store those in your shop.

[Kenneth B.]

Re: Almost time for winter storage!

Paul,Seeds and dog food are a banquet for mice. Perhaps you don't store those in your shop.

Unless you want to make a fur jacket out of mice & rat hides. Most of the time mice are chewing material to make nests for more little ones NOT as food.