Chris O'

A club member of ours is considering going o'seas and needs to know what to consider when putting her car away for around 4 years. :eek:

As a lot of you guys put your cars to bed over the winter, could you give us some tips?

Thanks

79er

Well I store mine for the winter and here is what I do.
1.Put fuel stabilizer in the fuel tank let car run for about 10 minutes.
2. Put old wheels and tires on car. ( don't care if they flat spot)
3. Wash, wax, and cover car with a good cover.

Now for storing a car for four years, I don't know but maybe drain the gas tank and other fluids in the car? I’m not sure on this, what do the rest of you think?

daniel77350

I think draining fluids would be worse then topping them off...if you drain them the rubber parts(hoses etc) are more suseptable to dry-rot...I would think...

I think if you topped all fluids off (and gass stabalizer in tank), it would be better then leaving them all empty...But possibly either way, when she gets home, she may be looking at rubber replacements..

Let someone more experianced chime in first
Daniel

79er

Question is it better to leave the fluids in and change them all out once you get the car back out of storage after a few years, or is it better to drain some and leave others in?

daniel77350

I don't know, Im just thinking about radiator and tranny cooler hoses...I think if their empty with air on both sides, they will die quicker, but with fluid in there, it will keep the rubber empregnated and possibly protect it better.

Ditto with the blatter in the gas tank(if you've got one)...what about looking into that weatherstripping protector(slows the weatherstrippings dryrott) to "massage" into the hoses...

Im just throwing out ideas. Pulling them out of my a-- and not giving them much thought :jester


Daniel


[Modified by daniel77350, 2:11 AM 1/9/2002]

ZD75blue

i would think you would want to drain the radiator, and add an all antifreeze so you cant get rust... make sure that your A/c Is connected or the hoses and gaskets will dry up if its left open... and also they make an oil for A/C systems... might want to look into it, dont remember the name right now tho...

I would think that a shot of marvel mystery oil into each cylinder, down the carb...

if you have rubber bushings, if you let it sit that long, think they will be shot when you start it up in four years... or at least have some memory... not sure what you can do about this tho...

One or two of those anti humidity things in the interior would help keep it together... and some greese for the Wheather stripping would probably keep it together for a while, so the interior doesnt dry out... adjust you windows an t-tops too....

I dont think todays tires flat spot so i dont think that would be much of a problem...

thats all i can think of... but when you get back, your going to have to replace all of the fluids... probably the gas too... replace your fuel lines, and rubber brake lines...

speaking of brakes, they are probably going to need some attention when you get your car back in a few years, so bleed them and cross your fingers the system doesnt rot out...

Sorry for any spelling or grammer errors... i think i have most of what you'll need to do, but any hoo

Hope this helps
ZD :seeya

Oh and take a few (10-20) pictures of your car,so you dont go through with drawls... outside of it from a bunch of angles, looking over the hood from inside the cabin, and whatever view you like of your car...

Chris O'

Thanks for the replies.

I just realised that her car is on full LP gas so draining the fuel tank is not a worry. I figured putting it on jack stands would stop any worry with tyres.

I will be suggesting that she get someone to kick it over every month or so if she can - preferrably me so I can drive it. :D