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A little good news story for everyone. Back in 2020 I got stationed in Japan and had to put the C3 in storage and leave her in the states. I put her in an enclosed storage unit where I was living in Jacksonville, Fl. Before leaving I tried to run the tank down as much as I could which I only put non-ethanol fuel in. Parked the car on a big tarp over the concrete floor, left the windows partially down and covered the car with a car cover, and removed the battery. Had a buddy put a new DAMP-RID bag in the unit every few months and that was that. Fast forward 2 and half years and the Navy has no decided to station me in San Diego. First I had to go get the car from jax! When I got to the storage unit I just uncovered the car, put a new battery in her, and only a few seconds of turning over she started right up! I immediately put the car on the car carrier behind the uhaul and strapped it down, didn't want to risk anything going to hell before getting on the trailer.
After making the entire cross country to San Diego, I pulled the vette off the trailer and noticed fluid leaking from under the car. Upon investigation I found a split in the upper radiator hose. Seems the thermostat froze while in storage and the pressure buildup caused the hose to split. So I replaced the thermostat, housing and upper radiator. Since then, no issues! Weather was finally nice today and took the car to the base with the T-tops off and it drove great!
I did notice one issue, when I turned on the heater, a continuous sound of vacuum was coming from the center console by the control unit. I think there is an actuator or something that is stiff from siting? No matter what setting I set on the control unit I can hear different variations in the vacuum sound.
One other problem i'm encountering here in San Diego is that there are no non-ethanol fuel options, even by the marinas! Looks like it doesn't exist here in California. I've always only put non-ethanol fuel in the car. Since the compression ratio is only 9:1 does it make any sense to put premium in the vette or just stick with the regular since they will all have partial ethanol? I don't see any other options.
Mostly good news Bro'
Pretty hard to find corn-free gas here in CA. Download the "Pure Gas" app on your phone and it will show you any stations around your area that sell non-ethanol gas. I'm over in Palm Springs but the nearest corn-free is 20 miles away in Indio. A 40 mile round trip kinda defeats the purpose for me, but you might be luckier.
Cheers, Greg
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
Having non-ethanol gas is the best option, you got lucky in Jacksonville for sure. Do a search as suggested by Gregg, but if you dont find Ethanol free gas you will have to keep an eye on your rubber sections of fuel line and your carb. The accelerator pumps may leak and any older gaskets could leak. Its not a big deal other than the crud may possibly gum up the carb but nothing a quick rebuild wouldn't solve and the rubber bits are mostly easy to access at the tank, fuel pump and the carb if you have anythere. Just get new hose as most everything they sell now is ethanol compatible
As for your compression ratio if its not the crappy oxygenated stuff they sell in Utah you can go with an 87 and be fine. With that low of a compression ratio and iron heads you should be okay. You would be able to hear detonation under hard acceleration if it happens so just bump up the octane grade at that point. Have fun in the sun....Northeast is kind of crappy right now, be glad your not a Sub driver stationed in Connecticut....
After reading about the effects of ethanol on these old rigs I’m gonna use non ethanol fuel on all my classics, unless they have had every rubber bit replaced in the system. I also wouldn’t run it in a original Quadrajet. The ethanol eats them up, even if rebuilt.
Californians: You guys can get a 50 gallon drum or smaller, put a valve on the bottom of it. Then fill it up most the way with ethanol fuel. Ad water, let it sit overnight. The water and ethanol will combine and go to the bottom of the barrel. Drain it out the bottom till fuel comes out, and you got non ethanol fuel. “theoretically”
One of the last things I did when I stored my 69 BB in a warehouse was to loosen the fuel bowls and drain gasoline from the carb. The gas tank was full. Three + years when I returned, with new battery in hand, to drive the car back home. It blew white smoke after first starting for a brief while and then the exhaust became clean. So happy everything was OK. As I was driving home, I noticed my full tank of gas was going down quickly. I only had about 8 (?) miles to drive and as the fuel gage approached empty, I pulled into a gas station for more gas and check things out. The engine compartment was awash with gasoline! I forgot to retighten the fuel bowls. Gasoline was literally running over the cast iron exhaust manifolds! Sadly this show room fresh immaculate 69 BB coupe was stolen later. I stored it in a Public Storage unit and I think the manager took it.
A little good news story for everyone. Back in 2020 I got stationed in Japan and had to put the C3 in storage and leave her in the states. I put her in an enclosed storage unit where I was living in Jacksonville, Fl. Before leaving I tried to run the tank down as much as I could which I only put non-ethanol fuel in. Parked the car on a big tarp over the concrete floor, left the windows partially down and covered the car with a car cover, and removed the battery. Had a buddy put a new DAMP-RID bag in the unit every few months and that was that. Fast forward 2 and half years and the Navy has no decided to station me in San Diego. First I had to go get the car from jax! When I got to the storage unit I just uncovered the car, put a new battery in her, and only a few seconds of turning over she started right up! I immediately put the car on the car carrier behind the uhaul and strapped it down, didn't want to risk anything going to hell before getting on the trailer.
After making the entire cross country to San Diego, I pulled the vette off the trailer and noticed fluid leaking from under the car. Upon investigation I found a split in the upper radiator hose. Seems the thermostat froze while in storage and the pressure buildup caused the hose to split. So I replaced the thermostat, housing and upper radiator. Since then, no issues! Weather was finally nice today and took the car to the base with the T-tops off and it drove great!
I did notice one issue, when I turned on the heater, a continuous sound of vacuum was coming from the center console by the control unit. I think there is an actuator or something that is stiff from siting? No matter what setting I set on the control unit I can hear different variations in the vacuum sound.
One other problem i'm encountering here in San Diego is that there are no non-ethanol fuel options, even by the marinas! Looks like it doesn't exist here in California. I've always only put non-ethanol fuel in the car. Since the compression ratio is only 9:1 does it make any sense to put premium in the vette or just stick with the regular since they will all have partial ethanol? I don't see any other options.
if you drive her often regular to 89 octane is all you need . Been using it for over 35 years never a problem with corrosion because the gas is always moving . The problem with alot of owners is they hardly ever drive their car so yes the ethanol will start to eat the rubber. A car in motion stays in motion
It seems a bit odd but here in central MN (millions of acres of corn) we have many gas stations that have non-corn 91 octane. I run it in all my hot rods. My 20 Silverado with a 6.2 it needs 91 octane. I run the corn enhanced 91 octane.
Successful Storage
