I bought my first corvette this year. It is a 1990 coupe automatic. Living in Wisconsin I will have to store for a few months. Would like to know what I should do to protect it. Thanks

 

Keep it on nice warm garage.. Good wash and vax.. Change fresh new oil to engine and run engine to operating temperature atleast every month or every two week.. dont forget use A/C it will work ok that way. I use "thing that gets water out of air" inside car too.. it is a plastic thing that has some stuff inside.. that sturr gets water out of air.. and then you can easyly empty water out of that plastic thing.. They use those ofter on boats.. It is hard to tell.. when you dont know what it is on english.. :seeya

 

I wash wax change oil check or change antifreeze cover and park it in the garage

 

Welcome :cheers:

I'm in Wisconsin also..........

What the other's said, and I have a "Noah" COVER for the car........also I have a heavy canvas "Tarp" on the floor to keep the "moisture" from the cement from reaching or sitting under the car

 

Buy a timer and set it to its lowest daily interval (usually 15 min) and connect your battery charger to it so you keep your battery up while it is sitting. Lead acid batteries have their plates sulfate when they sit for long periods of time not active.

 

thanks guys,
do you have to do anything with the tires to prevent flat spots or no?
do I have to start the car every so often?

thanks again

 

Put it in the air on jack stands.

 

I store one at home and the other in a storage shed both are covered .At home i use a battery tender.WalMart in battery section also buy a set of aligator clamps and insall on wire ends .Doing this you wont have to disconnect your battery.The other one i disconnect the battery Being sure its fully charged and in good shape.I then slice a bar of irish spring soap and place it inside the car on small pices of wax paper and under the hood.then place moth ball on the ground under car.(MICE HATE THE SOAP AND THE MOTH *****)SAUKVILLE is a rual area so if you keep it home just use the soap that way your garage wont stink.This works i do it every year.I live in GRAFTON.

 

Well, I put car on blocks and remove wheels. This allows better access to the car for winter projects, takes the weight off the suspension and allows me to clean the wheels real well. I change the oil and run the car about 20 miles before putting away. I don't run during winter at all. The day after (so it has cooled), I remove the plugs and use Mercury Storage Seal with a long plastic wand to spray in each cylinder. I then rotate the motor by hand to coat the cylinder walls. Then I install the dessicant spark plug replacements to keep moisture out of the cylinders. I cover the exhaust with plastic and put a dessicant bag inside each tail pipe.

I also bought a carbag. If I am not going to work on the car over the winter, I use the carbag for storage. This will actually prevent the rotors from rusting and works great.

Dessicant bags in the passenger compartment. And lots and lots of mouse traps. One mouse can wreak havoc on a car's wiring system. This is probably one of the most important things, you have to take precautions against mice.

 

Thanks Vettenuts!

good tips! I'm putting mousetraps,and mothballs EVERYWHERE this winter. I heard it works well.

 

Just do like i do, drive it all winter!!! :lol: J/K Keep it in a garage with fresh fluids.

 

My Dad stores his 95 in the winter every year and he just disconnects the battery. The only problem he has had is the AC unit lost it's preassure. Hope this helps.

 

Bascially I do the following.

1)Fill the tank full of gas.

2)Start the car every 2 weeks and let it run at 2K RPM for about 30 minutes. This allows the engine oil and exhaust to warm enough to burn off any moisture. Plus it helps lubricate the seals. Next spring the hot topic on the forum will be everyone complaining about some type of leak after their car sat all winter. I don't have that problem.

3) Tires sitting over winter don't flat spot. That is what happens when you slam on the brakes and lock them. What happens is the belts in the tires will flatten, but they will round out after about 10 miles of driving come spring time. To help eliminate this you can inflate the tires to their maximum pressure as noted on the side wall. Just remember to let some air out before driving. One thing you can do is move the car a few inches forward or back when you start the engine.

4) Change the engine oil. I think coolant change is a little excessive IMHO.

5) I've been told by numerous car guru's not to put the car on jack stands or blocks. The suspension was designed to support the car and removing the weight causes problems. What, I don't know, but I have for 12 years now just let my cars sit on the tires, outside, under a car cover.

6) As mention, mouse traps, mouse posion, moth *****, I also heard the Irish Spring soap cut in strips works. I plan on trying that this year myself.

7) While the car is sitting I usually disconnect the battery. Need to get a quick disconnect for this year.

8) Wash and wax the car, keep it covered. Cover the exhaust with the cover to keep critters out.

 

Living in PA has it's disadvantages and winter is one of them.

Most of the ideas above are excelent.

The one item I do not see is a gas additive. The gas bought today does not hold up and will break down in the three months of storage. It is better to add a good gas stabalizer when you fill up and run 20+ miles so the additive is in the fuel system.

The car may run rough for the first tank in the summer but it will not harm injectors etc. and you will not have BAD gas.

Winter sucs. :cheers:

 

How do you run the car at 2k RPM's w/out driving it?

Are there any other ways to prevent oil leaks?

Will disconnecting the battery do anything strange to my Clifford alarm system?

Thanks

 

Move it to Texas and I'll drive it all winter for you :lol: :lol:

 

thanks guys for all the great info.

 

thanks waywrong. Are you in a local vette club? If so, where? Info?

 

There are a couple of ways to run it at 2k, you could sit in it and hold you foot on the pedal for 30 minutes. Gets boring after awhile. Usually I just stick a rubber washer in between the throttle cable in the engine. The washer I use is think enough to keep the car running around 2k. What you are really looking to do is get the car up to operating temperature (about 200 degrees F for oil) Also make sure the hood is up when you do this to help dissappate heat since you are not moving. Another thing I've done is stick a board between the gas pedal and seat.

Another note too, make sure to run the A/C to keep that lubricated too.

 

Two more comments:

1. I have a LoJack in my car and you cannot disconnect it from the battery for more then 7 days. I have a battery maintenance unit that only charges when the voltage drops below a certain level. Made by Schumacher.

2. On the subject of gas stabilizer. I have been afraid to use this only because of the problems with chemicals and the injector coils. Some chemicals (cleaners) will remove the insulation and short the injector. However, having stated that, I also had problems with fuel lines last year (long story). While I was sorting that out, I spoke to tech reps at Aeroquip, Earls and others. They all said the same thing. Static fuel will eat your rubber fuels lines over time so they recommend draining the entire system and leaving the tank and the fuel lines empty. Well, to me this is a huge effort and a pain in the rear. I still don't plan on starting my car, but I am going to run the fuel pump to move the fuel around the system over the winter.