Putting my 91 Coupe into storage tomorrow. It has been waxed, topped off, Stay-bilted, etc. Got a bucket of moisture absorbent, rodent poison, and the car cover. Taking my jack and 4 jack stands. Great way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday in cold weather country. One of many reasons I dislike Michigan more each year.

 

I live in So. Cal. Tee shirt weather still. 350 days a year of corvette driving. I could not feed my corvette addiction living in cold weather like some of you. Suppose to be 75 degrees tomorrow. Going for a M/C ride.

 

Rub it in, Mike, rub it in! 17 degrees and snow here. The Vette sleeps while the driver dreams of warmer climate!

 

Took the top off of mine today. Cruisin' baby!

 

Get a Ctek 3300 charger and put some bounce softener sheets in interior and engine compartment. Also once the car is off and the exhaust pipes have cooled, put socks on the exhaust pipes to keep rodents out. Extra air in tires, carpet under tires (or in your case if you want to jack it up)

 

I put mine away a month ago, and have been jonesing for it every day. Until today, that is - had to scrape snow off the driveway - ugh! Fortunately, the older I get, the faster time goes by, so hopefully winter will be over in a hurry.

I also put a little steel wool in the exhaust tips when I store it. And I leave a note in the car to remind me to take that out, as well as to let the extra air out of the tires. I have a good memory, it's just short.

 

I can empathize with you, mine went into winter storage a couple of weeks ago. I've been jonesing for it ever since. It just got really cold here last week. By February and March I will be going completely nuts.

 

Mine's is the garage next to my wife's 07. Cleaned up and under their covers but if it's a nice day I'll start them up and run them around the neighborhood. It just seems like the first vette show of the season was just here and we were going to the Jersey shore for a few more. The summer just flew by.

 

Here's what I’d recommend. A couple of things about my Vette and the environment I store it in before I move on however (environment determines a lot about what you need to do). I have a MY08 C6 Coupe with the OEM Goodyear EMT Supercar tires. It is parked in an attached garage and the garage is opened an average of 4 days per week during the winter. It is parked for approximately 5-6 months per year.

1- Fuel… Put in a full tank of gas. According to GM techs "in the know", filling up with a tank of "winter gas" is all you need if you plan on storing the vehicle for 6 months or less. If you plan on storing longer than 6 months, add a fuel stabilizer.

2 - Battery... Remove it from the vehicle (remember to read your manual to learn how to re-teach your windows if you know what I mean). I use an "automatic trickle charger" from Napa (about $29.00). It has charge, trickle and pulse modes that are automatic for battery maintenance, keeping the battery fully charged and the internal plates clean from build-up. It is far better than a constant-current charger. If you put the battery on your floor, put something between your battery and the floor so that the battery doesn't degrade (studies have shown that storing a lead-acid battery on a cold cement floor degrades the battery severely whether it is being charged or not – worse if it’s not being charged). Cold cement is your enemy…

3 - Car cover... I use a "Car Bag". See the web at carbag dot com. It's a polyethylene bag that does not breathe. It comes with 5lbs of desiccant that you put in the bag (individual 0.5 lb bags that you put in and under the vehicle), then seal the bag and your car is 100% protected from the environment, including humidity build-up from changing car, floor, and air temps. Friends of mine swear by it. This will be my first use so I can not say good/bad about it personally. My friends swear by it however.

P.S. If you do use a carbag, then for SURE make sure you remove the battery if you plan on charging it. Out-gassing from a charging battery is acidic and condenses on the surfaces of the car. You don't want this trapped in the carbag!!! It has nowhere to go except on the surfaces of the car!!! Take the battery out of your car if you plan on charging the battery and the car is in a carbag!

4 – Tires… Two options here. 1 – Jack the car, block it, and remove the tires or 2 – over inflate the tires by 10lbs and leave it parked on the floor (assuming you don’t have leaky tires/rims). If you plan on storing for more than 6 months, go with option 1. If you plan on storing for 6 months or less, go with option 2.

5 – Paint… Wash and wax (and detail) with a good carnauba wax and leather treatment a week or so before you store the car. If you’re using a carbag, allow the car to fully dry at least two days before you put it in the bag.

6 – Engine oil… Here’s my take… Others may have a different opinion. If you’re oil is about out of time before you park the car, get it changed. If your oil is not out of time, leave it until you pull the car out of storage and then change it immediately. Some say to change the oil before you park the car due to contaminants in the oil. I personally don’t do that if I have time left on my oil. Remember, the oil will be cold and chemical reactions are greatly reduced at cold temperatures.

 

I stored my car for winter last weekend. Not being able to drive sucks. On the other hand, winter storage keeps our cars looking better and with lower miles than ones driven year round.