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Getting about that time that the weathers changing in the Midwest and a few of us have to put our cars away.
Those who store your cars for the winter, what is it that you do to it?
On my 1972 Cutlass all I do is put some fresh gas in it with some kind of fuel stabilizer and run it for a few miles, park it and pull the battery and cover it until spring. She fires up every spring with no probs.
What should I do to the Z06? Same or start the car every couple weeks?
Yea an I don't wanna hear how you can drive yours all year around.. that's just depressing to me
I just filled up the tank with gas after adding a bottle of Techron. Parked it in the garage and threw the cover on it. No trickle charger on mine, but I usually started it once per week and let her warm up. Never had any issues.
Once the road salt goes down, the Vette goes to sleep.
I fill the tank, add fuel stabilizer, park it on my driveway behind my house, put on a soft cover, then put on a heavier weatherproof cover. I also use a trickle charger. I start it to warm it up every week or two - let it run long enough to get up to temperature. When it is warm, I also move it a couple feet to try and not flat spot the tires.
This year I probably will do the same cover routine, but I might put it on jack stands and pull the battery for the winter - for the deep sleep.
Put in a bottle of Sta-bil at half full, fill, clean the car throughout, then back her up onto some low ramps to make my spring oil change easier. Thats it usually except for the battery tender.
This year my winter vehicle ('10 Grand Caravan) battery kicked it, so instead of putting the Z on a tender, I'm using its battery thru the winter in the van.
I drive mine off and on during the winter. It generally doesn't sit longer than 2 weeks. I would top off the gas and use stabil and a trickle charger if storing for any serious length of time. Also would put a cover on it so dust doesn't accumulate.
Park it (always garaged), cover (alway), 3/4 or more gas, and when the roads are clear, I'll take it out for a drive. Winters here are fickle. We get a ton of snow that will be cleared off the roads with in a day or so. I'll plan morning drives, or trips off the hill early in the mornings (Why?). Because the sand is frozen in to the wet run-off, not worried about salt, here in Calif, they dump a road slim mix they call Sea Brine (heavy salt solution with some kind of veg oil mix). I'll stop for a coffee, and rinse off the car out of the freezer zone, and wash it in the garage when I get home. This has been the routine for the last 16 years. Yea sometimes it sits for 2 to 3 weeks, never much more.
Change oil/filter, Add stabil, bottle of Techron, fill tank, wash it, hook up battery tender and car cover. My garage is insulated and attached to house so doesn't get much below 40 in winter. I will take it out for a drive if the winter is mild and roads are clear and temps get over 40 or so. I typically do a this every year over thanksgiving weekend. After that Deer season starts here in PA, then the xmas holiday craziness, then the snow bitter cold starts. Ughh, I get depressed just thinking about the winter, lol...
Four things I do that haven't been mentioned yet.
1) park on carpet squares to get tires off cement
2) add a few extra pounds of air to the tires (tires will lose some pressure over time and when temps decrease)
3) put transmission in neutral after chocking the wheels. This takes the pressure off the centering spring in the manual transmission.
4) release the parking brake after chocking the wheels.
Once the car is tucked away, it doesn't get started until ready to be driven in the spring.
Here are other tips that I believe are worth doing:
- Scented soap or mouse deterrent in front of and behind each wheel to help prevent winter mice from getting into your engine bay and chewing up wires etc.
- Without starting the car, roll it in neutral (push the car by hand, very easy to do on a flat surface) to a slightly different position- this helps eliminate flat spots on the tires.
- Techron in gas tank to help clean out carbon/long soak.
Last edited by ArmchairArchitect; 10-25-2017 at 01:46 PM.
I don't move mine if it's stored but I will add I put carpet squares under ea tire, more to keep that spot on the tires off the concrete and from drying out. NT05's are a fairly sticky tire. I think the problem of flat spotting was more of a problem with the old bias ply type tires.
CTek battery charger plugged in. That's it, all the winter prep anyone needs to do.
Your fuel will hold up fine, change oil in the spring, the tires don't flat spot, and none of your seals are going to dry out (so no need to even fire it up).
Last edited by Quickshift_C5; 10-25-2017 at 04:09 PM.
All great tips! And yes it does suck to put the toys away for the winter but that just means I get to pull the other toys out for the winter!
A few of my boating friends use "Star Tron" they say it's best stuff out there... breaks down the water when stored, and keeps gasoline from Varnishing up the fuel system... also can stabilizes fuel for up to 2 years!? Might be a real good thing expecially for my Cutlass since it carbureted and it's a garage queen and never gets driven.
I have two fall/winter storage modes.
1. Sleep mode: clean, cover and battery tender: Still available for the occasional nice day in November.
2. Full Hibernation (Mid-December): complete wash/wax, interior detail, cover, Add Sta-Bil and fill tank, peppermint oil inside car and under hood (keeps mice away and smells nice), jack stands and battery tender. The jack stands allow me to further clean and detail the hard to see and reach areas of the car throughout the winter, like the lower rocker panels, wheels, wheel wells, etc.
Last edited by Principal Lewis; 11-03-2017 at 11:36 AM.
10-22-2017, 04:34 PM
Winter storage, what do you do?
