i put my car away for the winter at the start of last week,i washed and polished it befor i put her to bed,is there anything more i need to do or will she be ok til mid april??ps handbrakes off and windows are 1/4 inch down

 

my mate leaves his doors open on the first click so the rubbers dont crack, also are the wheels off the floor?

 

not yet,need to get some axle stands soon also the garage isnt heated,shall i try to get a cover??

 

covers are ok as long as the garage isnt damp at all, otherwise they tend to make the car sweat and you can get condensation underneth them if stored for a long time., cotton sheets are better cus the car can breathe through them
other than that thats pretty much all you can do. if being stored for years then there are other things you have to worry about.
hope this helps, cheers mark.

 

cheers mark,just one more Q,when its finally time to bring her out again is there anything to check especially.eg perished rubbers,fuel lines etc from not being in a heated garage

 

i wouldent have thought so as its only gonna be for 6 months, just check all the levels and crank the engine over a few times to bring the oil pressure up before actually starting it. oh also might wanna put some new fresh petrol in it when you come to start it to cus that will help.
cheers mark.

 

 

This may be a silly question!

What does this do?

Cheers

Colin

 

well if its sittin on the wheels for a long time the tyres are taking the weight of the car on one point, they can crack and perish or even go flat if left on its wheels for years. plus it takes a lot of the stress off the suspension.

 

So you just put it on axle stands without the wheels on over winter.

Guess what I'll be doing tonight!!

Thanks for that,Mark

Cheers Colin

 

no probs

 

Putting the car on axle stands is a complete waste of time in my opinion. I've been storing my XR2 every winter for 10 years now. I fit a set of old steel rims with old tyres and pump them up to about 40 psi.

The suspension is not under any unusual stress in this state. Put it on axle stands though and the dampers will sit on maximum stretch fo a long time.Definately not a natural suspension position.

Theres also a small matter of mobility, OK a thief might not move a car on axle stands easily, but neither can you. What would happen in the horrendous case of a fire etc where you could move the car to safey on wheels,but just watch it cook on stands.

Cheers Stuart

 

never thought about the fire situation ,ill land it on some o/e ford steels from a saph from the scrapper

 

yes mate but you have just said that you change the wheels over so for us that do not have the option of changing our wheels every winter , put them on axle stands so that is takes the pressure off of the tyres

id rather have the car in the air with no weight on the suspension than having all the weight of the car sitting on all the suspension components

you say what would happen in the case of fire, ask yourself this, what would happen if the garage flooded, would you be happy to know your car is sitting in 2 foot of water or would you be even happier still in knowing its out of harms way on stands. plus you have just admited its better protection for your car if some toe rag of a thief does break in.

cheers mark.

 

now im worried about fire and thiefs , i've got a council garage but only the mrs knows where it is,and i made sure nobody was about when i parked/hibernated her,so i suppose it would be down to bad luck if they popped my garage instead of one of the other 20,will prob leave on steel wheels,just so i can wheel her out to clean once every 6 weeks,roll on the first nice week in april ,boring now as im driving a escort 1.6 on a k-plate(ghia) ,but at least its got leccy windows the heaters are shit-hot and i get 80-90 miles to a tenner instead of 30-35 in the saph never mind only just over 100days to go till she un-hibernates

 

good point there ..

i would put it on axle stands but support the suspension with blocks of wood in the half way position..

 

[img]

Try getting a two storey garage if at all possible floods suck and it was on wheels but the water only took an hour and half to rise. Before i knew it i was waist high in Portsmouths finest .[/img]

 

shit bad luck m8!

 

Absolutely correct. If the cars on stands the suspension drop sand will squeak like a bastard when it's under load. As far as the garage not being heated no big deal, you have a few options. Dehumidifiers in my opinion are a waste of time, you'll be down there every 6 hours emptying the damn thing. Best option is a CarCoon if the budget stretches. About Ł400 but it's a big inflatable bubble that the car goes into. Has two fans, self inflates and keeps the car dry. Failing that buy a breathable indoor car cover. That will keep the car clean, allow the car to breathe. Correct in leaving the windows open and the doors as suggested on 1st click is not a bad idea. Get a shit set of steelies for the winter so the road tyres don't flat spot. On a dry day where the air isn't damp go down the garage and open the doors, get some fresh air in there to keep the car dry. lso don't block the eves of the garage up, you want the air circulating.

Been storing my S1 over the winter for 10 years mate and that's what i do.

 

use auto glym extra gloss protection. mint stuff