I only have a one car garage. I'll be storing my 29' Model A over the winter. Garage is not insulated and has no heat. What are some tips for keeping her warm all winter? Will throwing heavy blankets over the engine help? What will be the best in my situation?
Nothing (blankets etc) will keep it any warmer than the environment except an external source of heat. Drain all of the coolant and put the battery in your house 'til it warms up.
50/50 high quality antifreeze, Unless you are one of those fools who thinks it is against the rules to use antifreeze in a hot rod. A drained and empty cooling system is going to corrode on the inside just as any engine block or radiatior corrodes on the inside when it sits dry for a while after it has been run. disconnect the battery remove it and take it home and stick it in the garage or somewhere that won't freeze. Stick a charger on it once in a while. If it were me I'd raise it and put it on stands just high enough off the shop floor to get the tires off the floor. Reason being, that some tires and especially bias tires tend to flat spot if they sit for a long time. Then if you don't have a car cover go get a cheap car cover to cover it with. car cover is to keep dust and dirt off and you want one that breathes. I don't know if Walmart carries them anymore but you could get them for under 40 bucks there depending on the size. don't cover the car or engine with plastic tarps or sheeting as that traps moisture and condensation and causes rust. I wouldn't put blankets on the engine and see no reason to as that would become very attractive to any rodents that might be in the area. You aren't tucking the engine in for winter hibernation and trying to keep it warm anyhow.
I agree wiith TCTND, Maybe throw it up on some jackstands, either bring the battery inside or fire it up once a month and let it run a bit or put a battery tender on it. The cold won't hurt the engine and driveline, as long as it's in out of the weather. If ya got mice, stuff some rags in the intake and exhaust and say goodnight.
Drain all the fuel from the tank and the carb, or leave some in the tank but drain it in the spring. Park the car on plastic sheeting or better yet put the whole car in a storage bag with a tub of desiccant. Put the battery on a maintainer no matter if you remove it from the car or not. Pump the brakes periodically during storage. Dryer sheets or similar will help prevent rodents from nesting.
Cars don’t mind being cold. For the winter, I: Change oil and filter Fill gas tank- add Stabil - drive home Stuff a stainless scrubber in each tailpipe Put a “damp rid” and a box of baking soda in the cabin Roll up the windows Remove battery - move to basement That’s about it, really. I run 50:50 antifreeze and water, so the cooling system is fine to well below what northern Illinois normally gets in the winter. I don’t have rodents, but in case one does get in, the SS scrubbie will keep them out of the mufflers. Stabil works. I use it in the small engines too. A full tank reduces the area that can get any water vapor from temperature changes and condensation. In the spring, remove the scrubbies, install the battery, kick the gas pedal, and fire it up. Forgetting to remove the scrubbies will shoot them down the driveway when the engine starts.
I have had good luck with LPS #3 (Ace hardware sell it). Pull the plugs and spray it inside liberally. It's a thick, gooey waxy protectant for medium term storage. Good for if you don't intend on starting the engine up periodically. It'll all burn off when you fire it up next. All depends on how humid the storage is though, and if you expect condensing water at any time before or after freeze.
Me and my buddies always just pulled in the garage after the last cruise. Shut the car off disconnected the battery jacked them up off the ground if we felt like it and closed the garage door and locked it.
Precautions to be taken can vary depending on where you are located. If you state your approximate locale, you'll get input more closely suited to your needs.
I highly suggest never rolling up the windows or putting a car cover over it. As a matter of fact, I open the hood, trunk, glove box and console so mice don't find a spot to nest and stay warm. I even put a tin foil ball in the tail pipes and air cleaner snout ( if you have a stock motor ) to seal them up. Seriously - in the northern part of the country you do NOT want to give mice a sealed place like a glove box, console, trunk or under hood to call home for the winter. I also put mice traps in various corners of my shop along walls, corners just in case some go looking for a place to winter nest. Who cares about dust - your going to wash and polish it in the spring anyway.
Keep the nesting materials to a minimum, put bounce dryer sheets everywhere, put some bait stations around the inside and outside if the building is yours. Ajax or comet cleaning crystals around each tire. Tin foil or steel wool anywhere you think a rodent will gain entry. Never tried baking soda, but will add it to the arsenal.
My 36 is stored over the winter in my dad's unheated garage which is more like a dark dank dungeon than a garage. I make sure the gas tank is 3/4 full and I put in a bottle of Stabil and run it through the tank and carbs. I also pull the battery and store it in the heated house. I put a sheet of plastic on the cement floor. A friend sold me one of his old zippered car bags and I put it down on the plastic, ad another plastic sheet to catch any drips (the alpha flathead likes to mark its territory) and then I push the the car onto the plastic sheet on top of the bag. The car has bias ply tires so I put it up on jack stands so the tires don't flat spot. Before putting the jack stands on the plastic on the bag I put down pieces of carpet and a square of plywood and put the jack stands on the plywood. The carpet scraps are so the plywood won't damage the car bag. I put tin foil in the exhaust pipe ends and cover the car with a cloth car cover. The last step before zipping up the bag is to cook up some desiccant. One tray goes under the car and the other tray goes on the floorboards. I also have a 5-gallon bucket / anti-freeze mouse trap that built that sits just outside the bagged car. Ever since I started doing all of this I have not had any problems with moisture or with mice or chipmunks getting in the car. It may seem like overkill but it seems to work for me.
Better to have a full tank, less ''air space'' that allows moisture in. Also, you should change your oil for storage. The theory is you don't want the old oil with all the contaminants in it sitting all winter.
I have a rigorous routine for storing my cars during the winter…I park them, then turn the key off….spring comes and I turn the key to start them…
Yes, this would help a lot. Having said that I follow basically the same routine as 57 Fargo, but a lot depends on the condition of your garage. is it dry, do you have a concrete floor? Do you get condensation in your area? Is it sealed up well so mice aren't a problem?
Mine is a gravel floor, certainly not sealed no heat…I do open the hoods to keep mice off engines. Hell I didn’t even unhook batteries last winter
Hello, This sounds odd coming from a lifelong So Cal person with as mild to not so mild winter situations. But, we do get cold weather out here, cold enough to hail in our back yard on the coastal areas, deep snow in the local mountains and freezing, (we think and feel like it is freezing) winters. On the water, sailing in cold weather feels like someone is biting your skin as the sailboat cuts through the big swells and even on the bay sailing, it feels frozen when we are sitting inside the cabin trying to warm up after a good day’s sail. So, with that in mind, the thing we have used at home and on our sailboat(s) is this product called Davis Company Air Dryer. We also used it in our garage area where there was some moisture and the “air dryer” kept it dry and warm. Oh oh..a warm garage is recipe for critters of all kinds. We live on the edge of a huge open field and mountain slope. So, there are plenty of critters outside and running around free. We keep them at bay with Ultrasound devices placed inside of the garage and house. That in itself is an invisible barrier to keep those critters out of our house or garage. When we moved in 20 years ago, we had critters on our roof, inside of the cracks in the roof tiles and in the garage. So, what made the difference after trying poison, not good if you have pets, small dogs or it gets out of the yard into the community. Traps worked once, but once was enough, since I had to clean up looking at a pair of small bulging eyes staring at me as I disposed it in a sealed bag. But after a series of listening to critters running freely, we got some Ultrasound units near our bedroom. From that point on, the sounds of little feet in the attic disappeared and no signs or deposits anywhere to be found. In the garage, cleaning traps after hearing the loud “SNAP” was not pleasurable, although I did catch several critters. I installed different frequency Ultrasound units and the critters just did not like the garage during the day, summer, winter or any time of the year. All attributable to the Ultrasound devices installed. In the attic, we also installed several Ultrasound devices as we have some boxes up there and it leads to the inner walls of the house. But, for all of the bashing the Ultrasound devices gets from people here on the HAMB, our house is critter free for 20 years and we have critters out in the fence line, where they are supposed to be running around free. Our two neighbors always ask me about catching those critters. The critters brains are wired to hate Ultrasound devices and we do not have to deal with critters in traps or poisons (no children or pets in either house) But, the neighbors are insistent on their way of taking extra time to deal with those little creatures. Desiccants are not necessary as they absorb and the containers fill up with water (moisture) and you need to dump it someplace. Not the most enjoyable job. Jnaki For the garage, you can safely place one of the Davis Air Dryers in place and shut the door. It heats up the whole area without a flame or hot coals, slowly. You can leave it plugged in overnight as long as the top and bottom are not clogged up with combustible materials. Air flow is a must. We had it sitting on a large piece of floor tile and it worked well. Always wipe off the top surface to keep the dust and other combustible stuff out of the holes. 13.66 x 13.39 x 4.69 inches The small holes do not allow creatures to get inside the mechanism. The Davis Air Dryers can be left in the car hulk and left overnight in the garage. It will take awhile, but these (no flame or hot, exposed, heating element) dryers will just soak up the air with heat and cause dryness. Just leave it in there and go watch a movie. 13.58 x 5.98 x 4.37 inches For smaller places and areas in the garage/closet, etc. It will not dry any wet upholstery or other material, but in time you would want to replace those anyway. This dryer is a heating element and will get the hidden water or moisture out. The Davis Air Dryers have done a great job keeping the interior of boats pretty moisture free because of the low level heating. It is not a heater, but a long range drying element. In our series of sailboats, each single wall boat got moisture almost from sitting inside, breathing. But our last sailboat was double wall construction and that gave us a drip/moisture free side wall inside. The Davis Air Dryers are not direct heat dryers like women's hair dryers. As far as the smell, inside of small fiberglass hull enclosed boats, if left over time, it will create a warm fiberglass smell. But, most people use their boats weekly, so the smell goes away fast. If left "on" inside of a closed up boat, it will make the fiberglass smell stronger. The moisture will be gone, but that is this dryer's function. Note: If you want to spend your whole winter trudging out to the garage to empty dessicants, look at dead little mouse eyes staring out at you and if left too long, try to get rid of the dead animal smell is a worse problem. The Ultrasound units are available everywhere and they all work well, it becomes a style function. Color, size and amount of low level light is a choice you have to make. "There is no.. one best." (We do not have any Ultrasound units in the outdoor plugs outside, as the critters are supposed to live out there and not inside of the garage or house. The Ultrasound units inside of the garage and house do not affect our little dog.) But, our free and easy way of living seems good for us and if you want to make life more complicated, go for the dessicants, mouse traps, poisons and other forms of critter removal including “smelly cats” and their residue. YRMV
Do what you can to keep mice from getting into your engine. Plug the tailpipe and any entrance to the intake manifold.
Found this on the Canadian Amazon site for cars but not sure if it actually repels rodents or not. https://www.amazon.ca/Vehicle‑Mounted-Repellent-Repeller-Deterrent-Appliance/dp/B08P5W2MXG/ref=sr_1_41?crid=23YERW8JKCQJO&keywords=ultrasound+mouse+repeller&qid=1665275243&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI0LjUwIiwicXNhIjoiMy42OSIsInFzcCI6IjMuMTMifQ==&sprefix=ultrasound+re,aps,100&sr=8-41
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/winter-storage-advice.1249718/ https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...-of-your-collector-car.1246047/#post-14250753 https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/empty-gas-tank-over-winter.1210222/#post-13801151 etc. etc. etc. I put 'winter storage' into search. Who knew it was such a thing? It comes up A LOT! Winter is best roadster weather for me.
Start it up every month and let it run a little. Pull it ahead an inch or two, then back it up if possible.
I store mine like 57 Fargo does. Drive it into where its going to sit and shut it off, and pull the keys out of it. I usually don't even disconnect the battery. If the garage has bad condensation, I will put something to absorb moisture between the floor and the car (plywood worked until it got expensive, maybe plastic this year). I lay whatever on the floor, and drive the car over top of it. In the spring, I start it back up, warm the motor up and do an oil change and what ever else it needs to be ready to go. But I drive my stuff, so it has the proper mix of antifreeze, and likely is only parked for 3-4 months. I'll drive it until it gets too uncomfortable to drive, or the snow and salt hits the roads. It will be back on the streets as soon as the weather breaks and the snow & salt are gone. Its a car man, if it self destructs in 3-4 months, it wasn't much of a car.
I do like to have some non ethanol gas in the tank with a splash of stabil if it is going to set over three months. I have tractors that only get run yearly and that works for them.. My boats get a shot of fogging oil before being put to bed. Good storage free of rodents is a must.
I park the warm weather roadster and jeep in the fall, then I start them up again in the spring. The A coupe gets driven all winter, but otherwise gets the same " special attention". park it, then drive it whenever
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