How do you store your collector cars for the winter, and what preparation do you do? Do you do anything to discourage the mice from nesting in your car?
Winter storage...
- Thread starter Paul Steinberg
- Start date
I prep by living in California not too far from Disneyland. I just tell Mickey to stay out of the car 
I do know I'm lucky not having to deal that cold white stuff - just fires & earthquakes.
I do know I'm lucky not having to deal that cold white stuff - just fires & earthquakes.
Winter sotrage, "What you talking about Paul?, we don't have no winter storage!"
Here the big question is, "Where do you stick them when a hurricane is approaching?"
Here the big question is, "Where do you stick them when a hurricane is approaching?"
Rick Duffy
PCS Past President 2010 - 2012
I have a garage that I rent next to the Jonathan Hulton Bridge. Formerly Al's Billiards in Oakmont, PA about 6 minutes from home.:cool
No heat, no light, no water, no rodents. HUGE SPACE! Could park 20 more pro -cars there! I can access it 24/7, but due to traffic, movement of vehicles is restricted to the wee hours.
Unfortunately, it's rumored that the building may be demolished in a year or two to make way for a new bridge. I have heard nothing "official," but am making strides to find a climate controlled facility.
No heat, no light, no water, no rodents. HUGE SPACE! Could park 20 more pro -cars there! I can access it 24/7, but due to traffic, movement of vehicles is restricted to the wee hours.
Unfortunately, it's rumored that the building may be demolished in a year or two to make way for a new bridge. I have heard nothing "official," but am making strides to find a climate controlled facility.
Brendan Martin
PCS Member
My car is kept in a brand new storage garage owned by my retired Fire Chief and his business partner. It doesn't have heat so there is no worries about pests.
No need storage with this....
With this monster you can drive year round.
With this monster you can drive year round.
John Dorgan - Deceased - 1938 - 2012
March 05,1938 - May 13, 2012
Winter storage
In Tucson you don't have to store it. Just park it and drive whenever you like. No hurricanes, tornadoes, (or is it tornados) or fires either. Just think, you could be using your coach all year long as long as it is air conditioned.
John Dorgan
In Tucson you don't have to store it. Just park it and drive whenever you like. No hurricanes, tornadoes, (or is it tornados) or fires either. Just think, you could be using your coach all year long as long as it is air conditioned.
John Dorgan
Yes, but it is a dry heat!
Ron Devies
PCS Ohio Chapter President, PCS Vice President
2&2
Two stay in my heated garage and two go to an unheated garage. The cars that go to the unheated storage shed get stripped of their equipment and I spread mothballs through the cars. (It does not always work) All cars get filled up with high quality gas and stabil.
Two stay in my heated garage and two go to an unheated garage. The cars that go to the unheated storage shed get stripped of their equipment and I spread mothballs through the cars. (It does not always work) All cars get filled up with high quality gas and stabil.
I don't really store mine for the winter, since we only get a day or two of snow. No hurricanes either, and very few tornados. But if you've seen the news lately, you may know my new worst fear is a freak flood
Thankfully though, I live on a "mountain", which in Atlanta translates to "large hill". And if the water ever rises as high as my garage, I'll be too busy building an ark to be worried about my cars!
To answer your question though, all I ever use for long term storage is Sta-bil and a battery tender. Depending on where you store it, you may also want to use a DampRid moisture absorbing bucket to keep the mildew out.
Thankfully though, I live on a "mountain", which in Atlanta translates to "large hill". And if the water ever rises as high as my garage, I'll be too busy building an ark to be worried about my cars!
To answer your question though, all I ever use for long term storage is Sta-bil and a battery tender. Depending on where you store it, you may also want to use a DampRid moisture absorbing bucket to keep the mildew out.
I always check the antifreeze even though my building doesn't get bitter cold, and grab plenty of "dessicate bags" from work to put inside the cars. These bags absorb any & all moisture that may form inside, they come in our crates of parts we receive from Japan & work great. I figured if they can keep Japanese parts from rusting on a boat ride across the ocean... maybe they can keep the rust & mildew out of my coach.
Josh Gentry
PCS Member
The winter doesn't usually get bad enough down here to have to store them all wenter, but I have a 40X60 shop that I keep them in. It can get a little tight, but the wether is usually good enough to pull something outside if you need some room to work on something.
Josh
Josh
Mike Stevens
PCS Member
storage
The 61 MM lives in a dry storage unit year round. No heat, no A/C. I leave the windows open just and inch or two. Sta-bil goes into the full gas tank. The oil is changed and a new filter installed. The air in the tires is checked to make sure the pressure is ok. When winter really gets here I here I go out and start it about every 2 weeks. I have even been known to do a barn yard drive until the engine is warmed up good. No salt in the barn yard and they keep it plowed between the buildings. Then back in the box. I usually leave the garage door open for a while to let everything cool off before heading back to the house. The electric in the box only stays on for 15 minutes so I can't use a battery tender.
Mike
61 MM
The 61 MM lives in a dry storage unit year round. No heat, no A/C. I leave the windows open just and inch or two. Sta-bil goes into the full gas tank. The oil is changed and a new filter installed. The air in the tires is checked to make sure the pressure is ok. When winter really gets here I here I go out and start it about every 2 weeks. I have even been known to do a barn yard drive until the engine is warmed up good. No salt in the barn yard and they keep it plowed between the buildings. Then back in the box. I usually leave the garage door open for a while to let everything cool off before heading back to the house. The electric in the box only stays on for 15 minutes so I can't use a battery tender.
Mike
61 MM
Tim Prieur
PCS Member
winter storage
Winter makes up the majority of the collector car year here in Calgary. My cars were put away for the winter just yesterday, though hopefully the snow is still a ways away.
After 20+ years my approach with heated storage is:
- overinflate the tire to max plus @ 2pounds.
- Irish Spring deoderant soap (? a Canadian specialty). The mice hate the odor it gives off and have never had a problem with them taking up a winter home.
- Add gas stabilizer to the gas and they always start.
Ah to have a place where winter is only a postard.
Winter makes up the majority of the collector car year here in Calgary. My cars were put away for the winter just yesterday, though hopefully the snow is still a ways away.
After 20+ years my approach with heated storage is:
- overinflate the tire to max plus @ 2pounds.
- Irish Spring deoderant soap (? a Canadian specialty). The mice hate the odor it gives off and have never had a problem with them taking up a winter home.
- Add gas stabilizer to the gas and they always start.
Ah to have a place where winter is only a postard.
You have brought back an old memory........
I remember getting a sample of Irish Spring soap in the mail in the spring of 1970. We left it outside to wash our hands at the hose bib, and it never melted in the rain and got hard as a rock in the sun. Left it out all winter, and next spring it was still in as good of shape as when we left it in the fall. We often wondered what would become of that bar of soap if it were left out "forever". When I moved in the fall of 1973, one of the people helping suggested that I take it along as a keepsake. I didn't, and I have a feeling that if it were not thrown out, it is still residing on the soap rack the way it was left 36 years ago. I don't know what they put into that soap as a preservative!
I remember getting a sample of Irish Spring soap in the mail in the spring of 1970. We left it outside to wash our hands at the hose bib, and it never melted in the rain and got hard as a rock in the sun. Left it out all winter, and next spring it was still in as good of shape as when we left it in the fall. We often wondered what would become of that bar of soap if it were left out "forever". When I moved in the fall of 1973, one of the people helping suggested that I take it along as a keepsake. I didn't, and I have a feeling that if it were not thrown out, it is still residing on the soap rack the way it was left 36 years ago. I don't know what they put into that soap as a preservative!
Put some Stabil in the tank. Get the car nicely warmed up on its last run of the season. Change the oil. Check the antifreeze. Go all around(mostly under the hood) and look for any holes( missing gromets, missing sound proofing/ insulation etc.) that rodents could get through. Stuff steel wool in those holes. Check the rest of the body for any rusted areas that would allow the same access.
Park the car in the intended spot. Put your choice of traps/poison next to each tire( thats how they climb up there), or hire a cat 24/7. Check the traps during the winter and refill as necessary. That keeps them from nesting on top of the engine and play heck with the wiring.
Park the car in the intended spot. Put your choice of traps/poison next to each tire( thats how they climb up there), or hire a cat 24/7. Check the traps during the winter and refill as necessary. That keeps them from nesting on top of the engine and play heck with the wiring.
Doug Kelley
PCS Member / Funeral Director
Storage
I have 2 garages and still have to pay to store the rig, stabil, fill it up and park it...I think I have to much stuff !
I have 2 garages and still have to pay to store the rig, stabil, fill it up and park it...I think I have to much stuff !
for us it a matter of deciding which one goes in and which one stays out. I have car covers for anything outside. I do the seafoam in the gas trick and that works for me here. we have enough breaks in the weather to get the cars out on occasion and run them around till they warm up. we hope the cat gets the mice but by not having them inside at all it helps keep that problem down. our biggest trouble is the freeze thaw that keeps up all winter. that really raises havoc with anything that gets wet. the car covers take care of that.