Painted dry cement floors bad for storage?

[Roadster Guy]

I have my Vette stored in my heated, (55 F) dry warehouse. The floor is painted cement. I've just been told by a friend that I should have the car on wood (plywood) to stop the cement drying out the underside rubber. And on the other side of the coin someone else told me to get it on wood to stop the cement rusting out the underside.

I use to put the Vette on plywood when I had it in my unheated garage on unpainted cement as the floor was quite damp. I figured it was ok now in the warehouse sitting on the warm painted floor. Before I haul some plywood down to the warehouse, does anyone think there is any logic to this? I would rather spend my time stocking up the liquor cabinet for our New Year's bash.

By the way, wishing everyone at the CAC a "Happy New Year"! :bar
RG
p.s. use your head.....drink but don't even think about driving!!!!

 

[c4cruiser]

Cars that sit outside all year long don't seem to have their tires damaged by water or heat from the sun. I would be more concerned about having tires too close to an electric motor or radiation source that produces ozone. Some RV owners shield their tires from sunlight as that helps the tire compound from drying out.

Some tire that sit for extended periods will develop a flat spot but that should go away once the tire is back into service. If the cement is painted properly, there should be no real way for moisture to wick through the paint from either direction.

You could support the car on jackstands and take weight off the tires and reduce air pressure somewhat to prevent flatspotting but I would think that if you are just storing the car for the winter, you should be OK with the tires at their recommeded pressure. In a heated garage, you should be fine.

 

[tnovot]

If the building is heated, there would be air circulation, even if only by convection rather than fan forced. In either case, I would think that moisture would not be a problem. I sounds like you have an excellent setup for winter storage. If only everybody had as good of a storage facility as you have.
By the way, unless underlaid with plastic, wouldn't plywood on a concrete floor absorb moisture to the same point as the floor anyway?
I agree totally with everything c4cruiser said.
Terry

 

[markone]

My '92 sits on a painted garage floor in an unheated but insulated garage for 6 months, with no apparent moisture or rust issues. I do experience the flat spot on the tires but that clears up the first time out, after about 5 minutes of driving, dependant on ambient temperature.

markone

 

[JonM]

Sounds like your friends have been hitting your liquor cabinet already.

 

[aboatguy]

Your car will be fine!

 

[Roadster Guy]

Sounds like your friends have been hitting your liquor cabinet already.

Yeah, I think you may be onto something there!

The other replies also tend to support my suspicion that I had good storage conditions. And I agree with what was said by all. Flat spotting I don't worry about only because every few weeks I push (roll) the Vette into a new spot a few feet ahead or back. It was more the moisture or lack of that was the issue. I think painted cement is better than unpainted. I'm not sure temperature is such a big deal, but more so dampness.
RG

 

[speedmaster4]

all chemical reactions accelerate with temperature increase.

water reacts with many components used on autos

cool and dry--best u can do
condensation concentrates water-avoid that

 

[theadmiral94]

Regarding 'flat spotting' of the tires, consider at least putting cardboard under the tires to prevent it even on the painted cement.

whereas ours are in an unheated, unpainted cement floored attached garage, and in NJ (much warmer than your area) the 94 once sat for about a month and did get flat spots.

However, between slightly increasing the tire pressure (found running 33 in the goodyear EMT's made an amazing difference) and putting a piece of CARDBOARD under each tire, it has completly eliminated any flat spotting.

I believe the CARDBOARD insulates the tire rubber and its tendency to follow the air temperature from the cement and it's colder/more constant temperatures which follow the ground temperatures.

Hope this helps...