Winter Storage

[twamd80driver]

What suggestions can someone give me for putting a Vette to bed for the Winter? Should you run the engine every two weeks for thirty minutes, or leave it alone until the Spring. Also what about putting it up on blocks (pros/cons)? If so where is the best place to jack it up and where should you put the blocks on the frame?

Thanks!

 

[The73vetteman]

Hello,

I'm of the 'start it for 30 mins every 2 weeks' school, although I have no science with which to back this up. It has however been my experience that no car likes to just sit for long periods. I think it has to be good to get the oil moving around the engine, and while you're at it, don't forget to work those brakes too. My new VBP lip seal calipers came with a note specifically telling me to exercise them weekly.

Let's see if you get any different opinions!

 

[Ctfoodguy2000]

Read this! http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/tech/care/storage.html


Here is what I do:
Battery Tender Plus hooked up to battery
Add StaBil to gas
Wash & Wax
Towels in exhaust
Moth balls under engine compartment
Car Cover

Kiss goodnight til March!

 

[Vettehead Mikey]

I think we all realize that this report has a lot of overkill 'placebo' ideas in it, but I disagree strongly with two principal points -

1)putting the car on stands

This action distorts the suspension bushings and leaves them in an unnatural position for several months. There's no benefit to lifting a car off it's wheels. Flat spotting of tires is a thing of the past.

2)starting the engine occasionally

From my experience in looking after 850+ plus commercial aircraft engines this is a bad, bad, bad practice in terms of increasing engine wear and inducing condensation. This damage is exaggerated when using synthetic oils, which are hygroscopic and become acidic when contaminated with moisture.

Leave the engine alone while it's in storage.

My storage procedure on all the toys is to wash and wax, fill the gas tank, drive it into it's parking spot, disconnect the battery (and put on a tender) and see you in the spring. Been doing similar to this for 32 years, never had a problem.

 

[JohnZ]

I agree with Mikey, having garage-stored countless cars through long Michigan winters over the last 40 years, and his winters are a lot colder than mine.

It is NOT a good idea to "put the car up on jackstands"; I know Dick Guldstrand, and I'm sure his shop's recommendation is based on the cars they create, service and modify, which use race-type suspension bushings (urethane, Delrin, bronze, Heim joints, etc.), not OEM rubber bushings. Most people don't understand how OEM rubber bushings work; the rubber is bonded to the inner sleeve and to the outer sleeve, both of which are locked solid in position (the inner sleeve to the frame by the through-bolt, and the outer by being pressed into the control arm); there is no relative motion between either sleeve and the rubber - all motion takes place within the rubber itself by twisting the rubber in torsion, and the bushings are torqued at normal ride height so there is no torsional stress at all in the rubber at design height. If you put the car up in the air and let the suspension hang in full rebound, the bushings are seriously over-stressed in torsion and will eventually either deteriorate prematurely or the bond between the rubber and the sleeves will fail, destroying the bushing. "Flat Spots" are highly over-rated, and are mostly an "old wives' tale", especially with radial tires; any that occur disappear after a few miles of driving.

It should also be noted that the GM Powertrain engineer's preference to put oil in the cylinders and start the engine occasionally is based on storage for periods in excess of nine months; for normal 4-6 month winter storage, that's unnecessary. If you're going to start it, drive it at least ten miles so the OIL is heated to normalized operating temperature; just running it until the thermostat opens DOES NOT heat the oil up hot enough to boil off the condensation that forms in the oil pan and the rich-mixture blow-by contaminants that form every time you start it from cold; that just sits in the pan for the rest of the storage period and makes the oil more acidic. Just change the oil and filter, drive it a few miles, then park it and leave it alone. Seals DO NOT "dry out" during 4-6 months of storage - that's another "old wives' tale".