Storing Your Car

Hi Bob,
I have a '94 Custom Camaro that I don't drive during the winter months. How should I go about storing it the proper way ? I've heard that the tires should be removed and the car placed up on blocks . Is there any truth to this ? I want to get the most out of my car when I decide to sell it.
Amber

Amber,
Well, you don't have to remove the tires, but putting it up on blocks is not a bad idea... It will help to save the tires... One thing that you really should do is stabilize the fuel. There are products on the market made specially for this, but I found that just adding double the amount of STP fuel treatment to the gas and running it for a few miles will work just as well for a few months. Remember that you need to run it to get the mixture into the fuel injectors so they don't gum up... Another thing would be to disconnect the battery. Now if you are only storing it for the winter months, then you really don't need to worry about the spring time start up, but if you were so inclined, I would remove the spark plugs and crank it a few times.... This will start the oil pumping up, and not put a load on the bottom.... another way is to pressurize the oiling system... this takes a bit more hardware but works the best... and yet another way, but much more labor intensive is to take the valve covers off and manually oil it from the top... again this will only lubricate the valves and not the cylinders... I have heard of an old racer's trick that during the off season, they would put 2 tablespoons of vegetable (maybe olive) oil down the spark plug hole to coat the cylinders and then do the same in the spring... This will (supposedly) keep the cylinders lubricated... but I don't know about vegetable oil... after a while it goes bad, doesn't it?? But I would think that maybe a light weight motor oil would work... hmm... anyone else got an idea? But make sure that you put the spark plugs back in! You don't want any air getting down there to rust anything, never mind the bugs that want to call it home... I would also put an open box of baking soda in the trunk and the passenger compartment... this will keep it from getting that musty smell....
Good Luck!
Drive Safely!
Bob, The Auto Answer Man

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