Just wondering what everybody else, who lives in a cold climate, does to there car when old man winter rolls around. I just spent a lot money on my engine this spring and want to do it properly. Boy, I hate to have to put my car away for another 6 months,but that's Wisconsin for you. At least I can upgrade the suspension system and brakes over the winter. Thanks

Since you didnt mention any other details about the engine Ill try and be generic.
Fill with fresh oil, preferably a SH/SJ grade; that will protect the critical parts. Run until warm and then leave alone until spring. I fill mine with a 50W since I have no intention of running over the winter but want maximum adhesion to the passages so they dont get moisture rot.
Use a clean 50/50 mix of anti freeze and run the engine long enough to get warm and fully distribute.
Put a plastic bag over the carb and secure with tie wraps, I use thick clear anti-static since the mice dont like it.
Remove the battery and drain the gas tank if you can. Ive no use for gas additives such as Stabil since they do more harm than good to the carb, at least with the gas up here in NH.
Plug all holes, water, exhaust, etc with aluminum mesh scouring pads wrapped in any kind of tape. Rodents hate the stuff and wont try and nest deep inside your treasure.

Place mouse and chipmunk poison all around, and keep an eye out for use, replenish as necessary.

Others may have other suggestions but the above works for me in NH for over 40 yrs. Nothing is perfect, I found mouse turds in the trunk of my 53 this spring but no damage, figured the poison got the little bastards.


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Carl
Automotive gold is everywhere; you just have to learn how to dig for it

We also put traps in the car. The poison slows them down then we try to catch so they don't die somewhere inacessable. We also have a couple sonic mouse deterants. That seems to work. Also check everyday. I usally start mine during the winter. Just can't help myself.
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Mike J

I take it Sta-Bil is not the best thing to use I have always used it before.What does it do gum things up or what?

Something I've always done for winter storage, here in northern Indiana. I put moyh balls all around the floor under my car. I use Irish Spring Soap, cut into slivers and place them inside the car in Pot Pie tins. Nothing seems to like the smell, except humans. It smells better then moth balls, when you open the doors. Also, I don't set out mouse poision, account, your feeding them, so it attracts them to your prize. I also fill my gas tank, in order to not invite moisture. I keep the battery up with one of those trickle chargers from JC Whitney ($9.95) and it is always ready to start if we get one of those really nice winter days, and the urge hits me. I keep the air cleaner in place, and cover the car. It has preserved my car for 23 years. Of course I've tried other ways, but I like this best. I have three cars that I store in the winter.
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Street is Neat! And Safety Inspections Keep It That Way!

I was warned to not use Stabil by a well known carb shop and also a small engine mechanic. The warnings came after I brought my carbs in for overhaul!
Apparently the MTBE formulation we use around here turns the gas into a gooey mess. Wasnt a problem years ago when we had real gas.
So now I leave gas in the carb bowls on the small engines to keep the gaskets wet; empty in the spring. The emergency generator gets flushed about once a month all year long.
On the various cars, from 3 deuce flattys to BBC, I completely drain via petcocks Ive installed in the tanks. Theory being that the gasoline will absorb more moisture than a dry tank and I dont feel like completely draining and throwing away all that money every spring; this is New England dont you know.
I also have shut off valves in the fuel lines so that the carbs dont drain empty over time.
Wouldnt suggest leaving the battery hooked up, too much of a fire risk for me and barn fires are not very popular. Anyway when my toys get stored, they stay that way until April.
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Carl
Automotive gold is everywhere; you just have to learn how to dig for it

Fill the gas tank and use stabilizer(did small engines for years and never saw stabilizer do bad things,but there is allways a first). Check the antifreeze with the little strips,no need to change antifreeze any more(just check and treat it,unless its mud) One little gulp of marvel oil with the throttle plates open and kill the engine.Also live here in New england and store 2 boats a 3 cars/truck.Never had a problem. MTBE is rough on cheap rubber gas lines and some o-rings on small engines.Emergency genrator gets run every 2 months for and hour.Also take batts out of boats and keep them charged in the shop with a battery tender.cars get the cables disconected.(hey i throw the batt out after 2 years anyway,they are to cheap). I have project cars with empty tanks (working on them) and if they are not coated they rust inside so i guess thats my full tank theory.I know the boats aluim tank will carode if not full.Most my stuff here in New England only gets stored 4 1/2 months so its not to bad.
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Build it! Drive it! Sell! Next!

Being from MD snakes aren't too bad, you do get one or two gardners a winter wrapped around your ride somewhere under it but other than that it aint all that bad. To each his own in encouraging snakes to come in but I know one thing, after that first episode I dog on sure aint gonna just lay there when a snakes over me or for that matter on me while im hard at work so I dont really like the fact of inviting them with open arms. They can just stay outta my shop all together!

Slammin
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Hold your ears folks...ITS SHOWTIME!!!

Where in New England? The MTBE formulation changes by county here and if I drive 50 miles North I can get a much lower concentration.
We also are having a problem with well water pollution from MTBE, seems like less than a gallon of formulated gas can contaminate 5 MILLION gallons of water over the regs. A BIG problem in this town recently.

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Carl
Automotive gold is everywhere; you just have to learn how to dig for it

I live in the UP of Michigan. I make sure the anti-freeze is good to about 30 below and I add a little gas stabl to the tank. I load it on a car trailer and park it in my pole barn. I cover the motor with a heavy wool blanket and put a car cover on. About three or four times during the winter, I start the engine and let it run for 20 minutes or so. Haven't had any problems doing it this way since 92, and with it being on the car trailer, I never had any trouble with mice or rodents. Just remember to remove the blanket from the engine before you start it during the winter!!!!
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Lynn Stallbaumer

Good tips so far. I like to put fresh anti-freeze in to protect against corosion as much as possible. Older anti-freeze is more acidic and when you combine that with dissimilar metals (iron & aluminum) you get galvanic action which erodes the aluminum. I've been thinking about using a sacrificial anode (zinc, I think), but haven't checked into them much.

I don't drain my gas tank. I fill it completely full just before I store it to minimize the air in the tank. Since air holds moisture, I found that I don't get condensation in the tank that way. I don't use Stabil either and the gas seems to always be in good shape in the spring. I'd probably use stabil or drain the tank if the car was going to be stored for a long time.

I live in southern Michigan where temperatures fluctuate a lot and condensation moisture is a big problem in the winter. It gets everywhere and creates problems that might take a couple of years to be noticed. To prevent condensation, I used to store finished cars and bikes in a friends heated back room of his business. Since he sold his business I have bought a couple of those zip-up carbags with desiccant in them to absorb the moisture and haven't had any problems with condensation. The bags are kind of expensive (about as much as heated storage costs here in Michigan) but they're made well and after the initial investment, moisture free storage is free. They're not for use outdoors tho.

Some people put their cars up on jack stands to take the weight off the tires so they don't get flat spots. Maybe there's some value to that, but I don't do it and haven't noticed any problems.

I store 4 cars and am looking forward to reading other's tips and ideas.

Ditto here, once the car itself is all set up for storage and you go through and block off all holes and passage ways for mice pay attention to snakes. With 3 sides of the house and garage here surrounded by woods your asking for trouble, but if you can prevent it do it! Especially if your frame isn't boxed! 2 years ago we got the itch to play in the garage, got under it looked up on the right side frame rail and next thing I know a snake was across my chest. You aint never saw me get up and go that fast ever in your life! If your frame isn't boxed put up cut cardboard and just pray they dont have the brains enough to move it and get in. If you want, run masking tape to ensure a nice roadblock.

Grant
aka Slammin
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Hold your ears folks...ITS SHOWTIME!!!

Snakes? What part of the country are you in? During the warm months the basic Garden Snake is one of my best friends, I encourage their population since one of their favorite snacks is mice.
During the winter they are pretty much in hibernation in nests deep alongside the foundation or sometimes even in the basement....this is a very rural area! And the original part of the house goes back to around 1836.

You should have seen my city bred wife when one actually slithered across her feet as she was standing at the kitchen sink! Now she feeds them. We dont kill spiders either. Just mice, chipmunks, moles and hornets/wasps/yellow jackets.

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Carl
Automotive gold is everywhere; you just have to learn how to dig for it

Well my shop is rather large, so I divide it in half for the winter with a sliding wall. I keep all the rods in the non heated section, no kind of preparation, just disconnect the batteries and cover the cars. There is no moisture in that area and the coldest it gets in there is 20 deg. no matter how cold it gets outside. Ive been storing some of my rods this way for almost ten years with no trouble. I dont start them up til spring. Service them and use em for the spring summer and fall. Wisconsin!! BRRRRR.