Putting car away for Winter

Too true. Here's a look at what 11 years of winters can do to a car:

dwight

Absolutely. This is important to reduce the amount of water that accumulates in the oil sump, as well.

Dana

Entering into the unknown, V'ger seeks information used to maintain his Vintage Burgundy 1965 Ford Mustang 2+2 w/289 ci 4v oem A Code V8, C4 Trans,

16x8" Vintage 40 wheels, with BF Goodrich gForce T/A 225/50ZR16 tires, American Racing "Mustang" Centercaps, and a whole lot of other stuff; )

If it's been stored..... or it's made of plastic.....

Hav>> This subject is one of the reasons I am so glad to beliving in

Entering into the unknown, V'ger seeks information used to maintain his Vintage Burgundy 1965 Ford Mustang 2+2 w/289 ci 4v oem A Code V8, C4 Trans,

16x8" Vintage 40 wheels, with BF Goodrich gForce T/A 225/50ZR16 tires, American Racing "Mustang" Centercaps, and a whole lot of other stuff; )

I want to add to that list;

-Do not start the eng>Here is a list of things some of the classic car people do.

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yes ! And operating temperature is not the same as the water temperature gauge indicating warm. The oil takes longer to heat up and not all (none?) mustangs have an oil-temp gauge.

nah, just replace the oil, take it out for a nice trip to heat it up fully, then park it. Do not start it until you are actually going to use it again.

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yup, I use a battery minder (same shop) for my motorcycle. Works great.

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OK, I have stored my car (or shall I say that my dad did until he gave me the car) as mentioned originally. The only difference, is that when I was about to store it, I would change the tires and put back the old ones. that way, I do not have to start it and let it warm up completely and move it frwds or back. just let it sit with the old tires. so what if they get square, in the spring, I take them off, put the good tires and voila!! As for winter, I live in Quebec, Canada.... we get badly hit with snow, ice and whatever else mother nature can think of!

I don't think that Dwight's stored his car one Philadelphia winter yet.... have 'ya Dwight?

Still not a risk I'm willing to take with my Cobra though... the salt on the non-undercoated car and the idiots that you mention keep my snake locked away when the snow flies...

JS

Philly doesn't get the harsh winters. Just enough snow to make things interesting and/or annoying. No, TFrog is getting ready for its 12th winter right now. Just got another coat of Mother's pure carnuba.

Shame. The cold air is the best time of year for an engine. The watchword of the day is the same as always - separation. Keep plenty of distance between cars and enjoy the extra friskiness of a cold winter's day.

dwight

We (Pittsburgh) usually don't either, but it's the salt and the other idiots that make the 30+ mile journey to work just a little too hairy for me to take my snake through.

I run the Cobra well into the cold air... it's seen 30 degree days... but few and far between. I usually end up parking it near late October.. late enough to have some fun cold nights and soon enough to keep the salt trucks away. I think I ran over the salt once.

I have driven 5.0 Mustangs in the winter, and this year should be ok as well, as I just picked up a beater AWD Turbo Eclipse. Won't slide around quite like a Mustang, but is plenty frisky in its own right, and will do just fine with thet added oxygen that comes with the cold air. I'm looking forward to an AWD drift in a snowy parking lot... just to see what it feels like.

JS

the best ? extreme cold starts are the worst and it is where the engine wears the most. And if your cooling system is kept up well it won't make a difference in driving. I sold a 95GT with 92K on it that had seen only az winters and summers (many many100+ days) The engine was still in great shape. No oil use (no more than a new one) no smoke.. ran great.

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Extreme cold starts are definately harder on an engine, I agree. However, regardless of the cooling system, it's a fact that colder air is more dense, thus having more oxygen. The computer takes this into consideration and adds more fuel, thus having more power.

Drag racers can back me up on this - the same car running two different days, or even day into night, will turn different times just because of the temperature - provided they can drive the car relatively consistantly.

JS

uh, weren't we talking about wear ? That's not the same as performance is it ? I'm confused now. Remove NO-SPAM from email address when replying

I believe that 72F, 54% RH are the ideal operating conditions for a gasoline engine.

I run a carbutetor. You have to adjust the mixture. It takes some knowledge to do this. Colder air more dense, but not necessarily better in terms of performance due to sub-optimal operating temperatures. On paper you have a point. Otherwise, it's just not really ture...

Drag racers run in extremes, on the hot end, so 20 deg. will mean a lot of HP to them, where it means very little to your computer-mixed SB.

The two are related, but he was trying to tell you colder air provides some sort of natural hyper-aspiration to a street vehicle. The air is more dense, but the engine does not run more efficiently. Efficiency = power. You are getting half the story correct. Lately, in the dry,

70-degree weather, my old Mustang is producing a few more HP than in the heat or in the cold. Like I said, (ceteris paribus), 72 deg., 54% humidity. There is slop in every number, but this has been proven empirically.

Entering into the unknown, V'ger seeks information used to maintain his Vintage Burgundy 1965 Ford Mustang 2+2 w/289 ci 4v oem A Code V8, C4 Trans,

16x8" Vintage 40 wheels, with BF Goodrich gForce T/A 225/50ZR16 tires, American Racing "Mustang" Centercaps, and a whole lot of other stuff; )