Longterm Storage of Vehicles
 

It looks like I will be helping a friend prepare a number of tractors,
cars and trucks for long storage.

What are the issues to consider for a successful storage?

Batteries, fuel, tires and RUST all come to mind.
Thanks for any advice you can offer.

TMT

Too_Many_Tools wrote:

It looks like I will be helping a friend prepare a number of tractors,
cars and trucks for long storage.

What are the issues to consider for a successful storage?

Batteries, fuel, tires and RUST all come to mind.
Thanks for any advice you can offer.

TMT


I heard once of a guy who pulled all his spark plugs and simply
filled his engine with clean motor oil.

If the motor is carbureted, drain ALL the gas out. If it were me
I'd get about 8 or 10 of those little white envelopes of moisture-
absorbent and stick those down in the carburetor.

Belts and hoses can oxidize pretty badly. I might also drain and refill
the cooling system with pure antifreeze.

Remove the battery entirely.

If there is a cassette or CD in the dash player, remove it.

Just some ideas ..

GWE

"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
oups.com...
It looks like I will be helping a friend prepare a number of tractors,
cars and trucks for long storage.

How long? If we are talking less than 3 or 4 months, just park them...park
them inside if possible. For a newer car, you might want to plug in one of
those special automatic trickle chargers so the computer does not draw the
battery down.

If we are talking years of storage, then that is another matter.

Vaughn

In article .com,
Too_Many_Tools wrote:

It looks like I will be helping a friend prepare a number of tractors,
cars and trucks for long storage.

What are the issues to consider for a successful storage?

Batteries, fuel, tires and RUST all come to mind.
Thanks for any advice you can offer.

TMT



The gasoline preservative additive is available at most car parts
stores.

It will give you up to a year or more of storage time on the gasoline.

I have used it in generators and lawnmowers with great success.

If you remove the gas from the system seals will dry out especially in
the carb. Stabilize it.
Michelle

Grant Erwin wrote:

Too_Many_Tools wrote:

It looks like I will be helping a friend prepare a number of tractors,
cars and trucks for long storage.

What are the issues to consider for a successful storage?

Batteries, fuel, tires and RUST all come to mind.
Thanks for any advice you can offer.

TMT


I heard once of a guy who pulled all his spark plugs and simply
filled his engine with clean motor oil.

If the motor is carbureted, drain ALL the gas out. If it were me
I'd get about 8 or 10 of those little white envelopes of moisture-
absorbent and stick those down in the carburetor.

Belts and hoses can oxidize pretty badly. I might also drain and refill
the cooling system with pure antifreeze.

Remove the battery entirely.

If there is a cassette or CD in the dash player, remove it.

Just some ideas ..

GWE

I missed the staff meeting but the minutes show "Too_Many_Tools"
wrote back on 12 Dec 2004 11:54:02 -0800 in
rec.crafts.metalworking :
It looks like I will be helping a friend prepare a number of tractors,
cars and trucks for long storage.

What are the issues to consider for a successful storage?

How long, what's the local climate, indoors or outside? This is
something which comes up occasionally on the misc.survivalism newsgroup;
google is your friend.

Batteries, fuel, tires and RUST all come to mind.
Thanks for any advice you can offer.

"Back in the old days" before pulling engines for storage, we'd pour a
liter of oil down the carb with the engine running. It certainly made sure
the cylinders were oiled down to prevent rust. Of course, new plugs go in
when you start it back up.

Best option to store vehicles: In a dry cave. Humidity low, air temp
stable, no insolation to raise the ambient photon flux, with resulting
variances in thermal gradients. (Out of the sun, there's no light to fade
paint, or temperature changes to work insidious magic.) Raise them up so
the tires don't touch the floor (keeps flat spots from developing.),
battery removed, fan belts loosened (might want to consider getting spares
to keep handy) air intakes "sealed" off with tin foil (Keep little bugs
out) and a sheet over it to keep worst of the bird poop etc, off the car.
Anything you remove needs to be labeled with large letters "For the Car".
And a list in the car of what got done, removed, and what to do to get
it running again.

There's stabilizers for gasoline (and Diesel too), use 'em, but that
also depends on how long you figure the vehicles will be stored. Some
folks advise changing the oil before you start all this too. Same thing
about filling the gas tank - new gas, w/a full tank, less room for ambient
air to get in and have the humidity condense out at night. Of course, that
does pose a fire hazards - your option.
Like wise, flush the radiator, and replace with a good quality
anti-freeze. (Just chock full of anti rust & corrosion goodies.)

UV light is bad for plastics, and rubber. One more reason to park
inside, or under cover. Or at least put plywood over the tires on the
south side.



TMT

--
pyotr filipivich
"With Age comes Wisdom. Although more often, Age travels alone."

On Mon, 13 Dec 2004 00:10:24 GMT, Michelle P
wrote:

If you remove the gas from the system seals will dry out especially in
the carb. Stabilize it.
Michelle

Better yet, use AVGAS. It is frsher 2 years down the road than 6 week
old gas with StaBil.

Grant Erwin wrote:

Too_Many_Tools wrote:

It looks like I will be helping a friend prepare a number of tractors,
cars and trucks for long storage.

What are the issues to consider for a successful storage?

Batteries, fuel, tires and RUST all come to mind.
Thanks for any advice you can offer.

TMT


I heard once of a guy who pulled all his spark plugs and simply
filled his engine with clean motor oil.

If the motor is carbureted, drain ALL the gas out. If it were me
I'd get about 8 or 10 of those little white envelopes of moisture-
absorbent and stick those down in the carburetor.

Belts and hoses can oxidize pretty badly. I might also drain and refill
the cooling system with pure antifreeze.

Remove the battery entirely.

If there is a cassette or CD in the dash player, remove it.

Just some ideas ..

GWE