i seen many ideas of storage, some great some not so good.
For the outside coach, undercarriage, power train, MOISTURE is your worse enemy.
For fabrics, vinyl and leather, ultraviolet light is your worse enemy.

If you are in the process (kind of late) of storing the Allanté, in cold country, do a search.. there are great things to preserve the engine...

However, colder is better than warmer. Storing a car in a heated garage is a BAD idea. Heat promotes corrosion. Specially if the car has ANY dampness, salt film, chemicals,dirt, etc.. This does not apply if you live in DRY climate like Arizona..

Best idea is to clean carpets (FOODs have to be out), clean the soft top, lotion the leather, lotion the vinyl, lotion the tires, wash the car well, **WAX the chrome**, water rinse all DRAINS, doors & top-well included, jambs, under **chrome strips** (worse culprid I know), between joints, around the **suspension mounts** (see Dick Hussey's service Bulletin about corrosion there) and any crevices you can find.. FILL the fuel tank, RUN the engine, run all systems, lights on, A/C ON, heaters, etc.. do the "jestal" preservation for the engine, then sit the car in the sun let it dry if at all possible.. Park it in enclosed garage, trow a soft cover on it and store it in DARKNESS, in a FREEZING temp garage if you have it.

DARKness will allow fabric, leather, paint to be preserved..

FREEZing will keep corrosion to a minimum.

Do NOT park it on dirt, grass, sand, mud, plywood, or damp wood planks or anything damp .. DRY cement or DRY wood plank is best for the tires to sit ..DRY..DRY.. There is a procedure to inflate tires for preservation.. SEARCH the postings! That's also a great one.

If garage is exposed to moisture, place a moisture barrier under the car, keep garage ventilated. Don't trap moisture into the car.. DON'T !!!

AND, forget the lightbulb under the car.. it creates heat as well as a fire hazard should there be a fuel leak. Better to use an electronic pest control or two, around the car.. sends a high freq sound that keeps rodents and misc pests away from the area.

All and all, it is MOISTURE that will corrode metal, accelerated when in contact with salts, chemicals, and any solids that retain the moisture.

And, if you drive it in cold corrosive environments rinse & flush the chemicals ASAP.

AND, for you guys that ask how I know?

I lived in Albany, Syracuse, Schenectady for years... that's the "Snow Belt".
At the start of winter, i performed all of the above, and flush, flush, flush..

never did i see a gram of rust even in my daily drivers. NEVER!
Do all that, and your car will not be terminated by corrosion.

LOL

oh.. one more thing.... De-pressurise the ABS system..
even if it will leak the pressure over a couple of weeks, i think it's best to do it at the start to relieve hoses from stress and internal parts from accelerated oxidation and decay..

 

Quote:

by Brian B.

I don't what part of the country you are in nor what types of rodents are the real problem for you nor whether the car is in a garage where you go in all the time, but here are some thoughts in addition to some of the others.

1) Rodents like dark. So take a 40 watt bulb in a socket and place under the radiator so the light shines up through the engine.

2) Place a ring of moth ***** or the poison around the car on the garage floor. Don't put moth ***** inside a car as you'll never get the smell out. I'm not sure that moth ***** repel rodents, but I think they discourage them.

3) Stuff all openings to the car's innards and interior so the critters can't make a nest. That would include the tailpipe, the air intake, the two drain holes in the rear wheel wells and probably some other places.

You do know, of course, that the very best storage is one of the bags that just zips up.

 

identity of writer withheld by request ...

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"The octane rating of the fuel has nothing to do with the "heat" created. The octane rating of the fuel specifically indicates it's resistance to detonation. That is all. Within all practical reason low octane and high octane fuel burn at the same rates and the same temperatures.... Low octane fuel will tend to detontate or spark knock easier than high octane fuel but has little or no effect on the burn time or the temperatures of the combustion.

Fuel tends to "deteriorate" a little quicker in fuel injected cars because the fuel is pumped under pressure to the fuel rail where it is heated by the engine and then a large portion of it is returned to the tank by the fuel pressure regulator. This tends to create higher fuel tank tempertures and greater vapor generation from the fuel due to the heat added to the tank causing the fuel to loose it's volatility sooner. This has a minor effect on the octane rating of the fuel.

My earlier suggestions for storage very specifically said to add a quantity of a good two-stroke pre-mix oil to the gasoline in the tank and to run that tank thru the engine before storage. This is a very easy and simple way to "fog" the internal engine parts with oil as the premix will tend to coat and cling to all the internal parts as well as the exhaust valves and exhaust system. If you take apart any two stroke engines you will see what I mean.

With the sealed fuel tanks and systems on modern cars there is little to no danger of condensation building up in the tank and causing water problems or anything. Likewise, the fuel "weathers" very little in storage and as the fuel tank is not vented to atmosphere there is very very little evaporation of the fuel that can cause deposit buildup anywhere.

For engines that still have carbs like motorcyles, boats, lawn mowers, etc....running the engine for several hours on the pre-mix gasoline will "fog" the internal parts as protection against corrosion during storage and running the carb dry with the remanents of the premix in the fuel will leave an oily coating inside the carb to prevent any varnish formation from the fuel evaporating from the bowl from sticking to anything or plugging jets.

For fuel injected cars my recommendation is to add the pre-mix oil in sufficient quantity to achive a 40:1 ratio and drive most of the tank thru the engine and then just park it for storage. Forget any other additives. Stabile might be helpful for very long term storage of the fuel but I never use if for the winter storage of anything.

The single most important thing for storage is to prep the car and engine, warm it up thoroughly before storage, park it, turn it off and LEAVE IT ALONE. Do NOT start the engine occasionally as this just creates tons of moisture in the oil and exhaust system that cannot be dried out without driving the car. Even long idles for warmup will not dry it out. Park it and leave it. Disconnect the battery neg cable to prevent slow discharge and put a Battery Tender on it. Not a trickle charger but a Battery Tender . "

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I would recommend the entire pack of 6 coolant supplement pellets be added at each coolant change.

Don't flush your trans. Why hook your trans up to some equipment and get the debris from the last transmission they flushed dumped into yours? I know it shouldn't happen but the only way you can guarantee that it won't happen is to stay away from trans flushes. Just not necessary nor advisable. Simply drain, change the filter and refill with fresh fluid.

BTW.....my favorite trick for prepping any of my motors for long term storage is to run the last tank of fuel thru the engine with 2-stroke pre-mix oil in it. Just dump 2 quarts of pre-mix oil in the tank and fill up about a week before the planned storage. If will smoke a little,like a two-stroke will, and in the process lay a thin coat of oil over all the internal engine parts and the exhaust system. Even the fuel system benefits (especially carbed engines like lawn mowers, motorcycles, etc.) as the gas left in the system has a little oil in it so as it evaporates over time it leaves an oily coating instead of varnish. This has worked very well for me for 25+ years and I routinely store everyting I own this way. Several motorcyle engines prepped this way were in storage for 5 years at one point with no carb deposits or rust on cylinders or valve stems, etc.

 

some of this would be good general tech stuff, like the tranny flush.......