COCO's Guide to storing your car.
10-17-2002, 11:32 AM
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COCO's Guide to storing your car.
I dont know if this is the right place to post this, so if it isnt please mods move it. on that note thank you and on we gooooooooooo!
COCO'S GUIDE TO STORING YOUR CAR
Its been great driving your Hyundai around Spring, Summer, and Fall but now Winter is here and you don't want to expose your beauty to the harsh extremes of Winter, so you decide to store it and use your Winter car(you rich bastard). Well COCO is here to tell you exactly what to do to store your car and have it running like new come Spring.
OK....THE BASICS.....
Indoors of course is the best choice but if you can't do that outside "storage" is ok too. I would recommend that if you don't have a garage to store your car in, you rent a storage facility it would be money well spent but if outside is your only choice, I'll tell you later in the guide what to do to protect your car.
PREPPING THE CAR.
The cleaner the better and that doesn't mean just wash, shine and shine. Pick a nice day(trust me it's going to take awhile) to do the cleaning. Fill the gas tank and add gas stabilizer to prevent gum and varnish formation. Drive your car so the stabilizer mixes well with the gas, about 30 to 40 miles. Remove all the dirt from the underbody and most important the fenderwells, remember(or if you didn't know) dirt holds moisture and that nasty combo of moisture and air can lead to rusting on metal body work or other parts. Next really, I mean really clean and vacumm the interior of your ride. What you want to do is to leave your interior super clean, remove the seats if you have to. Vacumm up all the pizzacrust, jelly beans, dog biscuits, or whatever else your dirty your car with(yes I said dog biscuits). Clean all your plastic surfaces and apply a protectant. If you have leather seats clean them with a leather cleaner or little soap and water and then apply some leather conditioner to keep the leather soft and prevent it from craking. You can get the conditioner at your local Wal-Mart in the house cleaning aisle. If you don't have leather I recommend that you Scotch Guard your seats to prevent future stains.
STORING YOUR CAR INSIDE.
After washing, drying and waxing your car let it finish air drying. Now to prevent rust damage cover the floor of the garage with plastic tarps. Next remove the spark plugs and spray some oil into the cylinders, you can use regular engine oil with a spray can or WD-40 or the foggingoil designed for boat storeage. Then turn the crankshaft (with a socket and ratchet on the crank pulley bolt) about 4 to 6 turnsto circulate the oil. Lastly reinstall the spark plugs and wires. Now disconnect the battery cables (ground first) and take it out. Clean the battery terminals with terminal cleaning tool, sand paper or a Dremel tool. Put the battery on some wood blocks, never put it on the ground, and connect it to a float charger to keep it charged or if you don't have a float charger then you'll have to reinstall the battery later and turn your car on while in storage to keep it charged. Taking the battery gives you a chance to inspect the battery tray for any corrosion of damage. If corrosion is visible then sand away the rust and clean the tray and repaint using spray paint to keep it from rusting again. Reinstall the tray and lubricate all the latches and hinges on the hood, doors, and hatch or trunk with some WD-40. Now for the fluids, Brake fluid adsorbs moisture(I bet you didn't know that) which can lead to rust build up in the brake line and possible damage after long storage. Flush the fluid with new. For long long storage you will need Nonhygroscopic(non-moisture absorbing) silicone fluid(say that five time fast). Next check the freeze point of your anti-freeze if its to high for the freezing point where you live you will need to flush your radiator and replace it with a better fluid. Protection from crazy rats and bugs is crucial. They will go mad crazy on your wires and fabrics and/or crawl and nest in dark areas of your car. Now to prevent that from happening cover your tailpipe and intake filter(this also prevents moisture build up, which can damage your filter)with some aluminium foil. If your going to store your car for more than 6 months, flat-spotting your tires is a must. To do this jack up your car on all 4 corners and put it on jack stands. Last either prop your wiper up off your windsheild or put some rags between the wiper and glass, this will keep the rubber from sticking to the glass.
NOW, OUTSIDE "STORAGE"
If decide to "store" your car outside again it's crucial to create a moisture barrier between the ground and your ground. Place plastic tarps on the spot that you will parking your car. Put mothballs on the passanger side floor, put them on aluminuim foil this will deter any critters that what to set up home. Leave each window cracked about half and inch, so the interior can breathe. Now cut so strips of window screen and attach it to the window with a painters scotch tape that doesn't stick as much to prevent damage to interior. Do all the the other interior and engine prep work, including rodent, insect and rust proofing as described above. Also remove the battery and connect to float charger. I saved the hard part for last: BODY COVERING. The fact is that there is no perfect way to cover your car for outside "storage". That's why i say that indoors is good! You need to place a car cover on your car to protect the paint from the weather. There's alot of choices when it comes to car cover the prices range from $20 to over $300, as always the higher the price the better the cover will be. Choose the one that suits you but remember fit is very important. Wind can get under the cover and whip it against the paint which when you take the cover off at the end of Winter the paint will look like it has been sanded. If your in a snowy and/or wet area then you will need to get extra protection. This can be achived by placing soft blankets under the cover. Make sure that you periodicly check the blankets for wet spots and replace them. Make sure that you tightly tie the cover to your car very snuggly!
EXERCISING THE CAR.
Just starting the engine and let it runn for awhile and letting it reach operating temperature can be harmful to your beloved. Doing that allows the oil to dilude by fuel and moisture. A 30-mile drive every 60 days, with brakes, tranny, steering, and AC all working is what's need. If you don't do this your ride won't feel every bit as good as you remember.
THE FUN PART....GETTING READY TO DRIVE.
It's Spring(woohoo!)it's time to get driving. You open up the garage and your staring at your baby it's time to roll! woooah! Hold on their cheif! There's some prep work that has to be done before you go smoking Hondas again. First remove the tires and sand down the brake rotors with 100 grit sand paper, until you have removed the rust that has collected. Next re-install the battery and change the oil and filter. Last put your car down on the ground again(that is if you flat-spotted it) and now LET'S ROLL!!!!!!!
WELL I HOPE THIS HELPED SOME PPL IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS YOU CAN HIT ME UP ON AIM OR MY E-MAIL (ALL IN PROFILE)
LATERZZZZ
COCO!!
[ October 17, 2002, 06:41 PM: Message edited by: **POCO LOCO COCO** ]
COCO'S GUIDE TO STORING YOUR CAR
Its been great driving your Hyundai around Spring, Summer, and Fall but now Winter is here and you don't want to expose your beauty to the harsh extremes of Winter, so you decide to store it and use your Winter car(you rich bastard). Well COCO is here to tell you exactly what to do to store your car and have it running like new come Spring.
OK....THE BASICS.....
Indoors of course is the best choice but if you can't do that outside "storage" is ok too. I would recommend that if you don't have a garage to store your car in, you rent a storage facility it would be money well spent but if outside is your only choice, I'll tell you later in the guide what to do to protect your car.
PREPPING THE CAR.
The cleaner the better and that doesn't mean just wash, shine and shine. Pick a nice day(trust me it's going to take awhile) to do the cleaning. Fill the gas tank and add gas stabilizer to prevent gum and varnish formation. Drive your car so the stabilizer mixes well with the gas, about 30 to 40 miles. Remove all the dirt from the underbody and most important the fenderwells, remember(or if you didn't know) dirt holds moisture and that nasty combo of moisture and air can lead to rusting on metal body work or other parts. Next really, I mean really clean and vacumm the interior of your ride. What you want to do is to leave your interior super clean, remove the seats if you have to. Vacumm up all the pizzacrust, jelly beans, dog biscuits, or whatever else your dirty your car with(yes I said dog biscuits). Clean all your plastic surfaces and apply a protectant. If you have leather seats clean them with a leather cleaner or little soap and water and then apply some leather conditioner to keep the leather soft and prevent it from craking. You can get the conditioner at your local Wal-Mart in the house cleaning aisle. If you don't have leather I recommend that you Scotch Guard your seats to prevent future stains.
STORING YOUR CAR INSIDE.
After washing, drying and waxing your car let it finish air drying. Now to prevent rust damage cover the floor of the garage with plastic tarps. Next remove the spark plugs and spray some oil into the cylinders, you can use regular engine oil with a spray can or WD-40 or the foggingoil designed for boat storeage. Then turn the crankshaft (with a socket and ratchet on the crank pulley bolt) about 4 to 6 turnsto circulate the oil. Lastly reinstall the spark plugs and wires. Now disconnect the battery cables (ground first) and take it out. Clean the battery terminals with terminal cleaning tool, sand paper or a Dremel tool. Put the battery on some wood blocks, never put it on the ground, and connect it to a float charger to keep it charged or if you don't have a float charger then you'll have to reinstall the battery later and turn your car on while in storage to keep it charged. Taking the battery gives you a chance to inspect the battery tray for any corrosion of damage. If corrosion is visible then sand away the rust and clean the tray and repaint using spray paint to keep it from rusting again. Reinstall the tray and lubricate all the latches and hinges on the hood, doors, and hatch or trunk with some WD-40. Now for the fluids, Brake fluid adsorbs moisture(I bet you didn't know that) which can lead to rust build up in the brake line and possible damage after long storage. Flush the fluid with new. For long long storage you will need Nonhygroscopic(non-moisture absorbing) silicone fluid(say that five time fast). Next check the freeze point of your anti-freeze if its to high for the freezing point where you live you will need to flush your radiator and replace it with a better fluid. Protection from crazy rats and bugs is crucial. They will go mad crazy on your wires and fabrics and/or crawl and nest in dark areas of your car. Now to prevent that from happening cover your tailpipe and intake filter(this also prevents moisture build up, which can damage your filter)with some aluminium foil. If your going to store your car for more than 6 months, flat-spotting your tires is a must. To do this jack up your car on all 4 corners and put it on jack stands. Last either prop your wiper up off your windsheild or put some rags between the wiper and glass, this will keep the rubber from sticking to the glass.
NOW, OUTSIDE "STORAGE"
If decide to "store" your car outside again it's crucial to create a moisture barrier between the ground and your ground. Place plastic tarps on the spot that you will parking your car. Put mothballs on the passanger side floor, put them on aluminuim foil this will deter any critters that what to set up home. Leave each window cracked about half and inch, so the interior can breathe. Now cut so strips of window screen and attach it to the window with a painters scotch tape that doesn't stick as much to prevent damage to interior. Do all the the other interior and engine prep work, including rodent, insect and rust proofing as described above. Also remove the battery and connect to float charger. I saved the hard part for last: BODY COVERING. The fact is that there is no perfect way to cover your car for outside "storage". That's why i say that indoors is good! You need to place a car cover on your car to protect the paint from the weather. There's alot of choices when it comes to car cover the prices range from $20 to over $300, as always the higher the price the better the cover will be. Choose the one that suits you but remember fit is very important. Wind can get under the cover and whip it against the paint which when you take the cover off at the end of Winter the paint will look like it has been sanded. If your in a snowy and/or wet area then you will need to get extra protection. This can be achived by placing soft blankets under the cover. Make sure that you periodicly check the blankets for wet spots and replace them. Make sure that you tightly tie the cover to your car very snuggly!
EXERCISING THE CAR.
Just starting the engine and let it runn for awhile and letting it reach operating temperature can be harmful to your beloved. Doing that allows the oil to dilude by fuel and moisture. A 30-mile drive every 60 days, with brakes, tranny, steering, and AC all working is what's need. If you don't do this your ride won't feel every bit as good as you remember.
THE FUN PART....GETTING READY TO DRIVE.
It's Spring(woohoo!)it's time to get driving. You open up the garage and your staring at your baby it's time to roll! woooah! Hold on their cheif! There's some prep work that has to be done before you go smoking Hondas again. First remove the tires and sand down the brake rotors with 100 grit sand paper, until you have removed the rust that has collected. Next re-install the battery and change the oil and filter. Last put your car down on the ground again(that is if you flat-spotted it) and now LET'S ROLL!!!!!!!
WELL I HOPE THIS HELPED SOME PPL IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS YOU CAN HIT ME UP ON AIM OR MY E-MAIL (ALL IN PROFILE)
LATERZZZZ
COCO!!
[ October 17, 2002, 06:41 PM: Message edited by: **POCO LOCO COCO** ]
