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Best way to "store" a classic for winter without a garage.

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Redfan45x, Oct 25, 2012.

  1. Redfan45x
    Joined: Oct 25, 2012
    Posts: 15

    Redfan45x
    Member

    So winter is approaching soon :(
    And being that I live in at a apartment in the inner city without a garage, I can't technically store it.
    Any advice? I'm not too happy with the idea of leaving it in the snow and having to see that outside my window everyday. bad enough seeing it outside my window right now doing nothing but getting rained on and having leaves fall all over it.
    And this car couldn't use much more rust on its rear floor pan I will say that.
     
  2. Gerg
    Joined: Feb 27, 2006
    Posts: 1,828

    Gerg
    Member

    get a storage unit i wouldn't be able to let my car sit outside all winter long
     
  3. Redfan45x
    Joined: Oct 25, 2012
    Posts: 15

    Redfan45x
    Member

    I'd love to, if I had the money.
     
  4. Rickybop
    Joined: May 23, 2008
    Posts: 9,606

    Rickybop
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Best would be to rent storage space. Or maybe you've got a friend who lives in the country on a farm with barn space?

    But I suspect you were thinking more along the lines of a cover of some type. There are various grades of car covers available...some not worth a damn...others are high quality, but aren't cheap. There are even covers that are completely enclosed...you drive the car onto it, then zip it up. Those type usually use a desiccant to absorb condensation. There are also the enclosed type that use a small electric air pump to keep it blown up like a balloon...keeps anything from actually touching the car.

    I'd look for storage.
     

  5. 40StudeDude
    Joined: Sep 19, 2002
    Posts: 9,536

    40StudeDude
    Member

    Rent a garage somewhere...there's got to be lots of old ladies around with empty garages in the older suburbs...start knocking on doors, maybe trade some help -scoop the sidewalks, remove trash, etc., around the place for the price of the rent.

    R-
     
  6. oldolds
    Joined: Oct 18, 2010
    Posts: 3,407

    oldolds
    Member

    Sell the car to someone who can afford to put it in a garage fo the winter. Buy another car in spring, run the wheels off for the summer. Repeat as needed.
     
  7. XWYNNSGUY
    Joined: Dec 7, 2008
    Posts: 105

    XWYNNSGUY
    Member

    I'm not sure about the St. Paul area, but around New England there are lots of vacant buildings. The economy in general and foreign trade, construction type company. Stop in and ask for a corner, should be way cheaper than a storage unit. Just an idea, good luck !!!
     
  8. Dakota Boy
    Joined: Sep 8, 2010
    Posts: 173

    Dakota Boy
    Member
    from Racine, WI

    Those "Car Capsules" are super-cool, but they are also thousands of bucks. And I dont believe they are something you would leave out in the snow; they are meant for those ultra-nervous guys who won't even drive thier cars on a sunny day.

    Find a garage for petes sakes.

    Hell, a decent all-weather car cover will cost you the same as 6 months of storage unit fees.

    Drop the cable TV service if you need the money. There isnt anything worth watching on TV these days anyways.

    A few winters ago, I shoveled snow from my next-door (snow-bird) neighbor's sidewalks and as an even trade, they let me use one of their empty garage stalls. Heated too! I also checked on the place every few days to make sure the furnace was still functioning.

    Horse-trading and bartering is the new currency in this crappy economy.
     
  9. Rickybop
    Joined: May 23, 2008
    Posts: 9,606

    Rickybop
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I doubt that's feasible.

    Money issues? I can relate. Luckily, I have barns. Ok then...old rugs on top, lots of cheap visqueen and bungee cords. Good luck.
     
  10. Gearhead Graphics
    Joined: Oct 4, 2008
    Posts: 3,890

    Gearhead Graphics
    Member
    from Denver Co

    most covers that are worth a crap will hold in moisture, and the wind whipping it aroudn will either tear it and or scratch up your paint. Storage unit, rent a garage from the apartment or find someone to let you stash it somewhere. If all else fails when i was in an apartment complex and had to store my race trailer for the winter I found a less used area of the lot, parked and locked it, and every day made a trip by it on the way to and from work. You could do that with your car and push the snow off and fire it up now and then.
     
  11. manyolcars
    Joined: Mar 30, 2001
    Posts: 9,176

    manyolcars

    visqueen and plastic causes condensation which is concentrated water trapped against the car
     
  12. 48FordFanatic
    Joined: Feb 26, 2011
    Posts: 1,335

    48FordFanatic
    Member
    from Maine

    In my opinion , if you can't get it inside, don't put a cover on it. Snow and cold won't hurt it, what will hurt it is a cover blowing around on the surface and the moisture that will collect under the cover. Being outside in the freezing weather is probably less damaging than the rain .
     
  13. flatford39
    Joined: Dec 3, 2006
    Posts: 2,799

    flatford39
    Member

    I agree. Do not cover it. If you can't find garage space then let it sit. It's the salt from the roads that does the most damage.
     
  14. BLWN 38 Alky PU
    Joined: Oct 14, 2012
    Posts: 10

    BLWN 38 Alky PU
    Member

    Do not cover the car, the Wind will help keep it dry. I would take off the wheels and put the car on cement blocks, I'm thinking keep the car off the ground as high as you feel safe for it to set. Out of the snow, and let the wind blow the snow away from under the car.. I know you get alot of snow in MN.
     
  15. take it all apart and store in your basement. lol
     
  16. I'm in St Paul also and I gotta say seeing a bit of snow in the air today sure was depressing. I wish I could help you out with storage. I store one at home and another at a relatives for $150 for the season. I would do as others here have said. Leave it uncovered so you don't have condensation issues.
     
  17. Probably not your cars first winter outside. Park it where it wont get hit. It'll be fine.
     
  18. Beau
    Joined: Jul 2, 2009
    Posts: 1,884

    Beau
    Member

    The snow made me cringe.

    There really isn't much in the way of storage for cheap around here. I heard mention of the Fairgrounds storing your car all Winter, but you had to leave a battery and key with them.

    There is a Hot Rod group on Facebook that might be a good place to start looking. CL has a lot of listing but it's anywhere from $50-100 per month. If you can't afford that, having an old car probably isn't a great idea.

    I have seen people build plywood boxes around their vehicles though.
     
  19. teejay99
    Joined: Sep 26, 2009
    Posts: 356

    teejay99
    Member

    I like 40StudeDude's idea , TRADE the needed space for "services rendered " . I haven't had anyone knock on my door in 25 years for shovelling snow ....maybe you'll shock the hell out of them with your ambition .

    T
     
  20. no55mad
    Joined: Dec 15, 2006
    Posts: 1,956

    no55mad
    Member

    Get a portable garage, available for <$300. Tape all the joints of the frame together as a good wind will cause the frame to work apart. I buy some cheap ratchet straps and strap the garage frame to the car - a friends portable garage blew into his neighbors fence and knocked it down. You can put plastic on the ground to help with keeping the moisture under control. Spray vehicle chrome and exposed metal down w/WD40.
    You could also rent a 'sea train' type enclosed container or buy an enclosed trailer and sell it in the spring.
     
  21. Cerberus
    Joined: May 24, 2010
    Posts: 1,392

    Cerberus
    Member

    Being ex-military... get some cosmolene and follow instructions. Rust Veto 342 industrial grade provide long-term protection outdoors for all metals against rust or corrosion.
     

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  22. stuart in mn
    Joined: Nov 22, 2007
    Posts: 2,406

    stuart in mn
    Member

    I'd be more worried about the car being stored outside in the city than anything else. Do you have any friends or family that live out in the country someplace? When I was younger and didn't have enough storage space here in town I'd bring my car to my parent's house in outstate Minnesota - it was safe, and plain old snow didn't hurt it.
     
  23. oldcarguygazok
    Joined: Jun 20, 2012
    Posts: 401

    oldcarguygazok
    Member
    from AUSTRALIA.

    Find someone with a empty carport,your helping them having it there for security[thieves think there's someone home]and there helping you out as well.
    2/ Buy a cheap furniture truck that you can drive your car into,leave it at mates place,get the idea,good luck,Gaz!
     
  24. Rickybop
    Joined: May 23, 2008
    Posts: 9,606

    Rickybop
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    The other posters are right...visqueen will cause condensation, and it may in-fact be better to leave it uncovered.
     
  25. junkyardjeff
    Joined: Jul 23, 2005
    Posts: 8,588

    junkyardjeff
    Member

    My 65 custom 500 sits outside constantly since I bought it 7 years ago and really has not gotten any worse,just sitting in the snow is alot better then driving it in the salt.
     
  26. wsdad
    Joined: Dec 31, 2005
    Posts: 1,259

    wsdad
    Member

    I built a simple pvc pipe frame to hold a cheap Harbor Freight tarp about 6 inches off my camper on all four sides. The top of the "tent" was shaped like an upside down "U". I would imagine an upside down "V" would work better in a snowy area, though. The tarp never touched the camper, even in the wind. I held the tarp down with many tiny bungee cords that weren't strong enough to pull the eyelets out. They flexed in the wind, unlike rope.

    It worked pretty good for about 10 months before the tarp got a tear in it. Had I not been lazy, I probably could have duct taped the tear in the tarp and gotten another month out of it.

    If I had it to do over, I would have used 2X4's. They are stronger than the PVC and probably cheaper. If you really wanted to cheap out, you could find some free privacy fence panels to make the walls out of. Many times when someone replaces an entire fence, there's some panels that are still in pretty good shape. It saves them work if you haul them away (with their permission, of course).

    Good luck. (Better check with the apartment people to make sure you can build it before buying all the materials.)
     
  27. Rusty O'Toole
    Joined: Sep 17, 2006
    Posts: 9,657

    Rusty O'Toole
    Member

    It's a little late in the year but I suggest you get some car wax and wax it 3 or 4 times. Check the antifreeze. Put some inhibitor in the gas. Cover the windows on the inside with tin foil or black paper. Put moth balls in a can inside the car, in the trunk and under the hood (in the air filter). Jack it up and put blocks under the suspension so the tires barely touch the ground. Take the battery out and bring it inside, put it in the basement or kitchen cupboard and charge it up once a month. Do not leave it on cement, if you put it in the basement or garage put a wooden board under it.

    A car frozen in a snow bank for six months will be damaged less than one in the sun in Arizona for six weeks.
     
  28. Mr48chev
    Joined: Dec 28, 2007
    Posts: 33,861

    Mr48chev
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Not only on cars but anything you store under visqueen or plastic without sufficient air movement under the plastic.

    If you can't afford a storage unit I'd suggest laying on a good coat of wax, good, bad or no paint. Wax everything including the chrome or stainless. make sure all drain holes in the doors and fenders are clear so water drains out. Put some moisture absorbent material in plastic trays on the floor boards to draw condensation out of the air inside the car. If you get a spell of good weather and a clear parking lot fire the car up and make a couple of laps around the complex and then park it aimed in the other direction so the people around you can see that you drove it. Hell go out once a week or so and turn it around unless it is covered with three feet of snow. The turning around or swapping parking places with your daily makes the others in the complex including the super thing you are driving it on a regular basis. That eliminates hassles from "that old car sitting out there". They are cool when people thing you drive them all the time and not cool when they look abandoned for months on end in the parking lot.
     
  29. I do not recomend this if you hate the smell. It never comes out. My dad always used little tree pine sented air fresheners. You know, the little green ones.

    The trunk has had holes in the floors for years, and it spent the last 10 years on a farm in a temporary shelter. There was mouse droppings all over the engine on the manifold, but not a single sign of mice inside. That was with the remnants of a couple fresheners in the pasenger compartment, just throw a new one in there and I think you'll be alright for the winter.

    I know another person who has accidently discovered the same results.

    By the way I've got two garages and they are so full the two roadworthy rides still have to brave the weather. Unless a tree branch falls or a careless driver hits it you should be alright.
     
  30. oldsboy
    Joined: Oct 24, 2005
    Posts: 509

    oldsboy
    Member

    This is what I'm planning. Second year now, and it works...just not sustainable.


    Sent from my DROID device using the TJJ mobile app
     

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