Garage storage for winter? Doing it right..

I live in California, I spend the summers in Wisconsin. Normaly I have driven a rod there and on occasion have towed. I plan next year to leave a rod in my daughters garage year round for use when I am there.

The house is on Lake Geneva and is occupied only during summer and easter school vacation.

There is a garage where the car will stay. I am concerned about the moisture, etc. that may play havoc on the truck, (56 ford). I have 10 months to get the plan in action.

Living in California, This is not a problem.
What do you midwestern guys do in this situation???
Thanks, Gary

 

mothballs to keep the mice out
dryer sheets to keep the bug out
put it up on jack stands so the tires dont get flat spots on them
drain the gas
take out the battery
tk

 

Dont use moth balls, dryer sheets, plug in devices or any other dumb internet myths to keep out mice. They dont work period. Buy some tamper proof bait boxes from a feed and farm supply store and install rodent bait in them to keep rats and mice from infesting your vehicle. I own a pest control company and I see people use dryer sheets all the time and we find that the rodents will use them for nesting material. Moth balls are used in the industry to drive out snakes. Do it right and keep your vehicle and shop safe from damage and disease from rodents.

 

I drive my stuff year around.

W have winterized a few in the past. If it had bias plys put it up on blocks so the tires don't get flat spots. Put fuel stabilizer in the gas and run it a bit so it gets through the system. Moth balls or rat cakes will keep you from getting little bastards in your seat and or head liner.

Other than that unless it is parked in a cave I wouldn't worry about it.

 

I personally don't do much to winterize my vehicles. I leave my battery on a trickle charger and that's it.

I would agree with the rodent traps, buy way too many and put them around the car, better safe than sorry. Some Stabil would be a good idea, and something alot of people don't think about but make sure the garage seals well. Driving rain or blowing snow will add to the moisture, so say a new garage door seal can go a long way. Put the car on stands, and I would also take a wheel or two off and wrap a good thick chain and padlock around the a arms, etc. as an extra theft deterent, since you'll be nowhere near it.

Maybe over kill on the chain, but the harder you make it to steal, the less likely it is to get stolen.

Brian

 

I try to seal up the engine as much as possible to keep the moisture out. Put a rage in the exhaust pipes, seal up the oil breather hole if you have one and cover the carb or make sure the choke is closed all the way.

 

Finally someone with the same experiences I have...

Dryer sheets: Don't work. Mice chewed them

Irish spring soap: They ate that too.

Moth balls: I emptied a whole large fuckin BAG of mothballs in the shed that houses my lawn tractor. The smell was enough to gag you without even opening the door. They were making nests in the mag housing, so I dumped a bunch right on TOP of the engine fan.....Result?? The next time I started it (two months) The little heads were still popping out from underneath the fan (seemed the only way to kill 'em was to start the tractor...

Ultra-sonic electrical devices: Tried that too. stuck one IN the car, and three outside around it. Result?? They still came in, found that they chewed a rag in a wash bucket in the trunk. Surprising they didn't chew the electrical cords for fuck sakes...

Agway "Mouse Magic" (peppermint/spearmint oil bags) OK, I had guys SWEAR by this stuff. Said they NEVER had rodent problems using this. Plus, the scent isn't offensive. Bought them, and threw them all through the car (engine/interior/trunk). Result?? THEY CHEWED ALMOST EVERY BAG OPEN..... It was like it attracted them. unreal..

What worked for me? The five gallon bucket/paper towel roll/ W/S washer combo (caught ten in three days in a NEW storage building). I use two, PLUS assorted mousetraps scattered around. NOTHING else has worked....

 

If the garage has a concrete floor, put plastic down as a vapor barrier
fill your gas tank and use stabil, part filled tanks will allow condensation to
form inside and rust will form inside the tank.
If you put the truck up on jackstands make sure they're under the suspension.
Pull the battery and put it on a trickle charger or better yet one of those battery
tenders

 

up on stands would hopefully keep most rodents out along with helping keep the tires a bit rounder.

Make sure that you don't leave anything in the vehicle that might attract rodents in the first place. They smell anything that smells like food and they want to go after it.

I'd vote for taking the battery out and keeping it on a trickle charger. That keeps the chances of corrosion down plus no battery lessens the chance that someone might take it on a spur of the moment joy ride. Having a couple of wheels off the rig an stashed somewhere else may seem like overkill but that will keep all but the pros from taking off with it.

 

What's this 5 gallon buck/paper towel roll/ W/S Washer combo you speak of?

 

simple little trick to keep the motor sealed. cap off the carb, and use some speaker magnets to cap off your exhaust. if you forget on start up, they'll blow off. keep the hood open, they don't like lighted areas.

 

Thanks for the tips, never would have thought of pluging the exhaust and carb. traps around the truck as well as poison sounds like the consenus?

 

Make sure the garage is vented properly so it doesn't sweat. Also have someone..pay them if necessary check in on it on occasion...
Stabilize the gas, air up the tires, and make sure it is secure garage....so birds don't get in there and crap all over it.....Racoons also can be a real pain in this area...
What part of Lake Geneva...??
I grew up in Williams Bay...
Cheers,
Bob

 

This is another way of doing it

http://youtu.be/TFf_nCfa_7U

This was how I did it...

http://youtu.be/9cI8h-hnZVg

I put about six inches of W/S washer solvent in the bottom to kill 'em quick, and so they don't stink if they're there for a while...

 

I use the overseas containers, car is just about as clean as when I put it in there in the fall, no mice problems, no snake problems and no mud dobber problems, I even heat one. The most care free way I've ever stored anything, one for the house things, one for car parts, and three for cars. Work great, good luck

 

Well, I see that there is some controvery over the use of dryer sheets and whether they actually do or don't work. I guess I tend to think that they do as I have been using them for years. However, I also use various brands of mouse poison and have found little carcasses strewn around so I know that they have been gnawing on the poison cubes.

I like the dryer sheets as I think, as I said, that they work. I have never found any evidence that the little bastards have been inside the car. Also, the sheets keep the inside of the car smelling pretty nice, which sometimes is a real challenge in a car that is stored for long periods of time.

 

I've used a variety of traditional mouse and rat traps plus glue traps. Before my garage was real tight, I had rats in it and nailed a few glue traps to some 1" x 6" lumber so they couldn't walk away with them. They worked pretty well. I did find a live one when I checked one morning, nothing a sharp shovel couldn't remedy.

Traps in general will give you some idea of the amount of rodent traffic. I did see it drop off as I bagged a bunch.

Bob

 

one thing not mentioned yet, antifreeze,it is colder than calif.here in or. we put in enough to get 35-40 below prtection,yeah it was close a few times!and dont tell every one the adress!car guys arent the only lurkers!good luck

 

Fontana, WI

 

I always pop a couple moth balls in the exhaust pipes, lay one on the bell housing, one on each rocker cover. When I lived in Minnesota, my six month cars all had DOT 5 brake fluid. That alone will save you a ton of money.

 

Unless you like life. Moth balls are very poisonous and can make you, your daughter, your grandkids, anyone that comes in contact with them sick as hell. There are other ways...

 

Im amazed that people are so easly duped by internet myths and will spend far more money on stuff that wont work than spending the money on something that is proven. News flash people "Rodent bait kills rodents" Dryer sheets dont kill rodents, moth balls dont kill rodents and spearmint bags dont kill rodents. Why would you take the chance of not only having rats and mice destroy your vehicle but also spread disease in it and your shop ?

 

Rather than start a new thread, will add to this one.

Are any folks using battery tenders during the winter? I typically start up hobby cars a few times over the winter, so I like to keep the car installed. I have two trickle chargers/ tenders. I will typically use them on the weekend when I am home and check periodically.

Also as my Mercury rides on radials I see no need for blocks.

I might add some traps just to see if I catch anything. Has not been a problem since 1/08 when I moved into my new house.

 

I've noticed that a number of posters have suggested putting the car up on blocks or jack stands for the winter (which I have also done). However, in case of a fire in your garage/shop/house, you're pretty much screwed in trying to get your vehicle out in a hurry. A better method might be to keep the vehicle on a set of "beater" wheels/tires and put the "good" set in storage.

We've seen reports of several bad fires at rodders' shops recently ... even worse if you lose all of your toys because they couldn't be moved.

 

Use float chargers instead of trickle chargers. Price difference is not a lot, and your battery will like the float charge a lot more than the trickle.

 

I've occasionally noticed a little flat spotting with radials but it goes away like 4 blocks of driving. Not worried. If my garage is on fire I'll let the car burn as the garage is very close to my house and I'll be busy getting my kids and wife out.

 

If you have any concern about your engine, NAPA makes a spray engine fogger. I used it last winter on my race car engine and it worked real well. Pulled the plugs after using it and they were nicely oiled but it fired right up in the spring so it did not fowl the plugs.

 

When I lived in Indy. I would store my car in a large heavy plastic bag made just for this purpose. I believe the company was Pinetree Inc. I would clean the car, drain the rad., run it out of gas and pull the battery. Push the car in and throw in a couple bags of moisture absorvents, and seal it up. After winter, open it up and the car came out clean as when it went in.

 

If you run pure water, what about just draining the cooling system over the winter. Any problems with that, gaskets, corrosion, etc.? Is draining the radiator enough or should the block be drained?

 

I like the sealed and locked container idea. Helps keep vermin out, both the two and four legged variety.

Hate to say it, but with and unattended garage, you risk some tweaker stealing your car. Need to make it immoveable as well as rat-proof.