They're using that same crap up here in NH too. Its aweful, they put it down a couple hours before it snows so the snow/ice melts on contact. The big problem is they put it down and you kick all that crap up into you car and its highly corrosive! My car goes away before the first snowfall and wont come back out until sometime in april-may. The only benefit i can see about the long winter is you can tear your car apart and not feel bad about not being able to drive it because you wouldnt be able to anyway!
Jeeze,, it sounds really cold back there... last nite it got all the way down to 42. today it's going to be 72... come summer it will be 117-120.. we have so far ,, a little over 3" of rain since jan. ....rubber rot is our greatest problem..not much need for heater ,, but a/c is a must !!!
Here in Michigan I put my cars away in late Oct. or early Nov. depending on the weather. This year I drove my 29 Ford on Nov.14 the latest ever. Sometimes it snows by then. I usually make sure the gas tank is full and cover the cars. I also coat the chrome with chrome polish and leave it on til spring. My shop is unheated til I fire up my salamander and the wood stove. The air gets warm but my tools never get warmed up. Cold metal tools suck. I either warm them up on the stove or wear gloves. Over the course of the winter my cement floor gets colder and colder so insulated boots are almost a necessity. It's a good time to make changes, rebuild, etc. if you can stand the cold, and plan ahead. I bring some stuff inside the house before working on it, to warm it up. Red
Yeah, Mag-chloride, works great on the roads, but corrosive as hell on everything else http://www.usda.gov/rus/electric/engineering/2001/magnesium_chloride.htm
Ok.. yeah yeah.. I live in Viking hell (Maine) where it gets cold at least 5 months and snows all the time. I have been a New Englander all my life .. so I am not spoiled by warm weather year round or great stuff like that.. But living in the North does have it's moments. Like the other night. My A V8 had problems late in the season. It took a while to iron out.. I took the car over to a friend's house a few towns over for his help. We got it fixed .. and I drove it home in 25 degree weather.. no top.. side windows etc.. rather brisk.. but I couldn't keep the smile off my face.. Later that evening it started snowing.. I took her out for a few Doughnuts .. more fun.. priceless.. But now.. after a heavy salting.. and temps near zero she is up until spring.. or a really good rainstorm to wash the salt off the road.. I sure wish I could teleport me and my car to a warmer climate.. but instead it is time to do more work on the car. I am thinking of putting a wood stove in my garage and having a warm place to hang out all winter.. perhaps mix up a few tropical drinks and get it hot enough to hang out in shorts and a t-shirt.. When you live in the North you learn how to make the best of it. During the summer months there is no place I'd rather be than in Maine..
If there isn't snow on the roads I try to get the 33 out a couple times a month in the cold weather... the only problem is I don't have a heater in it so it is dam cold to ride in.... yes I could put one in but what fun would that be........ As far as working on my other projects over in the barn if it is really cold I have a propane fired torpedo heater that I use. The building is big enough and drafty enough that I don't have to worry about the fumes killing me.......
it does suck. try to get them out if it rains enough between the salted roads to wash most of it off. i should wait till april but i cant , i love driving them to much..........did i mention i do not live in california.
We are expecting a BIG snowstorm Fri. & Sat ya winter sucks! I drive mine year round as long as the roads are dry just so they don't sit.
Here in the northeast, most of us have our cars stored away by Dec.1st . All I do to mine is put it on rollers so I can push it to the side of the garage to make room for my snowplow and snowblower. Then I remove the battery,make sure the anitfreeze is good for -30 degrees,wipe it off and cover it up. If we get a nice dry week during the winter,I can have it ready to drive in half an hour. I never cancel the registration. Usually by April first,it's back out again for the season. This is when I do any repairs,upgrades or maintenance. I used to dry off the condensation if we got a warm spell,but I found I still had to polish the aluminum in the spring anyway, and I don't start it during the winter. I think it's better to only do a cold start once than to do it each month or whenever.
We don't get the extreme cold a lot of you guys get. Our winter average is around 25/38F,but our biggest problem here is...you guessed it SALT,add that to a coastal location,that doesn't do tin any favours. I had an o/t car imported from So-Cal a few years back,used it as my daily and rotted the arse out it in 5 years. The cold doesn't worry me or my ride,but the salt does. Just looked at the forecast.....here comes the f*ckin snow!
It helps to wash your winter-driven car frequently and thoroughly at the quarter car-wash to get the salt off. But even that causes problems. It can get expensive. If you've got 3-6 inches of ice buildup in your wheel-wells, you can easily spend $5.00 just tryin' to melt that off. And if it's really cold, you're gonna end up with the whole body iced over after washing, and very likely the doors and windows frozen shut! My wife and I have been living on this farm for 4 years now, and when we first moved here, I was so happy to have barns to put my cars in and room to work. But those old barn walls have gaps between the slats, and it gets breezy! The steel buildings are a little better, but aren't insulated, so they're like an ice-box. I'm still not really ready to work on projects in the winter, which is very frustrating, but I'm workin' on it. One thing I noticed...the upper peninsula doesn't use salt as they do here...they use sand. Gives a pretty good grip for your tires, and doesn't eat the car.
Years ago I had a 32 chev in winter storage and a beaver got in it and made a nest.Ate all the interior wood and shit every where,what a mess.
winter gives a nice break from cruise nights and weekends at the track. put the car away for 3 or 4 months and its like a new toy all over again. keeps it from getting boring and repetative. i find other things to do for the winter months, bowling league, target shooting. something other than cars is a nice break especialy when your a full time tech.
Last 6 years I've had a T Bucket, but in spite of the cold weather I would get it out for a drive around our little town. Drove it one year while it was snowing - boy big dumb mistake - ever seen what road salt does to polish aluminum! So I spent the rest of the winter trying to get the shine back. But this summer I bought a 50' shoebox. No polish aluminum on this baby, so winter - who cares - I'm driving it. In spite of the cold I work on it just about every nite after work and weekends.
When I get tired of working out in the shop I take out my 500 Honda motorcycle with studded tires that I race around on the frozen lakes with in the winter. Its geared for about 90mph top end and does great wheelies. Helps break the cabin fever.
The solution that Mass. and N.H. [liquid] is using in place of salt is proably a citrus based product. Think citrus acid.
Like most hot rods....................it was a "Beaver Magnet" Never had one shit in mine though. HaHaHa You haven't lived until you've driven a few miles directly behind an active rock salt truck.
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