On Wed, 25 Oct 1995, Denise Thorpe wrote:
> the top down thereby causing the Bernoulli effect in my head, but I think
> that all of you who are doing a bunch of stuff to your car to store it for
> the winter are a bunch of looney tunes. Here are some facts I just made
> up to support my opinion.
I agree with some of Denise's points, not with others. I try to do most
of the good stuff but I don't fret if some of them don't get done before
winter closes in.
> cars between race weekends. A street car that is driven regularly always
> has acids in the oil and I've never heard of anyone having to rebuild an
> engine because the acids ate their bearings away. By draining the oil or
> replacing it before a car is stored merely prevents infinitesimal and doesn't
>apply to the tranny and diff.
> Driving a car at all after parking it nullifies the effect of putting
> fresh oil in because it creates more acids.
I have pulled apart engines that sat for many years with old oil in them,
and I have seen the pattern of the oil groove on the bearing etched into
the crank. (OK, so it *was* a model A engine) I figure that the oil gets
changed regularly anyway, so it makes sense to have one change be just
before the car is stored. I mean, why leave the dirty oil in all winter
and change it in the spring? If you run it a bit to circulate the new
oil, it's true some acid is created, but only a fraction of what was in
the oil that you drained out.
> > removing the battery(ies),
Anybody who removes the battery from its hidey hole in a bugeye is more
of a compulsive twit even than I. I have not been disconnecting the
cables either, but maybe I will if I think of it.
> > Disconnect the distributor lead to get the car to turn over
> > without starting until oil pressure turns up on the gauge.
>
> An engine gets oil pressure faster if it's running than if it's cranking.
Yes, but it gets many times as much force applied to the crank when it is
running. The idea of turning the engine on the starter until pressure
builds up does no harm and is likely to help. Every book I have ever
seen on engine rebuilding recommends this for first startup. I often do
it with the bugeye even if the car has only sat for a few days, but it is
simple there because you just pull the starter before you turn the key.
> Based on the same principle, it's better to jump in a car and drive, rather
> than letting it warm up idling because it warms up faster while driving.
> Is this not true in very cold weather?
>
Most manufacturers currently do recommend driving as soon as the car will
tolerate driving. I don't know if this is for emissions reasons or
because it really is best.
> > * If a good solid block of warm-ish weather (thank god for Chinook winds)
> > appears, I put the battery in and run the car up and down the driveway a
> > bit, making sure I leave the car running long enough to get as much of the
> > moisture out of the exhaust system as I can.
>
If you are not going to drive it several miles, I would not start it or
drive it at all. Take it for a good run in the fall to get the exhaust as
dry as possible, shut if off, and leave it off. I defer to her judgment
about cars with leather seals.
Running the car is what causes the water in the exhaust and it only
> seems to be gone when the exhaust is hot enough to evaporate it. As soon
> as the car cools down, it's back.
The water vapor in the exaust at the time you shut it off will condense,
true, but the volume will be much less than if you run the engine for
only a short time.
> I've driven cars that have been sitting for years and I've never felt any
> squareness in the tires or "memory" in the suspension and you obviously
> haven't either. Of course, their tires have never frozen.
My mother's car sits for long periods, and the tires thump when
it is first used. Some goes away, but an annoying amount remains. I
heard that modern radials don't do this, so we put new Michelins on her
car. Still does it. I put Kermit on blocks the first winter, with the
blocks under the rear axle and front A arms to keep the load on the
suspension. It was a pain. I toyed with the idea of making blocks to go
under the tires with cutouts to match the round circumference of the
tires, but that sounded tiresome. I settle for pumping Kermit's Pirellis
up to about 40 pounds before storage, and I move him a few inches from
time to time. I've had no flatspot problems.
> > * Keep a window down slightly so the humidity inside and outside the car
> > remains equal, to avoid mildew, etc.
>
> Good idea, but I'd take all vinyl off the car so it can't hold moisture
> against the paint. I've seen some nasty damage from this. Of course,
> in the frozen north, you may have reasons I don't know about for leaving
> the top on the car.
*Window* ?? Excuse me, an lbc tight enough that rolling the window down
makes a difference? I'm reminded of 20 years ago, when an inspector told
me a tiny leak in my Alpine exhaust might asphyxiate me. I told him if he
had ever actually ridden in a british convertible in the cold and the
rain he would never suggest that CO could accumulate inside.
I leave the top on the car for fear the fabric backing will shrink. Dunno
if it will or not, but I'd be annoyed if I could not get the top on the
following year. I've only put the top up twice this year, but when I want
it I really want it. But Denise has suggested something interesting.
I've had some odd small blisters form across the rear deck. You can bet
I'm going to go look and see if that is where the top bar fits... I don't
think so, but I am sure going to look.
I sprinkle moth balls in the car and under it, because I have heard it
discourages mice. No problems with them so far.
Sometimes I take rubber bands and put plastic bags over the air cleaners.
Can't hurt. Most times, I forget to do it. I probably should squirt some
oil in the cylinders, but I never do. I don't worry about whether the gas
tank is full or not. I figure with the car sitting there, not driven,
with the cap never off the tank, it gets a lot less moisture in it than if
it were driven, and the first gas tank lasted 30 years.
> Nothing like cold air in your face while your toes are sweating.
If you say so....
Ray
Ray Gibbons Dept. of Molecular Physiology & Biophysics
Univ. of Vermont College of Medicine, Burlington, VT
gibbons@northpole.med.uvm.edu (802) 656-8910
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