The greenhouse effect

With winter coming (for some of us) and cars staying covered for longer periods while the ambient temps go up/down...
I'm looking for some opinions on what I've come to accept as a car cover fact: waterproof covers indoors are a no-no.
Indoors, they'll keep moisture (condensation) trapped underneath 'em.
I've always used flannel "breathable" covers indoors...and at the very least, covered the concrete area under a car/motorcycle with plywood to minimize humid air from radiating up under the vehicle/cover.
Always made sense to me. And the older I get, fewer things make much sense at all...so I kinda treasure the thought. Have I just lived in the rustbelt too long?

Fern and Karmann stay in the garage uncovered and the heat is at about 7-8˚C ( 40F ) and this keeps the car dry with no problems. If it is a non heated garage a breathable cover is best. Fuel stabilizer is a must for extended periods in a FULL tank of gas. I don't jack the car off the suspension (In the old days we did that to not have a flat spot in the tires) but steel belted radials don't change shape. I unplug the batteries and remove from the car and plug them in a battery tender. I won't start the car until probably March/April when I can roll it outside.

Dennis said, "Have I just lived in the rustbelt too long?" Answer, in a word, yes. Time to find a warmer climate where winter layup is not necessary. I don't presume to know what your life plan, timeline and priorities are, but moving south sure worked for us. I don't own a snow blower or snow shovel any more and both snow storms and road salt are rarities here.

Just a thought ;-)
Hoss

Hoss - nothin' better I'd like to do than to live where the hummingbirds don't leave. One of my daughters lives in Phoenix. I like the weather there, just fine. But in order to escape winter, I'd have to kidnap my four grandkids. So I'm trying to stay within a 3-hour drive of 'em. To help make the 6 mos of grey pass, one of my thoughts is to find myself a vacated small firehouse; live upstairs, keep the cars and tools downstairs. Winter would be a LOT different, that way.

I know what you mean about not wanting to leave the grandkids behind, so in lieu of that, find a good car cover made of breathable parachute fabric. Keeps the dust off and allows the moisture through, thereby keeping the car dry(er).

Short of that, come on down here to Dixie and join us. We drive all "Winter" long, make a mean Mint Julep, and the sunsets across the bay toward Hilton Head are spectacular...

Gordon
One of the inebriated "Speedstah Guys" from South Carolina

Dennis,

Don't forget to strategically place a few mouse traps for the little critters (they like peanut butter) and cover your exhaust tip(s) - I use a rubber glove for that. There are some winterizing threads elsewhere on this site.

What's winter? Oh yeah, I remember. It's when you have to wear a jacket when the top's down.

Winter is when it's dark when you wake up, the sun comes up on your drive to work, and it's dark again when you get out of work. In southern Cal, it's also about 20 degrees colder in the morning, even though it is light out, and much warmer when you get out of work, even though it's dark out. Its all so confusing that I just quite going to work a few years ago. Things are much better all around now!

The sun comes up, in winter?

I have a small stable of "old" cars that I've restored over the years. A '32 Ford PU, '60 VW sunroof, and a '67 VW vert. I also am confined to the rust belt and won't be moving away from my grandkids--it's way too much fun. To store my treasures I use the "Car Bag" or some similar named item. I found them through Hemmings. It's a large plastic kind of material "bag" with a long zipper. When the sad time of year arrives, you put the Stabil in the tank, overinflate the tires, remove the battery and toss in a couple bags of that moisture absorbing stuff. Zip the car in for the winter. Any condensation that forms is on the outside of the bag. The car looks exactly the same in the spring as it did in the fall. I use a car cover inside the bag just to keep the plastic off the paint but only a dust cover, any kind of cover will work for that.
Without the bags, I'm sure that the oldest project would have blistered long ago--it's a 20 year ago resto project. It's mouse proof enough, that I've never had a problem (knock-knock). I keep a few packets of mouse-feed in the corners behind the cars just in case. I'd love to keep the shop heated, but the costs would be way too much.

Does anyone else fog their carbs and cables???

I guess I got into the habbit of doing it with my boats and carried it over to the cars. I use Seafoam Deep Creep and fog all the moving cables & cable ends, plus carbs.

I used to fog my boat engines, and used PB Blaster on all of the cables and moving things.

Some of the cables on my Mariah speedboat had grease fittings on them, so i just filled them with grease.

I used Evinrude Fogger on the boat, but there are a bunch of different ones out there, usually available at boat places. On my lawn mowers and snow blower I added Sta-Bil, filled the tank (to prevent rust in steel tanks), ran it for 5 minutes (to get the Sta-Bil into the carb) then removed the spark plug and shot a blast of Marvel Mystery Oil (aerosol) into the plug hole.

On Cars, I would add enough Sta-Bil for a full tank, then fill it and drive home, pull the plugs, blast into the holes with Marvel aerosol and replace the plugs. Sometimes would change the oil before Winter, sometimes after - didn't seem to make any difference. What DID make a difference was to put some duct tape over the air cleaner opening(s) to keep mice and chipmunks from loading the air cleaner with winter nuts.

Mice and critters can get into almost anything - I found on my rider lawn mower last Spring that a bunch of mice had built a mousy condominium inside of the fan shroud on a big Briggs and Stratton. Turned into a major tear-down to get everything out!!

Dennis, If you are parking you car in a unheated garage with a concrete floor or grave floor , park the car on top of some thick plastic visqueen or tarp. It will act as a vapor barrier . If the floor is painted don't do anything. If you are really worried, some company sell a big inflatable bubble that you park you car in. It does require ac power. http://www.carcapsule.com/ For $350 guess you can't beat it.

http://www.automotivepartsnetwork.com/accessories/carcapsule/

Following on Gordon's comment about Sta-bil, I start adding it to all tank refills on the Speedster starting in late August and continue through any winter driving. By doing this I know any fuel that's in the tank entering into Fall/Winter storage is treated.

I am a recently converted fan of Sta-Bil. Used to use OMC stabilizer on my outboard. With Sta-Bil now, the boat sits 7 months, I launch it and WHAM - it starts on the first crank. Had same experience with a motorcycle and the speedster last year. I also use it in chain saws (used to be a real bitch to start, now fires right off) and a weedwacker. Good stuff!

I also used Sta-Bil in my sailboat and tender! No fuel problems, even after any extended periods of inactivity in the marina.

My wife was looking over my shoulder as I typed this and she commented "...how would YOU know if it worked or not, you usually just went to the marina and fell asleep on the boat!"

Why you always busting my chops, WOMAN?!! oooooops, gotta run......eyyaaaaahhhh....

Hey Lane......Wear this! (!)

Awww.....Lane's full of Mayhaw jelly.

Must have been damn close to a frost in Chas-tn this morning!!

Is that what the white stuff on the grass and on the roof was? Wow! Glad it melted quickly. It's T-shirt weather now.

First photo is our first snow in the Poconos this year (last Saturday and it was gone by the afternoon.) We are predicted to get 2 in tonight. The other is a 2003 Jersey

OK Rocky - that's it. For cruel and unusual treatment of a speedster, you are hereby drummed out of the SOC forum - turn in your user ID and you are restricted to less than 4000 RPM until probation is over!

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...................!!!!!!!!!!

Is that what a 2110 sounds like below 4000 rpm?