Breaking up may be hard to do, but winter storage is anguish engaged on an annual basis.
We all agree on the need. As Dave Sims, president of the Toronto Triumph Club, puts it, "British cars and salt equal rust." Same goes for German, Italian, French or American collectibles. Another category is any new vehicle powerful enough to spin its tires in summer. Come winter, these vehicles are prone to spinning in entirety come winter, which is a solid reason for postponing the good times until April.
How to do it, that's the rub. Gary Shapiro, owner of Auto Vault, hidden beneath a Markham shopping plaza, is as familiar as anyone with car fanciers' rampant disagreement on essential measures. "What I get a lot of is, 'My mechanic Tony says I should…'"
- One Tony believes a car needs to be started from time to time … Auto Vault charges $319 a month to do so every two weeks, bringing the engine up to operating temperature and driving several laps of the parking garage to exercise the moving bits.
- Another Tony says just pump up the tires to keep them from flat-spotting and put the battery on a trickle charger … that’s $289.
- If the trusted mechanic opines “it’s only three-four months, don’t sweat it” … that’s $249 and the vehicle sits untouched.
Shapiro anticipates he’ll reach capacity of 392 pampered cars by the new year. Already, a coven of Corvettes sit together, there are packs of Porsches, Ferraris aplenty, one splendid Packard Victoria Convertible from the early 1930s. Best of show? An original Datsun 240Z occupying prime real estate, what Shapiro calls the model suite for the car condo he hopes to build.
Meantime, my Porsche 911 SC makes do in a single-bay garage. Every December, I fill the tank to prevent condensation, pump up the tires, clip on the battery tender, distribute moisture-absorbing desiccants and prepare to deny any charge of obsessing.
Is that enough? “Did you add stabilizer?” Lou Heger, a restoration expert working on a Lancia Stratos, asked in a condemning tone. No, because TR2 owner Richard Pickering shared some research about ethanol as the condensation-prone culprit in gasoline degradation, and Shell’s V-Power premium fuel is ethanol-free.
“All of today’s gasolines deteriorate over four months or five months,” Heger said. “Wait and see how your car runs in the spring, maybe not so well on that first tank.” John Smith, at Shell Canada Limited’s office in Calgary, replied: “Shell has always maintained our V-Power gasoline should remain stable, if stored properly, for four to six months without the need for an aftermarket ‘fuel-stabilizing additive.’” Take that, Lou.
Another issue is whether to place a vehicle on jack stands. The Chevrolet Corvette owner’s manual is clear on the subject. “When storing a vehicle for at least a month, remove the tires or raise the vehicle to reduce the weight from the tires.”
Only one of 392 cars sits on jack stands at Auto Vault – a 1993 Corvette. I’m fine with my tires pumped to 55 pounds – until hearing out my guru, Paul Ross of RNJ Tires in Pickering.
“If the car isn’t on stands, at least move it once in four months to turn the wheels,” says Ross, “because they will flat-spot even if they’re pumped up, and they also ‘drain’ – silicone and other ingredients that nourish the rubber are subject to the law of gravity. Changing the position of the wheels helps keep the rubber healthy.”
Really, whatever we do, spring can’t come soon enough. “Some of us take our batteries out,” says Sims. “I don’t, because I like to sit in the car from time to time, and start it up and listen to it vroom-vroom for a while.”
Understood completely.
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