JasonD

Last November there was a great thread in this forum about putting ours cars into winter storage. Lots of people gave their tips and advice on the subject and they were pretty good.

Now that spring is here, let's talk about taking them out of storage...and happily, I might add.

Anyone got any tips, tricks, advice or dos and don'ts? From basic to advanced, post them here. Let's hear 'em!

GetaZforgetGT

Give your car a big wet kiss on the windshield so it knows you still love it.

orange terror

I pretty much just do the common sense stuff. Check the fluids & tires, let it run and get warm, drive it gently for a few miles. Then change the oil and anything else that needs it. that's about it.

teke184

something i do when i start up a new outboard motor on a boat, or start one that has been sitting for a LONG time.

pull the plugs and squirt a few drops of oil into the cylinder. doesn't take much.

you can go as far as roll the engine over by hand once.

it's not a bad idea to change the fuel filter after the first couple starts...in case stuff settled and it got sucked up in the tank. for a few $$ and a few minutes of time, it can't hurt.

also can't hurt to thow some "dry fuel" stuff in the tank, in case water condensed in the fuel tank.

when you first get it on the road, get on the brakes a few good times, make sure no rodents have chewed through anything. better to do it on a side road than when you pull out on to the main highway.

go through and check the battery terminals, maybe even pull them and wire brush them off. also can't hurt to throw it on a trickle charger over nite if possible to get the battery back as close to 100% as possible.

BanuHaqim

Back in the early fall, I took my 86 Camaro out of storage after about 6 years. When I was preparing to fire it up, I changed the plugs and as I did so I filled the cylenders with oil. I let it sit for an hour or two so that the oil would seep past and into the piston rings. While it was sitting, I poured about 4 new gallons of gas into the tank and a little into the carb. I fired it up and let it idle for about 30 minutes and drove it for a few dozen yards to get into the driveway. I changed the oil and tranny fluid/filters.

6 year old motor oil + 8 cylenders full of oil will produce a LOT of smoke.

I drove it a couple of times after that but I still have some work to do, namely I have a fuel leak and I need to replace my brake calipers/pads.

JasonD

Incidentally, this is Thread of the Week in CamaroZ28.Com Podcast #30. Fire up your MP3 player and listen in!

http://web.camaross.com/forums/showthread.php?t=441415